Iran’s President signals surrender as he admits he can’t fix crises
In rare candor, President Masoud Pezeshkian says Iran’s problems are self-inflicted and urges officials and provinces not to expect solutions from him.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has publicly conveyed what amounts to a near abdication of responsibility, openly telling Iranians that he is unable to solve the country’s mounting crises.
In a series of strikingly candid speeches cited in a New York Times report, Pezeshkian has repeatedly signaled that he has exhausted both options and authority. Speaking to students and academics in early December, he dismissed expectations for leadership outright. “If someone can do something, by all means go for it,” he said. “I can’t do anything; don’t curse me.”
In meetings with senior officials, Pezeshkian reportedly acknowledged that the government is “stuck, really badly stuck,” adding that “from the first day we came, catastrophes are raining down, and it hasn’t stopped.” The remarks, delivered publicly and on camera, have been widely interpreted as an admission of surrender in the face of Iran’s overlapping crises.
Rather than presenting a path forward, Pezeshkian has placed responsibility elsewhere, arguing that Iran’s predicament is the product of years of mismanagement, corruption, and political infighting. “The problem is us,” he said on several occasions, explicitly rejecting the notion that the country’s failures could be blamed primarily on the United States or Israel, according to the report.
His sense of resignation was underscored this month when he told provincial governors to assume that the central government “did not exist” and to deal with their problems on their own. “Why should I solve them?” he asked. “You shouldn’t think that the president can make miracles happen.”
The New York Times noted that footage of these remarks spread rapidly across Iranian media and social networks, reinforcing public perceptions that the president has effectively stepped back from governing. Critics across the political spectrum have accused him of projecting weakness at a time of severe national strain.
Pezeshkian, who assumed office in September 2024 after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi, has repeatedly emphasized the limits of his power, stressing that ultimate authority rests with Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. According to The New York Times, he has shown little hesitation in publicly acknowledging his subordination on key policy issues.
Despite his bleak assessments and statements suggesting institutional paralysis, Pezeshkian has insisted he will remain in office. “I will stand until the end,” he said, even as he continued to warn that Iran’s situation is dire and largely beyond his control, the report concluded.
MIT nuclear researcher may have been assassinated in his home in targeted attack by Iranian operative, Israel says
A world-renowned MIT nuclear science professor who was murdered in his home may have been assassinated by an Iranian operative, Israeli officials said.
Loureiro specialized in nuclear science, engineering and physics and he had previously spoken out in favor of Israel.
Now, Israeli officials have said Iranian operatives may have targeted the leading nuclear fusion researcher, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Loureiro was considered one of the world's leading researchers in energy and nuclear physics and was spearheading efforts to develop future technologies.
Married father-of-three Nuno F.G. Loureiro, 47, was gunned down at his home in a leafy Boston suburb.
The 'brilliant' professor was the director of MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center, an institution with more than 250 full-time researchers.
Loureiro took on the role last year, amid a storied career at MIT after obtaining degrees at Imperial College London and Princeton.
His murder came two days after the shooting which killed two students at Brown University in Providence, located just 50 miles south of the professor's home.
Loureiro's neighbor and friend, Louise Cohen, said she discovered his body after hearing shots disturb the peace of their beautiful area on Gibbs Street.
Cohen said she was lighting a menorah candle when she heard gunshots fired. She rushed to the hallway of their building and found Loureiro lying on his back.
Loureiro specialized in nuclear science, engineering and physics, and he had previously spoken out in favor of Israel
Loureiro's neighbor and friend, Louise Cohen, said she discovered his body after hearing gunshots disturb the peace of their beautiful area on Gibbs Street in Brookline (pictured)
Loureiro's neighbors remembered him as a kind-hearted, 'wonderful man', while students flocked to a candle-lit vigil in his memory
Loureiro's neighbors remembered him as a kind-hearted, 'wonderful man', while students flocked to the candle-lit vigil in his memory
The professor's heartbroken wife was also in the entry along with another neighbor, and they scrambled to dial 911. Loureiro was taken to hospital but died the next day.
'I can't sleep now,' Cohen told the Boston Globe. 'This family is so amazing. I can't imagine anyone wanting to kill him... Should we be afraid now?'
Cohen uses a walking stick and she said Loureiro's family often helps her carry her groceries up the stairs to her unit, which is located directly above theirs.
Other residents remembered Loureiro as a kind-hearted, 'wonderful man', while students flocked to the candle-lit vigil in his memory.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology paid tribute to him as, 'a lauded theoretical physicist and fusion scientist'.
