Israel / Iran | Deceptive normality

The Israeli government has lifted the restrictions in place during the war. Following the order of Defense Minister Israel Katz, "full activity should resume in all areas of the country" starting Tuesday evening, the Israeli military said. The order is initially in effect until Thursday evening and will be reviewed thereafter.

In Iran, President Massoud Peseschkian has also promised people a return to normal life, including internet access. In a message to the nation, Peseschkian spoke of the "end of a twelve-day war" imposed on the Iranian people by Israel and praised his country's resistance . "Starting today, the government and the relevant institutions will begin reconstruction and restore normalcy."

In this case, normalcy also means massive repression : The Iranian secret service has arrested more than 700 Iranians accused of acting as agents for Israel during the war, reported the Fars news agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guard. Alleged spies have also reportedly been executed. According to the state news agency Irna , three men were hanged in West Azerbaijan province on Wednesday. According to the Iranian judiciary, they had brought "assassination equipment" to Iran for the Israeli military.

Is the Iranian government now more conciliatory regarding its nuclear program after the war? The Iranian parliament wants to temporarily suspend cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The state broadcaster IRIB reported on a corresponding resolution. Two key bodies still have to approve the move: the National Security Council and the Guardian Council. The Security Council is considered the most important political decision-making body in the country and is headed by religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

According to the decision, the country will not allow IAEA inspectors into the country until the "safety" of the nuclear facilities is guaranteed. To do so, the IAEA must condemn the US and Israeli attacks on the nuclear facilities and recognize Iran's nuclear program, said Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf. "The IAEA, which has not even formally condemned the attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, has jeopardized its international credibility."

It is very difficult to determine from the outside how intact Iran's nuclear facilities still are. Reports on the extent of the destruction vary extremely. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi , is pushing for a rapid resumption of nuclear inspections in Iran. "This is a top priority," he said on the sidelines of a security crisis meeting with the Austrian government in Vienna. However, he admitted that the investigation of war-damaged facilities is difficult. US President Donald Trump still assumes that the US bombing completely destroyed Iran's nuclear facilities. "I think it was a total obliteration," he told journalists at the NATO summit in The Hague. He also does not believe that Iran would have had time to remove enriched uranium beforehand, "because we acted quickly."

According to an intelligence report, the US attacks in Iran only set back the nuclear program by a few months. An initial assessment concludes that the weekend bombing failed to completely destroy the underground nuclear facilities, as reported by the New York Times and CNN. They cited officials familiar with the "top secret" report from the National Intelligence Agency (DIA). According to CNN, the attack set back the Iranian nuclear program by less than six months. Trump called it "fake news."

Despite the ceasefire, nothing seems to have changed for Israel. Despite the "enormous achievements" in the fight against Iran's nuclear program and missile arsenal, the Israeli government has no intention of "taking its foot off the pedal," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He wants to "finish the fight against the Iranian axis ," defeat the associated Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and free all hostages.

"Now the focus is back on Gaza – to bring the hostages home and overthrow the Hamas regime," said Israel's Chief of Staff Ejal Zamir. Relatives of the abductees, however, are calling for an end to the Gaza war: "We call on the government to urgently begin negotiations to return all hostages and end the war," said a statement from the hostage relatives' forum. "Anyone who can achieve a ceasefire with Iran can also end the war in Gaza."

Meanwhile, Palestinian sources say 25 civilians were killed near a humanitarian aid distribution center north of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip when Israeli soldiers opened fire on people waiting . The Israeli army is unaware of the incident. With agencies