Daily SIGNAL - Iranian Regime Has Only One Way Out - Victor Davis Hanson - October 7, 2026

 Daily SIGNAL

Iranian Regime Has Only One Way Out

Victor Davis Hanson

October 7, 2026

Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s video from Daily Signal senior contributor Victor Davis Hanson. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see more of his videos.

Hello, this is Victor Davis Hanson for the Daily Signal.

This is the first week of October, and the Iran war conflict, whatever term we want to call it, is coming to a denouement whether we like it or not. 

We’ve had seven months of conflict, but that’s the wrong word. We had 38 to 40 days of actual kinetic action and then on-and-off negotiations, all overshadowed by the tick, tick, tick, tick to the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 3, as well as the Israeli elections in late October, as well as elections all over Europe. 

So, what I’m getting at is this conflict was always framed in political terms. [President] Donald Trump did not have to try to force the issue during the midterms. He did because, remember, seven other presidents said Iran could not have a bomb.  

Information came to him after he tried to stop that in June of 2025 that, yes, they still could get a bomb, but, more worrisome, they also were developing missiles that could hit cities in Europe and would soon have intercontinental ability to the Western Hemisphere. 

So, he decided to act. 

Where are we now? 

We’re in the last stage. We are bringing over a third carrier group, the USS Roosevelt. That means that we will have all of the resources of our land-based airplanes, jet fighters, and bombers, but we’ll have three large carriers. In other words, we’ll probably have 400 or 500, maybe 600, at our disposal. 

If the Israelis find out that this Dubai hijacking, and there is more information that’s coming out every moment, had anything to do with Iranian agents, then they will probably join in. 

And if we find out that the RAF-American joint base in Britain was the object of a terrorist attack by British subjects who were influenced, paid for, or trained by Iran, that will add a different dimension as well. 

But for now, Iran is desperate. 

How do we know that? Because we don’t have any news people in there. We don’t have any embedded troops, as I keep saying. We only have people calling out, and usually when they call out to their relatives or friends to assure them of the terrible conditions, the next thing they know, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is at their door. 

So, you have to gauge it by the attitude of Iran. 

They’re doing two or three things right now. 

No. 1, they wrote a letter—it’s 25 pages long. You should all read it—to the American people. But it isn’t really to the American people. It’s to half the American people. It’s to the Left. They have gleaned and absorbed the message from the Left in the Senate, in the House, and in popular culture that this is an illegal, immoral war that we’ve already lost. The Strait of Hormuz is hopelessly closed. And that has emboldened them. 

So, they’re now saying: Why don’t you people take it to the next step and join us and vote in the midterms to get rid of this horrific, warmongering, evil Donald Trump regime? 

They feel … and they don’t understand American politics, obviously, because whatever happens in the midterms, the Democratic Party is not going to get 60 seats and get a veto-proof Congress. It’s not going to happen. 

So, that’s not going to stop Donald Trump, but they think it is. 

The second thing they’ve done is that they have said, now we want to negotiate with Donald Trump. We want to negotiate, which means we’ve been at this seven months. They want another two, three, or four months while they try to figure out how they reclose the Straits of Hormuz. 

Third, they have threatened us with new weapons. We have new weapons. We have new ways of killing you. We’re going to unleash them. 

I don’t know if that was referring to the terrorist attacks in Britain and over Dubai, but we’ll see. 

What’s the actual status? 

For some reason, we only belatedly started to really crush Iran. I don’t know why we didn’t have a complete banking boycott, freezing of all assets, a secondary boycott of anybody who trades with Iran or enters financial transactions with them. We would also boycott them. I don’t know why we didn’t have a complete embargo on their airspace, but we didn’t. 

Now we do. 

They are getting no income, but 90% to 95% of other countries’ ships that want Gulf oil are now coming in. They can’t stop them. 

And now we’re going to have more assets. 

So, one way or another, this regime is going to implode. It may implode after the midterms. It may implode in three or four months. 

There is only one thing that can save the Iranian theocratic terrorist regime. One thing. And that is if, for some reason, popular opinion, or the Trump administration, loses its nerve and they begin another monthlong cycle of negotiations, and they allow that regime certain exemptions, then all of this will be for naught. 

We are very, very close. The United States is very, very close to doing something that no one ever anticipated: so hurting, so injuring this terrorist, murderous regime that either the people will now go out in the streets and overthrow it, or it will be too weak to operate as a terrorist home base for Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and terrorists worldwide, or Donald Trump, in frustration, will destroy the regime’s ability to make war for 20 years. 

