Pro-Israel lobby group pressures ‘moderate’ US Democrat in new strategy

Critics claim AIPAC spending aims to intimidate candidates questioning unconditional US support for Israeli policies.

ByJoseph Stepansky

Published On 4 Feb 2026

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/4/aipac-linked-pac-ups-pressure-on-moderate-us-democrat-in-new-strategy

Washington, DC – A super PAC linked to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has made its first major venture into the United States midterm elections.

But this time around, the pro-Israel lobby group is not targeting a progressive candidate pushing to reset US-Israel policy, but a so-called “moderate” Democrat who tepidly questioned Washington’s unconditional military support amid the genocidal war on Gaza.

The $2.2m spending by the United Democracy Project (UDP) targeting former US Representative Tom Malinowski in advance of the Democratic primary in New Jersey on Thursday comes as polls have consistently shown surging dismay among Democratic voters over unwavering US support for Israel.

Amid shifting views, critics see the spending strategy as a wider message to candidates as they prepare for party primaries in the months in the run-up to the 2026 midterm elections, which will determine the makeup of the US Senate and House of Representatives.

“It shows that they are very concerned, obviously, about the shifting perspective of especially Democrats on funding for Israel, and they’re very, very keen to keep Democrats elected who are out of touch with the Democratic electorate more broadly,” Sadaf Jaffer, a former member of the New Jersey General Assembly, who has herself been a critic of Malinowski’s past refusal to take a harder line on Israel, told Al Jazeera.

Candidates in the 11-way primary are running to represent a largely suburban district in central New Jersey considered increasingly Democratic-leaning. The special election is scheduled for April 16.

However, UDP’s strategy appears focused on Malinowski; neither AIPAC nor its super PAC has explicitly endorsed candidate Tahesha Way, the former lieutenant governor of New Jersey, although she has won the endorsement of another pro-Israel lobby group, the Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI).

“It may be [AIPAC’s] sense is that this is a way to scare those in the middle of the road, who have started to express some concerns about what’s going on and the funding that’s being sent to Israel,” Jaffer said.

“It seems very excessive … but it may be an investment in trying to intimidate others who are watching,” she said.

A familiar strategy

Parts of the strategy have become familiar. In the US elections in 2024, the UDP poured about $35m into party primaries, with the biggest buys aimed at scuttling Democratic candidates who called for cutting off aid to Israel.

That included a combined $24m against progressive congressmembers Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush, who both lost their races to opponents running to their right.

Like the messaging targeting those candidates, the advertisement campaign against Malinowski has not specifically referenced Israel; instead, it focuses on more domestic issues, including Malinowski’s past stock trades and his 2019 vote in support of an annual Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill.

The line of criticism comes as support for US immigration, and the DHS sub-agency ICE, has tanked among Democratic voters amid the administration of US President Donald Trump’s mass deportation drive.

Usamah Andrabi, the communications director of Justice Democrats, an organisation that supports progressive candidates regularly targeted by AIPAC, called the approach particularly disingenuous, noting that AIPAC had previously endorsed Malinowski despite the DHS funding vote.

During his previous three runs for Congress, Malinowski received more than $378,000 from pro-Israel groups, including those affiliated with AIPAC.

“It’s interesting, as always, to see that again you’re not going to see a single television ad actually talking about their, quote ‘single issue’: Israel,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Tom Malinowski is no champion for progressive values or for the Palestinian people, but he is not going to ask ‘how high?’ when they say, ‘jump’,” Andrabi told Al Jazeera. “And that’s not enough for AIPAC. They truly demand unconditional support for their policies.”

Malinowski had previously served as Washington director of Human Rights Watch, which, during his tenure, lobbied for US aid not to be used in Israeli abuses of Palestinian rights.

But as a congressman from 2019 to 2023, Malinowski took a distinctly divergent path in Congress, including petitioning against conditioning US aid to Israel.

