Eye on Extremism: June 23, 2025
Top Stories
Reuters: Israel hits Iran's Evin prison, says strikes on Tehran are biggest yet
Israel targeted Evin prison in Tehran on Monday, one of the most potent symbols of Iran's governing system, in what Israel called the most intense bombing yet of the Iranian capital, a day after the United States joined the war by blasting nuclear sites. Iran repeated earlier threats to retaliate against the United States. But it had yet to so in a meaningful way more than 24 hours after U.S. bombers dropped 30,000 pound bunker-busters on its underground nuclear sites, while U.S. President Donald Trump openly mused about overthrowing the Iranian govenrment.
Fox News: ISIS behind deadly church suicide bombing near Damascus, Syrian interior minister says
The Islamic State is believed to be behind a deadly suicide bombing that happened at a Greek Orthodox church in Syria on Sunday. At least 22 people were killed, and 63 others were injured in the attack that took place at the Mar Elias Church in Dweil'a, located on the outskirts of Damascus. It reportedly began while people were praying. The perpetrator first opened fire on the worshipers, before detonating himself.
CEP Mentions
Hans-Jakob Schindler from the international Counter Extremism Project also warns: The risk of attacks is likely to increase significantly worldwide – including in Europe and Germany – as a result of the Israeli offensive "Rising Lion" and the United States' entry into the war.
The DW News: The paths toward escalation, negotiation or regime change (interview starts at 18:28)
After US strikes on Iran, US President Donald Trump signaled he is willing to resume talks with the country. But a short while later, he mentioned the possibility of a regime change in the Islamic Republic. Interview with Dr Hans-Jakob Schindler.
Welt: Regime change? What comes after the mullahs? (interview starts at 1:20)
Iran’s spiritual leader has faced many challenges in his life, but the current military confrontation with Israel is the most severe crisis yet for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The spiritual system of the Islamic Republic that he leads is under threat – as is his own physical survival. Interview with Dr Hans-Jakob Schindler.
Daily ExpressL Trump says Iran nuke sites 'obliterated' by bombs in daring US air attack
Though its proxies Hezbollah and Hamas have been crippled by war with Israel, its militias in Iraq could still strike US bases, though this would risk retaliation, it could blockade the Strait of Hormuz, or target regional actors like Saudi Arabia. Alternatively, said former UK ambassador to Yemen Edmund Fitton-Brown last night, it might act as if the strikes never happened. “If you consider how contained this attack was and how specific it was, it could be seen not as Trump entering the war on Israel’s side but, rather, doing what he promised to do ten years ago,” he said.
“What makes them unique is the ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’ approach, which aims at fooling law enforcement into believing Active Clubs are just about sports,” Alexander Ritzmann, a political scientist and senior advisor at the Counter Extremism Project who studies the movement, told the Guardian. In a 2023 report, Ritzmann warned that the ultimate goal of Active Clubs “is the creation of a stand-by militia of trained and capable [right wing extremists] who can be activated when the need for coordinated violent action on a larger scale arises”.
The regime in Tehran is under pressure. "It currently doesn't have many options left to respond," says Middle East expert and terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler of the Counter Extremism Project in an interview with our editorial team. The security situation in Europe and Germany could also be affected.
Analysis
New York Times: Shifting Views and Misdirection: How Trump Decided to Strike Iran
Mr. Trump had been under pressure from the noninterventionist wing of his party to stay out of the conflict, and was having lunch that day with one of the most outspoken opponents of a bombing campaign, Stephen K. Bannon, fueling speculation that he might hold off. It was almost entirely a deception. Mr. Trump had all but made up his mind to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities, and the military preparations were well underway for the complex attack. Less than 30 hours after Ms. Leavitt relayed his statement, he would give the order for an assault that put the United States in the middle of the latest conflict to break out in one of the world’s most volatile regions.
Emerging in 2022, the Active Club movement is a white supremacist transnational network of “sports clubs” first conceptualized by American neo-Nazi Robert Rundo and Russian neo-Nazi Denis Kapsutin, the latter a key MMA organizer who is banned from the Schengen Area in the European Union for his track record of hate and violence. Active Clubs are small white supremacist cells, operating under Rundo’s “White Nationalism 3.0” model, working at the local level and collaborating with numerous racist groups, including those with a penchant for violence, such as the Proud Boys, White Lives Matter (WLM), and Patriot Front in the United States, Action Française and Identitarian groups in France, and the Hammerskins in Canada, Sweden, and Germany, creating alliances that strengthen the white supremacist movement globally.
