Iran is rebuilding nuclear sites damaged in previous U.S. strikes and ‘preparing for war,’ despite engaging in talks with the Trump administration, according to a prominent Iranian opposition figure.

Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director of the Washington office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), said newly released satellite images also prove the regime has accelerated its efforts to restore its ‘$2 trillion’ uranium enrichment capabilities.

‘The regime has clearly stepped up efforts to rebuild its uranium enrichment capabilities,’ Jafarzadeh told Fox News Digital. ‘It is preparing itself for a possible war by trying to preserve its nuclear weapons program and ensure its protection.’

‘That said, the ongoing rebuilding of Iran’s uranium enrichment capabilities is particularly alarming as the regime is now engaged in nuclear talks with the United States,’ he added.

New satellite images released by Earth intelligence monitor, Planet Labs, show reconstruction activity appears to be underway at the Isfahan complex.

Isfahan is one of three Iranian uranium enrichment plants targeted in the U.S. military operation known as ‘Midnight Hammer.’

The June 22 operation involved coordinated Air Force and Navy strikes on the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan facilities.

Despite the damage, the satellite images show Iran has buried entrances to a tunnel complex at the site, according to Reuters.

Similar steps were reportedly taken at the Natanz facility, which houses two additional enrichment plants.

‘These efforts in Isfahan involve rebuilding its centrifuge program and other activities related to uranium enrichment,’ Jafarzadeh said.

The renewed movements come as Iran participated in talks with the U.S. in Geneva.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump warned that ‘bad things’ would happen if Iran did not make a deal.

While the talks were aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, Jafarzadeh argues that for the regime, talks would be nothing more than a tactical delay.

‘Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei agreed to the nuclear talks as it would give the regime crucial time to avoid or limit the consequences of confrontation with the West,’ he said.

Jafarzadeh also described the regime spending at least ‘$2 trillion’ on nuclear capabilities, which he said ‘is higher than the entire oil revenue generated since the regime came to power in Iran in 1979.’ 

‘Tehran is trying to salvage whatever has remained of its nuclear weapons program and quickly rebuild it,’ he said. ‘It has heavily invested in the nuclear weapons program as a key tool for the survival of the regime.’

Jafarzadeh is best known for publicly revealing the existence of Iran’s Natanz nuclear site in 2002, which led to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency and intensified global scrutiny of Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

‘The insistence of the Iranian regime during the nuclear talks on maintaining its uranium enrichment capabilities, while rebuilding its damaged sites, is a clear indication that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has no plans to abandon its nuclear weapons program,’ he said.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran, led by Maryam Rajavi, exposed for the first time the nuclear sites in Natanz, Arak, Fordow and more than 100 other sites and projects, Jafarzadeh said, ‘despite a massive crackdown by the regime on this movement.’

The Trump administration has repeatedly assigned additional job roles to Cabinet members and other officials, and one of his top health officials is the latest to begin pulling double duty for the president. 

On Wednesday, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jay Bhattacharya became the latest Trump official assigned an additional role. The NIH chief and staunch COVID contrarian will temporarily run the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) until a new permanent director is appointed by President Donald Trump and subsequently confirmed by the Senate, while continuing to lead the NIH.

Bhattacharya’s move to the CDC followed the departure of Jim O’Neill, who was also deputy secretary of the Health and Human Services Department amid a broader restructuring of the Trump administration’s public health agencies. O’Neill is now reportedly expected to lead the National Science Foundation.

Fox News Digital looked back on the various Trump Cabinet members and officials wearing multiple hats as the president adjusts during the second year of his second term.

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya

A physician, former Stanford professor of medicine and senior fellow at the university’s Institute for Economic Policy Research, Bhattacharya was a leading voice during the COVID-19 pandemic against lockdown measures and vaccine mandates. 

He was one of the co-authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, a document published in October 2020 by a group of scientists advocating against widespread COVID lockdowns and promoting the efficacy of natural immunity for low-risk individuals as opposed to vaccination.

