[With thanks to Mr. Fish who gave permission years ago for this newsletter to republish his award winning political art. This piece is from a related article by Chris Hedges.]

Published: 2026-06-13

Introduction

Differing choices of verbs and adjectives can be heard from an array of informed commentators describing the same conclusion. The era of Israel’s impunity for international violence is over. Israel’s loss of US protection from retribution for its crimes is contemporary with a contraction of the US Empire.

Alastair Crooke recently expressed an understated truth. The populaces of Iran and Russia, along with their political representatives, and the political communities of their allies, all understand that the wars in Ukraine and Iran share the same imperial objective. The intention of these wars is the dismemberment of Russia and Iran, respectively. They are to be subdivided into statelets based on the most convenient division, whether by ethnicity, religion or whatever. These statelets and their human and natural resources are to then be politically dominated by the US empire for its commercial interests.

The empire’s problem is that neither Russia nor Iran will submit. Worse for the empire, it is wasting limited resources (taxes) maintaining wars it has lost, the failure of which it cannot admit.

A Chaged Economic and Military Reality

Over the last dozen years China and Russia have pursued a gigantic project of Asian economic integration commonly known by the acronym “BRI” (Belt and Road Initiative). The mega project includes major trade infrastructure creation all over Asia. The project’s output and the BRICS+ economic group have birthed two effects; a significant increase in “south-south” trade and an increase in trade outside of the US dollar (de-dollarization). The consequential loss of trade with the imperium threatens it.

The war in Ukraine birthed the age of drone warfare. This will continue into an ago of “robot wars” using all manner of autonomous systems which the military technologists intend to be driven by “AI”, powered by energy consuming “data centers”. The empire’s problem is that its profit driven Military Industrial Complex is a non-innovative industry under government protection. Russia, China and Iran are all out-innovating and out-producing the US/NATO block. How else can one explain that Russia and Iran have independently developed hypersonic missiles while the US has not? Or, that Iran’s ubiquitous Shahed 136 drone costs it $10 000 (or thereabouts) while the US version, the LUCAS, costs millions?

The US Military Industrial Complex is tired, expensive and uses old tech or even stolen tech.

These changes, the increase in dedollarized trade and the dominance of non-Western unmanned aerospace warfare, have left the US empire weakened financially and militarily. In Ukraine and Iran, the US lies in military defeat.

Its current political leadership, the Trump regime, cannot admit to these defeats. This taboo is displayed by a quizzical dance. The empire maintains the wars with military command and “intelligence” support while also mediating and refusing to settle them. This purposeful contradiction is a consequence of the taboo.

Incompetence

The US maintains the Ukraine war via delegation to Britain, Germany, France and the European Commission. These morally bankrupt politicians, or technocrats, are to support the corrupt military dictatorship in Kiev via whatever means. This is unsustainable. Ukraine is being destroyed. That Europe wants to send Ukrainian refugees back to die on its battlefields is informative. It signals both the European moral bankruptcy and the Ukrainian and US military defeat.

That the US started a war with Iran further indicates its imperial collapse. It matters not whether one believes Israel had a hand in this. The US did it, against decades of sober analysis which proscribed this folly. The US military ignored its own analysis. The US Defence Intelligence Agency warned it that successfully collapsing the government in Iran in 2026 was highly unlikely.

The US blaming anyone or anything else for its debacle is dishonest. The rot within the US is often described as “hubris”. For its military, this description is bullshit. The US military started a war it knew it could not win. The term for this is incompetence.

Incompetent military command is a signature of a collapsing empire.

Exceptional Circumstances

Russia, China and Iran understand the unstable psychology of a Western political leadership bound to a collapsing empire. Their foreign policy is cautious, with exceptions granted for exceptional circumstances.

Israel’s dual genocides in Palestine and Lebanon are an exception to this caution. China and Russia have approved Iran’s policy of disproportionate, escalatory responses to attacks from the US and/or Israel.

US control over the oil resources of the Persian Gulf needs to be removed. Iran has provided a magnificent service to the Global South by destroying the region’s US military infrastructure. Iran is also providing hope to many Arab populations of the region, subjugated first by British and then by US and Israeli dominance since the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire after World War I.

A new security architecture for the region is begin discussed, to be composed of the leadership of 4 states: Iran, Saudi, Turkey, and Egypt. China, with the support of Russia, is sponsoring these discussions. Pakistan is providing the main current diplomatic service.

The US and Israel will resist this new inevitability at every turn. The Kurds may yet learn to never trust Israel or the US. The Beloch may too. In the meantime, criminal mercenaries will accept payment from western foreign intelligence agencies to commit violent crimes and so cause political disruption.

This has been standard operating procedure for the CIA, MI6 and Mossad for decades. The dirty war in Syria is a decade long demonstration of their methods, writ large with the “White Helmets”, one of the most disgusting media deceptions of the post-9/11 era. These “intelligence” agencies have the same morality as a dollar bill or a shekel. They will pay Sunni religious extremists or European neo-Nazis to cause violent disruption, anywhere.

Reconfiguration

The US empire is contracting. It has not and cannot admit to its reduced power, yet it is obvious to all. Discussion in independent media is now about how the world is adapting to the post-Hegemonic era.

The US has beggared its populace and left its own infrastructure in disarray. None of its “war on terror” terrorist wars achieved anything but temporary profits for US companies, primarily paid to them with US taxes. The same will be true for the wars in Ukraine and Iran.

US citizens see the bribery in Congress, from a foreign lobby or from its ineffective private military contractors. The current US political system transfers wealth, in the form of taxes, from the people to the wealthy. The US political system is unsustainable, just like its wars.

We are living in an era of reconfiguration.

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Sources

The Fight to Save America; Chris Hedges; The Chris Hedges Report; 2026-06-08

Europe wants to force Ukrainian refugees to return home to fight; Naman Karl-Thomas Habtom; Responsible Statecraft; 2026-06-12

Rezaei: ‘Unhinged’ US president cannot escape self-made ‘quagmire’ with bombs; IRNA English; 2026-06-11

Top commander warns US over ‘futile cycle’ of lies, contradiction; IRNA English; 2026-06-12

Legal profession revolt against the UK judge whose job is to protect Israel’s genocide; Johnathan Cook; Jonathan Cook; 2026-06-10

• The behavior of ICE in the US is one side of an imperial coin. The British attack on jury trials is its.

Weapons sent to Ukraine risk flooding European black market; Al Mayadeen English; Al Mayadeen English; 2026-06-11

• Ukraine is the the black market for weapons in Europe.

Ben Gurion CEO: 2-3 Million Flight Cancellations Expected This Summer - JFeed; www.jfeed.com; Archive.today; 2026-05-28

• “US military ‘occupies’ Ben Gurion airport”. Why? Destroyed US airbases.

Senate wants to force US to share sensitive intel with Israel; Paul R. Pillar; Responsible Statecraft; 2026-06-10

• See also Section 224 of the 2027 NDAA

Videos

Is the Ceasefire Dead? (w/ Alastair Crooke); Chris Hedges; The Chris Hedges Report; 2026-06-09

• If you have the stomache, Crooke describes the ideological basis for Israel’s new security doctrine. It amounts to universal genocide. The IDF admits to the impossibility of its mission.

U.S. Wars on Iran & Russia Leave China Stronger; Glenn Diesen interviews Warwick Powell; Glenn Diesen; 2026-06-10

• A discussion of the post-Hegemonic world, focusing on east Asia.

How a U.S. Defeat Makes Iran a World Power; Glenn Diesen interviews Patrick Henningsen; Glenn Diesen; 2026-06-10

IRAN’s Missiles TAKE OUT FIGHTER JETS in Jordan; Alkhorshid interviews Pravin Sawhney; Dialogue Works; 2026-06-11

• Why the US lost to Iran and why it can’t leave.

Is the West Still in Control?; Judge Napolitano interviews Prof. Glenn Diesen; Judging Freedom; 2026-06-10

• Diesen provides the clearest analysis of world affairs through the lens of security competition.

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Published: 2026-MM-DD

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This episode extends:

• Divide & Rule; YesXorNo; 2026-06-07

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Sources

Reminder: US President Trump says things that are just made up and bear no relation to reality.

Iranian military source denies attack in Strait of Hormuz; Al Mayadeen English; Al Mayadeen English; 2026-06-09

War On Iran: - Iran Will Respond To Ceasefire Breaches Wherever Those Are; b.; Moon of Alabama; 2026-06-08

War On Iran: - Iran Needs Escalation To Avoid The Ceasefire Trap; b.; Moon of Alabama; 2026-06-05

Ghalibaf: Iran ready to deter IOF aggression on Lebanon by any means; Al Mayadeen English; Al Mayadeen English; 2026-06-08

“Diplomacy does not prevent military operations, and military operations do not prevent diplomacy.”

Regarding remarks by US President Donald Trump concerning a memorandum of understanding, Ghalibaf said they contradict agreed-upon provisions, indicating that they “are neither seeking a ceasefire nor dialogue.”

Iranian officials warn ‘Israel’-US alliance against new missteps; Al Mayadeen English; Al Mayadeen English; 2026-06-08

“The man who finds no value in honouring his obligations or preserving peace, but instead prospers through discord, deception, and perpetual strife, condemns himself to an exhausting and Sisyphean labour,” Baghaei wrote.

Resistance repels IOF advance, strikes Naqoura naval site on June 9; Al Mayadeen English; Al Mayadeen English; 2026-06-09

Videos

The Greater Israel Project Is Collapsing; Glenn Diesen interviews Chas Freeman; Glenn Diesen; 2026-06-06

Iran’s Missile Barrage PUMMELS Israel, Trump BEGS for Mercy; Haiphong interviews Elijah Magnier; Danny Haiphong; 2026-06-08

Iran’s Military Masterstroke: How New War Rules Humiliated Israel’s Defense; Kevork Almassian interviews Elijah Magnier; Syriana Analysis; 2026-06-09

Putin’s View of Europe and Ukraine; plus a Sad Anniversary; Judge Napolitano interviews Ray McGovern; Judging Freedom; 2026-06-08

Inside the US-Israeli War Against Iran & Lebanon; Glenn Diesen interviews Dimitri Lascaris; Glenn Diesen; 2026-06-09

‘It Was Intentional Murder By...’: Thomas Massie Blasts Israel Over USS Liberty Attack In Congress; Hook Global; Hook Global; 2026-06-08

Truth Revealed: USA Is Nr.1 Democracy Killer; Prof. Lottaz interviews Finian Cunningham; Neutrality Studies; 2026-06-09

BREAKING: IRAN ATTACKS U.S. BASES IN IRAQ – w/ Fmr. CIA Larry Johnson; Mario Nawfal; Mario Nawfal; 2026-06-08

• Larry Johnson lays out the new Iranian security doctrine from Iran [Larijani] at the beginning of this discussion of the aftermath of the Monday 8th exchange.

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Published: 2026-06-07

Introduction

To the US Empire, Iran’s imperial defiance is galling.

The US has attacked Iran with multiple color revolutions, wars, a currency attack and two leadership assassination campaigns using both its own and partner state Israel’s military and covert operatives. Iran not only stands, but is demanding a wider peace and positioning itself to banish the US military from the region.

Iran understands that the instigators of the illegal war against it wish to settle their conflict against it leaving themselves free to continue attacking Lebanon. To resist this divide and rule tactic and to assert its newly found influence in the region the Islamic Republic will only accept a peace proposal which creates a peace for itself and Lebanon and an improvement in the dire circumstances in Occupied Palestine.

Iran’s stance is both moral and strategic.

Owned Aoun

To understand the world it helps to know the motives of those describing it.

A statement by Lebanese President Aoun, the Reuters article covering it and comments upon it by Ray McGovern on Dialogue Works serve as an insightful example of this maxim.

On June 4th 2026 “negotiations” supervised by the US produced an agreement signed by Lebanon and Israel which they called a ceasefire. The text “committed” Lebanon and Israel to a pause in hostilities if and only if Hezbollah vacated the area of southern Lebanon which it has been defending against the invading Israeli army.

As a result of the U.S.-led negotiations, Israel and Lebanon agreed to the implementation of a ceasefire. The ceasefire is contingent on a complete cessation of Hizbollah fire and the evacuation of all Hizbollah operatives from the South Litani Sector.

[US State Department]

If Hezbollah surrendered, the Lebanese army, which has not been defending Lebanon, would still do nothing. Israel only ever complies with external constraints when they do not constrain it. The US sponsored Lebanese-Israeli meeting produced not an “agreement” but propaganda. It was political theatre of no consequence, dependent upon the impossibility of Hezbollah committing political suicide by surrendering the homes of its members and supporters to Israel.

The next day, Lebanese President Aoun, when commenting upon the war between the US, Israel and Iran said:

They [Iran] are using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in their negotiation with the United States

[President of Lebanon Aoun]

When Ray McGovern was asked for comment on Dialogue Works, he playfully noted in alliteration that Aoun is owned. It is Aoun, not Iran, who is treating Lebanon as a bargaining chip, as had been proven the day before.

Aoun’s statement is a definitive example of a “talking point” or “sound bite” designed to be published across the western media apparatus to influence public opinion.

A signature of this type of propaganda article, when covered by the Reuters wire-service, is that the “journalist” Reuters lists on its article is “Reuters”. The editors who write such psyops do not have the honesty to use their own names. Such is the case with ‘Iran using Lebanon as bargaining chip in US talks, Lebanese president says’. You can find it republished at misnomered sites like US News.

Aoun has been paid to utter manipulative statements like this. Reuters exists to elevate them into influence operations. Thankfully, the reach of these operations is diminishing as people recognise the deception and choose not to pay any attention to the feckless “news” organisations which reprint them.

Divide and Conquer

Neither the US nor Israel has a patent on the “divide and rule” strategy. They should perhaps be more cautious in it use.

In discussion with Mario Nawfal, Larry Johnson and he deduced the current low-intensity engagement strategy employed by the US military against Iran. About 1,500 ships are trapped in the Persian Gulf. Each evening the US has been “guiding” a few ships to turn off their AIS transponders and attempt to run the strait. When Iran interdicts the ships it exposes its detection mechanism (e.g radars) and interdiction methods (e.g fast boats or locations of missile launch etc.). These are then attacked by the US military using the limited assets they have stationed in the Gulf.

Each time the US attacks Iran, having used non-military bait, Iran responds at “1.5 times” attacking in force the bases from which the US military launched its attacks.

Recently, the attacks on Iran have been issued or coordinated from Kuwait and Bahrain. Accordingly, they have suffered the reprisals. Iran is helping its neighbours understand the consequences of collaborating with the “child killing”, referring to the Minab 168, US military.

One of Iran’s strategies is to divide a wedge between the Gulf monarchies and the US. Its success can be measured by the reduction in cooperation. Of the 5 [Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait] only 2 [Bahrain and Kuwait] are still allowing the US use of their territory to attack Iran.

When the US and its allies strategic reserves of oil are exhausted, the US is going to have a serious international problem. That exhaustion is expected to occur in July. Iran’s demand of a unified peace, including Lebanon, is to drive a wedge between the US and Israel, suggested Prof. Marandi. The dilemma to soon arrive in Washington will be whether Israel is a liability or an asset? Col. Wilkerson answered that question for Washington in Washington D.C. over a decade ago.

Following the US detonation of the global energy market via its war with Iran, Israel has became a very expensive ally.

Egypt, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan

As mentioned on the recent podcast, there are two political “discussions” occurring over the USraeli war on Iran. One is a theoretical settlement, to serve a US domestic political agenda, allowing Trump to escape the political backlash soon to come in the midterms. While message exchanging continues, there is no process in place for this, irrespective of the US president’s weekly declarations. The US has no trustworthy negotiators, just Mossad assets posing as envoys.

The significant discussion is being sponsored by China. Pakistan is leading this real negotiation. Its purpose is the formation of a new security architecture for the region.

This topic, and the demise of the “Greater Israel Project” was discussed by Chas Freeman and Professor Diesen on June 6th 2026. Freeman named the 4 core states joining Iran in the new security architecture as Egypt, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. They are to develop a military industrial capacity to sustain their joint security. It will be supported by China and Russia.

[A map of the region with the five potential security architecture members underlined. The geographic ‘boxing’ can be seen.]

