Israel and the USA have each attacked Iran in the middle of negotiations. Iran must not fall for it a third time. Negotiation is dead.
Israel attacked Iran during negotiations between Iran and the US, with the next scheduled meeting just three days away – including assassinating the lead negotiator.
Trump then gave Iran a two-week ultimatum to agree a peace deal. Iran held one foreign-minister-level meeting with the UK, Germany and France and scheduled a second meeting. Trump then attacked Iran with 11 days of the ultimatum still to run.
Plainly the Zionist West not only has zero interest in peace, it is engaging in morally abhorrent levels of dishonesty and deception, attacking under a false flag of truce. The idea that Iran should now return to “negotiation” with such appallingly deceitful interlocutors is risible.
It is also plain that the USA has no intention of stopping the attacks. Trump’s statement said that further attacks will follow unless Iran stops fighting. Plainly the objectives of the USA are not in truth merely the destruction of Iran’s nuclear programme, but total victory for Israel in the war it has started with Iran. Trump’s demand of “unconditional surrender” still stands and the aim remains, as I have stated, regime change to install the “Shah” with a Sunni Prime Minister.
Zionist regimes have been installed in Lebanon and Syria in the last six months. They already existed in the Gulf states and Jordan. The aim to install a Zionist regime in Tehran is overreach by Netanyahu and Trump. You cannot bomb the Iranian people into Zionism.
The extent of bombing, and the extent of death, that would be required for regime change in Iran is astonishing. Contrary to neoliberal expectation but obvious to anyone with a brain, the attacks on Iran have rallied support for its government. I find nothing more nauseating than the Western “feminists” who are campaigning for war against Iran to bring about regime change.
Not only would regime change involve the deaths of hundreds of thousands of women in war, there is no doubt whatsoever that Western destruction of Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and Iraq made the lives of women in those countries much worse, both in terms of infrastructure and conditions of life and also in terms of women’s position in society.
The attempt to gaslight the public with abject lies about Iran’s nuclear weapon capability is so blatant a repeat of the Iraqi WMD scam that I am astonished they dare to try it. The attacks on Iran are completely illegal – and I am quite sure will in fact lead to Iran changing its mind and deciding to possess a nuclear weapon, which will be achieved within five years.
You can have watched or listened to hundreds of hours of BBC broadcasting on the current war on Iran, and never have heard once that Israel possesses nuclear weapons. The levels of propaganda are truly extreme.
The attacks on Iran are illegal. There is no doubt of that. Iran faces a monumental struggle, but has no choice but to fight.
In the meantime not a single day has passed when Israel has not shot and killed Palestinians in Gaza in the queues for food. The Genocide goes on, and the US and Israel have succeeded in turning the world’s attention and bringing their Western satraps back into line, just when the Gaza Genocide was alarming politicians internationally by its blatancy.
I see much futile discussion as to whether Israel is controlling the US or the US controlling Israel. Plainly the answer is both; there is a deep symbiotic relationship of the political classes in both places. The key point is that the Israel settler colony carries an insupportable weight in the policy decisions of Western politicians. Like all colonialism – and as outlined by Lenin and Hobson – this is because colonialism benefits the personal interests of the wealthy and military classes but is a burden on working people.
I find Hobson offers an invaluable perspective to look at the Israel settler colony. Long-term readers will know that I have stated that J A Hobson’s Imperialism: A Study had more effect on my understanding of the world than any other book. I strongly recommend it (there is a new edition with a foreword by Jeremy Corbyn).
I am a thinker and writer who tries to use my experience to explain and analyse what is happening. I am also a campaigner and activist. What I am not is a political organiser. Those who put together the March to Gaza or the Freedom Flotilla have my admiration, and have skills which I do not possess.
I therefore put forward this idea with no apology that I am not the man to organise it. The British sovereign base at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus is fundamental to the logistics of the attacks on Iran for the UK, USA and Israel. A gathering of thousands of activists in Cyprus to close down the base appears to me the most viable and useful option to cause real problems for the neoliberal genociders.
The Akrotiri base has a very large perimeter and far too few RAF Regiment troops to guard it against thousands of determined activists. The government of Cyprus is unlikely to defend the British sovereign base from peaceful activists. Cyprus is a very easy place to reach.