During Bhattacharya’s tenure, he has been forced to defend certain funding cuts tied to academic research and staffing. One of the core components Bhattacharya indicated that he wanted to pursue after his confirmation was to usher in a new age of ‘gold standard science.’

‘I think fundamentally what matters is do scientists have an idea that advances the scientific field they’re in?’ Bhattacharya said during his March confirmation testimony. ‘Do they have an idea that ends up addressing the health needs of Americans?’

Marco Rubio

Rubio and the Trump administration came under fire from Democrats for the secretary of state holding as many as four high-profile roles during the second Trump administration. As of today, he remains in two of those roles.

He was first confirmed as secretary of state hours after Trump was inaugurated, a role Rubio remains in today. 

About a month later, amid a massive reorganization at the U.S. Administration for International Development (USAID), Rubio was named director and held that role until handing it off a few months later.  

Around the same time, Rubio was tapped to be the acting archivist of the United States (NARA), a role he stopped serving in earlier this month.

Rubio does still serve as the interim national security advisor, a role he has held since May after the departure of Michael Waltz.   

‘There’s no way he can do that and do it well, especially since there’s such incompetence over at DOD with Pete Hegseth being secretary of defense and just the hollowing out of the top leadership,’ Illinois Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth said of Rubio’s multiple jobs. ‘There’s no way he can carry all that entire load on his own.’

‘I don’t know how anybody could do these two big jobs,’ Democratic Virginia Sen. Mark Warner added.

When asked about the trend of Trump officials wearing multiple work hats in May, the White House reflected in a comment to Fox News Digital on former President Joe Biden’s ‘disaster of a Cabinet.’ 

‘Democrats cheered on Joe Biden’s disaster of a Cabinet as it launched the botched Afghanistan withdrawal, opened the southern border to migrant criminals, weaponized the justice system against political opponents and more,’ White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital in May. 

‘President Trump has filled his administration with many qualified, talented individuals he trusts to manage many responsibilities.’ 

The Trump administration has repeatedly brushed off concerns over Rubio holding multiple roles, most notably juggling both his State Department leadership and serving as acting national security advisor. Similarly, former President Richard Nixon in 1973 named National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger to simultaneously serve as Secretary of State.

‘You need a team player who is very honest with the president and the senior team, not someone trying to build an empire or wield a knife or drive their own agenda,’ an administration official told Politico. ‘He is singularly focused on delivering the president’s agenda.’ 

Despite Democratic rhetoric that Rubio was taking on too many roles, the former Florida senator helped oversee successful U.S. strikes on Iran in June, which destroyed a trio of nuclear sites and decimated the country’s efforts to advance its nuclear program.

Kash Patel

FBI Director Kash Patel, who railed against the ‘deep state’ and vowed to strip corruption from the federal law enforcement agency ahead of his confirmation, was briefly charged with overseeing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in February after the Biden-era director resigned in January 2025. 

Patel was later replaced by Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll as acting ATF director in a job change that was reported publicly in April. 

‘Director Kash Patel was briefly designated ATF director while awaiting Senate confirmations, a standard, short-term move. Dozens of similar redesignations have occurred across the federal government,’ the White House told Reuters in April. ‘Director Patel is now excelling in his role at the FBI and delivering outstanding results.’

Sean Duffy 

Duffy, a former Republican congressman from Wisconsin, was tapped to oversee the Department of Transportation and was confirmed by the Senate Jan. 28. Duffy has been forced to juggle a handful of crises related to tragic plane crashes, including the 2025 Potomac River midair collision and air traffic control issues that plagued New Jersey’s Liberty International Airport last year. 

In July, President Trump announced Duffy would also serve as interim chief of NASA. Duffy remained in that position until mid-December, when commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman took over.

Prior to Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, the president announced he would be nominating Isaacman but withdrew his nomination in May before the full Senate confirmed him. Trump said the decision followed a review of Isaacman’s ‘prior associations,’ pointing to money he has given to Democrats. 

However, Isaacman suggested at the time that the rescission of his nomination may have been due to his connections to Elon Musk, who was running the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) at the time. 