Viewed geographically, this boxes the smaller states into a region bound by the larger, with the US removed from the Persian Gulf at the centre. It is an inversion of the former, defeated security arrangement and a lens into a new multi-nodal world. The prospect of it must be causing considerable consternation in Washington and Tel Aviv.

The fact that the US is having to deal with this potential new security architecture displays just how myopic its and Israel’s choice to start the war with Iran was.

Their arrogance and incompetence remains on full display for their former security “partners” each day or two as Iran’s missiles and drones damage US military bases. Official lies from CENTCOM of 100% missile interception fail to hide the US military’s disgrace.

Ersatz Israel

Astute former Ambassador Freeman noted the implications of the recent Pew Research poll on Israel’s global public image. It is disastrous.

[Negative views of Israel, low confidence in Netanyahu across 36 countries | Pew Research Center, 2026-06-04]

Israel’s catastrophic PR is the result of 974 days of genocide in Gaza, with the annexation and razing of southern Lebanon running in parallel. A consistent ethno-supremacist, child murdering policy has been on full display for almost 3 years. Ireland has banned two Israeli government ministers from visiting.

Freeman chose the analogy of two Crusader era Christian enclaves. They could not survive without international support from Europe. Israel, as an expansionist apartheid state, at war with its neighbours, will also not survive without international support.

The figures for Germany, Britain and France show support for Israel in the 20 to 25% range match the pathetic public support of their political leaders, Merz, Starmer and Macron, respectively. These same European “leaders” are advocating a continuation of the beggaring of their states. After leaving Europe with energy costs at deinstrializing levels, they propose the insanity of spending taxes on arming the continent to fight Russia rather than settle the war in Ukraine.

The numerical parallel between the lack of support for Israel and the broken policy of supporting Ukraine suggests that the European public sees a relationship between them. The historical sequence does not seem accidental: Ukraine War, Nord Stream destruction, Genocide, Iran war, economic devastation of Europe.

Returning to global opinion on Israel, Türkiye yielded a result of 97% against. This pairs with former Israeli Prime Minister Bennet targeting Türkiye as its next Syria. Türkiye’s inclusion as a key player in a new security architecture for the region is incompatible with Israel’s expansionist ambitions.

Section 224

To embed ongoing support for the psychotic state, Israel’s lobby in the US has inserted a clause into the upcoming annual funding legislation for the imperial military. Section 224 of the 2026 NDAA will make it illegal to deny Israel participation in the US Military Industrial Complex. It will insert Israeli companies into US military acquisitions programs. It will share US military technology with Israel. It will bind the two militaries’ technology, manufacturers and political support. The Pentagon will have to appoint a Zionist Czar for US-Israeli military integration.

Current distinctions of “America First” or “Israel First” will be moot. The existing $3.5 billion per year funding of Israel will be chicken feed compared to the “partner” percentage Israel could grab each year from $1.5 trillion budget.

Red lights are flashing at the Pentagon. So alarmed are some sections of the Department of War that the Defence Intelligence Agency has raised its counter-espionage threat assessment for Israel to the highest level, “critical”.

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Sources

Lebanon-Israel Ceasefire Deal: Complete Cessation of Hezbollah Attacks, Creation of Pilot Zones; N/A; Asharq Al Awsat; 2026-06-04

Joint Statement of the United States of America, Republic of Lebanon, and State of Israel on the Latest High-Level Trilateral Meeting; USA Executive Government; United States Department of State; 2026-06-04

Iran using Lebanon as bargaining chip in US talks, Lebanese president says; “Reuters”; Reuters; 2026-06-06

Negative views of Israel, low confidence in Netanyahu across 36 countries | Pew Research Center; www.pewresearch.org; Archive.today; 2026-06-04

Israel Has Engineered a Deadly Shortage of Medications and Health Care in Gaza; Hend Salama Abo Helow; Scheerpost; 2026-06-05

Ireland bans entry for Israeli ministers Ben-Gvir, Smotrich; Al Mayadeen English; Al Mayadeen English; 2026-06-05

Fusing the US Military and the IDF; Alan Macleod; The Unz Review; 2026-06-06

• “Analysts have noted that, if passed, the bill will “extraordinarily” expand Israeli influence in domestic American politics, giving Tel Aviv the opportunity to pull powerful political levers through the tried and tested method of offering jobs.”

• From an international view Section 224 makes no difference. The US empire and Israel are one: USrael. Domestically, the amendment will provide Israel political power over the US. Its sponsors are, in some sense, treasonous.

Israel Asks For A Guaranteed Share Of U.S. Weapon Purchases; b.; Moon of Alabama; 2026-06-06

US-Israel integration is far from ‘America First’; Joe Kent; Responsible Statecraft; 2026-06-03

Congress quietly moves to integrate US and Israeli militaries; Ben Freeman; Responsible Statecraft; 2026-06-03

Pentagon raised threat of Israeli spying on U.S. to highest level, sources say; www.nbcnews.com; Archive.today; 2026-06-06

🎧 Defending the Empire: Depression and Debt; YesXorNo; 2026-06-03

Videos

The Greater Israel Project Is Collapsing; Glenn Diesen interviews Chas Freeman; Glenn Diesen; 2026-06-06

Hormuz Toll, Strike On Kuwait, Israel Decline & Iranian Nuclear Bomb?; Glenn Diesen interviews Seyed M. Marandi; Glenn Diesen; 2026-06-05

West Asia Changing FAST, Israel LOSES Big - Putin REJECTS Zelensky; Alkhorshid interviews Ray McGovern; Dialogue Works; 2026-06-06

BREAKING: IRAN ATTACKS BAHRAIN AND KUWAIT w/ Fmr. CIA Larry Johnson; Mario Nawfal; Mario Nawfal; 2026-06-06

LIVE w/ Ray McGovern and the US-Israel military integration scheme; Trip the Beltway Fantastic Podcast; Trip the Beltway Fantastic Podcast; 2026-06-03

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[The yellow foreground is the emblem of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.]

Published: 2026-06-03

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[The IRGC emblem can be seen on the cap of IRGC General pictured. This image is from the source article which documents the IRGC warning it issued to Israel that if it attacks Beirut, Iran will retaliate by attacking Israeli settlements and military installation in northern Occupied Palestine.]

Sources

Trump’s Boat Strikes Kill More Than 200 People, Fail To Curb the Flow of Cocaine to the US; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-05-31

How the US Pulled off an Armed Robbery of the World’s Energy Supply and Created the Petrogas-Dollar; Richard Medhurst; Richard Medhurst’s Newsletter; 2026-05-01

Dozens of nations [27] scramble for World Bank financing amid US-Israeli created global shock; News Desk; The Cradle; 2026-05-23

Russia

The Cokehead of Kiev, Exposed; Patrick Lawrence; Consortium News; 2026-05-26

Ukraine’s military has a real Nazi problem; Marta Havryshko; Responsible Statecraft; 2026-06-02

Iran

Iran to Halt Message Exchanges with US in Protest at Israeli Crimes - Politics news; Tasnim News Agency; Archive.today; 2026-06-02

Araqchi: Attacks on Lebanon Amount to Violation of Iran-US Truce - Politics news; Tasnim News Agency; Archive.today; 2026-06-02

Iranian General Warns Settlers in Occupied Territories over Israeli Attacks on Lebanon - Politics news; Tasnim News Agency; Archive.today; 2026-06-02

Strait of Hormuz is as ancient as the hills; M. K. Bhadrakumar; Indian Punchline; 2026-05-31

War On Iran: - U.S. Ratcheting Fails; b.; Moon of Alabama; 2026-05-30

Lebanon

A photo op, IOF fail to secure foothold at Beaufort Castle: Hezbollah; Al Mayadeen English; Al Mayadeen English; 2026-06-01

Resistance dismiss Israeli advance as tactical success: Sources; Al Mayadeen English; Al Mayadeen English; 2026-05-30

[See also “Reason2Resist” under Vicdeos below]

Videos

BREAKING: IRAN COLLECTS TOLLS FROM 28 SHIPS IN PAST 24 HOURS - w/ Analyst Glenn Diesen; Mario Nawfal; Mario Nawfal; 2026-05-31

Catherine Austin Fitts | How to SCREW UP the World Economy Overnight; Counter Currents; Counter Currents; 2026-05-22

Iran War Resets the Geopolitics of the World; Glenn Diesen interviews Alastair Crooke; Glenn Diesen; 2026-05-30

Lebanese Resistance Drones Are A ‘Ticking Time Bomb’ For Israel w/ Hadi Hoteit; Reason2Resist with Dimitri Lascaris; Reason2Resist with Dimitri Lascaris; 2026-05-29

Panicked Trump Reverses Course on Beirut Bombardment; Reason2Resist with Dimitri Lascaris; Reason2Resist with Dimitri Lascaris; 2026-06-02

Trump EXPLODES at Netanyahu as Israel Escalates in Lebanon; Kevork Almassian interviews Marwa Osman; Syriana Analysis; 2026-06-02

Latest NATO Melodrama: Russian Drones In Ukraine; The Gaggle with Peter and George; The Gaggle with Peter and George; 2026-05-31

• Lavelle & Szamuely discuss the Romanian drone incident.

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[Image repurposed from this article’s final source.]

Published: 2026-05-27

Before moving on to Gaza and Cuba, a recent interview warrants attention for multiple important reasons.

A Rational Voice

Europe’s Inability to Discuss War and Peace; Glenn Diesen; Glenn’s Substack; 2026-05-20

Massive ESCALATION: Europe Uses Ukraine to Expand War; Prof. Lottaz interviews Prof. Glenn Diesen; Neutrality Studies; 2026-05-26

Professors Lottaz and Diesen spend the first part of this touching and confronting discussion addressing the recent Russian response to the latest round of provocations from European states in the US/NATO war versus Russia, begun in Ukraine. An extension of the four year old war is now being run outside of Ukraine, with drones being launched into Russia from the Baltic Sea and/or over the “Baltic” states of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia or Finland. Those drones are being assembled in Germany, Italy and other European states.

In the middle of the discussion the two visit why Diesen began publishing his video interview channel about a year ago.

Diesen understands that humans can be rational and that we can also subvert our acknowledgement of reality to conform to social structures. We can be rational. We are also social apes.

Diesen warns that the current, irrational path of European, political rhetoric will lead to more tragedy, a wider European war with nuclear super-power Russia. This is not hyperbole. These are the words of current European political leaders. They are planning Europe’s economic future based on an armaments industry with a declared purpose of fighting Russia. Russia must respond.

Significant Russian voices, such as Karaganov, are gaining popularity demanding that Russia expand the geography of the war. Russia’s citizenry cites Iran’s success against the US by destroying its bases in the Gulf monarchies. Why, in response to European escalations, is Russia confining its military responses to Ukraine when Iran’s success against the US can be seen to be based on targeting all participating regional states?

The constantly escalating provocations of Russia, of which the recent shift to drone attacks via the Baltic are an example, will eventually produce a wider European war, unless Europe stops constructing this collective tragedy.

As Diesen explains in the interview, his channel of published interviews is his honest attempt to help correct this tragic course by inserting rational discussion into a political field dominated by moral binaries and a cancel culture for unapproved, rational voices.

<>

Why International Zionism?

Israel does our dirty work.

[German Chancellor Merz and British Conservative party leader Badenock, separately.]

This strange statement offers a puzzling window into International Zionism. Some recently published articles help us see into that puzzle.

Western leaders play their part in our charade democracies. Can you spot the tell?; Johnathan Cook; Jonathan Cook; 2026-05-20

This Cook essay addresses the institutional nature of the structures of power. From it we first take his presentation of Shin Bet, and then the service which Israel provides to its international “partners” to examine the international allure of Zionism.

Cook summarizes Israel’s internal security service through the 2012 film “The Gatekeepers”, in which ...

six former heads of the Shin Bet seem all too recognisably human as they critically evaluate what the agency was up to during their tenure. Each expresses varying degrees of remorse or doubt about their work – from torture to targeted assassinations.

[Cook]

Shin Bet’s purpose is to enforce an apartheid in partnership with the Israeli military. The internal security service of the apartheid state is every bit as brutal as one would expect:

The Shin Bet oversees Israel’s extensively documented torture programme – one that relies on systematic rape and sexual abuse of Palestinian prisoners, including by specially trained dogs.

Young children are routinely abused in this system: grabbed from their homes in the middle of the night, beaten by soldiers, and locked up for months or years by military courts that have a near 100 per cent conviction rate.

[ibid]

Israel’s “dirty work” is the provision of a human laboratory, shielded from law, domestic or international. Israel provides international corporations human subjects and a human society on which tests can be run without any moral or legal restriction. Israel lowers the risk of being punished for experimenting on humanity.

Israel has transformed the Palestinian territories into its own laboratories, where – via the Shin Bet and Israeli military – corporations can test out new forms of surveillance, crowd control, imprisonment strategies, warfare, weapons development, and Artificial Intelligence programmes.

Israel helps the corporations analyse the ability of humans to endure or resist these various forms of oppression, and as a consequence make adjustments and refinements.

And finally, Israel helps the corporations by testing, through its criminal endeavours, ways to improve public relations and media strategies that obscure the horrifying reality, as well as schemes for eroding international legal norms and constraints.

[ibid]

In 2025, U.N. Rapporteur Francesca Albanese documented some of Israeli’s international business clientele. For that, the US subjected her to “sanctions”, otherwise known as ‘economic coercive measures’.

The complicity exposed by this report is just the tip of the iceberg ...

[Albanese, U.N.]

Rape, Assault & Abuse Reflect Israeli Government Values; Ann Wright; Consortium News; 2026-05-26

Ann Wright used concise language in her article to describe the testimonies of participants in the second Sumud Flotilla, who attempted to delivery food and medical supplies to Gaza, Palestine.

... each of the 428 unarmed civilians from 45 countries who were on 50 small sailboats, [were] kidnapped in international waters and taken against their will to a place they did not want to go — Israel — and then subjected to criminal abuse from personnel from a multitude of Israeli security institutions.

[Wright]

The dehumanising treatment they received from multiple Israeli “security” institutions matched that admitted by the former heads of Shin Bet in Cook’s article. The same dehumanizing abuse was issued across multiple Israeli “security” institutions. The Israeli “security” services are an example of the “service” Israel provides to its clientele.

Wright calmly noted the hypocrisy of European states like France who condemned this treatment of European persons but quietly support the same abuse of the people of Occupied Palestine. Cook’s article on the institutional structure of power is a guide to understanding this constant hypocrisy.

Wither International Zionism?

‘Aiding and Abetting Genocide’: US Sanctions Peaceful Gaza Flotilla Organizers; Brett Wilkins; Antiwar, Blog; 2026-05-20

For the second Sumud Flotilla, Israel tortured the participants. The US punished the organisers.

Yet Another Escalation In The Empire’s War On Activism And Journalism; Caitlin Johnston; Caitlin’s Newsletter; 2026-05-26

[Medea Benjamin]

For attempting to provide relief to the oppressed in Cuba, the US used its international sanctions system on two of its own citizens, Media Benjamin and Hasan Piker. Medea and Hasan committed no crime. They exposed another US crime against humanity:

Cuba is the US Gaza.

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Sources

In addition to those cited above:

Paradoxically fear is the foundation of stability: deterrence works; Alastair Crooke; The Unz Review; 2026-05-26

From economy of occupation to economy of genocide - (A/HRC/59/23) Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 - Question of Palestine; Francesca Albanese / U.N.; Archive.today; 2025-06

Finland warns of drone scare near Helsinki, fighter jets scrambled, flights diverted; South China Morning Post; Archive.today; 2026-05-15

Drones Over Helsinki. Finland Dragged Into Conflict w/ Armando Mema; Christoforou and Mercouris; The Duran; 2026-05-20

• Mema described the situation in Finland in which but three hours warning were given to the government before “Ukrainian” drones were flown through its airspace to attack its neighbor, Russia. Welcome to NATO, Finland.

Russia Escalates With New Strategy?; Glenn Diesen interviews Ray McGovern; Glenn Diesen; 2026-05-27

• Ray McGovern calmed Prof Diesen’s concerns over Russia’s ability to resist being provoked into a dangerous wider war with Europe. President Putin is prudent.

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Published: 2026-05-23

Updated 2026-05-25: New source: Larry C. Johnson agrees with Narwami.