As our panicked rulers seek to ban Palestine Action as a “terrorist group” – despite the fact they have never injured anybody – it seems to me essential we continue and indeed increase the resistance. The very notion of “terrorism” has been debased to include journalism and peaceful protest. We must not be terrified into allowing fascism to prevail.
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The UK armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard was questioned by Nick Ferrari on LBC, and was asked whether the UK was opposed to the US strike at the weekend. He refused to answer, to his credit Nick Ferrarri badgered him, but Pollard remained mum. I suspect the reason was this was a pure act of aggression to which a future International court may be required to give an opinion. Or worse a major regional war could kick off and the Pollards of this world would blindly follow Uncle Sam into another, and far worse debacle than the Iraq war, for which the non existent WMD played the major role. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntg6vCOsq_c
Its not the legality of an attack on a nation or group of people that counts anymore – its now down to might, if you have and want to use it – that’s all that matters now – for all the countries out there that don’t possess nukes – I say to you, you’d better get them, or like Libya, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan etc, you are considered far game for attack if you don’t comply with the West/Israel demands.
“The first major consequence, in broader terms, is that this strike dealt a final, irreparable blow to what little remained of the post-war international legal and institutional framework. That order was already in tatters — shredded by a year and a half of Western-backed genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza. But this latest attack makes it official: Western powers no longer feel the need to cloak their actions in legality, morality or even the façade of diplomatic legitimacy.
By bombing Iran, the US has openly declared that the only operative logic in foreign policy is that of raw, unrestrained violence. And while this logic is nothing new for the West — just look at the long list of nations invaded, bombed, regime-changed and destroyed over the past two decades alone, at the cost of millions of lives — at least in the past there was some attempt to manufacture consent or feign respect for international law. That minimal restraint, however hypocritical, forced some degree of accountability, however flimsy.
Today, even that pretence is gone. In Gaza, and now with the strikes on Iran, the gloves are fully off. What we’re witnessing is a regression to a kind of global lawlessness — a “might makes right” free-for-all where nothing is off limits: not the mass slaughter of civilians, not the bombing of nuclear sites, not even the complete sidelining of international institutions. And all of this is happening in the nuclear age”
https://www.thomasfazi.com/p/gangster-empire-what-the-bombing
The al Udeid airbase is the largest US base in the middle east, explosions have been hears in Doha.
Iran has launched a missile attack against US bases in the Middle East.
Iranian missiles have targeted the al Udeid air base in Qatar, while air defence systems was activated in the Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq.
It also hosts the RAF’s operational headquarters in the Middle East.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/06/23/iran-israel-us-strikes-latest-news-nuclear-sites-trump/
Now lets see, did Iran give out a prior warning to the strike at Al-Udeid in Qatar – just as the USA gave Tehran prior warning of its strike at Fordow.
“Qatari air defenses intercepted a missile attack targeting al-Udeid Air Base. By the grace of God and the vigilance of the armed forces and precautionary measures, the incident resulted in no deaths or injuries,” – Qatar’s Ministry of Defense
Iran says it used the same amount of missiles against Al-Udeid as the amount of bombs dropped by the U.S. on Fordow (14)”
Of course, this symbolic retaliation was just make believe. They had warned the Americans ahead of time, not a single plane was still on the tarmac or in the hangars.
Iran is not suicidal. They needed to be able to tell their citizens that they duly replied to the American attack, but they don’t want to take the chance of making the Donald look stupid. And angry.
Whereas the US kept their air raid a surprise, hence the false flag of the Pacific Ocean itinerary…
Melrose.
As suspected.
“Iran gave advance notice of Qatar base attacks to minimize casualties.” – New York Times”
The dictatorships in Bahrain and Oman have condemned the Iranian attack on Al Udeid as a violation of Qatari sovereignty.
Well no. Iran has a right to defend itself against an aggressor, yes? Those monarchs allow Burgermuncher and Posh bases on their territories and don’t even care about their own countries’ sovereignty.
And the Donald even thanked Iran for their courtesy!
