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Iran leadership fights for survival as Israel targets military, nuclear facilities

Jun 17, 2025, 10:40am EDT
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Pictures of those killed in Israeli strikes on Iran are displayed on a street, in Tehran.
Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters

Israel’s assault on Iran’s military leadership and nuclear facilities poses the greatest threat in decades to the Islamic Republic’s leadership, analysts said.

The regime has endured “blow after blow” since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October 2023, The New York Times wrote, including the weakening of its proxies in Lebanon, Gaza, and Yemen.

With Israel’s premier refusing to rule out killing Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei’s “priority is regime survival,” a Chatham House expert said.

Iran considers surrender unthinkable, but fighting back poses a dilemma, Bloomberg wrote: “How far can it go against Israel without pushing things so far that the US joins in?”

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Iran leadership fights for survival as Israel targets military, nuclear facilities | Semafor