A New Security Architecture

In discussion with Danny Haiphong, Sharmine Narwami again demonstrated her insight into the Persian Gulf region’s complex politics. The Editor-in-Chief of The Cradle revealed that Pakistan is playing a vital and active role in diplomacy well beyond shuttling messages, or hosting meetings between, the US and Iran.

Before the US and Israel began their war of aggression against Iran on February 28th, 2026, Pakistan had established a diplomatic channel with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Egypt in response to aggressive political language from Israel. Narwami’s key message to Haiphong was that this Pakistani diplomatic channel is currently being used to negotiate a new security architecture for the Persian Gulf.

Pakistan is acting with the full support of China, and Iran, and with the support of Russia. These four, with the other three major regional powers, constitute a regional and Eurasian foundation upon which to define the new security architecture under discussion. America, north and south, is absent in discussion and as a security provider for the architecture.

Because Pakistan is at the center of the discussions it will benefit from facilitating the rapid creation of this new security architecture . Narwami highlighted Pakistan’s port of Gwadar, which has been significantly upgraded under China’s Belt and Road Initiative [BRI]. A reward for Pakistan may well be the elevation of that port’s role in the International North-South Trade Corridor (INTC) which connects the Indian Ocean to Russia and Europe. INTC is very likely to carry a large volume of future trade. Hosting a key port will be boon for Pakistan.

India, Israel, the UAE and IMEC

While not explicitly mentioned by Narwami, this elevation of Pakistan will be viewed in India as at its expense. India has itself to blame for this.

Indian President Modi threw his lot in with Israel and the US when he visited Israel and its parliament days before the two states initiated their illegal war of choice against Iran. Modi’s visit was a political commitment to the “IMEC” [International Middle-East Europe Corridor] project. This US and Israeli regional trade corridor project is a counter to China’s BRI. IMEC is the main project of the “Abraham Accords”. Hereditary “President” of United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed (MbZ), committed the Emirates to the IMEC project and the political block behind it.

Narwami has emphasized in several interviews the animosity and competition between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) and the UAE’s MbZ. Differences in current, interim security arrangements demonstrate that division. Saudi Arabia is currently secured by 8000 Pakistani soldiers with 16 fighter jets. The UAE has an unknown number of Israeli and US soldiers.

Narwami believes the recent drone attack which caused a fire outside the Barakah nuclear reactor in the UAE was almost certainly an Israeli false flag, which failed. The UAE’s Ministry of Defence refused to name the false flag target, Iran, as the aggressor.

The drones which preceded the fire approached from the West, likely from one of the two bases the US and Israel established in northern Iraq where they have been preparing Kurdish insurgency forces against Iran for years. Earlier in the war, Israeli agents were caught attacking Saudi facilities.

Time will tell how clever Israel’s eternal deceit proves. The Zionist state is certainly not fooling its neighbours.

A Decolonized Future

Narwami foretold a period of promise beset by continued international sabotage.

Under European colonisation the Gulf and Levant regions, and Asia more widely, have been prevented from developing and controlling their own trade infrastructure. China’s BRI investment program is realising that opportunity and elevating intra-Asian trade. This empowers Asian states to choose a new future in security and economics. A decolonised trade empowerment is the promise Narwami foresees.

Narwami phrased the violence of failing empires as ‘Shrinking empires try to “shrink” everything else with them’. She cited the destruction of the NordStream pipelines as an example of US imperial sabotage during its fall. The same US imperial violence against infrastructure, and the people who depend upon it, is to be expected against non-US trade infrastructure, worldwide, but especially in Asia.

The war against Iran is itself an example of this sabotage. Indeed, the US blockades of oil trade on international waters are an act of sabotage against the international commons too.

The Cost of War

Iran has warned the US that if it restarts the war, Iran will extend the conflict geographically. The warning seems to threaten destruction of the next collection of US bases further afield than the ones which lie in ruins around the Persian Gulf.

Iran has also marked compute infrastructure (“data centers”) in the UAE for destruction. These expensive facilities would become liabilities for US & Israeli AI companies, in which US President Trump’s family and associates are variously invested.

Iran has warned the US and Israel of the cost of restarting the war to interrupt the development of the region’s new security architecture.

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Sources

Peace is at Hand? Don’t Hold Your Breath; Larry C. Johnson; SONAR 21; 2026-05-23

• LCJ agrees with Narwami: “Pakistan is playing a central role in this unfolding drama. Field Marshal Asim Munir has now completed a second mission to Tehran involving direct engagement with senior Iranian political, military, and clerical power structures, including individuals operating within the orbit of the Supreme Leader’s inner circle.”

Trump’s Endgame Is Surrender; Robert Kagan / The Atlantic; Archive.today; 2026-05-22

India’s quasi-alliance with Israel and UAE won’t have happy ending; M. K. Bhadrakumar; Indian Punchline; 2026-05-14

Trump Cancels Last Minute Attack Amidst Reports Iran Has Now Clocked US Tactics; Simplicius; Simplicius’ Garden of Knowledge; 2026-05-22

War On Iran: - Trump’s Stock Investments May Hold Him Back; b.; Moon of Alabama; 2026-05-18

Trump Wants to Attack Iran, But Does Saudi Arabia Hold the Keys?; Larry C. Johnson; SONAR 21; 2026-05-20

Iran’s DEVASTATING War Bombshell Shocks Trump, Netanyahu HUMILIATED | Sharmine Narwani; Danny Haiphong; Danny Haiphong; 2026-05-21

Israel Disgraced by Its Sadism | Trump’s Escape from Hormuz & Cuba Implications; Alkhorshid interviews Amb. Chas Freeman; Dialogue Works; 2026-05-22

Larry Johnson & Col. Wilkerson: Iran’s Unseen Move: US Laser Destroyers Can’t Stop What’s Coming; Alkhorshid; Dialogue Works; 2026-05-22

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Published: 2026-05-20

The ‘download’ button is hidden behind the ‘…’ button hidden in the “player” image above.

This episode extends:

• The Drums of Defeat; YesXorNo; 2026-05-15

Correction

• At around the 25 minute mark I say “Iranian” when I mean “Israeli”. The error is soon corrected with correct naming.

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and/or you can support this work via Buy Me A Coffee or Patreon.

Sources

Anitwar Headlines

‘Clock Is Ticking’: Trump Again Threatens To Restart Bombing Campaign Against Iran; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-05-17

Trump Says He Decided To ‘Hold Off’ on Plans To Attack Iran on Tuesday Due To Request From Gulf Arab Allies; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-05-18

Netanyahu Admits Israel Is Taking More Territory in Gaza in Violation of Ceasefire Deal; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-05-18

In Response To ICC Arrest Warrant, Israel’s Smotrich Orders the Destruction of a Palestinian Village; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-05-19

Trump Threatens Iran With a ‘Big Hit’ If Deal Isn’t Reached in the Coming Days; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-05-19

Moon of Alabama

War On Iran: - Trump’s Stock Investments May Hold Him Back; b.; Moon of Alabama; 2026-05-18

Investigation: Zionist/Emirati False Flags

The War You’re Not Allowed to See: How the UAE Rewrites the Story of Iranian Strikes; bellingcat; Archive.today; 2026-04-02

Recent Drone Attack on UAE Conducted by Israel: Military Source - Politics news; N/A; Tasnim News Agency; 2026-05-19

UAE Says Drones Targeting Barakah Nuclear Plant Originated from Iraq, Air Defences Intercept Multiple Attacks; gulfnews.com; Archive.today; 2026-05-20

Drone strike hits Abu Dhabi nuclear plant; UAE, Saudi Arabia and UN watchdog condemn; The Times of Israel; Archive.today; 2026-05-20

Videos

Israel’s WORST Defeat Yet, it’s OVER; Alkhorshid interviews Col. Larry Wilkerson; Dialogue Works; 2026-05-19

Iran War Marks the End of American Primacy; Glenn Diesen interviews Trita Parsi; Glenn Diesen; 2026-05-18

The ‘Thucydides Trap’ is JUNK HISTORY - so why is China raising it with Trump?; Jeff Rich; The Burning Archive; 2026-05-18

• Bonus video: Jeff Rich demolishes the “Thucydides” clap trap. The ‘trap’ is a historically false story adopted by neocons to justify endless war.

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Published: 2026-05-15

Updated 2026-05-16: Video interviews with Chas Freeman and Lawrence Wilkerson were added to Sources. They are both thought provoking, and cover the progressive loss of power of the US empire.

Updated 2026-05-19: Prof. Lottaz of Neutrality Studies just published an interview with a member of the team behind Explosive News/Media, the “Lego videos”. Added to sources. :)

In this article in two halves, we begin by tracking recognition of the imperial loss to Iran within the empire loyalist community. The second half examines the scale of the defeat through the empire’s explosive loss of narrative control.

Admissions of Defeat

Words of warning against declaring the Empire defeated, from analysts including Brian Berletic, are well founded. What we are witnessing is the loss of an ill-conceived imperial conflict. The empire is diminished, not defeated. It will have consequences, noted neo-conf Grandee Robert Kagan, quoted below, . The empire’s problem is that this diminution fits a pattern which this newsletter has been tracking for almost 5 years.

The US and Israeli war of choice against Iran has damaged energy production on both sides of the Persian Gulf. This has raised energy prices to the glee of US energy companies and their investors. The global economic damage which this has already caused will worsen as its effects ripple through tightly connected, “globalized” “supply chains”. This will hit the US “kitchen table” and likely lead to Trump enjoying two years of being a “lame duck” President while the Democrats play impeachment games.

The war instantly became a regional war, as Iran had warned, because the region was covered in US military bases, without which the US could not wage its war. The US presence in the Persian Gulf revitalised the world’s understanding that logistical support for a war is complicity in it. When one is also the neighbour of the target of an imperial war one is left with a problem, as one cannot move one’s nation state. One has become an example of Kissinger’s maxim that being an enemy of the empire is dangerous, but being a friend, fatal.

To dissuade the Gulf monarchies from continuing to allow their airspaces to be used by the US, Iran began its retaliation destroying US military bases across the entire region. The Washington Post helpfully published a picture of where those now wrecked bases were:

[Source. Note the two in “Kurdistan”, northern Iraq, which have a proximate land border with Iran.]

When the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE began attacking Iran’s energy industries, Iran escalated symmetrically. The economies of the Gulf dictatorships are dominated by energy and tourism. A war which destroys their energy industries leaves them without two sources of income. That visit to the Hajj could be organised for next year, or the year after.

While US energy companies are happy, and more orders have been generated for the US Military Industrial Complex, the imperial geopolitical cost of the war is calamitous, according to Robert Kagan.

Kagan is husband to 2014 Kiev coup, and thus Ukraine war, organiser ‘Toria Nuland. He is co-founder of the “Project for a New American Century” [PNAC, 1997 to 2006], the public face of the US “neo-con” movement which achieved power within the Bubba Bush (the Younger) regime.

PNAC is well known to 9/11 researchers for a line from the 2000 publication “Rebuilding America’s Defenses”. The neo-cons wanted a massive investment in the US military. Their analysis was that this would take years without a “new pearl harbour” incident. The 9/11 crimes provided the incident and the political justification for which they’d wished.

Re-energised, the US military has since been fighting wars for the empire and its Israeli outpost for a quarter century according to the “7 wars in 5 years” schedule which General Wesley Clark learned about only days after the attacks, before any investigation into the crimes could have concluded anything.

The imperial war against Iran is the last of those 7 prefabricated wars. Kagan established the political project which lead the empire to this war. His pronouncement in The Atlantic that the US will not be able to overcome the harm done to itself from losing it is therefore significant:

[The] Defeat [by] Iran [cannot] be repaired [n]or ignored. There will be no ... ultimate American triumph that will undo or overcome the harm done. ... With control of the strait, Iran emerges as the key player in the region and one of the key players in the world. The roles of China and Russia, as Iran’s allies, are strengthened; the role of the United States, substantially diminished. ... That is going to set off a chain reaction around the world as friends and foes adjust to America’s failure.

[Kagan. Edits mine, for brevity and to remove imperial fluff.]

In keeping with his previous article at The Atlantic, Kagan foresees the empire losing allies. The crux of his warning to the empire is of its increasing isolation, a synonym for imperial shrinkage.

Kagan’s comment are not a revelation. Japan and South Korea are sensibly spooked by the empire’s demonstrated lack of ability to defend its “allies” during its war. The same is true of the collection of Gulf dictatorships. What sort of “hegemon” can’t win a war it starts and causes physical and economic suffering for its allies in the process?

While east and west Asian imperial allies are spooked, the E4 (Germany, France, Britain and the EU Commission) are promoting a policy of military Keynesianism. Europe’s economic recovery, they proclaim, will be based on building a military industrial complex to defend an over extended EU, including Ukraine, against Russia. This policy leads to one outcome, a direct war with Russia.

There is very good reason to doubt that the EU has ability to brainwash Europe’s citizenry into this idiocy. The alternative, trade, is far simpler, more profitable and pleasant for the citizenry.

How to Defeat the Empire in Battle

Iran demonstrated how to defeat the empire, and the ally it will defend above all others, Israel.

One needs modern weaponry, including copious quantities of cheap, precision drones, and hypersonic ballistic and precision cruise missiles. Tanks and aircraft carriers are expensive and useless. Avoid them.

At the war’s beginning destroy a large percentage of regional US military assets. It is vitally important that the lowest ranks of the US military understand that they are in peril and that their superiors understand that they are short of options because their tools (bases, radars, landing strips, fuel stores etc.) are destroyed.

One’s people must refuse to succumb to US financial attacks, fake CIA/MI6/Mossad revolutions and the bloodthirsty bombing campaigns of the US Air Force. One’s society will need to console thousands of mothers whose children have been murdered.

One needs steadfastness.

To defeat the empire politically one needs the above capability and determination and a political threat. For Iran, that threat is the global economic crisis which is currently materializing by lack of materials.

A narrative battle is being prepared to convince the world that it is Iran’s fault that households are suffering financially, ignoring the US and Israeli war and financial blockade. The narrative battle will run in two flavours. The international version blames Iran. The US version blames the Republicans. They are equally disinformative. The US media will run both.

Soft Power

On April 4th, The New Yorker published an article on the young Iranian team behind the “Lego videos” following their astronomic rise. Within days Google [Youtube] had banned their Explosive News channel.

[The top shows a Duckduckgo search returning results from cache. The lower image is Google’s “404” (Page does not exist) response for that address. The former proves that the channel existed. The latter proves that Google banned it.]

The Imperial narrative machine, the “MSM”, can only report on narratives created by the government via the “access journalism” model, or issue “leaks” from its “intelligence community”. The MSM has no creativity beyond rephrasing into the passive form and other obvious linguistic fiddling.

When the Empire began fighting its real and information war against Iran, the narrative machine got confronted with creativity.

The innovative Iranian team combined the popular US musical genre of hip hop with topical political lyrics for their songs. They chose Lego figures and bricks for visual branding. They used AI to semi-automate the production of the musical and video components of their music videos.

The music video format matched the market for the attention of a younger western demographic, many of whom had attended University protests against the genocide in Palestine. The result was a production line of satire which relentlessly and cleverly mocked US representatives and imperial narratives.

An explosive mixture of creativity and culture had landed on the dead ended news desks of the MSM and in the inboxes of the White House disinformation operatives. They tried to shut it down. But, Explosive News [AKA Explosive Media, AKA Explosive Mediaa, AKA Explosive Media Videos, AKA ... ] had learned the same lesson as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps: know your opponent.

The Misinformation Wars, fought between the empire (specifically the FBI and Department of Homeland Security) and independent media since 2006 when people started to question the 9/11 narrative, and especially after the RussiaGoat Hoax, had yielded a lesson for all would be future, independent content creators: publish everywhere, immediately. Expect to be banned.

Channels on “Free publishers” like Google are like condoms. You setup a packet of channel names and use them for a good time. When the fun of using one channel is over, you pull out the next one. One publishes in many free publishing channels at once: Google, X, Tiktok, Instagram, Rumble ... wherever. This forces a collective banning to have effect. But, with sufficient audience interest, even this does not work. The next channel name, from the packet of already registered look-alike names, is rolled out (or on).

Explosive News taunted the Bankruptcy Warning, as this newsletter has labelled the US President, and his Secretary of War.

Explosive Media taunted the US military, another proud institution vulnerable to satire, making fun of the obvious, official lies it was issuing.