Malinowski, who also served as assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labour under former President Barack Obama, has further enraged pro-Palestine advocates by suggesting that using the terms “genocide” and “apartheid” to describe Israel’s approach towards Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank fuels anti-Jewish sentiment in the US.

Nevertheless, the candidate has become a vocal critic of AIPAC’s approach in advance of Thursday’s vote, condemning the “dark-money” influence on the race.

“I committed one sin in their minds,” Malinowski told a small group of supporters in mid-January, as reported by the New Jersey Globe news site.

“I was not willing to tell them that I would unconditionally, unquestionably, blindly support any request for assistance that Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu of Israel might make. That position puts me in the mainstream, not just of all Americans, but of the Jewish and pro-Israel community in this country,” he said.

‘A sour taste’

The UDP’s spending has also been condemned by other pro-Israel lobbying groups, including J Street, which supports Israel, but has staunchly criticised providing a “blank cheque” to the government of Prime Minister Netanyahu.

“It weakens bipartisan support, alienates the next generation – Jewish and non-Jewish alike – and ties Israel’s fate to the most corrosive elements of American politics,” Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of the group, which has endorsed Malinowski, said in a January post on Substack.

AIPAC and UDP did not respond to Al Jazeera’s requests for comment on the spending initiative’s objectives.

But Beth Miller, the political director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action, which advocates for Palestinian justice through US policy, saw the attack on Malinowski as in line with AIPAC’s increasing embrace of the Republican Party, which remains staunchly pro-Israel. She pointed to UDP’s history of relying on donations from wealthy conservatives to influence Democratic primaries.

Former assembly member Jaffer noted that the super PAC had not targeted Analilia Mejia, a progressive in the race who has won endorsements from US Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Some analysts have suggested AIPAC may see a win-win approach in targeting Malinowski, either leading to the success of a candidate like Way, who led the New Jersey-Israel Commission and has been embraced by many right-wing Israeli news outlets, or a candidate like Mejia, who could be seen as more vulnerable against a Republican in the general election.

Miller said the spending “should show every other candidate that there is no middle or centrist lane that will protect them from AIPAC spending attacks”.

“Democratic candidates watching the [New Jersey] special election should learn that the politically and morally correct move is to fully embrace Palestinian rights and demand an end to US complicity in Israel’s apartheid and genocide,” she told Al Jazeera.

Both Justice Democrats’ Andrabi and Jaffer, meanwhile, saw potential for the approach to backfire, particularly as AIPAC has become an increasingly toxic brand in some segments of the Democratic Party.

“It’s definitely the most I’ve heard people who are not particularly interested in Israel-Palestine talking about AIPAC,” Jaffer told Al Jazeera, adding that outside spending in the race has left a “sour taste” for some New Jersey residents.

Andrabi added that it was “interesting to see the moderates of the world and the corporate Dems becoming willing to comment on [AIPAC] now that one of their own is getting eaten alive by this spending”.

That comes as AIPAC and UDP have amassed a $100m war chest heading into 2026.

“What [AIPAC] is really doing is expanding the base of people who don’t like AIPAC and who will vote against candidates for being supported by AIPAC,” he said.

Israel kills 21 Palestinians in Gaza bombing, including infants

Meanwhile, Palestinian patients and wounded preparing to leave Gaza via Rafah are told their trips have been cancelled

By Elis Gjevori

Published date: 4 February 2026

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-kills-nine-gaza-including-three-children-and-kills-man-west-bank-raid-0

Israeli fighter jets bombed the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, killing at least 21 Palestinians, including three children, according to local hospitals.

At least 14 people were killed in Gaza City after Israeli forces shelled the eastern neighbourhoods of Zaytoun and Tuffah at dawn. 

Al Jazeera reported that at least two baby girls were among those killed in the attacks.

In the south, the Nasser Medical Complex said an Israeli strike hit tents housing displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis, killing three people, including a child.

The Israeli military said the strikes were in response to a Palestinian shooting at soldiers overnight that seriously wounded an officer.