United States
Reuters: US warns against Iran retaliation as Trump raises 'regime change'
"Operation Midnight Hammer" was known only to a small number of people in Washington and at the U.S. military's headquarters for Middle East operations in Tampa, Florida. Complete with deception, seven B-2 bombers flew for 18 hours from the United States into Iran to drop 14 bunker-buster bombs, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, told reporters. In total, the U.S. launched 75 precision-guided munitions, including more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles, and more than 125 military aircraft in the operation against three nuclear sites, Caine said.
A bulletin from the National Terrorism Advisory System warns of a "heightened threat environment in the United States" following the U.S. military strikes on Iran's nuclear sites. The bulletin, first obtained by CBS News on Sunday morning, June 22, does not note any current specific threats, but warns that "low-level cyber attacks against US networks by pro-Iranian hacktivists are likely, and cyber actors affiliated with the Iranian government may conduct attacks against US networks."
US President Donald Trump on Sunday publicly mused about potential regime change in Iran, despite previous assurances from senior figures in his administration that toppling the Islamic Republic was not an American goal. Meanwhile, Tehran threatened to retaliate for American strikes on its nuclear program by hitting US bases across the region, and it continued to attack Israel — though its only attack overnight Sunday-Monday included just one ballistic missile, which was intercepted by the Israel Defense Forces.
US President Donald Trump announced early Sunday that the US had carried out a “successful attack” on the Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites in Iran, hours after he appeared to suggest that the matter of US involvement in Israel’s campaign against Iran’s nuclear program was as yet undecided. The decision to directly involve the US in the war came after more than a week of strikes by Israel that damaged Iran’s nuclear facilities, eradicated the country’s air defenses, and took out many of its military brass and top nuclear scientists. Iran, in retaliation, has launched dozens of ballistic missile barrages at Israel.
Reuters: Two days of terror: How the Minnesota shooter evaded police and got caught
Vance Boelter's disguise wasn't perfect. The silicone mask was somewhat loose-fitting and his SUV's license plate simply read "POLICE" in black letters. But it was good enough on a poorly lit suburban street in the dead of night. At 2:36 a.m. on Saturday, 30 minutes after authorities say Boelter shot and seriously injured Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, he paused behind the wheel of the SUV near the home of another senator, Ann Rest, in the city of New Hope. The SUV was stocked with weapons, including AK-47 assault rifles, as well as fliers advertising a local anti-Trump rally scheduled for later Saturday and a written list of names of people he appeared to be targeting. Senator Rest, prosecutors would later say, was among those Boelter set out to kill on June 14.
NPR: Questions remain about the Minnesota rampage. Anti-abortion extremism may shed light
Investigators are still examining possible motives for the killing of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband, and the shooting of another legislator and his wife. In a press conference on Monday, Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson described the rampage as a "rare" political assassination. Much of the public discourse has focused on whether the suspect, Vance Luther Boelter, is from the political right or the political left. But people close to Boelter have said he did not discuss politics.
Preston Damsky is a law student at the University of Florida. He is also a white nationalist and antisemite. Last fall, he took a seminar taught by a federal judge on “originalism,” the legal theory favored by many conservatives that seeks to interpret the Constitution based on its meaning when it was adopted.
An Ohio man was arrested after allegedly attempting to run Jewish Republican Rep. Max Miller off the road Thursday. Miller said the man had threatened him and called him a “dirty Jew” while displaying a Palestinian flag during the road rage incident.
A suspect was arrested Thursday who allegedly planned a mass shooting at the Barshop Jewish Community Center in San Antonio, Texas. The suspect, who was not identified, was located by police in another state and was arrested based on statements made by the suspect while in police custody, according to San Antonio Police Chief William McManus.
early two thirds of Jewish students at Columbia University reported not feeling accepted for their religious identity during the school year that included Hamas’ attack on Israel, compared to 15% of students overall, according to a report released this week.
Canada
On June 23, 1985, Air India Flight 182 was ripped out of the sky by a Canadian-made bomb. Most of the 329 people killed were Canadians. Forty years after their shattering loss, their families feel forgotten and ignored.
India Today: Air India Kanishka bombing: Canada identifies bomb-tester Mr X after 40 years
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) finally identified 'Mr X', a man who was involved in testing a bomb just weeks before the deadly Kanishka Air India bombing on June 23, 1985. However, the RCMP did not reveal his name, citing privacy laws. This came on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the attack in which 329 people were killed. What is shocking is that Mr X died without facing any charges.