Explosive Media Videos informed its audience of the oil market manipulation scam which the White House has been running. [This link is to the currently active Youtube “channel” for the Iranian creative team.]

Google still issues a “404” for the original channel “Explosive News”. But, in the end the surveillance company gave up playing whack-a-mole with the Iranian artists. How many more channel names have you got in your packets, Explosive?

Explosive defeated Google, X, Tiktok, and Meta and the MSM.

The empire lost its narrative war to a young team of Iranian creative artists of whom Sun Tsu would be proud.

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Sources

Checkmate in Iran; Robert Kagan / The Atlantic; Archive.today; 2026-05-10

America Is Now a Rogue Superpower; Robert Kagan / The Atlantic; Archive.today; 2026-05-11

Israel’s ‘war to the root’ may unravel America; Alastair Crooke; The Unz Review; 2026-05-16

Iran hit more U.S. military targets than has been reported, satellite imagery shows; The Washington Post; Archive.today; 2026-05-12

Report: Saudi Arabia Launched Attacks Against Iran During US-Israeli Bombing Campaign; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-05-12

Report: UAE Has Secretly Launched Attacks Against Iran; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-05-11

The Team Behind a Pro-Iran, Lego-Themed Viral-Video Campaign; The New Yorker; Archive.today; 2026-04-04

Explosive media videos [the currently active channel - @Explosivemediavideos], below are some of the channels Google whacked and other distributions:

• Explosive Media | اخبار انفجاری; [@ExplosiiveMediaa]

• Explosive News (the original) [@Explosive_News]

• Some channels on other distributors:

  • https://www.tiktok.com/@explosive.media

  • https://x.com/ExplosiveMediaa

Another Blow to Pentagon Hype: 90% of Iran’s Missile Sites Remain According to NYT Findings; Simplicius; Simplicius’ Garden of Knowledge; 2026-05-14

Jumping Ship into the Calmer Waters of Columbia; YesXorNo; 2024-03-12

[An earlier article on ‘Toria “Jabba-the-Hutt” Nuland.]

Videos

Update Source: An interview with one of the Explosive News/Media creators

Iran DESTROYS Western War Narrative... With Lego Movies; Prof. Lottaz interviews Explosive Media; Neutrality Studies; 2026-05-19

🚨WHO KNOWS BEFORE THE NEWS ! LEGO Oil Scandal Rap Movie 💰⛽ by @flowlego; Explosive media videos; Explosive media videos; 2026-05-11

Pete Hegseth vs Samuel L Jackson 😱🔥 LEGO Iran vs America by @militarylegoai ,@newslego; Explosive media videos; Explosive media videos; 2026-04-19

United States of Israel🤡 || New LEGO Video from @AI_iraan; Explosive media videos; Explosive media videos; 2026-04-30

Black Friday: The Failed Rescue Operation | Iranian Lego Animation 🔥; Explosive Media | اخبار انفجاری; Explosive Media | اخبار انفجاری; 2026-04-06

🇮🇷 This One’s Specially For You 🔥 Iran LEGO Diss Track on Pete Hegseth 🧱💥; Explosive Media | اخبار انفجاری; Explosive Media | اخبار انفجاری; 2026-04-05

Trump’s China summit, Chinese strategy, and the emerging order in West Asia; Alkhorshid interviews Amb. Chas Freeman; Dialogue Works; 2026-05-15

Trump-Xi Meeting After U.S. Defeat in Iran; Glenn Diesen interviews Lawrence Wilkerson; Glenn Diesen; 2026-05-15

Collapse - Iran Is the Graveyard of the U.S. Empire; Glenn Diesen interviews Richard Wolff; Glenn Diesen; 2026-05-15

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Published: 2026-05-09

The White House Disinformation Machine

The US & Israel vs Iran illegal war of choice will continue as a low level conflict for as long as the syndicate behind it profits from it.

All claims that the “spraytanned bankruptcy warning” masquerading as a US president “wants to end the war” are just as misleading as his repeated lies about imminent agreements with Iran. The Bankruptcy Warning is playing the markets, news media and US public for the profit of his family, and the rest of the syndicate of criminals behind the White House disinformation machine.

That the conflict will persist at a low-level is evidenced from both sides of it. Neither of the Zionist influenced or run aggressor states can escalate the war. They do not have the wherewithall. They lacks the logistics, production, ships, personnel and munitions to do much more than they are.

During the just completed battle, detailed below, between Iran and the aggressor states, Iran chose to not sink a US destroyer when it seems obvious that it could have. The US is constrained by feasibility. Iran has constrained itself strategically.

Iran values public sympathy for it, in the US and elsewhere, over the trifle of sinking a US destroyer. Iran chose to maintain its moral high ground over a mark on a tally of destruction.

The Battle of the Sea of Oman

The US attacked two Iranian oil tankers and Iranian towns and ports in Bandar Abbas and on Qesm Island on the night of Thursday May 7th, 2026. Iran retaliated in force against three US Destroyers [DDG 103, 115 & 87] in the Sea of Oman.

Iran attacked with “swarms of Iranian fast-attack boats” which “maneuvered close enough that American warships opened fire” with deck guns. The conflict lasted “several hours” during which “Apache helicopters” fired “Hellfire missiles” at the Iranian fast-boats.

During the hours long naval battle the three US destroyers were attacked by “missiles and suicide drones”. CENTCOM issued an official announcement stating that “No U.S. assets were struck”.

CENTCOM’s statements are as truthful as its Commander-in-Chief’s. Either might start selling bridges.

The Real Battle

Brazilian President “Lula” de Silva visited the Bankruptcy Warning in a closed door meeting on the same day as the naval battle. Nima Alkorshid reported that when Lula asked about the war the Bankruptcy Warning declared it was over. The pair eschewed a combined press conference having not been able to agree on something as obvious as a war.

The day after, on Friday, The Washington Post published bits of a report for the CIA. The snippets corrected two earlier lies issued by the White House disinformation machine. Iran’s economy can survive wartime conditions for many months. This confirms analysis from the independent media, expressed for weeks. Iran was trained to manage its economy in difficult circumstances by decades of “bone crushing” US sanctions. Secondly, the CIA corrected that Iran’s arsenals are well stocked and that production continues. The CIA did not admit the reason, that Iran’s missile production was moved underground after it defeated Israel and the US in the “12 Day” war.

Former CIA analyst Larry C. Johnson believes that the source behind the White House disinformation machine has been the “Israel First” Zionist lobby. One of its primary vehicles has been a foundation, “FDD”, which might as well be called the “Kitten Loving Society of America”. Chas Freeman described it as an obvious Israeli front. Its original name was in Hebrew.

The Bankruptcy Warning just added an obvious Israeli plant from the FDD as a deputy to the two other Israeli plants serving as US “negotiators”, Witkoff and Kushner. As stated at the outset, the Bankruptcy Warning has no intention to end the war. He wont even assemble a negotiating team empty of Zionists.

This refusal to even begin a process of withdrawal from the lost war is widening a rift between the US regime and the US deepstate. The CIA report issued by its publishing arm The Washington Post is an indication of its attempt to reassert control over foreign disinformation flooding the White House.

There are other warning signs of rifts in the Empire.

End of Primacy

Trita Parsi is a US foreign affairs expert on Iran with the Quincey Institute. Its publication just issued Parsi’s latest article with the headline “Iran war marks the end of American primacy as we know it”.

After 20 odd paragraphs of soft language, Parsi concluded:

The danger for Washington is not irrelevance. It is that we continue to pursue a strategy designed for a world that no longer exists. The same is true for countries that have chosen to rely on American primacy.

Primacy promised control. The Iran war reveals constraint. And in the gap between promise and reality lies the end of an era. The winners will be those who adjust.

[Responsible Statecraft]

Parsi’s use of the pronoun “we” is instructive. He is schooling his colleagues to wake up and see the world as it is — ‘the end of American primacy as we know it’.

The rest of the world has already moved on. It is as clear as daylight. US bases have lain in ruins, unattended, for months. Saudi Arabia denied the US use of its airspace. What more does one need to see? A sunk destroyer would be overkill.

Grief

As this newsletter stated a week ago in “Victorious Iran”, Iran has comprehensively, strategically defeated the aggressor states of the United States of America and Israel. The process of the US admitting this to itself has only just begun.

Realization and adjustment will follow a path similar to that of grief. The Bankruptcy Warning’s state of denial represents a part of the imperial journey.

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or support this work via Buy Me A Coffee or Patreon.

Sources

US Bombs Iran’s Qeshm Port and Bandar Abbas; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-05-07

War On Iran: - Destroyer Battle - Iran Can Sustain - Losers Hold Cards; b.; Moon of Alabama; 2026-05-08

US Official Says Iran Has 70% of Pre-War Missile Stockpile and Is Assembling New Ones; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-05-07

U.S. intelligence says Iran can outlast Trump’s blockade for months; The Washington Post; Archive.today; 2026-05-07

Iran war marks the end of American primacy as we know it; Trita Parsi; Responsible Statecraft; 2026-05-08

Foreign Ministry Condemns US Aggression against Iranian Oil Tankers; N/A; Tasnim News Agency; 2026-05-08

Iranian Navy Seizes Violating Oil Tanker in Sea of Oman; N/A; Tasnim News Agency; 2026-05-08

Spokesman Pays Tribute to Fallen Iranian Aid Workers; N/A; Tasnim News Agency; 2026-05-08

Source: Clashes May Resume in Persian Gulf if US Causes Trouble for Iranian Vessels; N/A; Tasnim News Agency; 2026-05-08

Victorious Iran; YesXorNo; 2026-05-03

Confused CENTCOM Plays Chicken; YesXorNo; 2026-05-05

Fallout From the 12 Day War; YesXorNo; 2025-07-02

Israel Has Just Fucked Themselves Bigly; IFLOZ; I Fucking Love Australia; 2026-04-18

Videos

Iran Fires on 3 US Ships – US Bombs Qeshm – FLAMES OF WAR IGNITE; Alkhorshid interviews Larry Johnson; Dialogue Works; 2026-05-08

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Published: 2026-05-08

On Thursday May 7th, leaks from inside the White House were published stating that both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait had denied the US use of their airspaces and whichever US military bases had not already been destroyed by Iran.

The previous day, Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi had arrived in Beijing to the welcoming arms of his counterpart Wang Yi. Chinese diplomatic support for Iran came after China had launched a counter-attack on the US sanctions regime the day before.

By the time the Iranian and Chinese diplomats were in embrace, the charade of US naval capability against Iran’s firm control of the strait of Hormuz had been called off. Operation Epstein Fury had become Project Epic Fail.

This sequence of events detailing US impotence and embarrassment on one side with the confidence of the Chinese, Russian & Iranian strategic triangle on the other defines the current state of the transition of world power away from the US “rules based order”.

Recall that:

• There is no military solution to Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz

• China controls the world’s supply of rare earth minerals required for many hi-tech industries and US munitions and weapons systems

• China has the world’s leading economy, upon which US consumers depend.

• China has an inter-bank international trade settlement system CIPS which settles hundreds of billions of dollars a day outside the US financial system.

The Chinese counter-attack to the US sanctions regime was a legal domestic measure which becomes economic, internationally.

It is now illegal in China to implement the US sanctions directed against Chinese refineries processing imported Iranian oil. The dormant law which China’s Ministry of Commerce announced being used is equally applicable to any US sanction. The law’s application was a warning to the US, like China’s counter-tariffs on rare earth minerals, to back off. US attacks on Chinese energy processing and anything else, for that matter, can and will be countered, with US businesses suffering on each occasion. China understands how to speak the imperial language of the dollar.

The Chinese countermeasure creates a conundrum for international businesses. It informs them that they can either trade with the world’s largest economy or comply with US sanctions, but not both. China hinted, “choose wisely” to the international business community and demonstrated the difference between itself and the rupturing US empire.

China’s demonstration of these obvious differences between its actions and philosophy and those of the White House could not be more obvious. Examples of the bellicose, authoritarian rhetoric and demands being spewed by the White House can be heard on independent news programs like Daniel Davis’ Deep Dive (see sources). The White House is full of ignorant hot heads issuing demands they cannot compel others to accept. China is declaring policy it can and will enforce, the consequences of which are calculated and intended. Business leaders understand the difference.

The significance of the Saudi and Kuwaiti rejection of the US using its airspaces cannot be understated. The protest they issued was that the US did not consult them. While this is true, and it demonstrates the arrogance of the US, that behaviour is not new. What is new is that the US has lost the war of choice it and Israel illegally started against Iran. The other new fact is that Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have suffered economic and physical damage from the war which was also started without their support.

The Saudi and Kuwaiti rebuke of the US and its militarism is also a rebuke of its abject failure to protect them despite their payments of trillions of dollars for this protection. The US and Israeli failed illegal war has exposed just how pathetic the US protection racket was. By example, the US decommissioned a missile defence system installed in South Korea to ship it to protect Israel while Kuwait was being hammered by Iranian drones.

One can take the perspective of a Kuwaiti or Saudi, or Qatari business person when one hears the arrogant rhetoric flowing out of the White House. They know the US has no means to enforce its demands. They know its demands are empty.

So does China and Russia. So does Iran.

The White House is inhabited by empty threats.

<>

Update 2026-05-08

On the night of May 7th the US bombed the Iranian ports of Qesm Island and Bandar Abbas (nb: bandar means port in Farsi). The US also attacks two Iranian owned oil tankers.

In retaliation, Iran attacked three US destroyers with anti-ship missiles and drones.

Iran stated that two of the US destroyers were damaged and that all three fled.

The US would have us believe that it was attacked but no damage was done. This flies in the face of physics and recent warfare.

If the US Navy is immune to Iranian munitions it should actually escort a ship instead of “advising” them and lying to the citizens who fund it.

Sources

US Bombs Iran’s Qeshm Port and Bandar Abbas; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-05-07

Military Spokesman Gives Details of Thursday Night Clashes in Southern Iran; N/A; Tasnim News Agency; 2026-05-08 [achived]

Iran Targets 3 US Destroyers Near Strait of Hormuz: Sources; N/A; Tasnim News Agency; 2026-05-08 [archived]

CENTCOM Protects U.S. Warships Transiting Strait of Hormuz; CENTCOM; US Government; 2026-05-07 [archived]

for free (or “follow”), or support this work via Buy Me A Coffee or Patreon.

Sources

War On Iran: - Saudis Pulled Break On Trump’s Escalation; b.; Moon of Alabama; 2026-05-7,

Ball of Confusion - Trump’s Mixed Signals on Iran; Larry C. Johnson; SONAR 21; 2026-05-06

Trump goes to China, but Iran holds all the cards; Pepe Escobar; Sputnik International; 2026-05-07

Confused CENTCOM Plays Chicken; YesXorNo; 2026-05-05

Victorious Iran; YesXorNo; 2026-05-03

Videos

Trump Threatens Iran With Nuclear Armageddon as Hormuz Slips Away | Tarik Cyril Amar; Kevork Almassian; Syriana Analysis; 2026-05-08

Prof Marandi Warns: Blockade stays Until Israel Withdraws!; Daniel Davis / Deep Dive; Daniel Davis / Deep Dive; 2026-05-07

Nima R. Alkhorshid: BREAKING: US and Iran Exchange Fire – Ceasefire COLLAPSES; Alkhorshid; Dialogue Works; 2026-05-07

Israel’s Agenda Is Falling Apart 2026-05-08 22:25; Alkhorshid interviews Amb. Chas Freeman; Dialogue Works; 2026-05-08

• Freeman asserted the US President Trump wants to end the war. I call BS.

• Trump is manipulating markets for insider trading. There is no sign whatsoever that he wants to end the war, else he would withdraw the US military. Trump is the “commander in chief”. He can do this anytime he chooses. He hasn’t. Instead he keeps running a cycle of announcing fake ceasefire negotiations on Monday and attacking Iran on Thursday or Friday.

• Apart from this annoyance, Freeman’s commentary contains its usual insight.

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Published: 2026-05-07

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This episode extends:

• Confused CENTCOM Plays Chicken; YesXorNo; 2026-05-05

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and/or you can support this work via Buy Me A Coffee or Patreon.

