Reza H. Akbari

There is no moral alibi for such violence. This war is burning the guilty and the innocent alike. There is no freedom or democracy waiting at the end of this hellish road.

A harrowing image from tonight’s bombing of Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport. This devastating and inhuman assault seeks to violate a nation’s sovereignty, shatter its infrastructure, and pummel its dignity. #Iran

Iranian schools, hospital and landmarks among civilian sites hit during US-Israeli strikes A local in Tehran tell BBC Verify that the city has been turned into a "ghost town" as residents flee.

BBC Verify has analyzed videos and satellite imagery that show severe damage to schools, a hospital, and historic landmarks in #Iran since US and Israeli strikes on the country began. Civilian casualties continue to increase as well. www.bbc.com/news/article... #Iran

Iran’s state media share CCTV footage of a U.S.-Israeli attack near a boys’ school in Abyek, Qazvin, #Iran. The strike on the first day of the war resulted in the death of a teenage student. A communication tower was dislodged by the strike, went airborne, and fell on him, the narrator explains.

After Khamenei: War, Succession, and the Uncertain Future of Iran Pages from a War - Part I

Thread: In my latest, I reflect on the war with #Iran. I begin by examining the war’s early human cost, explore the uncertain succession process in Tehran after Khamenei's death, & discuss why the Islamic Republic may be more durable than many assume. guardeddomains.substack.com/p/after-kham... 1/6

War can disrupt, eliminate individuals, and redraw strategic calculations, but it cannot magically conjure up a stable political future. For now, I count the dead and hope that the next bomb will be the last. 6/6

The ongoing war may reshape the balance of power in the short term, but it will not answer the more fundamental questions of rights, legitimacy, governance, and the possibility of a more tolerant political system that the Iranian people have been grappling with for more than 120 years. 5/6

If anything, its brutal reality is only a sober reminder of how quickly force can reorder a political landscape without resolving the deeper and layered social, cultural, and economic anxieties beneath. 4/6

Unlike the hopeful cheers of those who believe that a better tomorrow could be delivered by bombs, I do not see clarity nor closure in this moment. 3/6

We're witnessing one of the darkest periods in #Iran's contemporary history. The fate of a nation of 90 million hangs in the balance. The population inside is enduring bombardment by foreign aggressors while dealing w/ domestic oppression, w/ little glimpse of light within the immediate future. 2/6

After Khamenei: War, Succession, and the Uncertain Future of Iran Pages from a War - Part I

Thread: In my latest, I reflect on the war with #Iran. I begin by examining the war’s early human cost, explore the uncertain succession process in Tehran after Khamenei's death, & discuss why the Islamic Republic may be more durable than many assume. guardeddomains.substack.com/p/after-kham... 1/6

If You Were In Charge Society & Culture Podcast · Updated Weekly · If You Were In Charge with Sanam Naraghi Anderlini Each episode, she tackles a major global challenge but flips the script. Instead of hearing from politi...

Stepping in to process and reflect on #Iran.
Deeply personal.
And reflecting as practitioner in UN mediation/peacebuilding work globally and with civil society - esp women peacebuilders - whose wisdom I cherish
#IfYouWereInCharge
@whatthewomensay.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i...

Satellite images show Iran school strike hit more buildings than earlier reported The images suggest that precision munitions struck other buildings, including a clinic that was also inside the complex.

According to an investigation by NPR, the elementary school in #Iran was hit as part of a precision airstrike on a neighboring Iranian military complex and that it may have been struck as a result of outdated targeting information. www.npr.org/2026/03/04/n...

Sounds like Farah Pahlavi just rebuked her own son. #Iran

The brutal, despicable, and grim side of war. The burial of the 150 elementary school girls killed in American-Israeli strikes on #Iran was today.

Devastating footage from central Tehran in the aftermath of U.S.-Israeli strikes. The iconic Azadi Tower stands tall as a plume of smoke engulfs the surrounding area. #Iran

Funeral procession for the 168 students killed in U.S-Israeli strikes in Minab, #Iran.

I am not sure about the guards or what they are planning, but IDF has issued an evacuation notice to all who live in the Evin area of northern Tehran. The prison is also located there. Needless to say, prisoners cannot leave, so God knows what will happen to them.

Preparing the graves for more than 150 elementary school girls who were killed by an Israeli-American strike. Photo: IRNA #Iran

Golestan Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was damaged amid the U.S.-Israeli strikes of Tehran. Ironically, this royal complex is where both Reza Pahlavi’s father and grandfather were crowned. #Iran

Tehran’s Abbas Abad police station before and after the joint US-Israeli airstrikes. #Iran

My neighborhood and my parents' neighborhood in Tehran

Both were hit with massive bombs meant to take out apartment blocks. Neither has any military installation of any kind.

Deliberations over the selection of #Iran's next Supreme Leader are not open to the public. However, early reports suggest that Ayatollah Alireza Arafi may be a leading contender to become the country's next leader. Arafi is a conservative cleric with deep institutional ties within the regime.

Motahari Street, Tehran, #Iran.

Bombardment of Tehran & other parts of #Iran by U.S.-Israeli forces continues. Following a missile strike on Arg Square in Tehran, parts of Golestan Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, were damaged. Ironically, this royal complex is where both Reza Pahlavi’s father and grandfather were crowned.

Groundhog Day. Wrote this March 2012. The absurd contradictory narrative on Iran: strong enough to warrant a response worthy of an existential threat - weak enough to be threatened w/ war every other day and eventually be attacked with little thought.
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Heartbreaking pictures from Tehran’s Nilufar Square in the aftermath of tonight’s U.S.-Israeli bombardment of the city. Source: Iranian Student News Agency #Iran

I have deleted the post about Ahmadinejad being dead because sources from inside are now saying he is alive, but his three bodyguards were killed in the missile attack. #Iran

Surreal