{"id":334190,"date":"2025-07-15T09:59:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T08:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=334190"},"modified":"2025-07-15T09:59:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T08:59:08","slug":"irans-rulers-raise-their-voice-as-their-power-ebbs-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/terrorism-a-fundamentalism\/irans-rulers-raise-their-voice-as-their-power-ebbs-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran\u2019s Rulers Raise Their Voice as Their Power Ebbs Away"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dozens
Dozens of coffins draped in the regime’s flag bear the faces of slain IRGC commanders and nuclear scientists<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three-minute read<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThey begged us not to strike. They even gave us the coordinates of their own bases.\u201d<\/p>\n

With that declaration, Mahmoud Nabavian, deputy head of Iran\u2019s National Security Commission, claimed that the United States, fearing Tehran\u2019s response to Israeli strikes, offered up a target to hit. “We didn\u2019t accept it,” he said proudly<\/a>. “We hit where we<\/em> chose.” To the regime\u2019s hardline loyalists, this was framed as evidence of triumph. But to more discerning eyes, it was a performance\u2014loud, frantic, and hollow. A regime talking big not because it is strong, but because it is terrified of being seen for what it is: cornered, weakened, and no longer feared by its own foot soldiers.<\/p>\n

What Iran\u2019s rulers now face is not just a military setback, nor merely an international rebuke. It is a convergence of crises\u2014domestic, regional, and global\u2014that has stripped the clerical dictatorship of the strategic depth it spent decades constructing. From the presidential palace to the barracks of the IRGC, the panic is unmistakable. And it is their own collapsing base of power, not Washington or Tel Aviv, that frightens them most.<\/p>\n

The regime’s highest officials have taken to the airwaves with a strange mix of bluster and paranoia. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi claimed<\/a> Iran \u201cstood victorious\u201d after the 12-day war and insisted that its \u201cprincipled positions\u201d in diplomacy remain unchanged. The IAEA is now locked out of Iran’s nuclear facilities. On state TV, Mohammad-Javad Larijani warned<\/a> that Europe may no longer be safe, and that \u201cfive drones\u201d could soon strike an unnamed European city. He has even mused darkly about U.S. President Donald Trump being \u201chit in the navel\u201d by a drone while vacationing in Florida\u2014rhetoric that straddles the line between fantasy and threat. At the same time, the daily Kayhan<\/em>, whose editorial line is seen as aligned with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, openly called for the execution<\/a> of IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, accusing him of complicity in the Israeli strikes.<\/p>\n

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#Iran<\/a> State Media Turns Aggressive Post-Ceasefire, with Kayhan Demanding Grossi\u2019s Executionhttps:\/\/t.co\/X2hHxof9KI<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/tfyuei1yBe<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 29, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n