Sources

Trump’s abrupt U-turn on a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz came after backlash from allies; NBC News; Archive.today; 2026-05-06

Israeli Attacks Kill Palestinians Across Gaza, Including Senior Police Official; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-05-06

Israel Kills 16 in Lebanon, Expands Attacks Into Eastern Bekaa Valley, Beirut; Jason Ditz; Antiwar; 2026-05-06

SOUTHCOM Blows Up Another Boat in the Eastern Pacific, Killing Three; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-05-06

Trump Threatens Iran With Bombing at ‘Much Higher Level’ If It Doesn’t Agree to US Deal; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-05-06

War On Iran: - How Trump’s ‘Project Freedom’ Has Failed; b.; Moon of Alabama; 2026-05-04

War On Iran: - Saudis Pulled Break On Trump’s Escalation; b.; Moon of Alabama; 2026-05-07

• Kuwait also denied the US use of its airspace. The Empire is breaking up.

• “Ryan Grim @ryangrim – 0:22 UTC · May 7, 2026

  Per an admin official to me, Kuwait also cut off access, basing and overflight (ABO).”

War On Iran: “Project Freedom” A One-Off Stunt - Tightening UAE Blockade - China Counters U.S. Sanctions; b.; Moon of Alabama; 2026-05-05

‘Total Victory’: How Iran Defeated Israel; Kit Klarenberg; Kit’s Newsletter; 2026-05-05

Videos

Lebanon: The Graveyard of ‘Greater Israel’; Reason2Resist with Dimitri Lascaris; Reason2Resist with Dimitri Lascaris; 2026-05-05

🚨Saudi Arabia Stops US Military Support, Ends US Operation Freedom; Prof. Lottaz interviews Larry Johnson; Neutrality Studies; 2026-05-07

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[A visually pleasing production of the map, picturing the section of the Strait of Hormuz over which Iran claims transit authority, released by Iran on 2026-05-04.]

Published: 2026-05-05

Introduction

On evening of May 4th, 2026, Iran time, reports were issued of an escalation in the ongoing illegal war of choice initiated by the US and Israel against Iran in February.

Missiles were allegedly fired by Iran from the island of Jask, just south of the Strait of Hormuz in the Sea of Oman at enemy naval vessels. Erroneous reports circulated that two missiles had struck a US naval vessel.

<>

[This is the more commonly published map of Iran’s claim over the strait. Jask can be seen in the bottom right corner.]

With regard to the attack on the US naval vessel(s), Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corp [IRGC] stated:

The Iranian Navy fired warning shots near hostile vessels after US destroyers attempted to approach the Strait of Hormuz

[Tasnim]

This author advises reporters and persons interested to read Tasnim News, and read it carefully, should they wish to understand events in Iran’s near abroad and territorial waters. CENTCOM confirmed that no naval vessel was “struck”.

Background

During the day (Iranian time) of May 4th the IRGC issued the above map which defined the limits within which the IRGC asserted Iran’s exclusive right, on behalf of itself and Oman, to authorise maritime transit.

This is the precursor to the US escalation. It is a direct affront to US global hegemony.

The territorial assertion is a result of Iran’s successful defence in the ongoing war against it by the US and Israel. Iran has realised its and Oman’s control over the strait. Iran will not relinquish it.

In response, US President Trump declared a military project, as opposed to an operation. He labelled it with the common US term “Freedom”. “Project Freedom” merged with the “blockade” of Iranian trade which the US has used to maintain it’s and Israel’s war with Iran since the US walkout from the recent talks in Islamabad.

Having been tasked with this “project”, CENTCOM Commander Admiral Cooper gave a media briefing. His opening remarks delineated the overlapping and mutually exclusive objectives blurred into his task:

First, [...], we’re enforcing the [US] blockade [on Iran’s trade] in the Gulf of Oman. There is no commerce going into and out of Iran [1] and we will be sustaining this effort. Second, we’ve now opened a passage through the Strait of Hormuz to allow for the free flow of commerce to proceed [2]. As the President announced yesterday, U.S. forces in the Middle East are supporting efforts to restore freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz for commercial shipping [just like the “freedom of navigation” which nobody has in the Caribbean Sea this year].

[Cooper]

The two phrases [1] and [2] are both demonstrably false.

1. is contradicted by confirmed international reports.

2. is contradicted by the fact that the US navy has itself not transited the strait since it started the war.

Cooper, like his command-in-chief, is lying to US citizens and the world. He is additionally asserting he will achieve the logically impossible, to ‘sustain’ ‘no commerce going into and out of Iran’ and allowing the ‘free flow of commerce’ through the strait.

A CENTCOM social media post emphasized an extract of Cooper’s speech to certify this confusion.

[CENTCOM]

CENTCOM contacts “ships” and “shipping companies to encourage traffic ... through [the Strait of Hormuz] ... [with the intent] to help guide ships”.

CENTCOM is “encouraging” ships to sail through the waters which Iran has informed the international shipping community one needs the IRGC’s permission to transit. If CENTCOM is doing this, and not advising the ship’s captains to contact the IRGC, it is advising them to risk attack. In summary, Cooper is cowardly advising unarmed commercial vessels to sail where he will not.

There is an alternative explanation. No such advice is being issued (and why would a commercial ship’s captain accept it anyway?). What is actually happening is a US naval media campaign.

If one accepts this understanding, events begin to follow a twisted logic.

During the negotiations from which the US walked out, two US frigates attempted to transit the strait. They were turned back by the IRGC, motivated by the fact that they recognised they were locked onto by Iranian cruise missiles (or believed this to be the case). The IRGC demonstrated that it can deter US naval vessels from transit. The current count of US naval vessels which have transited the strait since the war started on February 28th, 2026, is zero, Admiral Cooper.

Messages issued by the IRGC since the US walkout have stressed that if the US starts shooting again the IRGC will escalate quickly and forcefully. These messages relay a confidence felt by the Iranian government appointed after the previous was assassinated by the belligerent states. The new Iranian government and its armed forces have seen off the best the US could do to defeat them. They both have the overwhelming support of the people of Iran, as opposed to the two political leaders of the aggressor states.

Analysts have inferred that this message of escalated Iranian threat, based on this confidence, was conveyed to the US President by Russian Federation President Putin in a phone call on Wednesday April 29th after Putin received Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi on the preceding Monday.

That same Iranian confidence explains the warning shots fired near the US naval vessel(s) on the evening of Monday May 4th. Iran is serious about its right to authorise passage into and out of the strait.

It seems likely that, after receiving warnings from the Iranian Navy, the US vessels chose to not withdraw until Iran had fired warning shots. From this the US Navy will have learned the location(s) Iran’s Navy used to fire those munitions. If so, the US navy is playing a dangerous game of chicken while data gathering.

UAE

An additional potentially significant, though technically unconfirmed, event probably occurred.

“An Iranian military official told the Iranian broadcaster IRIB”:

Iran had no pre-planned intention to attack the Fujairah oil facilities. The incident resulted from US military adventurism to create an illegal passage through restricted areas of the Strait of Hormuz.

[Antiwar (both quotes)]

We await confirmation that the attack occurred, and if so, what damage was caused.

The likelihood of the attack is high as one cannot see an advantage to Iran for falsely claiming it. This likely, specific attack on the Emirati port of Fujairah is another Iranian warning to Israel and the Emirates.

A perhaps not so subtle series of diplomatic threats have been issued. Iran, stating that no explicit threat had been received from the UAE, nonetheless stressed that:

If the Emiratis become pawns of Israel and make a misstep, they will learn a lesson they will never forget.

The UAE knows it is sitting in a very fragile glass house and that insecurity is absolute poison for it. If it wishes to repeat the mistake of the 40-day war, we will completely abandon restraint and deal with this nest of Zionists as if it were part of the Zionist regime.

[Tasnim]

This rather direct language can be seen in the context of Iran’s increasing confidence.

Iran does not bluff. It has successfully, symmetrically escalated each attack by the US and Israel during the war. The US should understand this. Its bases are destroyed. Even CNN has acknowledged this. Israel should also understand that Iran is very serious. It has no air defence.

The two aggressor nation states are, however, ruled by politicians who are embroiled in a blackmail scandal and are both under legal threat for corruption and/or treason. Neither seems to be either receiving or sensibly acting on sound military or economic advice.

We, and they, are beholden to their twisted psychologies until at least one of the genocidal, crazy warmongers is removed from office.

PS:

The US Navy is still murdering people in boats in the Carribean.

Update 2026-05-06

[Image / article from CNN. Operationy Projectish Freedom loving cat videos lasted — 1 DAY. 1 Airborne refueller lost.]

Breaking: US Tanker Disappears Over Strait of Hormuz as Project Freedom Enters Second Day; thedeepdive.ca; Archive.today; 2026-05-06

All Indicators Signal that Trump Will Restart the War Against Iran This Week; Larry C. Johnson; SONAR 21; 2026-05-05

L.C. Johnson provided an excellent summary of news for the 5th, and a corroboration:

• No military action by the US & Israel can force Iran to relinquish its control of traffic through the stait. The only solution is dialogue (see also “Victorious Iran”)

• China made a significant move against US sanctions (see below)

• US military maneuvres are preparing it for a new round of attacks on Iran

• Johnson uploaded a video which probably confirms the Fujairah port attack (see further below)

‘Unprecedented’: China’s blocking ban on US sanctions draws US media attention; GT staff reporters; Global Times; 20-05-05

The most significant of Johnson’s point, outside of the Gulf, is China’s move. Its Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) employed a piece of dormant legislation to counter US sanctions against privately owned Chinese refineries processing Iranian oil.

MOFCOM made it illegal for anything in China to comply with US sanctions against the Chinese refineries. This sets a precedent for China generalizing the illegality in China of complying with (implementing) US sanctions.

This will split the international business community. A business chooses to either implement US sections or it does business in China.

This Chinese economic counter-attack on the US sanctions system is long overdue. It was prompted by the intemperate rhetoric of US Treasury Secretary Bessant and his department’s myopic attack on the Chinese refineries. China understands that this attack is another component of the war on Iran, which is itself a destruction-reconstruction of the world’s energy market.

China sees the US attack on its investments and the US attempt to create a smaller fiefdom via a reconstructed global energy market as its empire implodes.

Bernhard from Moon of Alabama summarized China’s move with:

This is the opening shot by China to counter U.S. attempts to control the world’s energy supply.

[Moon of Alabama]

“Iron Dome” Failed to Defend the Emirates too

Chinese Embassy in UAE urges nationals to remain vigilant and refrain from sharing attack scene images amid Iranian strikes; Global Times; Global Times; 20-05-05

Johnson uploaded a video he asserts is of the aftermath of the reported Iranian attack on the port at Fujairah. It fits the bill.

The video is shot on a mobile phone from the deck of a large ship. It shows a fire in the distance at a port. Flames rage from a large oil storage tank while a wall of water is sprayed at them. The videographer panned left and right to include the surrounding hills. The land forms will identify the location.

It has been and still is extremely difficult to find verifiable reports of the results of the attack on Fujairah to confirm it.

The UAE has aligned itself with Israel and thus the US. It accepted the Israeli installation of a version of its “Iron Dome” system which doesn’t work against Hizbollah’s drones or Iran’s rockets.

Confirmation of raging fires at an oil terminal in the UAE would undermine US and Israeli narratives for the war against Iran, and show that the Israeli missile defense “system” is useless. These are powerful motives for censorship of the results of Iran’s attack on Fujairah.

Have a listen to the video. Do you hear Chinese spoken near the start? If so, the above linked article from the middle of China’s “Global Times” front page may be related to the release of the video Johnson uploaded as confirmation of the attack on Fujairah.

UAE Condemns Iranian Drone Attack on ADNOC Oil Tanker in Strait of Hormuz, Citing Violation of UN Resolution 2817; Gulf News [UAE media outlet]; Archive.today; 2026-05-05

By way of distraction, the UAE issued an official statement about a drone attack on an oil tanker. The official statement made false claims about the tanker (that is “transited the Strait of Hormuz”) while directing attention away from the raging fire at Fujairah.

It has the hallmarks of Zionist bullshit written all over it. It is a misdirection, full of lies; a bag of biowaste with “80% off” written on it.

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for free (or “follow”), or support this work via Buy Me A Coffee or Patreon.

Sources

IRGC Announces New Maritime Control Zone in Strait of Hormuz; N/A; Tasnim News Agency; 2026-05-04

Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM Commander, Conducts a Media Conference Call (transcript); CENTCOM; US Government; 2026-05-04 [archived]

Iranian Media: Attack on UAE Oil Facility Result of US ‘Adventurism’ in the Strait of Hormuz; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-05-04

Threats Attributed to UAE Draw Firm Reaction from Iranian Military Source; N/A; Tasnim News Agency; 2026-05-04

Trump Moves Closer to Final ‘Blowout’ Hail-Mary Against Iran, as Outlets Report Total US Regional Wipeout ; Simplicius; Simplicius’ Garden of Knowledge; 2026-05-02

US Boat Strike in the Caribbean Kills Two; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-05-05

Victorious Iran; YesXorNo; 2026-05-03

Hormuz Toll, Its Here to Stay; YesXorNo; 2026-04-25

Videos

Global Economic Meltdown & Destruction of Europe; Glenn Diesen interviews Jeffrey Sachs; Glenn Diesen; 2026-05-03

Paul Craig Roberts: Trump’s America at War: A Carbon Copy of Crumbling Israeli Plans; Alkhorshid; Dialogue Works; 2026-05-04

Iran War Reignites as U.S. Pushes to Reopen the Strait of Hormuz; Glenn Diesen interviews Scott Ritter; Glenn Diesen; 2026-05-04

The Iran-U.S. Ceasefire Is Dead - And Trump Killed It; Reason2Resist with Dimitri Lascaris; Reason2Resist with Dimitri Lascaris; 2026-05-04

Iran ROCKS Two U.S. Destroyers – 30 Refueling Jets Airborne! WAR IS HERE; Alkhorshid interviews Col. Larry Wilkerson; Dialogue Works; 2026-05-05

• The US will keep sanctioning the world until the US dollar is worthless and the US needs to deal with its debt. See the price of bread in the Weimar Republic. This is the current US trajectory.

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Published: 2026-05-03

Updated 2026-05-04: Various sources, video and written, were added. The conclusion written in the article title is widely supported in the independent media. The sycophants and imperial stenographers cannot admit this truth. It would destroy their world view.

Preface

On January 3rd, 2020, first term US president Trump watched a screen while he listened to the voices of military officers describing its real time battlespace information. He was in the euphemistically named “situation room”, wherein US executive government teams sit, killing people and creating profits for the US Military Industrial Complex, doing their job of maintaining their corporate Empire.

On this occasion Trump was observing the initial results of his decision to assassinate Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps General Qassem Soleimani. Trump had entered the Zionist realm of assassinating political adversaries.

Soleimani was not only a military general. He was also one of Iran’s most influential diplomats. He was on a mission of peace when he was incinerated by a US launched Hellfire missile outside Baghdad International Airport.

Background

There was no approved U.N. Security Council resolution which authorized any foreign state to start a war against the Islamic Republic of Iran on February 28th, 2026. The war is, soon to be was, internationally illegal. Iran is justified using force to defend itself from the aggressor states until they stop their illegal violence, their breaking of the international peace.

On that last day of February, in Ramadan, the US and Israel murdered 168 school girls and assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Trump and Netanyahu added the Iranian girls to their guilt. They granted Khamenei martyrdom.

Before we assess Iran’s strategic defeat of the US and Israel it is important to note that the international costs of this war have yet to materialize. 20% of the world’s LNG production capacity has been destroyed. An unknown percentage of the world’s oil extraction and processing capacity has been destroyed.

It is almost certain that many states will be forced to ration their oil and gas reserves in the coming weeks and months. This will dangerously disrupt their economies causing losses of employment and collapses in production. These effects will ripple through the rest of the sensitively interconnected “globalised” economy. Mortages will default. More children will become homeless.

It is certain that the world’s coming crop harvests will be reduced by the lack of fertilisers. This will almost certainly create famines.

These as yet unmaterialized consequences of the war of choice by the US and Israel are going to be painful to the point of starvation.

Iran’s Defence

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s defence is based on the observation that the US delivers its destruction from the sky. Accordingly, Iran built many cavernous military bases under its mountains. To counter leadership assassinations it created a “mosaic”, cellular design for its military command, distributed in the granite protected bases.

It chose non-piloted aerospace forces over an air force; missiles and drone rather than planes. It built secure factories to produce them in its underground bases.