Not suspected, it’s been public knowledge right from the start…
Fresh from accusations of complicity in the outing of Iran’s murdered nuclear scientists he follows up with this gem.
Elijah J. Magnier 🇪🇺
@ejmalrai
You won’t believe it but this is not a joke:
@rafaelmgrossi
considers Iran’s removal of the enriched uranium outside Fordow nuclear site to protect it is a “violation” and said nothing about condemning the Israeli and US bombing of nuclear sites, considered a violation of international law.
Those wondering why Iran hasn’t done X or Y need to understand the realities. SIPRI reported Iran’s military spending at roughly $10.3 billion in 2023. The US spends roughly twice that per week on defence. Iran don’t have the capability to offer serious resistance. The most powerful missiles they are firing are being singled-out for interception.
That’s probably why they were at least interested (no more than that) in acquiring the nuclear deterrent? It’s a relatively low cost entry point into the big league, as Pakistan and N.Korea have shown. Neither of which will ever be bothered by the US or Israel.
Apparently “Israel sent a formal message to Iran saying Tel Aviv wants to ‘end the war’.”
Says who, Elmer Fudd to Bugs Bunny? (while Elmer is hiding behind the tree with a stash of dynamite)
Apparently it was on Israeli TV, for what that’s worth. Mind you, I can’t see why they would want to say it if it wasn’t true.
I wasn´t criticizing you, sorry.
But after soon 2 years of incessant lies I don´t believe a single word coming from that part of the world any more.
Which of course could have made me deaf on one ear.
NY Post:
Trump announces Israel and Iran have agreed to cease-fire
https://nypost.com/2025/06/23/us-news/trump-announces-israel-and-iran-have-agreed-to-cease-fire/
More here:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-said-to-convey-message-to-iran-it-is-looking-to-end-war-within-days/
They’re trying to humiliate Medvedev too, as well as Grossi:
https://tass.com/politics/1979757
Lavrov should say if Trump wants to say something to us, let him f***ing say it through diplomatic channels, not on Truth Social. Replying “Oh no, I didn’t say THAT and I didn’t mean THE OTHER” is just pathetic. Also one assumes the US foreign ministry employs analysts capable of reporting on what Medvedev has said.
New leaked internal paper of the EU calls Israeli acts in Gaza “crimes”.
A report ignored by the very leadership that is heading the department issueing this report.
“Full text of EU report on Israeli crimes in Gaza”
by Andrew Rettman, Brussels, 20. Juni 2025
https://euobserver.com/eu-and-the-world/ar0246a0da
“(…)
The EU has corroborated UN allegations that Israel was guilty of “indiscriminate attacks … starvation … torture … [and] apartheid” against Palestinians in a leaked “review”.
The “restricted”, eight-page EU foreign service document was circulated to member states’ embassies in Brussels on Friday (20 June) and leaked in full (see below) for the first time by EUobserver.
It concluded, on page eight, that “there are indications that Israel would be in breach of its human rights obligations” in a 25-year-old EU-Israel “association agreement”, which could cost Israel €1bn/year in trade perks – if member states were to take action.
The leaked EU paper was bracketed with assorted caveats.
It was billed merely as a “note” to “contribute to the ongoing review” of EU-Israel relations, rather than as the last word on the subject.
It didn’t entail “any value judgment” by EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas or EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
It apologised for excluding violence by Palestinian militant group Hamas, but said this lay outside its scope.
And it was chiefly based on findings by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague – because Israel had allowed the EU “no capacity” to do its own investigations in Gaza, the Kallas report said.
(…)”
And this blast from the past:
Brookings´s paper on regime change in Iran and other paths from 2009.
WHICH PATH TO PERSIA?
Options for a New American
Strategy toward Iran
ANALYSIS PAPER
Number 20, June 2009
Kenneth M. Pollack
Daniel L. Byman
Martin Indyk
Suzanne Maloney
Michael E. O’Hanlon
Bruce Riedel
https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/06_iran_strategy.pdf
AG
Brian Berletic is very good on the Brooking Insitute’s paper.
He’s on Youtube.