Middle East Eye could not independently verify the claim.

There was no immediate comment from Hamas or other armed groups in Gaza.

Since the October agreement to end the war on Gaza, Israel has repeatedly violated the ceasefire, carrying out dozens of air strikes and demolitions and opening fire on civilians.

The Israeli army often says its troops have come under attack to justify wide-scale bombing, though it rarely provides evidence to support such claims.

According to the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli forces have killed at least 529 people since the ceasefire was announced and wounded around 1,500 others.

The ceasefire was intended to halt the two-year genocide in Gaza, during which Israeli forces killed at least 71,000 Palestinians, wound around 170,000, and destroyed or damaged roughly 90 percent of the enclave’s infrastructure.

Patients denied exit via Rafah crossing 

After the attacks on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent said that they were informed that coordination for the travel of patients and wounded through the Rafah crossing had been cancelled. 

The Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza was reopened earlier this week on a limited basis for the first time in nearly two years, operating under strict Israeli controls.

Under the new arrangement, 50 Palestinians were expected to return to Gaza daily, while 50 patients - each with two companions - were expected to leave for Egypt.  

The Palestinian Red Crescent spokesperson said preparations were under way for a third group of wounded people to leave on Wednesday before the trip was cancelled. 

The Israeli military denied that the Rafah crossing had been closed on Wednesday, blaming the delay in departures on the World Health Organization (WHO) for allegedly failing to submit the “required coordination details” for procedural reasons.

It said that once the necessary details are provided, the exit of travellers “will be facilitated”.

There was no immediate comment from WHO. 

The UN agency’s spokesperson, Christian Lindmeier, said on Tuesday that it began facilitating the exit of wounded people after the Rafah crossing reopened on Monday.

However, only five patients and seven of their companions were able to leave that day, far below the agreed daily quota.

Lindmeier said more than 18,500 patients are awaiting evacuation, including around 3,000 children. Many are suffering from war-related trauma, while others have chronic illnesses such as cancer and diabetes.

At the agreed rate of 50 patients leaving per day, it would take more than a year to evacuate all 18,500 patients.

“We know that patients have died while waiting for evacuation,” Lindmeier said. “That is horrific when you know that just a few kilometres beyond the border, help is available.”

West Bank killing

Separately, Israeli forces shot and killed a 24-year-old Palestinian man during a raid on the occupied West Bank city of Jericho on Tuesday, Palestinian officials said. Witnesses reported multiple injuries during the incursion.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the man as Saeed Nael Saeed al-Sheikh, saying he died after Israeli troops opened fire during the operation.

Riyad Eid, director of Jericho Governmental Hospital, told Wafa news agency that al-Sheikh suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen, causing severe internal damage.

“The young man, Saeed al-Sheikh, died from a gunshot to the abdomen by the occupation forces, which ruptured his liver,” Eid said.

The Ministry of Health said three other Palestinians were injured, with varying degrees of severity.

Trump on Iran: Will He, or Won’t He?

by Ron Paul | Feb 2, 2026 

https://original.antiwar.com/paul/2026/02/02/trump-on-iran-will-he-or-wont-he/

For the past month, Americans have been wondering whether President Trump will attack Iran, or whether the massive military build-up in the Middle East is just another bluff. President Trump claims that the decision is his alone to make.

Thus far, President Trump has made little effort to explain to the American people – or to Congress – why launching a war against Iran is in our national interest. Instead, he wanders from one reason to another, hoping something will stick. First it was a “nuclear threat” even though he swore that he had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program last summer. Then, after the CIA, Mossad, and UK’s MI6 launched a regime-change operation in the form of violent protests in late December, the excuse for war became the Iranian government’s crackdown on the insurrection. But before that could be used as the excuse, the Iranian government was able to quash the uprising. So President Trump returned to the issue of Iran’s nuclear program, while adding in the presence of Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Even by the low threshold for recent US military actions overseas, these arguments are unconvincing. That is why Americans are so skeptical. In a major poll last month, seven in ten Americans said they oppose any US military action against Iran.