This subterranean, redundant, distributed, aerospace, self-sufficient defence force is what the US military attempted to destroy starting February 28th. The US failed because it fought Iran on a “battlespace” Iran had prepared.

Iran combined its geography, the intelligence of its people and its mineral wealth to create its defence. US and Israeli attacks on this defence could not break it. The Iranian military still supports its political leadership, who fill roles defined in the Iranian constitution, empowered by the Iranian people. Iran’s military are still armed and still defending Iran.

Iran’s Military and Political Leadership

The Islamic Republic of Iran is the result of a revolution which overthrew a foreign installed monarchy, the Shah. The Shah was overthrown because he was a brutal dictator who used his “homeland security” police, the SAVAK, to spy on and disappear political dissidents while also plundering the nation’s resources and gifting those to the foreigners who had installed the monarch after their 1953 coup. The foreign states were the US and UK.

After the 1979 Islamic Revolution the US immediately launched a war against the new state, the Iraq-Iran war of 1980 to 1988. In the 2026 war against Iran, the US attempted to defeat a political and military leadership who were young men or women during that initial US war against their new state.

The current aggressors started a war against a state which had prepared itself for the exact war which the US and Israel started. The war attempted to defeat a military and political leadership which shared the experience of defeating an earlier US proxy, Iraq, in their youth. The arrogance of starting this war is astounding. It ignored all previous evaluations advising against it.

The US and Israel broke the primary rule of warfare, to know one’s adversary. They ignored both, the rule and their adversary, supposedly believing in a fantasy of a miraculous political collapse.

Iran’s Economic Defence

The US forced Iran to learn how to manage an economy under economic attack since before the US euphemism of “sanctions” existed. The 8 year long Iraq-Iran war was the first “sanction”.

The JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) was a U.N. Security Council mandated treaty between the US and its allies (European states) and Iran with China and Russia as parties. It exchanged Iran’s acceptance of the most intrusive inspection regime from the International Atomic Energy Agency into Iran’s civilian nuclear program for relief from the US economic warfare (sanctions) which existed in 2015. Neither the US nor any of its allies ever reduced their economic attack, their financial blockade, on Iran.

The US unilaterally withdrew from the agreement two years before Trump assassinated Soleimani. In response to the US withdrawal, Iran enriched Uranium beyond normal limits but within the exceptional clauses of the JCPOA. The US did not back down or return to the JCPOA table. This was never about a nuclear weapon, or enrichment, irrespective of the eternal protestations of Benjamin Netanyahu. The conflict between the US Empire and Iran has always been about domination.

The US imposed on Iran the most extreme economic pressure it could possibly manufacture. These conditions produced the Iran-China 25 year strategic partnership. Therein China agreed to build infrastructure which would benefit Iran, China and neighbouring states (parts of the “Belt and Road Initiative” [BRI]) in exchange for Iranian oil. This treaty, worth hundreds of billions of dollars, was settled in construction and oil. The deal was a gigantic trade outside of the Petro-dollar system, as encouraged by short-sighted US economic policy.

In the lead up to, or during the 2026 US-Israel war on Iran, China chose to give Iran satellite intelligence, and use of its Beidou “GPS” system. This was a gift outside of the US dollar system. The US can measure its cost in destroyed military bases. The initial undercount of that cost is $50 billion.

During the current war, with Iran still banished from the US international trading system, the US also installed a naval blockade. Despite this, Iran is estimated to have settled $20 billion of oil trade. This is a demonstration of Iran’s defeat of US economic warfare.

The trade network which Iran and China have been building with other Asian states is sustaining all of their economies despite US efforts to choke them when it wishes. Pakistan has recently opened 6 land corridors to connect Iran to its ports, railways and roads. Other trading networks via other Iranian neighbour states are also sustaining Iran. Russia’s trade via the Caspian provides additional routes.

With allies in Russia and China, and with the BRI infrastructure, it is impossible for the US to isolate Iran for longer than the world will suffer to being isolated from the products of its region.

This is the real US economic defeat. The rest of the world’s demand for trade with Asia is more powerful than the north American and European NATO block.

Political Victory

During Mark Sleboda’s recent discussion with Garland Nixon he opined that Russia was impressed, possibly even surprised, by the scale of Iran’s success in its defence.

The US war placed it in a Zugzwang, to use a German phrase from chess. There is no US move which improves its disastrous position. It will be compelled, eventually, to make a move.

The US military can do no more than murder additional Iranian civilians. This will have no political effect on the Iranian government which has near universal support.

The US could destroy Iranian infrastructure, a course the Zionists reportedly favour. Iran has declared that it will respond symmetrically against neighbouring states which are enabling (and are thus complicit in) the war. A near certainty for reprisal will be the United Arab Emirates which has allied itself with Israel.

If Iran destroys the Emirates’ electrical power systems the state will collapse. As noted by Prof. Marandi, in two months it will be impossible to live in the UAE without power for air conditioning. It takes longer than two months two build or repair a heavily damaged high capacity power station. The service population of non-citizens will leave. There will then be nobody to cook dinner for the billionaires. This spells doom for the pampered oligarchs of the UAE.

Please excuse a little aside. The Emiratis have threatened to sell a very large amount of their investments in the US economy. To prevent this the US has offered them “dollar swaps”, a mechanism to exchange securities for dollars without alarming US markets. This is a US version of de-dollarized trade. Its is a covert trade for dollars “outside” of the US sanction system. The Emiratis are forcing the US to deploy this “dollar swaps” mechanism in collaboration with Israel.

Though public confidence in markets is being maintained, the international financial system clearly understands what is happening. The cost will to show up other ways, probably in a further downgrade of the US credit rating. The US is currently $39 trillion dollars in debt.

Returning to the options the US does not have, continuing its only partially effective naval, physical trade blockade perpetuates the conflict. This will further suffocate its allies of energy, and yield the damaged global economy outlined at the beginning of this article. This is a very good way to lose allies, another path to end of Empire.

The only move the US has is to settle the conflict. The only lever which the US still possesses is when to admit this defeat.

The failing Empire’s current objective is to achieve something, for example a concession from Iran, which it can plaster over this unavoidable admission of defeat. One expects that Russia and China will help find an acceptable fig leaf.

The other major powers assisting the US to hide its defeat is the cost of peace.

Victorious Iran

The Islamic Republic of Iran has defeated the US empire and Israel without overt support from any other nation. It has obviously been supported quietly by its allies. Iran has defeated the aggressor states militarily, economically and politically. This combination of defeats is known as a strategic defeat.

Ergo, the Islamic Republic of Iran has strategically defeated the United States of America and Israel in their illegal war of choice against the Islamic Republic, begun on February 28th, 2026.

The people of Iran and their leadership can be proud of the resilient defence of their sovereignty and independence. If you think they deserve a round of applause, have at it. Russian Federation President Putin congratulated Iran, by way of its Foreign Minister Aragchi in St. Petersburg on Monday 27th April, 2026. Two days later Putin called Trump and advised him against any further military action against Iran in the strongest language permitted in Russian diplomacy (according to Ray McGovern). As noted above, the only result of further US military action is further damage to the global economy, the Gulf monarchies and Israel. It will have no bearing whatsoever on the outcome of the war. Iran is already victorious.

Neither Soleimani nor Ayatollah Ali Khamenei lived to see the US and the Zionist entity humbled. We all die someday. They became martyrs for a purpose. They lived a meaningful life.

Iran is still independent.

<>

PS: There is another important part to this story. It has been hinted at in the graphics.

It will follow soon. This part needed to be told now.

Update 2026-05-04

The Economic War

“What China just did with the blocking statutes against U.S. extraterritorial sanctions ...”; Arnaud Bertrand; Archive.today; 2026-05-03

“China Invokes Blocking Statute for First Time ...”; Drop Site/X; Archive.today; 2026-05-02

In response to US Secretary of the Treasury Bessant’s economic attack, China’s Ministry of Commerce has employed a dormant economic counter-weapon. China has made complying with US sanctions against Chinese organisation in China illegal.

The US threatened companies which interact with Chinese processors of Iranian oil with legal threat and disconnection from its financial system. China countered by making it illegal for companies operating in China to comply with these extra-territorial sanctions.

Companies will need to choose with which international trade system they wish to interact. Both nation states will watch as the international business community settles into two camps.

China’s move indicates its confidence in the outcome. China tends to weigh outcomes and act within the constraints defined by its analysis.

The US behaves aggressively with little consideration of consequences. This default aggressive behaviour is due to ideology, hubris and its history of getting away with belligerence. US officials are never punished for recommending or implementing policies which produce bad outcomes. The opposite is true in China.

Time will show which state achieves an economic advantage based on their choices of action. History indicates the US will again suffer for acting rashly.

US Military Activity

Ceasefire served US’ purpose in Iran war; M. K. Bhadrakumar; Indian Punchline; 2026-05-03

CENTCOM chief Adm. Brad Cooper arrived in the region to meet with troops aboard the USS Tripoli, an assault ship stationed in the Arabian Sea. Cooper arrived after briefing Trump on Thursday on Washington’s various military options against Iran. The US carrier groups are now finally in position, replenished and reloaded for the next round. From the US perspective, the ceasefire has served its purpose.

Cooper will go down in US military history as one if its most incompetent commanders if he accepts an order to run a ground operation against Iran. CENTCOM has no army (ground forces) general, as noted by Larry C. Johnson. It is possible the normally insightful M.K.B does not know this.

The “purpose” which the ceasefire has served the US is none. The US president has been repositioning forces like a boy moving toy soldiers to impress his younger brother.

Nima Alkorshidas described what will happen to an invading US ground force. US soldiers will be treated like the Ukrainians who invaded Russia. Iran will systematically destroy them. US ground forces will have no air cover. They will be attacked with drones and artillery until they are in the same state as the Ukrainian forces who invaded Russia — dead.

Iran’s military leadership has actually invited the US to try.

Sources

Trump’s Trap, Trump’s Sanity; Patrick Lawrence; Consortium News; 2026-05-02

• “[Trump] has lost the war he started with Iran — or at the very least he has no chance of winning it — but accepting defeat and repairing the damage of the error is simply beyond his reach.”

IRGC declares inevitable victory as Iran confronts US pressure; Al Mayadeen English; Al Mayadeen English; 2026-05-04

• "final victory is the ally of the Iranian armed forces in this unequal battle" — IRGC Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi

Videos

Trump’s Iran Warning BACKFIRES – Their Response Just ENDED It All; Alkhorshid interviews Nima R. Alkhorshid; Dialogue Works; 2026-05-03

• NB: Your author is really happy to have Nima Alkorshid belatedly atop the video sources list. Listen to what he says.

• Iran is making demands upon states which have been implementing the US policy of punishing Iran economically. The strait of Hormuz is its leverage to recover stolen assets and redress economic losses. Victors make demands.

THE WORLD THIS WEEK - w/ Scott Ritter & Ray McGovern - ECONOMIC WAR OR MORE BOMBS?; Consortium News; Consortium News; 2026-05-03

• Ritter is unequivocal on Iran’s victory.

The Wit & Wisdom of Mark Sleboda - Putin Araghchi Meeting - NATO Warmongering - Oil Price Screaming; Garland Nixon interviews Mark Sleboda; Garland Nixon; 2026-04-30

Bravado Cannot Hide Trump’s and Netanyahu’s Desperation; Reason2Resist with Dimitri Lascaris; Reason2Resist with Dimitri Lascaris; 2026-05-02

CONFIRMED: Iran’s Strikes ELIMINATE US Bases as Trump Declares War OVER | Mark Sleboda; Haiphong interviews Sleboda; Danny Haiphong; 2026-05-02

Ray McGovern: Israel’s Worst Defeat: New Wave of Attacks That Could END It All; Alkhorshid; Dialogue Works; 2026-05-02

• McGovern explains the language in the Kremlin read-out for Putin’s call to Trump. The most stern warning possible was issued against Trump taking any military action against Iran from political leaders of the world’s largest nuclear power which fields the worlds most experience military in modern warfare and is armed with technologies on which the US is still working.

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[UK police choosing to not arrest all of the people holding “illegal” signs. Source. The lighting and varying sizes of signs with identical fonts makes this look like AI slop.]

Published: 2026-05-02

Introduction

The volume of pure fabrication being issued by the US regime, and carried in its media (the Reality Creation Machine) is astronomical. In its propaganda life, the leadership of the US executive are plundering wealth by gambling and insider trading based on their control of the timing of events in their illegal war of aggression with Israel against Iran.

This collection of article references begins by examining the recent behaviour of Israel and the role its agents are playing internationally, from its near abroad, to international waters and the UK. The role they are playing in the US is obvious. They are on the inside of the US regime.

The tour then turns to the torrent of lies, war profiteering and gambling from the US regime.

[Each quote below comes from the article cited just above it.]

Israel

[Photo by Col. Ann Wright, who traveled with the Global Sumud Flotilla, again.]

Israel Attacks Gaza Flotilla Near Greek Waters; Ann Wright; Consortium News; 2026-04-30

An unknown number of Israeli military ships went over 700 miles to attack the 54-ship flotilla that was headed for Gaza .

Global Sumud activists ‘survived 40 hrs of calculated cruelty’ by IOF; Al Mayadeen English; Al Mayadeen English; 2026-05-01

… the group said, “Global Sumud Flotilla participants have just survived 40 hours of calculated cruelty aboard an iOF navy vessel in Greek waters.” The detained activists were denied adequate food and water and forced to sleep on floors that were deliberately and repeatedly flooded.

The flotilla added that participants were beaten, kicked, and dragged across the deck with their hands tied behind their backs. Many reportedly “suffered broken noses, cracked ribs and bloody beatings,” according to its statement.

This statement matches earlier statements by others tortured by employees of the state of Israel after have been kidnapped on international waters. One such was Greta Thundberg who bravely detailed the sexual abuse she received.

Israel recently chose not to prosecute prison guards who were videoed torturing an innocent detainee by anal rape. This is consistent Israeli sadism. It is normalized, institutionalized torture and murder.

Israel’s Yellow-Line Annexation in Gaza; Ahmad Ibsais; Consortium News; 2026-05-01

On Israel’s annexation of a strip of southern Lebanon:

The Yellow Line functions as a de facto military demarcation that shapes civilian movement and territorial control while being framed as a temporary security measure.

The West’s bubble of illusion about Israel - and about itself – is finally being burst; Johnathan Cook; Jonathan Cook; 2026-05-01

For months, Israel has been blowing up village after village in south Lebanon, driving millions of inhabitants from lands lived on for millennia by their ancestors, and it barely registers with our politicians and media.

Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 32 Across Southern Lebanon, Including Children; Jason Ditz; Antiwar; 2026-04-30

Israel is destroying homes with explosives. Its plan for southern Lebanon is identical to its plan for Gaza — ethnic cleansing and destruction of all support for human life.

US-Born Netanyahu Advisor Was Tasked With ‘Relocating’ Palestinians From Gaza; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-04-29

UK (Badenock) and German (Merz) political leaders have described Israel as doing their “dirty work”. Netanyahu outsourced the “dirty work” of its ethnic cleansing to a US person.

It is still ethnic cleansing.

Protest Laws Should Be Viewed As Efforts To Ban Criticism Of Israel; Caitlin Johnston; Caitlin’s Newsletter; 2026-05-01

Caitlin reviewed the latest removal of speech (political expression) and protest (use of public spaces) liberties in the UK. The laws implement the UK government punishing UK citizens for Israel.

The UK is punishing its citizens for criticizing the foreign government which is:

1. running a genocide

2. partnering in an illegal war of choice against Iran; and

3. attempting to annex parts of southern Lebanon (again)

Because the UK government is doing it, UK citizens are paying for it.

Palestine Action Defendants Address Jury Directly; John McEvoy; Consortium News; 2026-05-01

Five of the Filton 6 addressed the jury directly this week instead of relying on their lawyers to represent them.

They said they had not dismissed their barristers over any shortcomings, but because of perceived constraints put on them and their legal representation by the court.

The judge of the court so curtailed that which defendents’ lawyers could say in court that the lawyuers, obviously, advised their clients to address the jury themselves.

The UK, to punish civil disobedience in the private factory of a foreign weapons manufacturer which was supplying weapons for a genocide, imploded the core of its legal system for that genocidal state.

Update 2026-05-04:

The Morass of Injustice; Craig Murray; Craig Murray; 2026-05-02

The Starmer regime is intent on the entire subversion of the supposed protections of British justice. It is operating purely in the interests of a foreign state, in order to protect Israel from any potential consequences of the public revulsion against its genocidal onslaught on the Palestinians.