He will hit dual-use targets, and then he will leave. 

But in any case, they only have one chance, and that is now to call off the United States military and the United States financial architects of this embargo and somehow squeeze or slither out of the noose that they put their head in. 

Let’s hope that does not happen. We stay the course, and I think very soon, in a year, a lot less than a year, or two years, that regime will either fall or be taken over by moderate elements, and the Middle East will look like a completely different place. 

We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of the Daily Signal.

Victor Davis Hanson

Victor Davis Hanson | Senior Contributor

Victor Davis Hanson is a Daily Signal senior contributor, hosting a podcast, producing video commentaries, and writing a weekly column. He is the author of “The Counterrevolution The Fall and Rise of Donald Trump and the MAGA Movement.”

 

National Security Journal - Ukraine War ; Putin Found Ukraine’s Achilles Heel: Russia Has a New Class of Drones Slamming Kyiv While Defense Missiles are Running Low - Caleb Larson - Oct.7, 2026 ct.7,20

 National Security Journal

Ukraine War  Putin Found Ukraine’s Achilles Heel: 

Russia Has a New Class of Drones Slamming Kyiv While Defense Missiles are Running Low

Russia is expanding its air war on Ukraine ahead of winter, targeting power plants, water facilities, ports and trains. Its newest Geran drones use Chinese turbojets and mesh radios to fly faster and coordinate as swarms, while the Patriot interceptors Ukraine relies on take two to two and a half years to build.

Caleb Larson

ByCaleb LarsonPublished1 day ago

A MIM-104 Patriot Surface-to-Air Missile System assigned to the Fort Bliss, Texas-based 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade fires as part of a bi-lateral live-fire exercise with military members from the Royal Netherlands Ground-based Air Defense Command at McGregor Range, N.M., May 11, 2024. The Patriot Missile System is a highly mobile air defense guided missile system designed to engage and intercept any aerial threats whether it be aircraft or tactical ballistic missiles under any weather conditions and in natural or induced environments. The command showcased its capabilities firing interceptors at simulated drone targets during the training event working with Dutch Allies.A MIM-104 Patriot Surface-to-Air Missile System assigned to the Fort Bliss, Texas-based 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade fires as part of a bi-lateral live-fire exercise with military members from the Royal Netherlands Ground-based Air Defense Command at McGregor Range, N.M., May 11, 2024. The Patriot Missile System is a highly mobile air defense guided missile system designed to engage and intercept any aerial threats whether it be aircraft or tactical ballistic missiles under any weather conditions and in natural or induced environments. The command showcased its capabilities firing interceptors at simulated drone targets during the training event working with Dutch Allies. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. David Rincon)

----------------------

Nearly five years into the war in Ukraine, the conflict there is entering a dangerous new phase, one that is an expansion of the air war over Ukraine and includes not only targets along the battlefield’s long, sprawling front line that snakes its way through Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, but also the lifeblood of the nation: Ukraine’s cities, its civilian infrastructure, its people.

Ahead of Ukraine’s bitterly cold winter months, the Kremlin is targeting civilian infrastructure around the country, putting electricity and heat plants, shopping malls, water and wastewater facilities, port infrastructure, and trains in its crosshairs. It is no coincidence that the Russian campaign is gaining velocity before winter — it is precisely an attempt by Russian strongman Vladimir Putin to squeeze Ukraine and exact a terrible toll on the civilian population.

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The Romanian Army’s 74th Patriot Regiment conducted the country’s first PATRIOT missile system live-fire exercise at the Capu Midia test firing range in Romania Nov. 14-15, 2023. Romania received the first of seven PATRIOT systems in 2020 through a foreign military sales case executed by the U.S. Army Security Assistance Command. (Courtesy photo)

KOROR, Palau — A Patriot Advanced Capability 2 Interceptor missile is fired from an M903 Patriot Launching Station assigned to Battery D, 1st Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment during the patriot live fire portion of Exercise Tenacious Archer 25 on Aug. 21, 2025. Exercise Tenacious Archer 25 is a training event designed to build interoperability, capacity, and relationships that deter aggression and promote peace through strength. The exercise sharpens the brigade’s ability to operate across multiple domains, reinforcing U.S. Army Pacific’s commitment to regional security and stability.(U.S. Army photo by Capt. Frank Spatt)

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Stymied on the battlefield and still smarting from Ukraine’s surprisingly successful aerial bombardment of Russian oil and gas infrastructure earlier this summer, the Kremlin is aiming to get even by any means necessary.

A new crop of munitions has allowed Moscow’s forces to target Ukraine: Iranian-designed Shahed drones, dubbed the Geran by Russia, have been leveraged since the war’s early days.

But today’s Geran drones differ significantly from their predecessors. Instead of the piston-driven engines that powered earlier models, today’s Gerans run on small turbojet engines imported from Chinese manufacturers.

Significantly faster than earlier models, these Gerans are more likely to evade Ukrainian air defenses and reduce the reaction window available to Ukrainian defenses.

Networked Capabilities

And while the Geran drone’s tripling of speed certainly gives Ukrainian air defenses a much more formidable target to try to eliminate, it is not only its speed that has created new challenges for defenders of Ukrainian skies. Geran’s networked connectivity—the ability of swarms of Geran drones to communicate with each other and their ground controllers—is a significant battlefield development.

As the Center for Strategic and International Studies explains, the current crop of most advanced Geran drones uses mesh radio network modems. Supplied by Chinese firms, the modems turn “every drone that carried it into a signal repeater for other units nearby, forming an airborne network that facilitated not only the transmitting of information about air defenses and potential targets but also remote operator control in real time.”

“Data could now be transmitted between an operator on the ground and a unit in the air via a “chain” of network nodes,” CSIS explains. “If a link in the chain became compromised, the signal could dynamically reroute through another neighboring node, making the communication channel remarkably resilient (as long as there were enough nodes nearby).”

Russian Combat Mass and the Strains of Concurrent Wars of a Global Scale

Formidable though Russia’s latest crop of explosive-laden drones certainly are, it is not only their individual components that make them so formidable. Russia’s wartime economy, bent toward the production of combat-relevant components, can produce hundreds, if not thousands, of drones and missiles each month.

But Russia’s production volumes dovetail with Ukraine’s current air-defense squeeze. Though the country produces its own domestic interceptors that, in the past, have taken down Geran drones reliably, those are outpaced and ineffective against Russian cruise and ballistic missiles. American-made Patriot air defense interceptors fill that gap.

Patriot Missile Launch. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Highly sophisticated and widely considered some of the most effective, combat-proven air defense munitions on the planet, Patriot interceptor missiles are highly sought after by Ukraine — and, unfortunately for Kyiv, by many NATO member countries in Europe and increasingly by American allies in the Middle East eager to parry Iranian missile and drone thrusts.

The Patriot’s Achilles heel is its production. Production of the interceptors takes anywhere from 24 to 30 months, depending on the variant, measured from order placement to final delivery.

The missile’s many subsystems are validated throughout production, ensuring high reliability but significantly slowing production.

The Euro, the Dollar, the Ruble, and the Hryvnia

Russia’s strikes on Ukrainian port infrastructure and transportation links, including cargo transports by rail and road, aim at hobbling the Ukrainian economy. Compounded by European Union carbon tariffs that affect Ukraine’s metallurgy industry in particular, Ukraine is set, by one estimate, to lose $4.7 billion between this year and 2030.

And while the Russian economy certainly has rough waters ahead, it has largely avoided the implosion many predictions forecast for one of the world’s most-sanctioned economies.

Ukraine is entering what may be the war’s most difficult winter.

To survive, it will need broad coordination among its allies to ensure it has enough air-defense interceptors and enough money to keep the country afloat.

About the Author: Caleb Larson

Caleb Larson is an American multimedia journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the shifting battle lines in Donbas and the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.

In this article:Drones, featured, Military, Missiles, Putin, Russia, Ukraine, War in Ukraine

Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war's shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war's civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.

THE GUARDIAN - Germany is right to rearm. But Europe has well-founded fears about that - Paul Taylor - Thu 8 Oct 2026 06.00 CEST

 THE GUARDIAN

Germany is right to rearm. But Europe has well-founded fears about that

Paul Taylor

Berlin’s allies are right to be wary of a sudden surge in 

German military spending that shuns cooperation with them

Thu 8 Oct 2026 06.00 CEST

619

When the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, visited the White House earlier this year for a high-stakes meeting with Donald Trump, he invited a Washington-based German researcher little known outside expert circles to a private dinner.

