Killers, but of the absolutely-cowardly variety.

Things aren't going well for Iran. While the Islamist nation has managed to kill some civilians by indiscriminately lobbing ballistic missiles at Israel, when it comes to the actual business of winning the war, the scoreboard isn't even close. The latest evidence of that? Iran is now begging for a ceasefire.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the Mullahs are looking for an off-ramp, burning up the backchannels to try to get the United States to bail them out.

Iran has been urgently signaling that it seeks an end to hostilities and resumption of talks over its nuclear programs, sending messages to Israel and the U.S. via Arab intermediaries, Middle Eastern and European officials said.

In the midst of a ferocious Israeli air campaign, Tehran has told Arab officials it would be open to returning to the negotiating table as long as the U.S. doesn't join the attack, the officials said. Iran also passed messages to Israel saying it is in the interest of both sides to keep the violence contained.

I'm not sure if what's left of the Iranian leadership doesn't understand how negotiations work, but they probably should have taken them seriously before Israel began its military operation to destroy their nuclear program. It took only three days for the IDF to establish air superiority over Tehran, and they are now bombing regime targets with impunity. That includes the launchers being used to shoot missiles at Israel. Once that threat is minimized, the Mullahs will have nothing left to respond with.

Meanwhile, there are reports that Iran's 86-year-old tyrant the Ayatollah Khamenei, who is in poor health, is being shuffled from underground bunker to underground bunker to keep him safe from Israeli drones, jets, and commandos.

Donald Trump is said to have already vetoed an Israeli opportunity to kill Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei since the conflict erupted on Friday.

But Tehran's 86-year-old supreme leader will still be fearing assassination, hiding out in 'as secure a location as they can manage' as Israel continues to target high ranking officials with deadly precision strikes across the country, onlookers believe.

Speaking on the BBC's Newscast over the weekend, The Economist's defence editor, Shashank Joshi, assessed that Khamenei would likely avoid any public appearances as his remaining loyalists work desperately to keep him out of Israel's crosshairs.

'I think they'll be concerned that Israel has clearly penetrated them inside out, so they will be looking to all possible corners from how to keep him safe, perhaps moving him from place to place,' he said.

Anna Puma said that there are rumors that Khameini is talking to Russia about allowing him to resettle and hide there.

I've heard unconfirmed reports stating that Israel has thoroughly compromised the entire Iranian government and military with double-agents secretly working for Israel, and that this explains the highly accurate intelligence Israel has. And also, its ability smuggle in weapons and even set up drone bases inside Iran.

Sources within Iran told London-based Persian-language outlet Iran International that Khamenei was moved to an underground bunker in Lavizan, in northeastern Tehran, in the hours after Israel began its attacks on the capital at the end of last week.

He is believed to be holed up with his family, including his son, Mojtaba - who has been pegged as a potential successor to the ageing supreme leader.

Israel has already taken out top ranking officials including the chief of staff of the Iranian military and the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Chiefs (IRGC) since Friday.

A strike killing Khamenei would be deeply controversial and create untold chaos within Iran's political system. It would also depend on Israeli intelligence being able to locate the supreme leader - and the air force to deliver the crucial blow.

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While Israeli strikes so far have done much to undermine Iran's military and nuclear programme, removing Khamenei 'could cause total upheaval and chaos', he said.

...

Asked if there was an Israeli plan to kill Khamenei that had been vetoed by Washington, Netanyahu told Fox News: 'We do what we need to do, we will do what we need to do and I think the United States knows what is good for the United States'.

I've also heard that Iran's uranium enrichment centers are currently unusable because, in addition to serious surface bombing, Israel has also cut all electricity to those nuke factories.

In case you missed my update to a prior post: An Iranian propaganda station was bombed mid-rant:

Jarvis contacted a native Iranian speaker and provided this translation: