The Israeli Air Force is slamming Iran’s terror regime in the Tehran area. It has combed the headquarters of the IRGC and the dreaded Basij secret police. It has bombed the entrance to the infamous Evin Prison, where political prisoners were held or disappeared. And it has obliterated the countdown clock timed to the prophesied demise of Israel in 2040.

What once stood in central Tehran as a grim digital prophecy—the countdown clock declaring that the Islamic Republic would destroy Israel by 2040—may now serve as the ultimate symbol of reversal. On June 23, 2025, that clock was obliterated in a precise Israeli airstrike. In its place, a new countdown seems to have begun: not toward Israel’s destruction, but toward the dismantling of the very regime that threatened it. And not in 15 years—but possibly in 15 days.

The Israeli strikes that rocked Tehran Monday night were unlike anything seen in the 45-year history of the Islamic Republic. They did not simply target uranium enrichment sites or missile silos. They struck directly at the regime’s ideological arteries and coercive control: the infamous “Death to Israel” clock, the walls of Evin Prison, the nerve center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and the Basij militia headquarters.

Each target was chosen not only for its strategic utility but for its symbolic power. The countdown clock, installed in 2015 after the JCPOA nuclear deal, was intended to enshrine the regime’s commitment to Israel’s annihilation. Instead, it is now rubble—a metaphor for the regime’s waning grip on history.

Evin Prison, long synonymous with torture and terror, was engulfed in flames. Though the Iranian regime remains tight-lipped, video evidence captured by citizens appears to show mass breaches in the perimeter, with prisoners escaping into the hills and smoke billowing through broken guard towers.

A former political prisoner, speaking to Iran International from exile, described the moment as “a rupture in time itself.” “They put me in a box and told me the Islamic Republic would last forever,” he said. “Tonight, that box was broken. Tonight, the myth was shattered.”

The IRGC’s general headquarters in north Tehran—once believed untouchable—was hit with devastating precision. Satellite images show blackened craters where command and logistics centers once stood. Inside Israel, analysts pointed to the strike as evidence of total air superiority and intelligence penetration. “We are not just hunting IRGC operations,” one senior Israeli source noted. “We are unraveling the ideological empire built by Qassem Soleimani and his ilk.”

The Basij compound, often the epicenter of regime crackdowns on protesters, was likewise hit. It is a base infamous to every Iranian dissident—a place of recruitment for thugs, and indoctrination for youth. Reports suggest that documents, rosters, and arms caches were all destroyed.

The effect on Iran’s population was immediate. Protests ignited in multiple cities: Karaj, Mashhad, Shiraz, Tabriz, and even parts of southern Tehran. Aerial footage posted by opposition groups showed graffiti over regime billboards reading, “Your countdown is over,” and “We are not afraid anymore.”

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince and a longtime advocate of secular democracy, issued a rallying statement: “The same regime that promised the death of others now faces the judgment of its own people. The clock has turned. The hour of liberation is near.”

Within Israel, the operation is being viewed not just as military retaliation but strategic vision. “By striking Evin and the IRGC brain, Israel is making clear this isn’t tit-for-tat—it’s endgame strategy,” said former National Security Advisor Maj. Gen. Yaakov Amidror (ret.). “They are dismantling the narrative of the regime brick by brick.”

Iran’s leadership, meanwhile, has retreated into bunkers. Ayatollah Khamenei has not appeared in public since June 21. A hastily released audio message claimed he was “commanding resistance,” but did not address the loss of key regime institutions. In the streets, few appeared convinced. And many openly mocked the silence.

From the ruins of the countdown clock to the blazing remains of the IRGC headquarters, a new reality is dawning across Iran. The regime that once vowed to eliminate Israel in fifteen years now faces the very real possibility of its own collapse within days. Across the country, a silenced people are rediscovering their voice, their courage, and perhaps—at long last—their chance.

The clock has indeed been ticking. But not toward the destruction of Israel.

It has been counting down to the fall of the Islamic Republic.