Liana Fix had caught his eye with a forthright essay in the journal Foreign Affairs warning of the perils of Germany becoming “Europe’s next hegemon”, whose military dominance may come to scare its neighbours and divide Europe once again. That concern might seem far-fetched after three decades since the fall of the Berlin Wall, during which a peace-loving reunited Germany let its armed forces wither and rust, prided itself on being a “civil power” and preached a gospel of military restraint.

Yet the combination of a sudden surge in German rearmament, growing doubts over the United States’ willingness to remain the guarantor of European security through Nato, and the rise of the far-right nationalist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, currently leading in opinion polls, has reignited old anxieties among Berlin’s neighbours, especially Poland and France.

Fix, a historian and senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, has built her argument into a timely and incisive book, Germany Rearmed: The Return of War and the End of Illusions. Among the fallen myths she skewers are not just the delusion that economic interdependence would make Russia a benign partner for Europe, which collapsed with Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but also the end of what she calls “the illusion of the west”, which had been central to Germany’s identity and foreign policy since 1945. “It is not that Germany wants to leave the west, but the west seems to be abandoning Germany, in particular the US-led western order,” Fix told me in an interview.

To guard against any hegemonic temptation, she urges Berlin to anchor its future military power in closer European unification by helping to finance European defence through joint defence bonds, embracing a Europeanisation of the continent’s national arms industries, and deepening the integration of the Bundeswehr into European armed forces.

There is little sign so far that Merz, whose first defence strategy, released in April, vowed to make Germany Europe’s strongest conventional army by 2039, is heeding her advice.

Struggling with unpopularity, economic stagnation and a rising cost of living, the conservative chancellor has ruled out issuing eurobonds to fund European defence. His government scrapped two big arms cooperation projects with France – a next-generation fighter aircraft and a tank. Planned arms purchases worth €123.3bn notified to parliament last month are overwhelmingly from national and US industries, with only scraps for European partners.

To be sure, all Berlin’s armed forces are committed to Nato, unlike France’s, and it has invited allies to join its European Sky Shield air and missile defence programme. Germany is the biggest donor of financial and military assistance to Ukraine. It is working with the UK on deep precision strike weapons. And it has stationed a brigade in Lithuania to help protect Europe’s eastern flank in the first permanent deployment outside its territory since 1945.

Defence industrial nationalism is by no means confined to Germany. France and the UK are equally protective of their national arms makers. The EU’s defence commissioner, Andrius Kubilius, laments that up to 80% of European defence purchases are made by direct awards with national prime contractors without a competitive tender, exploiting a security exemption in the EU treaty.

The fact that German rearmament coincides with a severe slump in core manufacturing industries such as cars, chemicals and machinery is an extra reason to “buy national”. But Berlin, once on the frontline of east-west confrontation, is now cushioned by a buffer zone of central European allies and should have an interest in helping them invest in their own defence. For practical reasons, it’s better to help equip friends and neighbours to intercept drones and missiles before they reach Germany rather than waiting to shoot them all down over Berlin and Frankfurt.

Fix is right to argue that because of its dark history and its weight in the middle of Europe, Germany must do more than others to reassure its neighbours and to embed its rearmament in common European industrial, political and military structures. As Timothy Garton Ash has argued in the Guardian, that is what Helmut Kohl achieved a generation ago by anchoring German reunification in a common European currency.

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Otherwise, the question of German power and its political uses is bound to return sooner or later, especially if the Russia-friendly AfD, which opposes assistance for Ukraine and advocates withdrawal from the EU, continues to gain ground in German elections.

“The German question is not dead,” Fix told me. “It’s dead in the sense that a militaristic Germany will not re-emerge under a centralised government. But the German question can also just be a question of dominance and of balance. And this is the thinking we unfortunately have to revive.”

• Paul Taylor is a senior visiting fellow at the European Policy Centre

UANI (United Against Nuclear IRAN ) - October 8, 2026 - Military Ordered to Be Ready for Possible Iran Strikes as Trump Weighs Timing | Axios and more...