Loureiro specialized in nuclear science, engineering and physics. He leaves behind 'many devoted students, friends, and colleagues', according to his MIT obituary.
Loureiro (pictured teaching a class) was considered one of the world's leading researchers in energy and nuclear physics, and he was spearheading efforts to develop future technologies
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology paid tribute to Loureiro as 'a lauded theoretical physicist and fusion scientist' who became the director of the college's Plasma Science and Fusion Center in 2024, an institution with more than 250 full-time researchers
His academic career started at the Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon, Portugal, where he gained a physics degree.
Loureiro obtained a doctorate in physics from Imperial College London in 2005, before starting post-doctoral work at Princeton later that year.
He also worked at the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s Culham Centre for Fusion Energy between 2007 and 2009.
Israel examining possibility Iran involved in murder of nuclear scientist in US
Israeli officials are examining intelligence from recent days that suggests an Iranian connection to the murder of Prof. Nuno Loureiro, a senior nuclear scientist at MIT, who was shot dead in his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, on Monday evening.
The Israeli investigation is being conducted against the backdrop of Loureiro's sensitive field of research. He was considered one of the world's leading researchers in energy and nuclear physics and has served in key roles at research centers related to the development of future technologies.
Loureiro's death shocked the international academic community. MIT's administration issued a statement of condolence, noting his extraordinary scientific contributions and his status as a "brilliant researcher and dedicated teacher."
Colleagues and students described a man who was at the forefront of global research and worked to advance advanced energy solutions.
Brown shooting suspect's car spotted near MIT professor's home in bombshell link between school slayings as manhunt intensifies
The gunman who opened fire at Brown University over the weekend rented a vehicle that was later found near the scene of a murdered MIT professor.
The rented vehicle is the same make and model as a car identified in connection with the shooting death of Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Nuno Loureiro.
Cops now have a warrant out for a suspect's arrest as they search for him in Salem, New Hampshire - 85 miles away from Brown University, where two students were killed last week.
Authorities have now identified the gunman, whose face they have been attempting to find with the help of grainy surveillance footage.
A name for the person of interest has not yet been released to the public, and no one is in custody.
The Brown University shooting which killed two students and the assassination of an MIT professor two days later are connected. (Pictured: Victim Ella Cook)
Claudio Neves-Valente, 48, who attended Brown University from 2000 to 2001, has been unmasked as the gunman who opened fire at the school on December 13
Armed police officers gathered outside of a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire on Thursday, where a vehicle that was rented to Neves Valente was found abandoned
There was a heavy police presence outside of the storage facility
Authorities identified the suspected Brown gunman as Claudio Neves-Valente, 48
New details revealed: How the Mossad took out 11 Iranian nuclear scientists
A new documentary details the Israeli operation to eliminate key figures involved in Iran’s nuclear research.
The Washington Post and PBS Frontline have released a joint documentary detailing the planning and execution of Israel’s June military campaign against Iran’s nuclear program, including a covert operation targeting senior Iranian nuclear scientists.
According to the report, Israeli forces launched coordinated strikes as part of a broader campaign aimed at Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, missile capabilities, and air defenses. Central to the effort was what Israeli officials described as a campaign to eliminate key figures involved in Iran’s nuclear research, an operation carried out alongside widespread air and intelligence activity.
The documentary reports that Israeli strikes killed multiple senior Iranian nuclear scientists during the opening days of the conflict, including Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi and former atomic energy chief Fereydoun Abbasi. Israel said a total of 11 leading scientists were killed over the course of the operation.
The Washington Post and PBS Frontline state that their investigation is based on interviews with current and former officials from Israel, Iran, the US, and Arab states, many speaking anonymously. Officials cited in the documentary assessed that Iran’s nuclear program was significantly damaged but not eliminated, despite claims by President Donald Trump that it had been completely destroyed.
The report also documents civilian casualties resulting from some of the strikes, citing independent verification conducted by The Washington Post and investigative researchers. Israeli officials told the filmmakers that extensive measures were taken to reduce civilian harm, while Iranian authorities reported hundreds of civilian deaths from the campaign.
The documentary further describes the intelligence preparations behind the operation, including years of surveillance, the use of agents inside Iran, and coordination between Israel and the US. The documentary also examines diplomatic efforts and disinformation tactics that preceded the strikes, as well as differing intelligence assessments regarding Iran’s nuclear progress.
The joint report concludes that while Iran retains nuclear knowledge and some enriched material, the strikes set back its program by several years, according to Israeli, US, and International Atomic Energy Agency officials interviewed for the documentary.