When it comes to matters of war, where billions of dollars and countless lives are at stake, “will he, or won’t he” is a terrible question to have to ask. More than 250 years ago we rose up against a system where the king claimed the power to take us to war on his royal decision alone. Our Founding Fathers well understood the folly of concentrating so much power in the hands of one person and placed the power to take the country to war in the hands of the people’s direct representatives, Congress.

This Constitutional obligation has not only been usurped by the Executive Branch. Much blame must be reserved for Congress, which has allowed itself to become a doormat for whoever occupies the White House when it comes to war powers. Members of the president’s own party – regardless of which party it is – are terrified of going against “their” president and members of the opposing party are silent because they don’t want to be accused of not “supporting the troops.”

The media is reporting that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will make yet another trip to Washington – his sixth in one year – where he is expected to again pressure President Trump to launch a war on Iran. Last time he was in the US – in December – the regime-change protests in Iran were launched. What does he have up his sleeve this time?

How can it be that a foreign leader has more say on whether we go to war than the US Congress?

Here’s what we do know. Whether Trump launches a war or not, the massive military build-up in the Middle East has already cost us billions of dollars. Those are billions that instead of helping to actually make America great again will only make the military-industrial complex “greater.” All the American people will see is the continuing destruction of the dollar and with it more inflation and a lower standard of living at home. And, of course, we will see a “war supplemental” spending bill on top of the trillion-dollar military budget for the year.

Trump Again Bypasses Congress to Advance Major Weapons Package for Israel

The State Department approved a $6.5 billion billion weapons package that includes Apache helicopters and military vehicles

by Dave DeCamp | February 1, 2026

https://news.antiwar.com/2026/02/01/trump-again-bypasses-congress-to-advance-major-weapons-package-for-israel/

The Trump administration has approved $6.5 billion in new weapons deals for Israel that include Apache attack helicopters and military vehicles, a step Secretary of State Marco Rubio took without waiting for the normal congressional review process.

According to The New York Times, the approval of the arms deals marks the third time that the Trump administration bypassed Congress to send weapons to Israel.

The arms packages had been under review by the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the State Department is supposed to wait until the top two members of each committee approve the deals before advancing them, but Rubio didn’t, drawing a rebuke from Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the ranking member of the House committee.

“Just one hour ago, the Trump administration informed me it would disregard congressional oversight and years of standing practice, and immediately notify over $6 billion in arms sales to Israel,” Meeks said, according to Haaretz.

“Shamefully, this is now the second time the Trump administration has blatantly ignored long-standing Congressional prerogatives while also refusing to engage Congress on critical questions about the next steps in Gaza and broader US policy,” Meeks added.

According to the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the State Department approved a total of four potential arms sales for Israel, which will likely be funded by US military aid. The deals include:

• AH-64E Apache Helicopters and related equipment for an estimated cost of $3.8 billion
• Joint Light Tactical Vehicle and related equipment for an estimated cost of $1.98 billion
• Namer Armored Personnel Carrier Power Packs Less Transmissions and Integrated Logistics Support, and related equipment for an estimated cost of $740 million
• AW119Kx Light Utility Helicopters and related equipment for an estimated cost of $150 million

The US provides Israel with $3.8 billion in annual military aid under a ten-year Memorandum of Understanding, but since October 7, 2023, and the start of the IDF’s genocidal campaign in Gaza, the US has given Israel significantly more.

According to Brown University’s Costs of War Project, in the two years following the October 7 attack, the US government spent at least $21.7 billion on military aid to Israel and another $9.65 billion to $12.07 billion on wars in Yemen, Iran, and other military operations in the region in support of Israel.

The Biden administration also took steps to avoid congressional oversight to arm Israel as it was massacring Palestinians in Gaza by advancing more than 100 arms transfers that didn’t reach the dollar amount requiring a review from Congress.