Eye on Iran—October 8, 2026 TOP STORIES   Military Ordered to Be Ready for Possible Iran Strikes as Trump Weighs Timing | Axios   “The Pentagon instructed U.S. Central Command several days ago to conclude preparations for resuming major combat operations in Iran, U.S. officials said. . . . The directive didn’t include a specific date for launching strikes, and President Trump hasn’t made any final decisions. But U.S. and Israeli sources say it could happen before the U.S. midterm elections and possibly the Israeli elections a week earlier. . . . If major combat operations resume, they’re expected to include massive bombing of Iranian energy, infrastructure and nuclear targets, sources say. . . . If major combat operations resume, they will most likely be with the U.S. and Israel working in tandem and with the Israeli military participating. The two Israeli officials said the Iranian regime is desperate and paranoid, which might lead it to strike first.”   Iran’s Drones Reveal US Military Weakness | Politico   “The abrupt evacuation of American bombers from a key U.K. airbase underscores the extreme vulnerability facing the world’s most powerful fighting force and its NATO allies—as cheap drones and off-the-shelf tech transform warfare. . . . The increase of relatively cheap technologies made with commercially available parts—such as Shahed drones or AI-enabled devices—is forcing a reckoning at the Pentagon about how to more quickly buy and develop anti-drone weapons and missile interceptors.”   Sources: Hezbollah Gets $200 Million from Iran to Help Displaced  Lebanese | Reuters   “Hezbollah has received $200 million from Iran to help Lebanese people displaced by this year’s war with Israel, say two people with direct knowledge of the transfer, the first significant aid from the group to supporters who bore the brunt of the conflict. Hezbollah received the cash last month despite a tightening US economic chokehold on Iran and increasing difficulties in getting funds to Tehran’s Lebanese ally, the people say.”   UANI IN THE NEWS   Iranian Containership Performs Double U-Turn in English Channel | TradeWinds   “An Iranian-owned and operated container ship performed a double U-turn in the English Channel after calling at a Russian port, ship-tracking shows. . . . The changes of course were first identified by United Against Nuclear Iran, a campaign group. It said: ‘The Dover Strait is a mandatory reporting area and ships passing through the UK section may be required to provide proof of valid insurance when requested by UK authorities, even if they are not calling at a UK port.’”   Iran’s Shadow Fleet: How Sanctioned Oil Is Moving Through Malaysia’s Waters | Business Standard   “Now, more than seven months into the war with Iran, Washington is increasingly taking aim at another target: maritime services providers in countries like Malaysia and Singapore, which it says are helping the Iranian vessels. ‘The shadow fleets can’t function without them,’ said Charlie Brown, a senior adviser to United Against Nuclear Iran, an advocacy group that tracks Iranian ships.”   Trump Faces a New Crisis in the Middle East with No Solution: America  Fears There Is No Leader in Tehran Calling the Shots | Steve Balestrieri for National Security Journal   “Many intelligence analysts believe Ahmad Vahidi, the IRGC’s commander-in-chief, is running the show. Kasra Aarabi, who tracks the IRGC for United Against Nuclear Iran, has argued since March that Vahidi is the main power in the regime, and says Western intelligence has since backed that up.”   SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS   Iran’s Economy in Deep Recession as Businesses Face Empty  Malls and Soaring Costs | IranWire   “A new wave of citizen and business-owner videos circulating on social media highlights severe market stagnation across Iran. Merchants and business owners from various trades depict empty shopping centers, inventory accumulating in warehouses, an inability to meet rent and payroll obligations, and forced shop closures. The central theme across these accounts points to a market in total paralysis, with commercial transactions virtually halted.”   Tehran Divided over $2 Billion Plan to Prop up Rial | Iran International   “Iran’s central bank is offering as much as $2 billion in cash dollars to the public in an effort to slow the rial’s slide, triggering a fierce debate over whether the intervention can stabilize the currency or merely burn through increasingly scarce foreign reserves.”   Parsian Exchange Transferred Millions of Dollars for Iran Despite  Sanctions | Iran International   “Iran’s Bank Parsian, under US sanctions, used its foreign-exchange arm to move millions of dollars abroad through a network of intermediaries, according to an Iran International investigation based on leaked internal correspondence and transaction records. The documents, covering the period from November 2022 to May 2023, show how Iran’s central bank and other financial institutions used Parsian Exchange, also known as Sarrafi Parsian, to facilitate payments outside Iran.”   MILITARY MATTERS & SHIPPING   Tanker Hit by Multiple Projectiles in Gulf off Qatar, Maritime Agency  Says | BBC News   “A tanker has been struck by ‘multiple projectiles’ north of Qatar in the Gulf, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency. The incident happened 51 nautical miles (94km) from Madinat al-Shamal and there were casualties reported, the UKMTO said. Maritime intelligence firm Vanguard identified the vessel as the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged oil and chemical tanker Acers, which was reported as laden with cargo on Saturday as it sailed towards the Strait of Hormuz waterway, which connects the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman.”   