Duffy replaced Janet Petro, who had served as acting NASA administrator since Trump’s inauguration.

Daniel Driscoll 

Driscoll was sworn in as the 26th secretary of the Army in February. The secretary of the army is a senior-level civilian official charged with overseeing the management of the Army and also acts as an advisor to the secretary of defense in matters related to the Army. 

It was reported in April that Driscoll was named acting ATF director, replacing Patel in that role. 

‘Mr. Driscoll is responsible for the oversight of the agency’s mission to protect communities from violent criminals, criminal organizations, and the illegal trafficking of firearms, explosives, and contraband,’ his ATF biography states. ‘Under his leadership, the ATF works to enforce federal laws, ensure public safety, and provide critical support in the investigation of firearms-related crimes and domestic and international criminal enterprises,’

Ahead of Trump taking office, Republican representatives Eric Burlison of Missouri and Lauren Boebert of Colorado introduced legislation to abolish the ATF, saying the agency has worked to strip Second Amendment rights from U.S. citizens. 

The ATF has been tasked with assisting the Department of Homeland Security in its deportation efforts under the Trump administration. 

Driscoll remains listed as the agency’s acting director as of February 2026. 

Doug Collins 

Former Georgia Republican Rep. Doug Collins was sworn in as the Trump administration’s secretary of Veterans Affairs in February, a Cabinet-level position tasked with overseeing the department and its mission of providing health, education and financial benefits to military veterans. 

Days after his confirmation as VA secretary, Trump tapped Collins to temporarily lead two oversight agencies, the Office of Government Ethics and the Office of Special Counsel. 

The Office of Government Ethics is charged with overseeing the executive branch’s ethics program, including setting ethics standards for the government and monitoring ethics compliance across federal agencies and departments. 

The Office of Special Counsel is charged with overseeing and protecting the federal government’s merit system, most notably ensuring federal whistleblowers don’t face retaliation for sounding the alarm on an issue they’ve experienced. The office also has an established secure channel to allow federal employees to blow the whistle on alleged wrongdoing. 

The Office of Special Counsel also enforces the Hatch Act, which bans executive branch staffers, except the president and vice president, from engaging in certain forms of political activity. 

Jamieson Greer

Trump’s trade representative, Jamieson Greer, has also been tapped for multiple roles within the administration, in addition to helping lead the administration’s tariff negotiations to bring parity to the chronic U.S. trade deficit with other nations. 

Greer took on Collins’ roles as acting director of the Office of Government Ethics and as acting special counsel of the Office of Special Counsel April 1. 

Trump nominated conservative attorney Paul Ingrassia to lead the Office of Special Counsel in May, but he subsequently withdrew his nomination amid concerns about his rhetoric and other accusations the young conservative was facing at the time.  

Russell Vought 

Trump named his former director of the Office of Management and Budget during his first administration, Russell Vought, to the same role in his second administration. Vought was confirmed as the federal government’s budget chief in February. 

Days later, Vought was also named the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a position he still holds.

The CFPB is an independent government agency charged with protecting consumers from unfair financial practices in the private sector. It was created in 2010 under the Obama administration after the financial crash in 2008. Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren originally proposed and advocated for the creation of the agency.

The CFPB came under fierce investigation from the Department of Government Efficiency in February, with mass terminations rocking the agency before the reduction in force initiative was tied up in court. 

Ric Grenell 

President Donald Trump’s former ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence during his first term, a pair of roles held at separate times in the first administration, currently serves as president of the Kennedy Center and special presidential envoy for special missions of the United States. 

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts serves as the national cultural center of the U.S. Trump notably serves as the center’s chairman, and Grenell said the center will see a ‘golden age’ of the arts during Trump’s second administration through productions and concerts that Americans actually want to see after years of the performing arts center running in the red. 

Trump named Grenell his special presidential envoy for special missions to the United States in December 2024 before his inauguration, saying Grenell will ‘work in some of the hottest spots around the world, including Venezuela and North Korea.’