Thanks!
p.s. Something tells me I had watched that episode of BB and had totally forgotten since I already had that Brookings pdf…
obviously with Gaza genocide my archive has turned into a mess (like my brain)…
” I see much futile discussion as to whether Israel is controlling the US or the US controlling Israel. Plainly the answer is both; there is a deep symbiotic relationship of the political classes in both places.” . Indeed , Craig . The common denominator is the moral leprosy of the Ruling/Political Class in both countries : to which we can add the Israel-whores of the UK ; France ; Germany ( Germany FFS ! , as if THAT mob have any right to participate in the death and destruction of other countries’ people ) and pretty much the entire * West * and it’s avidly aspiring to be petted and told ” good boy ” poodles in ( most of ) the former Soviet Tellytubbylands .
It’s all went a bit quiet on that other land of heroes , martyrs & saints – Ukraine : not seen Zelly On The Telly for , oh , ages , 2 weeks at least and it appears those almost daily visits from one if not all of the 4 Donkeys of the Apocalypse – Wee Manny Macron ; Rent Boy Fan Boy Starmer ; Rancid Sauerkraut Merz ; or whatsisface , the Polish clown , Tisk , Task , Tusk , a-Tiskit a -Tasket for a similarly unusually lengthy time . Looks like wee * Charlie * Zelensky is just not Jewish enough to merit continued military red carpet treatment – ie he and his country have outlived their usefulness and will now join the long list of destroyed areas that had the tragic stupidity to imagine the Yanks gave an iota of fck about their fate once the latter had got what they wanted from them .
When will the rest of the World learn the U.S does not have ” allies ” or ” friends ” : it has useful idiots , sycophants , cannon fodder and bankrolling cowards willing to cough-up vast sums in ” protection ” money . Such ” protection ” being extremely tenuous/conditional .
Not a fan of Macron’s politics, but why can’t Starmer say this:
Macron says ‘no framework of legality’ for US strikes on Iran nuclear facilities
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, said today that there was no “framework of legality” regarding the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, adding any regime change in the country should be a result of the will of the people, not of bombs.
“There is no framework of legality in these strikes, even if France shares the objective not to see Iran acquire nuclear weapons,” he told reporters during a press conference in Oslo alongside the Norwegian prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre.
“I believe in the sovereignty of peoples and territorial integrity … so I don’t think we can take the place of a people to change its leaders,” Macron added.
Even erstwhile ultra loyal allies of the US, like Japan and South Korea, have expressed grave concerns.
In Tokyo, asked yesterday, whether Japan backs the U.S. attacks, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said, “I will answer the question when appropriate,” after holding discussions within the government on the matter.
Seoul decided not to participate in the NATO summit following the US Strikes on Iran
Maybe that’s because of the “special relationship”.
Selling Land Rovers in NYC and DC…
The Art of the Deal…
For those who have the nerve I have posted a translation of the latest interview with Germany´s new Secretary of State Johann Wadephul conducted by DER SPIEGEL in the Gaza thread of the Forum.
It´s the blind liar, talking to the deaf liar both war criminals in their own way. (If we e.g. consider Craig Mokhiber applying the genocide convention to European media.)
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/forums/topic/breaking-news-gaza-only/page/35/#post-104448
Iranian strikes against US bases in Qatar and Iraq apparently, not sure if any missile made it through. Qatar condemned the attack and imply they might answer. sigh yeah right, I bet Iran could take on the 20+incompetent zionist arab states, alone. Better yet, I do not even think any arab state would even dare to step against Iran.
I am however surprised that Iran has not focused on conducting more novel acts of sabotage, this is “their” and not the region of the US. Iran should have prepared for decades for this event by infiltrating and preparing, on the ground, in Qatar and Iraq (and similar spots with american bases). Just sending missiles is bound to be shot down. But I am nevertheless impressed that Iran stand their ground, they do what they are able to do and do not shy away.
At the same time this is a sad development, this exactly the situation Israel want, no one talk about the Genocide anymore, just the other day it was reported that atleast 144 palestinians were killed in 1 single day, no one talk about the israeli attacks on Iran, instead the focus is now on the US, and Iran. Israel get the US and Iran to fight each other, just like they always wanted.
Updates: Israel, Iran continue missile attacks; 144 killed in Gaza
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2025/6/18/live-israel-iran-attacks-continue-trump-demands-unconditional-surrender
Stupid, dangerous act of token resistance from Iran.