Hormuz Traffic Falls to Lowest in More than Two Months | Iran International   “Vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell to its lowest level in more than two months after a surge in attacks on tankers, shipping data cited by Reuters showed on Thursday.”   81 US Military Aircraft, Drones Damaged During Iran War: Report | The  Hill   “At least 81 U.S. military aircraft and drones have been damaged or destroyed since the war against Iran began early this year, according to a new report prepared for members of Congress. The Monday report, produced by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), showed the military has sustained losses of uncrewed platforms, including 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones, three MQ-1 Predator drones and one MQ-4C Triton long-endurance aircraft.”   Kpler Suspects Gulf Producers Are Paying Iran for Safe Passage | OilPrice.com   “According to Michelle Brohard, head of policy and geopolitical risk at Kpler, certain Gulf nations could have quietly struck deals with Iran to keep their oil flowing on fears that they cannot rely indefinitely on Washington to keep Tehran at bay. ‘I suspect there is a toll that’s being paid, which is giving these ships safe passage,’ Brohard said in an interview with energy analyst Rory Johnston last week. ‘I also suspect that these countries know that this is unsustainable from a perspective of [the] US escorting [ships], and also unsustainable from them paying Iran 10 percent of their cargo, or 20 percent of their cargo. So you’re starting to see like what I would call like a race to get out as much as possible, as quickly as possible before the war restarts,’ she added.”   Iranian Official Says ‘Illegal Routes’ in Strait of Hormuz to Soon Be  Blocked | Reuters   “Transit routes in the Strait of Hormuz deemed illegal by Iran will soon be closed, an adviser to the Revolutionary Guards’ Commander told the semi-official Fars News ‌Agency on Wednesday, referring to the southern pathway hugging Oman's coast. . . . ‘The Strait of Hormuz is closed, and the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran have full control over it. This situation will continue until Iran’s legitimate demands are met,’ he added.”   DIPLOMACY    Trump Says He Is Not Keen on a Deal with Iran as U.S. Reportedly  Prepares for ‘Massive Bombing’ | CNBC   “U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he no longer wants a deal with Iran, following reports that the U.S. military is preparing for possible strikes against the country, likely before the midterm election. ‘I think the deal isn’t really something that I want to do, but they’re willing to offer us anything to stop,’ Trump said . . . Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, has been working on the deal and ‘doing very well,’ Trump added.”   US ‘Ideas’ on Iran’s Nuclear Work at Odds with Tehran’s Demands: Senior Iranian Official | Reuters   “Washington’s ‘requests and ideas’ about Iran’s nuclear program are at odds with Tehran’s demands, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday when asked about US Vice President JD Vance’s comment that Tehran must cut enrichment to end the war with Washington. . . . The official added that no negotiations had taken place with the US about Iran’s nuclear program and that Washington must first meet Tehran’s conditions before nuclear talks can start. The official said US recognition of Iran’s right to nuclear enrichment is Tehran’s red line, which ‘it will not show flexibility on in any way. However, he added that details of enrichment can be discussed later.’”   Under-Pressure Araghchi Defends Iran’s War Diplomacy | The National   “Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Arachghi on Wednesday defended his efforts to end the war with the US amid criticism from within political circles. Mr Araghchi fielded three hours of questions from members of Iran’s parliament, the Islamic Consultative Assembly, which could in theory hear a motion on his impeachment after it was filed by a critical MP. The case relates to claims that Mr Araghchi overstepped by holding a meeting with US officials in New York without the permission of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. . . . Mr Araghchi said the delegation he led at the UN General Assembly in New York had ‘explained Iran’s positions in the most eloquent and authoritative manner possible.’ He said his team had followed the instructions of ‘competent authorities’ in Iran.”   TERRORISM & PROXY WARS   Iran Targeting US Military Bases in Germany, Weeks After Israel Warned Partners —Report | Jerusalem Post   “Iranian intelligence services are targeting US military bases in Germany, including Ramstein and Spangdahlem, amid concerns over potential covert attacks linked to the Iran conflict, German news outlet WirtschaftsWoche reported on Thursday. Israel warned US and German partners three weeks ago of a potential threat, with concern focused on bases supporting US military operations and logistics linked to the conflict with Iran, the report said, citing several unnamed Western intelligence officials.”   