In this role, Grenell helped lead the administration through its response to the wildfires that tore through Southern California in the last days of the Biden administration through the beginning days of the Trump administration. 

Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report. 

A repeat offender once described by federal prosecutors as a ‘danger to the community’ was set to be released Thursday after receiving a sentence commutation signed with an autopen in the final days of former President Joe Biden’s administration.

Oscar Freemond Fowler III had been serving a 12-year, six-month federal sentence after pleading guilty in 2024 to being a felon in possession of a gun and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Federal prosecutors urged the court to impose at least 150 months in prison, citing his lengthy criminal history and arguing he posed an ongoing threat to the public.

Fowler was included in a Jan. 17, 2025, executive grant of clemency commuting the sentences of more than 2,500 inmates under the Biden administration. The warrant, issued in Washington and bearing Biden’s signature, was one of three clemency documents critics say were executed using an autopen.

While the Biden administration said the commutations were relief for non-violent drug offenders, the Oversight Project, a conservative investigative group for the Heritage Foundation, argues that Fowler’s history of violence makes him a clear danger to the public.

The Oversight Project issued a warning to Florida officials this week about Fowler’s release.

‘He is a dangerous criminal who’s supposed to be in jail for a very long time,’ Oversight Project President Mike Howell told Fox News Digital. ‘This is the exact person that should be in federal custody.’

The most serious allegations in Fowler’s past involve the death of Naykee Bostic in St. Petersburg. Bostic was found with 25 gunshot wounds shortly after Fowler had been released from a previous federal stint in 2013. While Fowler was acquitted of the murder in 2017 after two prior mistrials, the Oversight Project points to a 2024 sentencing memorandum stating that Fowler made a video-recorded admission to the killing and expressed a willingness to use violence again.

Howell said the case contradicts prior characterizations of the clemency actions as focusing on nonviolent offenders.

‘We agree with the Biden administration’s own Justice Department officials who flagged that these people were violent,’ Howell said. ‘Stop saying they’re nonviolent. The documents speak for themselves.’

Howell also questioned the legality of the autopen process.

‘The president has said these autopen commutations are null and void,’ Howell said. ‘DOJ had a choice to make — keep him in custody or release him — and they chose not to follow that direction.’

The Florida attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The release of Fowler comes after the House Oversight Committee’s GOP majority released a 100-page report in October 2025 detailing findings from its monthslong probe into Biden’s White House, specifically whether his inner circle covered up signs of mental decline and if that alleged cover-up extended to executive actions signed via autopen without Biden’s full awareness.

‘The Department of Justice should immediately conduct a review of all executive actions taken by President Biden between January 20, 2021, and January 19, 2025. Given the patterns and findings detailed herein, this review should focus particularly on all acts of clemency. However, it should also include all other types of executive actions.’

In an interview with The New York Times in July, Biden affirmed he ‘made every decision’ on his own.

Last year when President Donald Trump helped broker a ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia, he took a victory lap.

‘Who else could say, ‘I’m going to make a phone call and stop a war between two very powerful countries, Thailand and Cambodia?” he said.

Now, that agreement appears under strain, as Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet told Fox News Digital that Thai forces have pushed into long-held Cambodian territory beyond the line of dispute. Thai soldiers have sealed off villages with barbed wire and shipping containers, leaving 80,000 Cambodian locals unable to return home, according to Cambodian officials.

‘The occupation is beyond even Thailand’s unilateral claim,’ Manet said. ‘Many of the villagers cannot go back to their hometowns.’

Cambodia and Thailand have sparred for decades over sections of their 500-mile land border, much of which was drawn during the French colonial era and later interpreted differently by Bangkok and Phnom Penh. The dispute has periodically flared into armed clashes, particularly around areas near historic Khmer temple sites and rural villages where demarcation remains incomplete.

Tensions escalated again last year, with fighting breaking out along contested stretches of the frontier and displacing thousands of civilians on both sides. The clashes prompted diplomatic intervention and culminated in a ceasefire agreement brokered with U.S. involvement during an ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur.