Trump isn’t a rational human being; he’s a bully and a narcissist. And Defence Secretary, Hegseth, is spectacularly unqualified; an impulsive, hot-headed loudmouth, who used to be a hawkish Fox News pundit, where he first came to Trump’s attention. Placing your country’s fate in their hands isn’t wise.
I see Iran’s action as measured, consistent with its past responses to American aggression. That also leads me to think that there will be no regime change in Tehran. Nor do I think the Americans have succeeded in destroying Iran’s ability to build an atomic weapon, which I doubt the Iranians actually wish to, given their allegiance to their religious leaders. But it’s reckless to provoke them into going down that road. Netanyahu and Trump have endangered world peace. Given this, to offer Trump the Nobel peace prize would be to bring the honour into disrepute, even if nominating him may be considered by Pakistan to be a good method of currying favour with him.
Reported that Trump and Hegseth raced to the Situation Room on the ground floor of the West Wing of the White House, as news came through.
The only person who seems to be trying to dial things down in this administration is JD Vance. And even he appears to be treading carefully, not wanting to be frozen out like DNI Tulsi Gabbard.
Pakistan doesn’t care about “currying favours with Trump”. Pakistani raison d’état is and has always been to internationalise the Kashmir dispute, just as India does everything to present it as a bilateral-only issue. (India has a weaker legal standing here given the UN Resolution 47/1948, which India is particularly unwilling to implement). The Nobel Prize idea is just another Pakistani attempt at that.
Moon of Alabama with a longer than usual entry today:
Proliferation, Retaliation, And Other Consequences Of The War On Iran
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/06/some-consequences-of-the-war-on-iran.html#more
Quoting Thomas Fazi´s latest comment on the events:
“We are now in a new world disorder:
The first major consequence, in broader terms, is that this strike dealt a final, irreparable blow to what little remained of the post-war international legal and institutional framework. That order was already in tatters — shredded by a year and a half of Western-backed genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza. But this latest attack makes it official: Western powers no longer feel the need to cloak their actions in legality, morality or even the façade of diplomatic legitimacy.
…
Today, even that pretense is gone. In Gaza, and now with the strikes on Iran, the gloves are fully off. What we’re witnessing is a regression to a kind of global lawlessness — a “might makes right” free-for-all where nothing is off limits: not the mass slaughter of civilians, not the bombing of nuclear sites, not even the complete sidelining of international institutions.
That the U.S. is doing this, with open support of its European proxies, is not only a danger for the international system but also for the domestic population of these countries:
This isn’t only a threat to international security. It’s also a profound threat to what little freedoms we still have left within the West itself. Make no mistake: the Western ruling classes’ open embrace of Mafia-style gangsterism abroad also means that they will have no qualms about brushing aside whatever ethical, legal, constitutional and democratic constrains that still stand in the way of their desperate, hallucinatory bid to preserve the crumbling order.
We have already seen this in the illegitimate suppression of protests against the genocide in Gaza. It will proliferate from there. The West is, slowly but accelerating, sliding from a ‘rule of law’ status into the darkness of unbound fascism. It is on us to prevent that.”
The absurd concentration with Iran, on ‘will they, won’t they’ ‘get the bomb’ – meaning a basic, fission-based atom bomb – is peculiar, in an age of bio-engineered super viruses that could potentially kill millions. Any country forbidden from nuclear-weapon related activities can acquire weaponry just as deadly, if they throw enough scientists at the problem.
While we already know that Iran advised the US about the upcoming strike on the military bases, my own “conspiracy theory” is that the US similarly had advised Iran, around 12-24h in advance, about the intended strike on the three nuclear sites. This would have been to enable Iran to remove most personnel – which Iran did – but also remove the enriched uranium elsewhere. Nobody, including the US, would want a nuclear incident should highly enriched uranium containers be hit. We now read that the Iranians started removing uranium just as bombers were about to take off.
It’s possible that an option was left for Iran to move the stock to Isfahan – surprisingly, the US did not use the GBU-57 bombs on the Isfahan site despite its deep tunnels (although Israel tried to destroy the site the following day).