A senior counter-terrorism official has revealed that Sajid and Naveed Akram underwent military-style training overseas just weeks before the pair allegedly opened fire at the Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach.
The father and son travelled to the Philippines in November, a region that has been a hotspot for Islamist militants since the early 1990s, when terrorist training camps relocated from the Pakistan-Afghanistan border to southern Mindanao.
Sajid Akram, 50, and Naveed Akram, 24, arrived from Sydney on November 1 and left on November 28, a Bureau of Immigration spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday.
The southern Philippines has long been controlled by Abu Sayyaf, a violent group known for bombings, assassinations, extortion, and kidnappings for ransom.
For years, it was also a main training base for Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiah, the group behind the Bali bombings that killed 202 people including 88 Australians.
In January, the Australian government provided Philippine law enforcement agencies in Mindanao with new facilities, including a bomb data centre and forensic explosives laboratory to combat terrorism and improve security.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official told the ABC that investigators are now probing the Akrams' ties to an international jihadist network after discovering the pair flew from Davao to Manila, before flying back to Sydney on November 28.
Naveed (left) and his father Sajid (right) stood on a footbridge connecting Campbell Parade to Bondi Pavilion on Sunday night, firing shots into a crowd of people celebrating the first day of Hanukkah on the iconic beach
The wreckage of the Sari nightclub in Kuta after the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 88 Aussies
Earlier reports revealed Naveed Akram, 24, had longstanding links to members of Australia's pro-Islamic State (IS) network, including notorious jihadist spiritual leader Wisam Haddad and convicted IS youth recruiter Youssef Uweinat.
Naveed had previously been on the radar of Australia's national spy agency ASIO following the arrest of a Sydney-based Islamic State terrorist in July 2019.
Both father and son pledged allegiance to IS before launching the Bondi Beach attack.
An IS-style flag was found in their car.
ASIO's interest in Naveed dates back to 2019, when police foiled an IS terror plot in Sydney.
The agency began monitoring Naveed after the July 2019 arrest of Isaak El Matari, an IS operative and self-declared Australian commander of the group.
El Matari is serving seven years in prison after planning an insurgency, attempting to recruit followers, acquire firearms, and rehearsing speeches ahead of a possible return to Afghanistan.
Naveed maintained close connections with El Matari and other members of the IS cell, several of whom have since been convicted of terrorism offences.
ASIO began monitoring Naveed Akram in July 2019 following the arrest of Isaak El Matari (pictured), an IS operative
Disturbing footage has emerged showing a 17-year-old Naveed preaching radical Islam on the streets of Sydney six years ago.
The teenager is seen in the video fervently delivering a sermon on the importance of strict religious observance, warning passersby that their actions would determine their fate on the Day of Judgement.
In the footage, Akram urges people to 'always pray' and to 'fulfill our obligations for law,' by strict adherence to radical interpretations of Islamic law.
'Whether it be raining, hailing or clear sky, Allah will reward you for whatever action you do in his course. This will save you on the Day of Judgement.
'So remember to always pray and fulfill our obligation to Allah.'
Footage has emerged of Bondi shooter Naveed Akram (pictured) preaching Islam on the streets of Sydney in 2017
Bondi Beach attack: Terrorists trained in Philippines before Hanukkah massacre
Security sources say the Bondi Beach terrorists trained with Islamist terrorists in the Philippines weeks before killing 15 people at a Hanukkah celebration.
Security sources have confirmed that Sajid and Naveed Akram, the father-son terrorists who killed 15 people at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on Sunday, had traveled to the Philippines to receive “military-style training” just weeks before the attack.
24-year-old Naveed Akram had maintained longstanding ties to figures in Australia’s pro-Islamic State (ISIS) network, including notorious jihadist preacher Wisam Haddad and convicted IS youth recruiter Youssef Uweinat.
Investigators are now examining whether the Akrams were part of a broader international jihadist network after discovering the pair had traveled to Manila in early November.
A senior counter-terrorism official said Naveed and Sajid Akram subsequently traveled to the southern Philippines, where they underwent training. The pair returned to Australia in late November, only weeks before Sunday’s massacre.
Israeli intelligence officials believe that the massacre in Sydney was carried out by a foreign terrorist cell supported by Iran.
The manner in which the attack was carried out indicates a link to characteristics identified with a unit of the terrorist organization Hezbollah - the operational arm for attacks outside Lebanon. Israel is also examining possible links to Hamas and other terrorist organizations.
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