Germany
Iran International: Iran arrests German tourist for alleged spying near military sites
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have arrested a German national, Marek Kaufmann, for alleged spying near restricted military and nuclear sites in Markazi province, state-owned Mehr News reported Friday. Mehr released a video showing Kaufmann, described as a dual-national Jewish tourist cycling through the region, speaking after his arrest. In the footage, he says he was aware he was near a military area and that taking photos or videos was not allowed. He adds that he sent his location to a friend. The video is heavily edited and does not include a clear confession.
Berliner Morgenpost: After attack on SPD politician: suspected neo-Nazis sentenced
A good six months after an attack on SPD members during the Bundestag election campaign in Berlin-Lichterfelde (Steglitz-Zehlendorf district), four suspected neo-Nazis from Saxony-Anhalt have been sentenced to prison. The Tiergarten district court handed down prison sentences of between one year and nine months and two years and eight months. In two cases, a decision will be made in six months as to whether the juvenile sentences can be suspended on probation. They will remain at large until then. The 17 to 20-year-old men were guilty of dangerous bodily harm, among other things. "All four were involved in the crimes," said presiding judge Gregor Kaltenbach. There was no doubt that they had attacked the victims out of their political convictions.
Greece
Reuters: Greek police arrest man on suspicion of spying in Crete
Greek police have arrested an Azeri man suspected of espionage on the island of Crete, which is home to a NATO military base, based on information from the country's intelligence service, police said on Monday.
United Kingdom
Sky News: Palestine Action 'to be banned' as terror group, home secretary says
Palestine Action will be proscribed as a terrorist organisation, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said. The action has been taken after the activist group claimed responsibility for breaking into RAF Brize Norton last week.
Reuters: UK police ban Palestine Action protest outside parliament
British police have banned campaign group Palestine Action from protesting outside parliament on Monday, a rare move that comes after two of its members broke into a military base last week and as the government considers banning the organisation. The group said in response that it had changed the location of its protest on Monday to Trafalgar Square, which lies just outside a police exclusion zone.
Reuters: London police charge seven Iranians with assault after embassy incident
London police on Sunday said they had charged seven Iranians with grievous bodily harm after a reported fight at a protest near the embassy last week. London's Metropolitan Police said they had been alerted to an apparent fight outside the Iranian embassy on Friday, which local media reported occurred during a protest against the Iranian leadership.
Iran
Reuters: World awaits Iranian response after US hits nuclear sites
The world braced on Sunday for Iran's response after the U.S. attacked key Iranian nuclear sites, joining Israel in the biggest Western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution. Iran vowed to defend itself a day after the U.S. dropped 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs onto the mountain above Iran's Fordow nuclear site while American leaders urged Tehran to stand down and pockets of anti-war protesters emerged in U.S. cities. In a post to the Truth Social platform on Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump raised the idea of regime change in Iran. "It’s not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!" he wrote.
Jerusalem Post: Iran warned Trump of terror attacks within US if he struck nuclear facilities
Iran threatened US President Donald Trump that it would launch terror attacks from within the United States if he ordered strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, NBC News reported Sunday, citing two sources. Iran reportedly sent Trump the threat at the G7 summit earlier this month and warned that the Islamic Republic could activate "sleeper cells" from within the US. Trump confirmed US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan on Saturday night, and later said that the three sites were "completely and totally obliterated."
Reuters: Iran's supreme leader asks Putin to do more after US strikes
Iran's supreme leader sent his foreign minister to Moscow on Monday to ask President Vladimir Putin for more help from Russia after the biggest U.S. military action against the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution over the weekend. U.S. President Donald Trump and Israel have publicly speculated about killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and about regime change, a step Russia fears could further destabilize the Middle East.
Reuters: Putin tells Iranian foreign minister there was no justification for US attack
Russian President Vladimir Putin told Iran's foreign minister on Monday there was no justification for the U.S. bombing of his country and that Moscow was trying to help the Iranian people. Putin hosted Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Moscow two days after U.S. President Donald Trump sent U.S. bomber planes to strike Iran's three main nuclear sites.
Reuters: Iran's parliament looking to suspend cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog – IRNA
A parliamentary bill to suspend Iran's cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog is under consideration, Ruhollah Motefakerzadeh, a member of parliament's presidium said on Monday according to state media. Iranian media also reported Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf saying: "We in the parliament are seeking to pass a bill that would suspend Iran's cooperation with the IAEA until we have objective guarantees of the professional behaviour of this international organisation."