I obviously have no means to know whether this is true, or even possible given the public rhetoric of both sides, but I find it hard to explain the Iranian response otherwise.
Others have similar thoughts about each side informing the other before the strikes.
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/shayrat-redux-trumps-invisible-fleet
I can’t see through the fog to figure out why they would do this. What are they trying to achieve by going through the motions of strikes that achieve no substantial military purpose. What’s the objective of the theatrical moves?
To satisfy some key constituents without alienating others, which is what clever politics is all about?
The discussion in the White House could have been that should the US indeed obliterate the Iranian nuclear programme, Iranian response might have had consequences that could not be managed domestically in an acceptable way. Such as, for instance, sinking one of the two US aircraft carriers currently within their missile range – Trump’s remaining popularity would have sunk even faster. Just check extreme right-wing media (such as gab.com) to see how averse Trump’s core base is to any US engagement in the Middle East, let alone any casualties.
Now, Netanyahu, despised by the White House, can only wipe his face and repeat that it’s raining, while Iranians, even though hurt by the US to a degree, are still okay to engage in negotiations that Trump so desperately wants to present as his success (see Trump’s latest tweets). Politics?
Seems strange if Iran actually approved a cease-fire at this time considering the damage Israel/US have done against Iran. Sure Israel and US are of course the stronger party here but Iran have all right to defend itself in a way greater extent than what they have done up until now. Iran should also call upon the ICJ to investigate Israel and US obvious violations of international law commited against Iran past weeks.
And besides it is not like Israel is going to respect any ceasefire to begin with, they are going to keep on with their subversion warfare against Iran.
In other news, we are truly living in a bizarro-world, the other day Israel bombed a prison in Iran, an obvious breach of interantional law targeting a pure civilian target. What was the response by the west? Well actually France condemned the attack….but not because of the actual attack itself, but because french dual-nationals could have been hurt.
France condemns Israeli strike on Iranian prison
The IDF put foreigners in danger during its bombing campaign, the French foreign minister has said
https://swentr.site/news/620381-france-condemns-idf-prison-strike/
Iran was quite keen not to escalate. Primo, they no longer have any meaningful air defences. Secundo, they don’t want to disclose all their military capabilities – you actually never do that, else you lose the deterrence effect.
Also, either Iranian targeting was somewhat poor or Israel isn’t disclosing the extent of the damage to military and infrastructure targets. For instance, Israeli nuclear sites would be a natural target (except reactors of course), but were they at all hit with any precision?
Also, Iranian narrative was quite underwhelming. For instance, I didn’t hear about “the right to defend itself” in any interview with Iranian ambassadors I read. Only age-old slogans.
In similarly related news, one of Gaza’s biggest UK based advocates (and paradoxically, staunch Unionist) George Galloway is now supportive of a second independence referendum in Scotland. A bizarre turn of events, but he always was a contrarian type – supported the status quo in 2014, despite being a firm advocate of Northern Ireland leaving the UK and joining a United Ireland. Also supported Brexit alongside Farage (the old school Tory) despite being anti-Tory.
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/25261093.former-glagow-mp-announces-support-second-indy-ref/
Luke 15:7 : I tell you that in the same way, there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent.
George Galloway, wow.
I suppose he can argue he’s still opposed to the SNP though, as they seem quite happy not to hold another.
Thank you Goose.
That made me laugh.
Ceasefire just announced:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/23/trump-claims-ceasefire-reached-between-israel-and-iran
You cannot negotiate with them, but they can lead you on…
Announced by Trump so probably a lie.
If it’s true, Iran has been humiliated.
His abrupt change of tone to dovish, is baffling. But this may partly explain :
Trump’s popularity has dropped to its lowest level ever. And in a Reuters/Ipsos poll (21-23 June) just 36% of Americans agreed with the strikes. A major ME war, with an oil price shock, would clearly prove calamitously unpopular for both Trump and prove existential for his party. It’s precisely the opposite of what he promised MAGA.
Not really. All they have to do is change the talking points. For instance “We have forced Israel to the negotiation table” or “America and its sponsor were so scared of our attacks across the region that they immediately begged for a ceasefire”.