US

Lies

The US President is an inveterate liar. His lies are damaging the nation he is meant to be serving. Nobody has done anything about this. So is measured the depth of the endemic corruption at the heart of the US Empire.

This is an historically “normal” state of affairs for a failing empire. Empires are eaten out from their inside when the immorality at their periphery returns home. The “blowback” does not come from foreigners, but empire loyalists who recognize the extent of corruption and immorality condoned. The Epstein files are a censored, partial documentation of the immorality.

The Emporer’s family is literally betting (we get to that below) on a war the timing of which the patriarch is controlling while he lies the world into an economic depression.

The US will suffer more from oil shock than China, Russia, or EU; Rosemary Kelanic; Responsible Statecraft; 2026-05-01

President Trump and members of his administration have repeatedly claimed that the United States’ prodigious oil production insulates the country from price shocks stemming from Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

It’s not clear whether they’re acting as fools or knaves – but either way, they’re wrong.

U.S. oil production does not render American consumers immune to fluctuations in oil prices, which are determined by the interplay of supply and demand in a global market. To the contrary, because the U.S. economy burns more oil to produce each unit of economic output than peer countries do, the United States will suffer more from the Iran War price shock than will China, Russia, or the European Union.

Trump threatens 25% tariffs on EU autos; Al Mayadeen English; Al Mayadeen English; 2026-05-01

“I am pleased to announce that, based on the fact the European Union is not complying with our fully agreed to Trade Deal, next week I will be increasing Tariffs charged to the European Union for Cars and Trucks coming into the United States. The Tariff will be increased to 25%,” he wrote.

A recent Federal court judgement found that Trump tariff policies are illegal. The executive branch does not have the constitutional right to issue taxes. Trump is threatening allies with lies and deceiving the US population into believing that some federal income may result from the illegal tariffs.

The reverse is true. The US is liable for the return of all illegal “tariffs” paid.

Trump letter to Congress declares end of Iran hostilities; Al Mayadeen English; Al Mayadeen English; 2026-05-01

Trump claims that attacking foreign maritime vessels in international waters does not amount to war. This is also a lie. Ask yourself what the US would do if Iran was pirating vessels of US nationality or which were transporting US goods?

For more on the deception (not by Trump this time) of the War Powers resolution (which authorizes 60 days of war without congressional approval) see the Dialogue Works interview with Col. Wilkerson and Larry Johnson in Sources. In summary the ‘60 days’ lets the Congress decide if its likes a war or not, after a 60 day ‘try before you buy’ trial. This is entirely outside the intention written into the US constitution. It is an unconstitutional conspiracy between the executive and legislative branches of the US government.

The Assassination Myth, And Iran Continues to Run the Blockade; Larry C. Johnson; SONAR 21; 2026-04-30

Johnson cited a Fars News figure of 52 Iranian ships crossing the US “blockade” in 72 hours, or 17 per day. Pre-war transits (all nations) were 125 to 140 per day.

The US navy currently has at most 11 ships which could pirate a vessel. When a vessel is pirated, the pirating ship has to stay with its victim ship or install a crew and security on it. This removes US resources to maintain the “blockade” for each vessel pirated. You can’t implement a “blockade” of over a dozen ships crossing a territory a day with only a dozen ships. You’ll instantly have nothing with which to enforce the “blockade”

On top of this, because the oil price is high, Iran is making lots of money ($20 billion — 150 million barrels at $140 per barrel) from its trade bypassing the fake blockade.

The “blockade” is another Trump hoax.

The Bogus Blockade Claim of the US Department of War; Larry C. Johnson; SONAR 21; 2026-04-30

Pete Hegseth is lying about the US blockade of Iranian ports. ... Pete Hegseth has been ... describing it as “ironclad,” “tightening by the hour,” and even “going global.” He said the Navy had turned back 34 ships, ...”

The “34” happened to match the number of Iranian vessels which crossed the blockade from an FT article . Hegseth was abusing FT reporting to give a hint of truth to his “irconclad” verbal flatulence.

The Growing Panopticon

The Trump Surveillance State; Judge Andrew P. Napolitano; Consortium News; 2026-04-30

Last week, for the first time in the modern era, the U.S. government argued to the Supreme Court of the United States that the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution did not outlaw general warrants.

More Details Emerge of Trump’s Secret Use of ICE to Spy on Critics; Mike Ludwig from Truthout; Scheerpost; 2026-05-01

On April 17, attorneys with the Civil Liberties Defense Center filed a motion in federal court to throw out a grand jury subpoena that Reddit received from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) demanding “extensive private information” about an anonymous user. The user had posted statements critical of ICE and other political content on Reddit, a popular online discussion forum.

DHS is Buying Access To Real-Time Location Data—The Latest Expansion Of Its “Invasive” Surveillance Technology; republished from Truthout; Scheerpost; 2026-05-01

Despite serious concerns raised by dozens of federal legislators about the potential misuse of location technologies to violate rights, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has awarded a new [no-bid] contract to Penlink PLX, a surveillance system that intercepts, aggregates, and analyzes live communications from phone calls, texts, and internet activity. The platform enables DHS to track people’s movements in real time.

Gambling

Trump And His Family Are Enriching Themselves; b.; Moon of Alabama; 2026-05-01

Polymarket Will Return to U.S., Allowing Gambling on Elections; Rolling Stone; Archive.today; 2025-07-22

Senators Banned From Gambling On Prediction Markets; Forbes; Archive.today; 2026-04-30

Russia Must Choose Between Iran and the United States w/ John Helmer; Reason2Resist with Dimitri Lascaris; Reason2Resist with Dimitri Lascaris; 2026-05-01

• During the discussion Helmer outlines how the network of Jewish business associates of the Trump family are behind the crypto-currency Polymarket betting service. Not only can insiders achieve wild profits by betting on event outcomes they know ahead of time, but they can invest in the company before it is floated on the stock exchange. This is war profiteering via gambling on a colossal scale.

Military

The US (and thus all of NATO and Israel) Military are beholden to China.

China possesses the vast majority of rare earth materials. It controls the best technology to extract them. It dominates the world’s production facilities to manufacture high-tech products from them.

Neither the US nor any other “military industrial base” can make high tech products (missiles, radars, satellites, tanks, planes, etc.) which require components which they do not have. The US is running out of munitions because a) it is expending them and b) it can’t make replacements quickly, because of outdated factories, or at all because it doesn’t have the components.

The US cannot attack Iran in volume or it will denude its armories.

Iran wont give up. It has a population of 90 million with a standing army of 1 million. It has formidable home terrain. It is still armed to the teeth, whatever the malignant narcissist in the White House says. It is backed by Russia and China.

Any large scale campaign against Iran is suicide. Every sensible military analyst (Wilkerson, Macgregor, Ritter, Davis etc.) concurs with this opinion.

Every proclamation, by every shyster, of a significant US or Israeli military threat to Iran is a lie.

Fig Leaves and Moving on to Malacca

Imperial Dire Straits - After Hormuz, Malacca; Pepe Escobar; Sputnik International; 2026-04-30

What is happening right now is that the US is searching for a concession from Iran. The US has to paste a fig leaf over its defeat. Any Iranian fig leaf will be very costly to the US.

The empire is considering moving its blockade to the Strait of Malacca. There are many cats to herd before it can do this.

U.S. Is Grooming Europe for War with Russia; Glenn Diesen interviews Brian Berletic; Glenn Diesen; 2026-04-29

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Sources

See above (in situ). Supplimentary sources are below.

Videos

📽️ Iran War Exposes NATO’s Weakness as Hegseth Scrambles; Almassian interviews Tarik Cyril Amar; Syriana Analysis; 2026-05-01

• Amar’s analysis is a pleasure to hear in discussion with Kevork.

WE’RE BEING LIED TO: Oil Shock Coming by Fall, Even if Iran War Ends Today /Chris Martinsen; Daniel Davis / Deep Dive; Daniel Davis / Deep Dive; 2026-05-01

• An expert in the oil industry explains why Trump’s pontifications about US oil production and the economy are lies. The guest provides more evidence to support the article from Responsible Statecraft above.

• The world, the US included, is headed for a recession created by the US and Israeli war of choice on Iran.

Larry Johnson & Col. Wilkerson: It’s Over: Iran Just Wiped Out Trump’s Blockade - War IMMINENT; Alkhorshid; Dialogue Works; 2026-05-01

INTEL Roundtable w/ Johnson & McGovern - Weekly Wrap 1-May; Judge Napolitano; Judging Freedom; 2026-05-01

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[Iranian Foreign Minister in Oman, April 26th, 2026. Source Tasnim News Agency.]

Published: 2026-04-28

Updated 2026-04-29: An update section was added including more details of Iran’s removal of its civilian nuclear program from near discussions based on another excellent report from Bernhard at MoA.

Updated 2026-05-01: A reference to a video interview with Prof. Michael Hudson with title “US Economy Is Based on a Ponzi Scheme” was added to Sources for obvious reasons.

Check!

On Monday April 27th, 2026, Iran’s most recent move to counter the US and Israel’s war upon it was confirmed (Alastair Crooke [see videos], Axios and Al Mayadeen). Over the weekend preceding, Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi dropped off in Islamabad Iran’s response to constant US demands for talks.

In it, Iran withdrew its civilian nuclear program from near discussions to end the US and Israeli war against the Islamic State [see the Update below for further detail] .This diplomatic move may seem passive or innocuous. It is far from it.

Removing items for discussion is a diplomatic escalation. By doing so Iran is declaring that it believes the US has no more cards to play than futile and self-destructive military operations.

One could paraphrase Iran’s diplomatic move as:

“Bring it on, US. Fight on and lose harder!”

In chess parlance, the word would be, “check”. Iran is inviting the US to abort its lost war before the consequences place the aggressors and their allies in even more peril.

To understand the plight of the US and its “partners” one must consider a correlation of world forces, a practice not lost on Russia. The failed economic sanctions on Russia during the Ukraine war are a reliable window into the current state of that correlation and how it will play out should the US not take the hint Iran and its partners are offering.

Araghchi’s Tour

Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi began a short tour of neighbours and allies on April 25th, 2026. The tour’s theme is “Our neighbors are our priority” [link]. Those neighbours are, so far, Pakistan, Oman and Russia. One can expect a visit to China if and when that suits China’s diplomatic strategy.

Beneath Iran’s soft neighbourly language is a steely determination and the diplomatic escalation and warning noted above.

After checking the US in Islamabad, Araghchi’s next visit was to the other side of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran reassured Oman and kept it abreast of developments. There were, no doubt, discussions on future arrangements for the toll over their common waterway. Araghchi had to return to Islamabad on Sunday to respond to a diplomatic request.

Araghchi’s next stop underlined the message delivered to the US in Islamabad. In Russia, the Iranian Foreign Minister was received by the President of the Russian Federation. Putin stated:

“For our part, we will do everything that serves your interests, the interests of all the peoples of the region, to achieve this peace as quickly as possible”

[Tasnim quoting RIA Novosti quoting Putin]

Putin was publicly restating Russia’s support for Iran. “We will do everything” could not be clearer. Russia’s support is deep: diplomatic, military and humanitarian. The same is true of China, no matter how carefully it keeps its cards to its chest.

As noted in earlier articles, some of Iran’s military success is due to Russian tactics and Chinese satellites. While the US is draining itself of munitions it cannot replace fast enough, Iran has the backing of the two most prolific military industrial powers. The trilateral strategic partnership between Russia, China and Iran is running on all cylinders. Both China and Russia are very happy to see the US exhaust itself on Fortress Iran. Russia is not upset about high energy prices either. China has the world’s largest energy reserves.

During the later stage of the US occupation of Afghanistan, many a commentator rolled out the line that “Afghanistan is where empires go to die”. Not quite.

Persia has watched them all. Only one empire in Asia predates Persia. And China has Persia’s back.

The View from Tehran

Tasnim News, politically aligned with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps [IRGC], conveyed how Iran and the IRGC understand the international situation:

On February 28, the United States and the Israeli regime launched an unprovoked war of aggression against Iran, during which then Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and several senior military officials were martyred.

Iranian Armed Forces responded with weeks of missile and drone strikes targeting American and Israeli military positions in the occupied territories and the Persian Gulf region, inflicting heavy damages in 100 waves of counterattacks over a period of 40 days.

A Pakistani-mediated ceasefire lasting two weeks was reached on April 8, paving the way for talks in Islamabad. During those negotiations, Iran put forward a ten-point proposal that included the withdrawal of US forces and the removal of sanctions.

However, after 21 hours of negotiations on April 11 and 12, the sides failed to reach a deal, with Iranian representatives pointing to deep mistrust regarding Washington’s willingness to honour its commitments.

Iran has made clear that any return to ceasefire negotiations depends on the lifting of the US naval blockade. Officials have argued that the continued blockade constitutes a violation of the truce.

[Tasnim News Agency]

The “continued naval blockade” Tasnim mentioned is but one part of the hegemonic war. Another was clearly described by Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Baghaei. He described the US seizure of commercial vessels and their goods as “state-backed piracy”.

That US piracy is a component of a campaign including the murder of sailors and passengers on international waters since the beginning of 2026. The current death toll from US naval attacks on boats is at least 185 civilians.

The US naval murder spree is ongoing.

Rubio Defecates in Peoples’ Minds on Fox News

Now that the Iranian diplomatic escalation is public, the US has been forced to respond to it. US Secretary of State Rubio’s response began with a lie:

Those [the “Straits” of Hormuz] are international waterways.

[Rubio, quoted by Antiwar]

This newsletter previously explained why that is a lie. There are no “international waters” between the 12 nautical mile extents of the territorial waters of Oman and Iran because the strait is, at its narrowest, 20.75 miles wide.

Obviously, Rubio failed 6th grade mathematics.

• 20.75 < 2 x 12

The Persians gave us all algebra.

[The vizualization of the lack of “international waters” from “Open the F*cking Strait”]

Rubio could not but continue his mendacity:

They [Iran and Oman] cannot normalize, nor can we tolerate them trying to normalize, a system in which the Iranians decide who gets to use an international waterway and how much you have to pay them to use it”

[ibid]

Rubio was projecting. It is the US which is attempting to decide “who gets to use an international waterway”. That waterway is the whole planet.

A Toll vs. Murder

Iran has implemented a toll; a form of tax. While it is under attack, it is refusing passage through its territorial waters of ships from states involved in the war against it. This is entirely legal, justified and should be expected. What do you think the US would do in its territorial waters if it was under attack, Rubio?

It is the US which is conducting a war, and, as noted, murdering sailors and pirating vessels. Rubio is victim blaming on behalf of the US Navy and Air Force.

Its partner in the war, Israel, is also running a genocide and attempting to annex southern Lebanon. Any comment, Secretary of State?

We don’t know, because Fox “News” doesn’t ask challenging questions. It is a conduit for talking points, not a “news” service.

Other News: WWIII

World War III has started.

How else can one read the title of Glenn Diesen’s most recent interview: “Iran War Is Now a Global War for World Order”?

This is not one off alarmism by Diesen either:

[Annotated screenshot of the “archive” view of Prof. Glenn Deisen’s site on 2026-04-28.]

The damage caused to Persian Gulf petrochemical processing facilities and the loss of trade from the war caused a loss of fertiliser availability. This will cause a reduction in crop yields in the northern hemisphere when crops planted without them are harvested. This will cause an increase in global food insecurity and famine. The USraeli war removed 30% of the world’s fertilisers. Its global impact on nutrition is inevitable.

The effects of the US and Israeli war on finance and politics are presented in Diesen’s discussions with three world-renowned professors of economics, Wolff, Hudson and Sachs.

Conclusions

The US and Israel ran a war and military and political leadership assassination campaign against Iran in June, 2025. They lost that war.

The US attacked the Iranian currency (the Rial) in late 2025. The US and Israel’s covert operations agencies (CIA + Mossad) then ran a combined “color revolution” against Iran. It failed to collapse the Iranian government.

The US and Israel then started another war and ran another assassination campaign against Iran’s political and military leadership.

The results are that US military bases in the region are in ruins, and Israel cannot defend itself. It has no defence missiles.