FBI memo concludes Trump 'compromised' by Israel, new Epstein Files show

The memo alleges that the Chabad Lubavitch movement sought to 'coopt' Trump and that his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, was the 'real brains' behind the presidency

News Desk

JAN 31, 2026

https://thecradle.co/articles/fbi-memo-concludes-trump-compromised-by-israel-new-epstein-files-show

A declassified FBI memo released on 30 January states that US President Donald Trump was “compromised by Israel,” that Jeffrey Epstein was a Mossad agent, and that a Jewish religious movement, Chabad Lubavitch, had coopted Trump’s presidency. 

The FBI memo was written in 2020 as part of an investigation into improper domestic or foreign influence over the US electoral process. 

It is based on information from a confidential human source (CHS) for the bureau and is among more than three million Epstein-related files released by the Justice Department on Friday.

“CHS advised Chabad is doing everything they can to co-opt the Trump presidency,” the memo states. 

Chabad-Lubavitch is a major worldwide Orthodox Jewish organization founded in the late 18th-century Russia. It promotes Jewish education, outreach, and observance by operating thousands of centers worldwide to serve Jewish communities.

The movement’s most prominent Rabbi, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, died in 1992 and is buried at the movement’s headquarters in New York.

Berel Lazar, a Chabad-Lubavitch member, was formerly the Chief Rabbi of Russia and remains a close advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

“Chabad is basically state-sanctioned Judaism. It is used by Putin to keep tabs on all the Russo-Jewish oligarchs,” the FBI memo adds. 

Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is identified as a Chabad supporter.

“On the day Trump was elected President, Ivanka Trump and Jared [Kushner] were at the gravesite of Rabbi Schneersom [sic] who was the most powerful Rabbi in the Chabad network,” the memo states.

The memo adds that Kushner has ties with the Russian government and recommends the FBI investigate his family’s charities for money laundering, a common Chabad practice. 

The source states further that, “Trump has been compromised by Israel. And Kushner is the real brains behind his organization and his Presidency.”

According to the Jerusalem Post, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has long been a friend of the Kushners, and particularly Jared’s dad, Charles Kushner, a major donor to pro-Israel and Jewish causes.”

The FBI memo also states that, according to the source, Jeffrey Epstein worked both for US and foreign intelligence, including Israel’s Mossad. “CHS became convinced Epstein was a co-opted Mossad Agent,” the memo states, while pointing to previous FBI reporting on the issue.

“Epstein was close to the former Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Barak, and trained as a spy under him,” the memo adds.

The memo also says that the source identified Epstein’s lawyer, Alan Derschowitz, as the person who told Alex Acosta that Epstein “belonged to intelligence.” 

This allegedly led Acosta, Attorney General of the Southern District of Florida at the time, to give Epstein a sweetheart plea deal in 2008 that led to an extremely light sentence for his conviction on charges of solicitation of prostitution with a minor under 18.

Alex Acosta later became Labor Secretary during Trump’s first term in office.

The memo further states that the source believes that Derschowitz, who taught at Harvard Law School, “was co-opted by Mossad and subscribed to their mission.” 

For example, “Dershowitz told CHS that if he were young again, he would be holding a stun gun as an Israeli Intelligence (Mossad) agent.”

The source learned that Dershowitz influenced many students from wealthy families while teaching at Harvard, including Jared Kushner and his brother.

The memo also references a 2004 news article documenting “the deep ties the Kushner family has with Israel and their history of corrupt business practices and alleged violations of election laws."

Jared Kushner currently has no formal government position but nevertheless serves as Trump’s special advisor, including overseeing the president’s plans for developing Gaza and negotiations with Russia regarding the war in Ukraine.

The memo also discusses Trump’s purchase and sale of a Beverly Hills mansion for $800,000 below market value. The home was sold for cash to a Swiss entity associated with the family of Eka Widjaja, an Indonesian billionaire financier. 