Politics as usual…
Brian Red
Yes reading on Presstv right now, Iran agreed to a ceasefire, this will be a colossal boost for the war criminal Trump and Netanyahu.
Trump/Netanyahu oblierated the nuclear program, humiliated Iran, assassinated multiple top military brass and walked away as the winner and on top boosted their public approval rate. Iran was on a good spree and managed to strike critical targets in Israel so it makes no sense they would suddenly stop their legitimate response. But perhaps they are not stronger than this, one has to be realistic. Nevertheless, not good not for Iran (nor for the Global South) because sooner or later the subversion/attacks against Iran will restart with the same bogus arguments.
Trump is telling his internet fans that “Iran has officially responded to our Obliteration of their Nuclear Facilities with a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered.” Actually he said he’d bomb Iran to kingdom come if they hit any US base in response to the US attack, so a clear case of TACO.
If Israel really is out of Iron Dome Tamir interceptor missiles that could be why they’ve agreed to a ceasefire now? Each missile contains electro-optical sensors and steering fins with proximity fuze blast warheads. Not the sort of things you can just churn out, and their components are procured through the Raytheon supply chain in the United States, so procurement logistical difficulties may be kicking in?
Difficult to know what’s been going on in Israel, as the western media has been indulging their requests not to film strikes and citizens risk prosecution for putting video on social media ; the Israeli argument being. such footage gives Iran insights – info for targeting adjustments etc.
I can’t imagine Netanyahu is happy if it does end like this. What was it all for? Regime change quickly revealed itself as the real goal. Maybe they stock up the Iron Dome missiles and start again? That’s an awful prospect and a very cynical view, before a ceasefire even starts admittedly. But Israel initiated war once and has faced no consequences internationally, what’s to stop them doing it again?
If the US has agreed a ceasefire between itself and Iran, the reason could be so that Iran doesn’t launch any more missiles at an Israel now poorly protected with a dome about as good as a string vest.
But how much damage was there at Al Udeid?
Likewise Iran started this exchange with about 3,000 missiles of various types not all of which have sufficient range to reach Israel.
https://missilethreat.csis.org/country/iran/
They’ve been firing them off by the hundred to overwhelm Israel’s defences, according to some sources only one in ten are getting through, so at a guess I’d say both sides are running low and need to stop and re-arm.
Iran Started it ????
It’s the official line of the British government.
It must be parroted, regardless of how abject it makes one look.
PM
Source last updated 2021, with main graphic dated 2020.
I’ve not seen any other estimates which are substantially different and Israel hasn’t moved any closer to Iran in the past five years. Iran fired at least 200 rockets at Israel last October and I would doubt they’ve all been replaced.
“Israel hasn’t moved any closer to Iran in the past five years.”
What’s the range got to do with the number?
Pears – “rockets” is hasbara and BBC lingo relating to Hamas and Hezbollah, not Iran.
” Israel hasn’t moved any closer to Iran in the past five years ”
It restricts which type of rocket Iran can use.
” A rocket is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely from propellant carried within the vehicle. “
“It restricts which type of rocket Iran can use.”
If we are talking about Iran firing missiles at Israel, which we are, then missiles that do not have that range are no more relevant now than when the guesstimate of 3000 missiles was produced (probably out of thin air as it’s a suspiciously round number). The people whose job it is to come up with these numbers have been consistently wrong about Russia’s stocks and production of munitions, so it unlikely that they will be any better with Iran’s.
“Iran fired at least 200 rockets at Israel last October and I would doubt they’ve all been replaced.”
One missile a day, doesn’t seem an unreasonable rate of production. It wasn’t as if they didn’t have damn good reason to suspect that Israel’s attack would be happening sooner or later.
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So, considering the new developments in the last few hours, maybe Craig’s headline should be slightly edited with the addition of a subordinate clause:
“You Cannot Negotiate with the Zionist West… Until You Must”.
Whatever happens next remains a conundrum, but never forget the Supreme Leader and his associates had said the Iranian response to American aggression would be “everlasting”. They don’t have midterms elections in Iran…
Ceasefire = time to consolidate and rearm.
Israel has realised its mistake, but the plan hasn’t been abandoned.