Images and local reporting from the most recent fighting show damage to structures near the frontier, including at or near the UNESCO-listed Preah Vihear temple complex — raising concerns about the safety of cultural heritage sites caught in contested zones. Cambodian officials have blamed Thai forces for the damage, while Thai officials have denied deliberately targeting religious or cultural landmarks, saying military operations were limited to contested security areas.

The Thai embassy could not be reached for comment on this interview.

Still, Manet declined to threaten military retaliation. ‘Our position is to always stick to peaceful resolutions,’ he said. ‘We don’t believe that using war to stop a war is sustainable or practical.’

Thailand, with a population of more than 70 million — roughly four times Cambodia’s 17 million — maintains a significantly larger and better-equipped military, raising the stakes of any renewed conflict.

With fighting again threatening fragile stability along the frontier, Manet traveled to Washington this week for the inaugural meeting of Trump’s Board of Peace.

‘The Board of Peace can play an active role in promoting peace, stability and normalcy between Cambodia and Thailand,’ he said.

Hun Manet took office in 2023, succeeding his father, Hun Sen, who ruled Cambodia for nearly four decades. The leadership transition marked the first formal handover of power in decades, though the ruling Cambodian People’s Party has maintained firm control over the country’s political system amid longstanding criticism from rights groups about limits on opposition activity.

A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Manet has sought to maintain close ties with China while cautiously reopening channels with Washington, including restoring joint military exercises that had been suspended in 2017.

As Cambodia navigates tensions with Thailand, it is also balancing relations between Washington and Beijing.

Manet said navigating ties with competing world powers ‘doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game’ and that Cambodia, as a smaller nation, cannot afford to ‘choose one country against the other.’

That balance has centered in part on Ream Naval Base, a strategic facility on Cambodia’s southern coast rebuilt with Chinese financing.

The USS Cincinnati docked at Ream in late January, marking the first U.S. warship visit since the base was renovated with Chinese funding and technical support. The visit was marked by a striking visual: the USS Cincinnati docked roughly 150 meters from a Chinese naval vessel already moored at the base. For years, U.S. officials have raised concerns that Cambodia had granted China exclusive access.

But Manet insisted the base remains under Cambodian control. ‘Our constitution says that no foreign military base [can] be situated on Cambodian soil.’

The U.S. visit, he said, ‘clearly shows that Cambodia is not exclusively used as a naval base for cooperation with China.’

Manet also confirmed that annual U.S.-Cambodia military exercises known as Angkor Sentinel, suspended in 2017, are set to resume this year — signaling warming defense ties. ‘We hope to have expanding cooperation with the U.S.’

In recent years, Cambodia has emerged as a hub for large-scale online scam operations, including so-called ‘pig butchering’ schemes that have defrauded victims worldwide — including Americans — out of billions of dollars. U.S. authorities have sanctioned Cambodian-linked entities tied to crypto fraud and pressed Phnom Penh to intensify enforcement efforts amid concerns about trafficking and forced labor linked to some compounds.

Manet said his government has stepped up cooperation with U.S. authorities and recently worked with the FBI to dismantle a major operation.

‘We have recently worked with the FBI cracking on a major case involving one of the Oknyaks,’ he said, referring to an influential Cambodian figure. ‘We arrested him, and we closed down one of the big compounds.’

Iran has a short window to agree to a deal with the U.S., President Donald Trump said Thursday, before warning that the situation could soon shift if negotiations fail.

The talks focus largely on curbing Tehran’s advancing nuclear program, which U.S. officials say has moved closer to weapons-grade enrichment.

The U.S. and Israel also want Iran to give up its long-range ballistic missiles, stop supporting groups around the Middle East and stop using force against protesters inside Iran.

‘We’re going to make a deal, or we’re going to get a deal one way or the other,’ Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, signaling determination to secure an agreement.

While declining to specify whether the ultimate goal is the complete dismantling of Iran’s nuclear program, Trump made clear there would be consequences if diplomacy falls short.