The transaction involved "numerous oddities and red flags,” suggesting the purpose of the deal may have been to launder funds, according to the memo.

Iranians seal windows and store food and water as they prepare for attack

While the US builds up its military assets in the Gulf, Iranians quietly brace for a new war

By MEE correspondent

Published date: 31 January 2026 

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iranians-seal-windows-store-food-water-prepare-for-attack

As night fell on 30 January, a tense sense of dread settled over Iranians at home and abroad, with rumours of an imminent US military strike taking hold across Iran.

"I kept waiting for it to hit. I couldn't sleep until morning. I was waking up and straining to hear any sound of explosions. Let's see what happens tonight," Milad*, a 43-year-old engineer living in the capital Tehran, said about that night.

Shohreh, a 68-year-old woman, goes to a park near her home in east Tehran every morning for group exercise. When she returned home on the morning of 31 January, she said, "Today, all my friends were saying that it would hit tonight."

Shohreh, who opposes a foreign attack on Iran, said people seemed to be losing their minds.

"They think that if the US strikes, everything will be fine," she said. "Because of the killings committed by the Islamic Republic, people are becoming desperate. They no longer know what is in their interest and what is against them."

For the past week, as Washington has once again beaten the drum of war against Iran, the prospect of conflict has become a real and present fear for Iranians.

The movement of a large US military fleet to the Middle East has not only triggered a new multibillion-dollar arms deal with Saudi Arabia and Israel; for Iranians, it has brought confusion, psychological pressure, and fear of a disastrous future.

Iranians are still in shock following the establishment's bloody crackdown on protests that erupted on 28 December in Tehran's bazaar over the economic crisis and quickly spread to cities across the country.

According to government sources, 3,117 people, mostly security forces, were killed in the crackdown. However, human rights groups outside Iran believe the number is much higher, with some putting it at more than 6,500 people, the majority of them civilians. No international fact-finding mission has yet been established to verify the figures.

'Seal the windows'

Arzoo, a 32-year-old government employee opposed to the establishment, described a quiet anxiety among people. Many avoid talking about the deadliest aspects of war, which are all too familiar after last summer's brutal war with Israel, and try to stay calm. But everyone is waiting for the first explosion.

"My neighbour across the street, in the building where I live, has sealed his windows," Arzoo told Middle East Eye.

"He said, 'Seal the windows. When they bomb, there will be no difference between the regime and the opposition.'"

Beneath the fragile calm that Iranian society clings to, perhaps as a way to manage its own mental strain, lurks a persistent question: what to do when war begins?

Social media, which became accessible again after a three-week internet blackout during the crackdown on protests, is now filled with advice on how to survive missile attacks and bombs.

The list of precautions is long: stock enough food and water for 10 days; keep a first-aid kit within reach; place identification and essential documents in a bag for quick evacuation; keep emergency exits clear; move to open spaces at the sound of an explosion; lie on the ground next to a wall. Dozens of similar tips circulate on Persian-language platforms.

The sources of much of this advice are unclear. It is also unknown whether the same bots active during the June Israeli-US strikes – promoting Reza Pahlavi, the son of the deposed Shah – are behind it. Whoever is behind these posts has an evident impact.

Arzoo said she has seen the messages and has stored "10 bottles of drinking water and a few cans of food at home, just in case".

Amin, a 75-year-old retiree with kidney disease, said he bought a three-month supply of medication last week and is keeping it at home.

"Some of this advice may be media manipulation," he said, "but I bought my essentials anyway, out of caution. No one knows what will happen tomorrow."

Amin, who lived through the eight-year Iran-Iraq war and last year's 12-day war, said he is deeply saddened to see his country on the brink of another war.

A leftist activist who has opposed the theocratic rulers since the 1979 revolution, he said: "This regime executed my closest comrades after the revolution and is now killing our children. I have no sympathy for it. But I also hate war. War will destroy everything left for us."