Time to tighten the screws. Never trust a zionist.
So to summarise: Iran, the US, and to some extent the Arab powers too have been humiliated by a heavily nuclear armed ethnic supremacist colony whose leader on the eve of the war invoked a tribal religious verse about drinking the blood of his group’s enemies. After the ceasefire was agreed, the colonial regime then issued a statement about existing for “eternity”.
The US played its role to the colony’s satisfaction, even if in the above-mentioned statement. as far as I am aware, it didn’t even get a thankyou.
I suspect no missiles at all landed in Qatar.
If there is anything good that has come out of this, it can be phrased negatively. There have not been hundreds of thousands of casualties in Iran, and nor has a Shah returned.
Let us now call Jordan and Iraq the Zionists’ “flyover” states.
Ceasefire didn’t last long.
Israel defence minister says he has ordered attack on Iran after claiming Tehran has violated ceasefire. Well, but of course they did. Giving USA pretext to attack again.
This 3 hours ago.
” U.S. president Donald Trump on Social media:
THE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT. PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!”
And this 58 minutes ago.
“Iranian ballistic missile launches have been detected. Red alerts across northwest Israel, mainly in the Haifa countryside”
And this 36 minutes ago.
“Defense Minister Israel Katz:
In response to Iran’s violation of the ceasefire, I have instructed the IDF to carry out powerful strikes against regime targets in the heart of Tehran”
Along with this – Personally I think Iran can’t afford to take part in a ceasefire – it will only give the Zionists and the Yanks time to replenish and fortify – for another attack under another false guise.
“Three and a half hours after the US President announced a ceasefire, fire was opened from Iran toward northern Israel. We must not hesitate, we must not hold back, we must respond immediately,”
– Avigdor Lieberman, Head of the far-right Yisrael Beiteinu Party, part of the Likud-bloc coalition”
https://nitter.poast.org/MonitorX99800
Pro-Gaza activists should lampoon the imminent ban on the Palestine Action group by carrying placards showing the head of Keir Starmer saying : “I support Palestine Inaction. See no evil, hear no evil and tell lies,”
Absolutely. And I think this wouldn’t break the law, and embarrass rotten politicians a little !
IRONY can be an efficient weapon…
What measures do the British imperial jurisdictions of these overseas military bases threaten? I understand that treaties are a royal prerogative, and therefore may be secret, and our Treaties of Establishment forming Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs) are characteristic of military dictatorship, but what is likely to happen if someone attempts the same kind of paint-and-dent stunt on military equipment in an overseas base? I presume they there would be standing shoot-to-kill orders in nuclear bases here and there.
Dear Craig,
USIsrael is doing what Empires/Imperialists, always do, whatever it takes to get what it wants. They have zero morals, zero ethics, zero anything except force, brute force, Furthermore, they have no friends, even their so-called allies are always expendable, always.
I was reading an item in the New Arab and I wondered if there was space in this blog to raise an important question about the casualties in Gaza. It said:
“A new report published this month via the Harvard Dataverse reveals that at least 377,000 people in Gaza have been “disappeared” by the Israeli military since October 2023, with half of that number believed to be children.
The report, authored by Israeli professor Yaakov Garb, uses data-driven analysis and spatial mapping to examine how Israeli attacks on civilians and the obstruction of aid have led to a dramatic drop in the enclave’s population.
According to Garb’s findings, the actual number of people killed may be far higher than the official death toll, which currently stands at around 61,000.
Maps in the report, based on Israeli military estimates, indicate that the remaining population in Gaza City is around one million, with 500,000 in Mawasi and 350,000 in central Gaza, totalling approximately 1.85 million.
Before the war, Gaza’s population was estimated at 2.227 million. The discrepancy points to at least 377,000 people now unaccounted for.”
The question I am asking is, are all these people dead?
The website has since corrected the statement above:
“Editor’s note: This article was updated on 26 June 2025 to correct an earlier version that mistakenly reported the study found at least 377,000 people in Gaza were unaccounted for since the start of the war. That figure was based on a misreading of a map in the study. The author clarified that the map was meant to highlight how poorly located the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid compounds are in relation to population centres, using widely circulated Israeli figures to label those areas.”