“New anti-regime protests break out at universities across Tehran and elsewhere, after campuses reopen; footage shows clashes between students and Basij militia forces”
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American refueler and cargo planes were spotted at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on Monday, amid a massive US buildup of military forces ahead of a potential attack on Iran.
There was no comment from Israeli authorities regarding the American military deployment at Israel’s main civilian airport.
The Boeing KC-135 refuelers and C-17 Globemaster cargo planes had arrived at Ben Gurion over the course of the preceding day. It was unclear whether they were in the country temporarily as part of a stopover.
At least two refuelers had arrived from Al Udeid base in Qatar — the biggest US base in the Middle East — according to analysts monitoring open-source flight tracking information.
Around the same time, the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, was seen arriving at Crete’s Souda Bay, likely as part of a supply stop at the US Naval Support Activity base located there.
US President Donald Trump ordered the carrier strike group to the Middle East earlier this month to join another carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, that is already deployed to the region.
The US is holding talks with Iran over its nuclear program, but has threatened to attack if they do not bear fruit. Trump also vowed to help anti-government protesters in Iran, before the regime killed them en masse last month.
According to the Military Air Tracking Alliance, a team of about 30 open-source analysts that routinely analyzes military and government flight activity, more than 85 fuel tankers and over 170 cargo planes have headed into the region since mid-February.
It is the largest buildup of American military forces in the Middle East since the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, though that buildup dwarfed this one, and included a major ground force, which this one does not.
India’s foreign ministry urged its citizens Monday to leave Iran, citing the “evolving situation.”
The ministry estimates there are usually around 10,000 citizens in Iran, who it said “should exercise due caution, avoid areas of protests or demonstrations, stay in contact with the Indian embassy in Iran and monitor local media for any developments.”
Earlier, the US evacuated dozens of staffers from its embassy in Beirut, “as a precautionary measure amid anticipated regional developments.”
That move came at a time of growing speculation that the Hezbollah terror group, of which Iran is the principal sponsor, will attack Israel if the US strikes the Islamic Republic.
Renewed protests, clashes break out at Iranian universities
Inside Iran, at least eight new anti-regime protests erupted at universities in recent days, some of which have seen clashes with the Basij militia or students aligned with it.
They were the first large-scale demonstrations since the mass killing of anti-government protesters in January, mostly over January 8-9. Some 7,000 deaths have been confirmed, but estimates of the total number of those killed reach into the tens of thousands.
The new protests started when universities reopened on Saturday, after all in-person classes had been suspended January 4, with the regime officially citing cold weather as the reason, amid the unrest.
The BBC on Monday confirmed demonstrations at eight universities in Tehran since Saturday, as well as others in Isfahan and Mashhad.
In footage from a women’s university in the capital, students were seen burning the regime’s flag. Other campuses saw chants of “woman, life, freedom” – the slogan of a protest movement in 2022 that the regime repressed – and “long live the shah,” a reference to Reza Pahlavi, whose father was deposed in 1979.
Video from the Amirkabir University of Technology in the capital showed clashes between the protesters and members of the Basij paramilitary force. Another video, from the University of Tehran, showed Basij members trying to enter a building in which demonstrators were taking refuge.
A protester from Sharif University in Tehran told The Guardian that anti-government students and Basij-aligned students physically clashed Saturday and Sunday. Another student told the broadcaster that protests are expected to continue in the days to come.
Iran state media reported that a text message, of an unknown source, was sent out en masse on Monday, reading: “The US president is a man of action. Wait and see.”
As the earlier protests picked up steam, Trump vowed to intervene if the regime started shooting demonstrators. In the weeks since the regime did, the president has threatened to attack the country, but — with the exception of having thousands of Starlink terminals smuggled into Iran amid a regime-imposed internet blackout — the US is not known to have directly aided the protesters on the ground so far.
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Trump må snart reagere – det må koste uhyggelig mange $ at koncentrere så meget maritim/luft magt nær Iran – og Trump ved godt at Irans mullaher kun forhandler på skrømt ….
Trump tøver med at trykke på den røde knap, han vil så gerne have en aftale med mullaherne. Her kommer min ringe uddannelse ind: Kjoledrengene har indtil nu løbet fra alle aftaler, hvor skulle det være anderledes nu? Pas på ikke at stå som Chamberlain med knækflippen i postkassen. Er der nogen der vil oplyse mig?
Hej Slygraff
mit gæt er at Trump ville vente på at det andet hangarskib USS Ford var kommet.
Det undrer mig at det ligger ved Kreta – der er jo “lang vej” fra Kreta til Iran
Men Israel har jo vist at det ikke er et problem med mange tank-fly 🙂
Jeg tror ikke at USS Ford kan sejle gennem Suezkanalen, så det bliver nok der
mvh TrumfEs
mvh TrumfEs