Syria Considering Sending Troops to Yemen to Fight Houthis | Axios   “Saudi Arabia and Syria are discussing sending Syrian troops to Yemen to join the counteroffensive against the Houthi rebels, three U.S. officials told Axios. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is seriously considering it, but he hasn’t decided.”   Hezbollah Recruitment Network in Iran Exposed, Four Safe Houses Identified | Iran International   “Hezbollah’s external operations unit has been recruiting foreign nationals in Iran and using safe houses in Qom and Tehran to train and shelter recruits, according to information obtained by Iran International. Information provided to Iran International by an international intelligence agency shows that Hezbollah began contacting foreign students at Al-Mustafa International University five years ago. Those recruited have received training in weapons handling, sabotage, cyberattacks and espionage. The recruitment operation is conducted in coordination with the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force and targets students at Al-Mustafa.”   TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION   No Safe Haven: How Iran and Russia Target Exile Enemies | Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty   “On a Thursday lunchtime in early March, Milad Pourtalebian came home to find his apartment had been broken into and trashed. He then noticed a chilling detail suggesting that this was not a burglary: His ‘Make Iran Great Again’ baseball cap had been skewered to the wall with a large kitchen knife. Pourtalebian is an Iranian citizen who, since arriving in Canada in 2024, has been organizing exile opposition rallies in his adopted hometown of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The break-in, days after US and Israeli air strikes launched a war with Iran, followed a series of online threats to the 32-year-old relating to his activities. . . . Photos, police documents, and social media screenshots shared by Pourtalebian with RFE/RL give a sense that, despite being thousands of kilometers from Iran, he is not beyond the reach of the country's security services.”   PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS   Iran’s Wartime Hunt for Protesters at Home and Abroad Ushers in a New Era of Repression | Reuters   “A Reuters examination of cases involving protesters since January points to a coordinated campaign by Iran’s security apparatus, judiciary and state broadcaster to instill a climate of fear, especially among the families of the accused. Inside Iran, the campaign is carried out by fast-track executions that are announced online and in broadcasts, closed-door proceedings, and mass prosecutions. Iran’s security apparatus is also reaching across borders to target Iranians who protested from exile. Interviews with dozens of Iranians in Armenia, Turkey and Georgia reveal how Iran is curbing opposition abroad by threatening family members in Iran, cancelling passports and withholding consular services.”   Iran Parliament Votes to Criminalise Interviews with ‘Hostile’ Foreign Media | Euronews Persian   “Iran’s parliament voted 174 to six on Tuesday to pass an article banning Iranian nationals from giving interviews to or participating in discussions with media outlets designated as ‘hostile’ by the Intelligence Ministry, or with outlets owned, managed or funded by operatives connected to countries classified as adversaries of the Islamic Republic. Violations of Article 22 of the bill on ‘countering the penetration of intelligence services and foreign governments or entities’ carry sixth-degree penalties under the Islamic Penal Code, including imprisonment of more than six months up to two years, fines, 31 to 74 lashes, deprivation of social rights and other restrictions.”   Till Death Us Do Part: Iran’s Prisoners Marry Before the Gallows | Times of London   “here was no white dress, bridal bouquet or wedding party. The bride and groom were not even in the same room. They were in separate prison cells in Isfahan, and one of them was waiting to be executed. Still, Alireza Sepahi and Mahshad Keshani were determined to get married. Sepahi, a 25-year-old protester facing four death sentences, and Keshani, a 22-year-old student activist serving five years in prison, knew and loved each other before they were arrested. Last Sunday, as fears mounted that Sepahi could be executed within hours, they decided to marry and asked Amirsalar Davoudi, a rights lawyer in Tehran, to help them. . . . But the wedding had no formal power to overturn Sepahi’s death sentences, and the Iranian authorities were set on following through. On Monday morning, only hours after the wedding, he was hanged.”   EUROPE & IRAN   France Summons Iranian Ambassador over Alleged Disinformation on Student Protests | IranWire   “The French government summoned the Iranian ambassador in Paris on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, to protest what it termed a ‘disinformation campaign’ conducted by Iranian officials concerning France’s student movement. . . . This diplomatic friction unfolded a day after the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the French ambassador in Tehran on Tuesday, criticizing the ‘handling of French protesters by security forces.’” United Against Nuclear Iran (“UANI”) is a nonprofit and non-partisan policy organization formed to combat the threats posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran.  UANI depends on the generosity of its supporters. If you value what we do, please consider making a donation. Donate