‘We’re either going to get a deal, or it’s going to be unfortunate for them,’ he said.

Trump suggested the window for a breakthrough is narrowing, indicating Iran has no more than ’10, 15 days, pretty much maximum’ to reach an agreement.

Trump spoke as negotiation efforts with Tehran remain ongoing.

Although Trump has repeatedly expressed hope for a deal, indirect talks in Geneva have yielded mixed feedback.

Trump said ‘good talks are being had,’ and a senior U.S. official said Iran would make a written proposal on how to address U.S. concerns, Reuters reported.

‘I believe we made good progress,’ said Abbas Araghchi, the head of the Iranian delegation in Geneva. ‘The path toward an agreement has started, but we will not reach it quickly.’

Vice President JD Vance, however, said in an interview with Fox News that ‘red lines’ were set.

‘In some ways, it went well. They agreed to meet afterward,’ Vance said. ‘But in other ways, it was very clear that the president has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through. So, we’re going to keep on working it.’

According to The Associated Press, Iran has resisted broader U.S. and Israeli demands to curb its missile program and cut ties with armed regional groups.

Trump’s comments also coincided with Iran’s annual military drills with Russia on Thursday as a second U.S. aircraft carrier moved closer to the Middle East.

Similarly, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned of military action despite ongoing talks.

The United Kingdom is blocking the Trump administration from using its military air bases for a possible attack on Iran over concerns that a strike could violate international law. 

A report by The Times said the U.S. was drawing up a report to use Royal Air Force base Fairford in England, which is home to America’s fleet of heavy bombers in Europe.

President Donald Trump reportedly spoke with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday about the plans. U.K. officials were reportedly worried that giving the United States permission to use the RAF bases for a military attack could breach international law, according to The Times.

‘Should Iran decide not to make a Deal, it may be necessary for the United States to use Diego Garcia, and the Airfield located in Fairford, in order to eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous Regime,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday.

‘An attack that would potentially be made on the United Kingdom, as well as other friendly countries. We will always be ready, willing, and able to fight for the U.K., but they have to remain strong in the face of Wokeism, and other problems put before them.’

Trump has pressed for Tehran to make a deal with the U.S. over its nuclear program. 

‘President Trump’s first instinct is always diplomacy, and he has been clear that the Iranian regime should make a deal,’ a White House official told Fox News Digital. ‘Of course, the President ultimately has all options at his disposal, and he demonstrated with Operation Midnight Hammer and Operation Absolute Resolve that he means what he says.’

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the use of British military bases against Iran is a ‘necessity for an attack — it would be beyond surprising.’

‘The bottom line is the largest state sponsor of terrorism on the planet is the weakest it’s been because the people of Iran have risen up by the millions to end their oppression and the United States and Israel have delivered crushing blows to the regime’s military infrastructure,’ Graham wrote on X. 

‘To my friends in Britain, sitting this one out puts you on the wrong side of history and is yet another example of how much our alliances throughout Europe have degraded.’

On Thursday, Trump told reporters Iran has a maximum of 15 days to make a deal or ‘it’s going to be unfortunate for them.’

Washington and Britain have been in a rift over the use of Britain’s air bases. Under the terms of long-standing agreements with Washington, the bases can only be used for military operations against third countries that have been agreed in advance with the government, according to The Times. 

On Wednesday, Trump withdrew his support for Starmer’s deal to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. However, a deal would allow the U.K. to keep control of Diego Garcia and its strategically important air base.

‘Our relationship with the United Kingdom is a strong and powerful one, and it has been for many years, but Prime Minister Starmer is losing control of this important island by claims of entities never known of before. In our opinion, they are fictitious in nature,’ Trump wrote Wednesday. 

‘Prime Minister Starmer should not lose control, for any reason, of Diego Garcia, by entering a tenuous, at best, 100-year lease,’ he added. ‘This land should not be taken away from the UK and, if it is allowed to be, it will be a blight on our great ally.’

The U.S. uses Diego Garcia for bombers operating in the Middle East and Asia.