Times of Israel: Iran’s Khamenei said to pick three potential successors as he hides in bunker
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has nominated three clerics as potential successors as he hides in a bunker while facing threats of assassination by Israel in the ongoing war, The New York Times reported Saturday. Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, has also named an “array of replacements down his chain of military command” in case Israel eliminates more top officers, according to the report, which cited three Iranian officials familiar with the plans.
Wall Street Journal: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Poised for More Power
Israeli strikes have taken direct aim at the backbone of its enemy’s military power: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The war has dealt the most severe blow to Iran in four decades, and thrust it into existential peril. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s rule depends to a large extent on loyalty from the Guard. In turn, he has empowered the military force to the extent that it is likely to outlive the supreme leader. If Khamenei were toppled or killed, the Revolutionary Guard would most likely step in and dictate a new ruler—and in doing so, assume unprecedented power.
Israel
A prolonged ballistic missile attack from Iran sent millions seeking shelter across Israel on Monday morning, with one impact causing power outages in a number of southern towns. There were no injuries reported in the attack, which triggered sirens in northern, central and southern Israel, including alerts in communities close to the Gaza and Lebanese borders.
Israel is very close to achieving its goals in Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, having inflicted significant damage both to its ballistic missile program and its nuclear facilities. He promised not to let Israel be dragged into a “war of attrition” with the Islamic Republic, but stressed that this did not mean he would be prepared to end the campaign before all its objectives had been met. The prime minister was speaking to reporters in a pre-recorded press conference on Sunday evening, following the US strikes on Iran’s key nuclear facilities the night before.
Jerusalem Post: Israel's historic attack on Iran: A detailed breakdown of the 14-month build-up
Although June 13, 2025, will go down in the history as the date that changed the Middle East forever, likely even more than October 7, 2023, the truth is that the real dates that had already shifted the course of history were April 13 to 14, 2024.On that day, concluding a decades-long covert shadow war with Israel, Iran transformed the region by openly and directly attacking the Jewish state with more than 100 ballistic missiles, 170 drones, and dozens of cruise missiles. Israel struck back on April 19, 2024, by attacking one S-300 anti-aircraft defense system that was guarding the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facility at Isfahan.
Reuters: Israeli forces recover bodies of three hostages from Gaza
Israeli forces have recovered the bodies of three hostages which had been held in the Gaza Strip since the Palestinian militant group Hamas' 2023 attack, the military and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. The hostages were identified as civilians Ofra Keidar and Yonatan Samerano, and soldier Shay Levinson. All were killed on the day of the attack, on October 7, 2023, the military said.
BBC: Israel says it killed Iran's military co-ordinator with Hamas
Israel says it has killed a senior Iranian commander who helped plan the Hamas 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel, in a strike on Saturday on the city of Qom. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the killing of Saeed Izadi marked a key point in the conflict. He was "one of the orchestrators" of the attack, which killed about 1,200 people and saw many others taken to Gaza as hostages, said IDF chief Eyal Zamir.
JNS: IDF destroys 1.5 miles of terror tunnels in Gaza
Israel Defense Forces soldiers operating in the Jabalia area of the northern Gaza Strip dismantled more than 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) of terrorist tunnels, the military said on Monday.
Lebanon
Naharnet: Berri, sources reconfirm that Hezbollah will stay out of Iran-Israel war
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri reconfirmed Monday that Hezbollah will certainly not join the Israel-Iran war as local media reports said that Amal, Hezbollah and the Lebanese government have been discussing, away from the spotlight, the need to keep Lebanon out of the conflict.
Naharnet: Report: US demands govt. decision on Hezbollah arms
The U.S. administration has asked Lebanon to reach “presidential consensus” on the decision of monopolizing arms between President Joseph Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and PM Nawaf Salam ahead of referring such a decision to Cabinet for formal approval, Al-Jadeed TV has reported. “Washington considers that monopolizing arms is an essential first step that must precede any Israeli withdrawal and border demarcation,” Al-Jadeed added.
Syria
Reuters: Death toll in Damascus church attack rises to 25, says health ministry
The death toll from a suicide bombing at the Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighbourhood of Damascus on Sunday has risen to 25, Syria's state news agency SANA reported on Monday citing the country's health ministry. It was the first suicide bombing in Damascus since Bashar al-Assad was toppled by an Islamist-led rebel insurgency in December.
