U.S. and Israel Launch Major Attack on Iran

EagerBeaver said:

Iran Security Chief "Eliminated":

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The Islamic world has been trapped in a long, slow decline for hundreds of years. But for the last 47 years, since the mullahs took over in Iran, the decline has accelerated and worsened. There are glimmers of hope for a reversal of fortune in some Muslim countries, such as the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia, but until Iran and its proxies are decisively defeated, the decline of the Islamic world will continue.

The Crumbling House of Islam​

Religious Fundamentalism and the Crisis of the Muslim World

The House of Islam – the term in the Islamic tradition by which those parts of the world are described in which Islam is the dominant religion – currently finds itself in a troubling state of disrepair; compared to its own past, compared to the West, but increasingly also compared to other parts of the non-Western world. As late as the early 1970s, there were no significant gaps between Islamic countries and the rest of the non-Western world in terms of democracy, human rights, political violence or economic development. Since then, however, while many non-Islamic countries in Asia, Latin America, Eastern and Southern Europe, as well as some in sub-Saharan Africa have made important progress, most Islamic countries have stagnated or even moved in a reverse direction. That this divergence has taken shape in the last fifty years indicates that its causes are not intrinsic to the nature of Islam. The crucial development has been the rise of Islamic religious fundamentalism, which achieved a breakthrough in the year 1979, with the simultaneous occurrence of the revolution in Iran, the occupation by jihadists of the Great Mosque in Mecca, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

I identify and provide empirical evidence for three central mechanisms through which fundamentalist interpretations of Islam produce adverse outcomes concerning democracy, human rights, political violence, and economic development.

First, the rejection of a separation between religion and state, which has resulted in a combination of a politicization of Islam and an Islamization of the state, with negative consequences for democracy, violent conflict, and the rights of minorities.

Second, the Islamic world has failed to partake in what is perhaps the most important social and economic innovation of the second half of the 20th century, the emancipation of women. Muslim countries dominate the bottom ranks in global comparisons of the legal position of women as well as female labour-market participation and literacy rates, with negative consequences for economic development.

Third, Islamic fundamentalism promotes the primacy of religious over secular knowledge. Muslim-majority countries have fallen behind in the educational and cognitive revolution of the post-World-War-II period, as indicated for instance by low levels of book production and patents, and illiteracy levels that continue to be twice as high as in the non-Muslim world.

Who was Larijani? Amit Segal explains:

Israel has beheaded the snake, again. In a strike unprecedented since three weeks ago, Israel eliminated senior regime figures, the head of the paramilitary Basij forces, his deputy, and most prominently, Ali Larijani—Iran’s most senior military official.

Since August 2025, Larijani had headed the Supreme National Security Council, Iran’s highest security body. Israel promoted him again last month, eliminating most of his superiors and leaving him as the highest-ranking security official still standing. Since that day, he had been viewed as one of, if not the most powerful man in the regime.

As head of the SNSC, he sat at the center of Iran’s war effort. After Israel beheaded the regime’s leadership, he was one of the few remaining figures capable of convening the emergency council—one he may not have participated in directly, but over which he almost certainly wielded significant influence. He was also likely among the shadowy IRGC commanders standing behind the maimed Mojtaba Khamenei, pulling the strings of the new supreme leader.

Larijani unwisely tempted Israel. On Friday, he appeared publicly in Tehran alongside the president and other senior officials at the Al-Quds Day march. Surrounded by civilians, he felt comfortable enough to mock Israel and the U.S. strikes on Tehran as signs of their “desperation.” The appearance was almost certainly choreographed by the IRGC to project continuity and resolve in a moment of pressure and collapse. Unfortunately for the IRGC’s PR team, they underestimated Israel.

Though I’m sure the New York Times will mourn the loss of another moderate, allow me to explain who this man actually was.

Like many in the IRGC, Larijani quietly embraced the luxuries of the West. Until last month, his daughter, Fatemeh Larijani, was an assistant professor at a university [Emory] in Atlanta. His nephew Hadi is a professor at Glasgow Caledonian University’s technology center in the UK. Hadi’s brother Sina is a director at the Royal Bank of Canada in Vancouver.

While his family enjoyed the fruits of his corruption, Larijani was massacring Iranians for daring to want the same. His name is closely tied to the suppression of both the 2009 and 2026 protests. According to U.S. intelligence, he was a key architect of the crackdown that killed upwards of 30,000 protesters—greatly assisted by the other officials eliminated last night, such as Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij, and his deputy.

With all the blood on his hands, I think I will quote Iranian-Australian broadcaster Rita Panahi’s statement after Khamenei’s assassination.

Panahi’s remarks were delivered in Persian, but roughly translated, I would like to say to Larijani, “Your father is a d*g, dirt be on your head and burn in hell.”

Here's a great video that explains how the U.S. has used B2 Bombers to drop bunker buster bombs on another Iranian nuke factory.

Given the rate at which Israel is eliminating Iran's military and civilian leadership, it's hard to know who is already in paradise with 72 virgins and who is waiting his turn to get there. Here's a convenient scorecard from the WSJ to help keep track of the targets. BTW, Israel announced earlier today that intelligence chief Khatib was eliminated so this scorecard is already a little out of date.