These fears and preparations are not limited to those inside Iran. They are shared by the Iranian diaspora, estimated at around four million people. Many fear another nationwide internet blackout, like those during the 12-day war and last month's crackdown, that would disconnect them from their loved ones.

They also fear for the lives of their families.

Fatemeh, who lives in Finland with her husband and son, worries about her elderly parents in Tehran. During the war with Israel, her parents could not leave the city because they had no access to transportation. 

"I asked my parents to leave Tehran before a new war started," Fatemeh said. "They answered they wouldn't go anywhere. They said they had nowhere to go, which is true. That's why I asked a close friend to visit them and buy basic supplies and medicines during these days."

'A fool like Donald Trump'

Across Iran, cities remain calm, at least for now.

There are no long lines at gas stations. Shops are open. People are going to work as usual. Early in the morning, schoolchildren wait outside their homes for the school bus.

Still, the sense of alarm is widespread.

Soroush, a 27-year-old student, moved with his family to a city in northern Iran during the war to escape Israeli missiles. He said while the panic of that period is no longer visible, the fear of another war runs through everyday conversations.

"The vibe is not like the collective panic of the 12-day war," he said. "It feels like people are mentally prepared. Before the Israeli attack, we had no idea what war would look like. Now we have an image in front of us. We know what we will face."

Soroush feels that the lives of Iranians have turned into a game for the country's leaders and for Western powers. He points to the betting website Polymarket, where many have bet thousands of dollars on a US strike on the night of 31 January. 

"Our lives and our deaths have become entertainment," he said. "A game for others."

Saba, 41, spoke of her fear for the future of her eight-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son. She also described her frustration with the government's repression, the self-interest of opposition figures abroad, and the US warmongering.

"What a miserable people we are," she said. "Our rulers massacre people in the streets. Reza Pahlavi has become the face of our opposition abroad. And our enemy is a fool like Donald Trump."

*Names have been changed for security reasons.

Trump Considering Strikes on Iran to Reignite Protests

Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed Trump has the ‘preventive defensive option’ to strike Iran

by Kyle Anzalone | January 29, 2026

https://news.antiwar.com/2026/01/29/trump-considering-strikes-on-iran-to-reignite-protests/

President Donald Trump is considering strikes on Iran, hoping the attack will restart anti-government protests.

Reuters reported on Thursday that Trump was hoping strikes on Iran would reignite the protest movement. Earlier this month, the President was considering striking the Iranian government and security forces in response to the crackdown on demonstrators.

Trump initially asserted he would attack Iran for killing protesters, but decided against strikes because they lacked enough military assets in the Middle East to deliver a decisive blow to the Islamic Republic and protect American forces from retaliatory attack.

The President has since ordered a massive military buildup in the Middle East.

In an effort to justify the major US military buildup in the Middle East, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US must be prepared for an Iranian strike on American troops in the Middle East. He asserted that President Donald Trump had the right to launch a “preemptive defensive” attack on Iran.

Rubio told Senators that the US needed a large military footprint in the Middle East because “At some point, as a result of something, the Iranian regime decided to strike at our troops in the region,” Rubio said.

Tehran has maintained that it does not seek war and would only attack US bases in the Middle East if Iran were attacked.

Rubio went on to argue that Trump could order an attack on the Islamic Republic even if Iran does not attack the US. “The President always reserves the preemptive defensive option,” the Secretary of State said.

During a session of the Foreign Relations Committee, Rubio laid out a scenario where the US would strike Iran if it did not dismantle its defenses.

“If we tell [Tehran] we don’t want to see drones from Iran, as an example, pointed at the US or threatening our forces or our presence in the region or our allies’ presence in the region, and they refuse to comply with that, the president does reserve the self-defense to eliminate that threat,” the Secretary of State said Wednesday.

He went on to add that the US needed a massive military presence in the Middle East to “preemptively prevent” an Iranian attack.

The President has reportedly been presented with options for causing regime change in Iran, including high-level strikes and a blockade of Iranian oil.