Tensions Rise as Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon Navigate U.S. Pressure and Regional Stakes

An intelligence update highlights mounting U.S.-Iran tensions, including potential military action and a reported weeks-long US-Israeli campaign; it notes ongoing anti-regime protests in Iran, a nationwide teachers' strike, and the 40-day mourning protest wave, alongside political divisions in Iraq over Nouri al-Maliki’s premiership and hesitancy by Lebanon's LAF to confront Hezbollah in the disarmament plan; and it reports Iran’s continued hardening of nuclear facilities such as Taleghan 2 at Parchin, with analysts warning that talks with the United States remain unlikely to progress unless negotiating red lines shift.