Turkish Minute: Erdoğan says he won’t let terrorism drag Syria back into instability
Turkey will not allow extremists to drag Syria back into chaos and instability, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Monday after a suicide attack killed 22 at a Damascus church. “We will never allow our neighbor and brother Syria … be dragged into a new environment of instability through proxy terrorist organizations,” he said, vowing to support the new government’s fight against such groups.
Yemen
Al-Monitor: With latest video, Yemen's AQAP seeks relevance, taps into regional outragev
The latest video from Yemen’s al-Qaeda branch features threats against the United States and President Donald Trump over the war in Gaza — a sign, experts say, that the group is seeking to regain influence by tapping into regional outrage over the conflict. The group's efforts to exploit the war echo similar moves by Yemen's Houthi rebels. The video, released by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and titled “Incite the Believers,” features the group’s leader, Saad al-Awlaki, delivering his first public address. It circulated online on June 7. In it, Awlaki referred to Trump and senior officials such as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance as "scum of the earth" and urged Muslims to target them.
Long War Journal: Houthis repeat threats against US over strikes against Iran
Yemen’s Houthis threatened to attack American forces in the Red Sea following US attacks on the Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan on June 21. The US military struck these facilities after Israel began its campaign on June 12 to eliminate the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program and remove the threat of the regime’s ballistic missile arsenal. An official statement by the Houthis on June 22 “affirmed the Republic of Yemen’s commitment to the Yemeni Armed Forces’ declaration of ‘its readiness to target American ships and warships in the Red Sea, in defense of the nation and to protect national security,’ noting ‘Yemen’s continued support for Palestine and its standing with any Arab or Muslim country subjected to Zionist or American aggression.’”
AFP: Yemen’s Houthis say ready to attack Red Sea shipping after US strikes on Iran
Yemen’s rebel government says it supports a vow by its armed wing a day earlier to hit US ships in the Red Sea should Washington launch strikes on Iran. “We affirm the Republic of Yemen’s commitment to the armed forces’ declaration that they were ready to target US ships and warships in the Red Sea,” the government says in a statement after the United States launched attacks on Iran.
India
In an updated travel advisory for its citizens, the United States has urged those travelling to India to “exercise increased caution” due to heightened risks from crime, terrorism, and sexual violence, including rape, which it notes is among the “fastest-growing crimes in the country”.
Africa
Africa News: Sahel region hardest-hit by terrorism worldwide, says Global Terrorism Index 2025
The Sahel region in Africa accounted for 51 percent of global terrorism-related deaths in 2024, up from 48 percent in 2023, according to the 2025 Global Terrorism Index (GTI), published by the Sydney-headquartered Institute for Economics and Peace.
Mali
Forbidden Stories: Torture and Forced Disappearances: Inside Wagner’s Secret Prisons in Mali
Since arriving in Mali in 2021, Russian Wagner mercenaries have abducted and detained hundreds of civilians in former UN bases and military camps shared with the Malian army. Our investigation, as part of the Viktoriia project, reveals secret prisons where abuse and torture are carried out with total impunity.
Niger
France 24: Armed attack in Niger kills 34 soldiers near Mali border
Several hundred armed men killed 34 Nigerien soldiers in an attack Thursday in western Niger, close to the border with Mali, the defence ministry said. "This Thursday, June 19, a cowardly and barbaric attack was carried out against (the town of) Banibangou by a horde of several hundred mercenaries aboard eight vehicles and more than 200 motorbikes," the ministry said in a statement read out on state television, adding that 34 soldiers were killed and 14 wounded. The ministry said that its forces killed "dozens of terrorists" in the battle. The ministry said it had sent reinforcements to the town and was conducting search operations by land and air to try to find the attackers.
Somalia
Arab News: Seven soldiers killed in clash with Al-Shabab terrorists
At least seven Ugandan soldiers have been killed in Somalia, an army spokesperson said Sunday, part of the ongoing fight against the Al-Shabab terrorist group. The soldiers were part of the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, or AUSSOM, tasked with combating Al-Shabab.
Australia
7 News: PM Anthony Albanese is questioned on local terror threat level amid US strikes on Iran
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has sought to allay fears about an increase in terror threats in Australia, following the US bombing of nuclear facilities in Iran at the weekend. America’s Donald Trump administration confirmed it had completed an attack on three nuclear sites in Iran on Saturday, including Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
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