The IRGC is still armed and operational. The US Navy is milling around 400 nautical miles beyond the coast of Iran to keep itself safe. The government of Iran has the support of its people. The IRGC and Iranian government have the support of Russia and China, which lead global finance, trade and military production.

The US has nothing. It abandoned diplomacy for military might and economic violence. The US military will refuse to commit suicide, individually and as an institution. The US government is $40 trillion in debt.

The trilateral strategic partnership of Russia, China and Iran have exposed the US as a ponzi scheme with its pants down, a protection racket with no muscle and a partner in genocide.

Update 2026-04-29

Iran’s refusal to discuss its civilian nuclear program with the US has been delivered as a sequence of gateway demands on the US and Israel by Iran. Bernhard from Moon of Alabama summarised them as:

1. A peace agreement with some guarantee that the U.S. and Israel will refrain from any further attack on Iran. (Following that:)

2. An agreement to lift the Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. blockade of Iranian sea transport. Iran will insist of staying in control of the Strait and on collecting contributions for its reconstruction from each ship that passes through. (Following that:)

3. Talks about the nuclear issues.

[MoA]

To summarize the summary: 1. Peace. 2. Strait of Hormuz 3. Enrichment

See this clearly. Iran is demanding that the US produce a public declaration that it will stop attacking Iran before Iran will discuss anything else.

Bernhard also concluded that the US regime is caught between a rock (there is no military solution) and a hard place (Israel demands more war on Iran).

The only valid path for the U.S. is to retreat. ...

But the Israel lobby, ..., will not allow that to happen. It will push for another round of bombing even as Iranian retaliation is likely to cause severe damage to Israel and the Gulf states. In the lobby’s view Israel must achieve hegemony in the Middle East or will be destined to vanish.

[ibid]

If Iran detects an incoming attack, it will retaliate. It will out “escalate” whatever attacks are made on it, as it has done after every single attack during this war. Its retaliation will be against assets of aggressor states. Those will include Israel, the Emirates and the US.

If the US wants these attacks, it should attack Iran. Or, it can address Iran’s gateway #1, a guarantee of no further attacks.

Your move, Empire.

Update Sources

War On Iran: - No Way Out For Trump On Iran; b.; Moon of Alabama; 2026-04-28

Mr. Araghchi goes to Russia; Pepe Escobar; The Unz Review; 2026-04-29

The Kyle Anzalone Show [Guest] Prof. Glenn Diesen: Trump’s Legacy: The Catastrophic Destruction of the American Empire; Kyle Anzalone; Antiwar, Blog; 2026-04-26

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Sources

Iran, Oman Focus on Ensuring Safe Transit in Hormuz Strait: Araqchi; N/A; Tasnim News Agency; 2026-04-27

Putin Receives Ayatollah Khamenei’s Message; N/A; Tasnim News Agency; 2026-04-27

Araqchi Informs Pakistan of Iran’s Stances on Ceasefire; N/A; Tasnim News Agency; 2026-04-25

Iranian FM Back in Pakistan after Visit to Oman; N/A; Tasnim News Agency; 2026-04-26

Baghaei condemns US tanker seizures as ‘state-backed piracy’; Al Mayadeen English; Al Mayadeen English; 2026-04-27

‘These Are Murders’: Trump Killing Spree Hits At Least 185; Jon Queally from Common Dreams; (republished by) Scheerpost; 2026-04-27

US Boat Strike Kills Three in the Eastern Pacific Ocean; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-04-27

US Air Defense THAAD and Patriot PAC3 Missiles are Kaput or Soon Will Be; Larry Johnson; Son of the New American Revolution; 2026-03-16

Rubio Says Iran Cannot ‘Normalize’ Its Control of the Strait of Hormuz; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-04-27

Iran offers US deal to reopen Hormuz strait, postpone nuclear talks; Barak Ravid/Axios/Israel; Archive.today; 2026-04-27

Opening the F*cking Strait; YesXorNo; 2026-04-06

Quds Day; YesXorNo; 2026-03-14

Videos

📽️ Trump Blinked on Iran But Hormuz Is Still Closed; Almassian interviews Marandi; Syriana Analysis; 2026-04-23

Alastair Crooke: Iran War Is Now a Global War for World Order; Glenn Diesen; Glenn’s Substack; 2026-04-27

US War Losses Caused by US Ignorance; Judge Napolitano interviews Alastair Crooke; Judging Freedom; 2026-04-27

Iran and Russia Even Closer Together; Judge Napolitano interviews Ray McGovern; Judging Freedom; 2026-04-27

EXCLUSIVE: Yemen’s Foreign Minister Speaks With Reason2Resist; Reason2Resist with Dimitri Lascaris; Reason2Resist with Dimitri Lascaris; 2026-04-26

• Points to Lascaris for arranging, performing, editing and publishing this interview with the Yemeni FM. In it, the FM is very clear about Yemen’s preparedness to enter the war on the side of Iran, should it be required to do so.

Trump’s Final Card Just ENDED Israel – Full Breakdown; Alkhorshid interviews Col. Jacques Baud; Dialogue Works; 2026-04-27

• Iran will not play diplomatic games with the US. It means what it says and is waiting for the US to comply with its conditions.

John Helmer: The Middle East Will Never Be the Same: Iran’s UNTHINKABLE Play, U.S. & Israel Respond; Alkhorshid; Dialogue Works; 2026-04-28

US Economy is Based on a Ponzi Scheme (transcript); Michael Hudson; The Unz Review (republished from Ben Norton’s Geopolitical Economy); 2026-04-29

• The original title is “Is another financial crisis brewing in the US economy? Economist Michael Hudson explains the dangers”

• ‘Hudson warned that the US economy is built on a Ponzi scheme that depends on continuing to pour money into a bloated, bubbly financial system based on unsustainable speculation, not industrial production.’

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[Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament]

Published: 2026-04-25

Updated 2026-04-26: Appended a section on the firing of US Secretary of the Navy Phelan from a Philip Giraldi source. Added the latest interview with Sleboda on Dialogue Works with commentary. Sleboda’s insight remains keen.

Self-Defeat in the War on Iran

Last week

Iranian Parliament Speaker Claims Strategic Victory Over US as Ceasefire Holds; Kyiv Post; Archive.today; 2026-04-18

When the enemy cannot achieve its goals, it means it has suffered a defeat

[Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf]

Ghalibaf acknowledged that ‘the US and its allies maintain financial and military superiority, [but] he insisted that Washington had failed in a “political and strategic sense.”’

[Kyiv Post]

Today

Iran’s situation has considerably strengthened since Ghalibaf made the above statement a week ago. Diplomatic analysis by former US ambassador to the Saudi Kingdom, Chas Freeman, and military analysis by independent former military personnel provide the basis from which to understand the state of geopolitical play. (See various videos in Sources).

There is no military method by which the US can force Iran to relinquish control of the Strait of Hormuz. This conclusion is now universal outside of the echo chamber of propaganda in US media.

Freeman noted events which demonstrate the conclusion. South Korea has re-established its embassy in Tehran. Its initial purpose is to secure an energy supply, to protect its economy. Japan is in identical discussions with Iran for an identical purpose. These east Asian US allies are not alone in their discussions with Iran.

Freeman reported that US exports of half a million barrels of oil per day do not compensate for the 13 million barrels per day its war with Iran removed from the global market. States dependent on external energy sources have no choice about their course of action. They either negotiate with Iran to secure their energy supply or their economies implode.

Some damage is unavoidable due to already damaged or destroyed energy processing facilities in the Persian Gulf. Responsible states are engaging in discussion early to mitigate greater impending damage.

This is the end game of the US war: “Its the economy, stupid.”

A corollary noted by Freeman is that the Gulf monarchies are highly likely to shift their approach to security from military to diplomatic and make peace with Iran. They too have little choice. This will politically complete the US removal from the region, following Iran’s destruction of its military bases in the first days of the foolish imperial war.

Each of these quiet negotiations with Iran further internationally validate Iran’s toll. It is not only here to stay, other nations are considering monetizing maritime chokepoints off their coastlines. The Strait of Malacca has been mooted as another tollway. Panama has raised its canal toll too.

One can expect the US to go through its own political blame game in the not too distant future.

Before that political circus begins, the US is likely to waste more money and potentially lives fighting its lost war under the presidency of its mentally unstable liar, Trump. On 2026-04-24, China and India have urged their citizens to leave Iran. The US continued to move military assets to the Arabian Sea during the last week. The US navy currently has three aircraft carrier strike groups and numerous other vessels in the region, none of which dare not approach closer than 300 Kms from the Iranian coast, that being the range of Iran’s anti-ship missiles.

90% of Iranian trade vessels are slipping through the porous US “blockade”. They head east keeping close to Iran’s coast until they reach Pakistan, where they can unload or continue on to India. The “blockade” is nothing more than another “sanction” on Iran, a cost of doing business to which the Islamic Republic has become accustomed these last 47 years. All of these costs are well compensated by the increase in trade suddenly available to Iran and the high price of oil.

How will the US look when it is pirating oil vessels bound for its allies to maintain an illegal war which is crashing the world economy and creating famines?

US President Trump will, in the end, have engineered his promise of “no more wars”. The US will be unable to fund them because nobody will buy its debt. See Hudson below for more on the economic background to and consequences of this foolish US war. Alternatively, read McCoy for a history of military adventurism so common to failing empires, also referenced below.

Veterans Groups Protest US War on Iran; Gerry Condon; Antiwar, Blog; blog-2026-04

A coalition of former military personnel, now antiwar activists, risked arrest protesting at the heart of the empire in the Capitol’s rotunda. Bravo!

The Murder Of The Iris Dena — First Public Testimony By The Surviving Captain And First Officer; John Helmer; Dances with Bears; 2026-04-21

John Helmer has been researching the details of the sinking of the Iranian frigate the IRIS Dena by the submarine USS Charlotte on March 4th, 2026.

Invited by India to participate in a regional naval exercise, the Dena attended and complied with the restrictions of being unarmed with missiles and torpedoes. The USS Charlotte attacked the unarmed IRIS Dena with torpedoes, twice. Between the first and second attack the Iranian captain stated that he had assembled the crew on the aft deck (helipad) in preparation to abandon ship.

In contravention of the laws of war, with the Dena’s effective declaration of surrender of all hands, the Charlotte fired its cowardly, second torpedo.

Postponing the World’s Financial Winter - For How Long?; Michael Hudson; The Unz Review; 2026-04-17

Economist Michael Hudson provided the historical context for and the actuality of the financial disaster which the US empire is imposing upon the global economy. The article is an update on his earlier work describing the transition out of the petro-dollar system which the war on Iran is inducing.

Military Disasters & the End of Empire; Prof. Alfred McCoy; Consortium News; 2026-04-23

McCoy takes the reader on a journey through the “micro-militarism” which is common to empires as they collapse. He begins in Syracruse (modern day Sicily) for Athens’ moment of truth. Other, later European imperial military excursions to their demise are related. McCoy ends in the present.

McCoy’s article is a very pleasant read.

Iran survives terrorist war and emerges a major power broker; Tim Anderson; Al Mayadeen English; 2026-04-20

[also] Iran Survives Terrorist War And Emerges A Major Power Broker; Tim Anderson; Scheerpost; 2026-04-23

Professor Tim Anderson will be known to long time readers for his role in exposing lies published in “leading” Western media about the Dirty War in Syria. For exposing these lies he was vilified and professionally punished.

He, along with 3 other non-Iranian fluent English speakers, including Candian lawyer and reporter Dimitry Lascaris, were provided a recent tour of Iran with host government assistance. Anderson’s report provides details of his experience of Iran during the war, and details from independent organisations like the Red Cresent.

Suffering in Iran has been confined to small numbers, though is not insignificant for this. In contrast, the people have unsurprisingly unified behind their state and its government to resist the brutality of the illegal war imposed on them by the US and its local proxy Israel.

Anderson’s report has been published at both Al Mayadeen English, with its photographs, and Scheerpost (without them). Read it for an authentic report on conditions in parts of Iran.

UK in Retrial Seeks to Jail Palestine Action for ‘Terrorism’; The Grayzone Staff; Consortium News; 2026-04-22

Massive Attack frontman among 500 arrested at Palestine Action protest; Al Mayadeen English; Al Mayadeen English; 2026-04-13

Six British activists [the Filton 6], who broke into an Elbit (Israeli) weapons manufacturing factory in Britain to damage it, are being retried.

The first trial failed to achieve the convictions which would have justified Britain’s branding of Palestine Action as a “terrorist” organisation, under the 2000 Act of the same name. Accordingly, the UK has begun a process very similar to that it used to torture Julian Assange through permanent legal entanglement.

In the case of the Filton 6, on behalf of the state of Israel and its weapons manufacturer, the UK is purposefully undermining its jury system, denying the jurors information about the trial and identically gagging the UK press too. We see clearly what Israel’s political operatives (”the lobby”) demand of the political systems they infest — law is bent to the benefit of the state of Israel.

It took a member of the UK parliament using parliamentary privilege to inform the public, and thereby The Grayzone, of the legal subterfuge being used to string up the antiwar activists to Israel’s liking.

[A montage of the EU page at which signatures are collected for the suspension.]

EU split over ‘Israel’ association pact as Spain pushes suspension; Al Mayadeen English; Al Mayadeen English; 2026-04-22

The EU still has no guts when it comes to Israel; Eldar Mamedov; Responsible Statecraft; 2026-04-23

In a sign of mounting pressure on European leaders over Israel’s violence in occupied Palestinian territories and beyond, more than a million EU citizens have called for suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement via a European Citizens’ Initiative

[Responsible Statescraft]

The EU continues to widen the chasm between itself as a bureacracy and the people of Europe. The EU is denying civilian pressure on it to distance itself from the genocidal government of Israel.

On a related topic, Israel’s inclusion in the EuroVision song contest has sparked protests from The Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and Iceland. They have chosen to not enter or refused to broadcast the world’s largest live music event.

Israeli Government Honors Israeli Rabbi Who Boasted of Destroying Civilian Homes in Gaza; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-04-22

This is one of the many reasons why Europeans and many other citizens globally want their governments to protest the egregious behavior of the apartheid state of Israel. The government of Israel honors people for destroying homes to ingratiate itself to its population. 80% of them support the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Israel’s Yellow Line Claims Valuable Off-Shore Lebanese Gas Field; Jason Ditz; Antiwar; 2026-04-21

Israel’s attempted annexation of southern Lebanon has employed the same methods of eviction and destruction of houses and infrastructure it used in Gaza. One of the additional reasons for the Israeli lust for the territory, beyond the fertile soil and secure water supply, has emerged.

Israel wants to steal the Qana offshore gas field from the people of Lebanon too.

The East Zaporizhzhia Front Has Collapsed💥 China Evacuates Citizens from Iran🚨✈️ MS For 2026.04.24; Dima; Military Summary; 2026-04-24

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (AFRF) have broken through the eastern flank of the Ukrainian forces defending in Zaporizhzhia. The AFRF are also pressuring across numerous other fronts, from Sumy and Kharkov in the north to Donetsk in the east. The AFRF recently completed the recapture of Lughansk.

Connectivity Wars - The U.S. War on Multipolarity; Glenn Diesen interviews Pepe Escobar; Glenn Diesen; 2026-04-23

Prof. Diesen and Escobar discuss the ongoing economic integration of Asia via China’s Belt and Road Initiative and other measures from the Russia-China partnership.

Escobar emphasized Iran’s importance as the key node in both the east-west and north-south trade corridors in various stages of completion.

Update 2026-04-26

Donald Trump Goes to War; Philip Giraldi; The Unz Review; 2026-04-25

The firing of US Secretary of the Navy, political donor and art collector Phelan, by Secretary of War Hegseth is an ideosyncratic Trumpian storm. It has nothing to do with the Zionist (US & Israeli) war on Iran. Phelan was too slow in achieving progress on implementing a class of battleship to be named after the narcissist in the White House, writes Giraldi.

The fact that this class of naval vessel disappeared almost a century ago for good naval reasons (they’re called submarines) is not understood by Trump. The modern nemesis for large naval vessels, aircraft carriers included, are not only submarines, but swarms of UAVs or flights of hypersonic missiles. Thus, only those interested in political sycophancy and profiting from the construction are interested in “Big, Beautiful” (probably Golden), Trumpian Battleships.

No naval officer would go near one. They are floating coffins. Battleships are a boondoggle to big even for the US navy.

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Sources

In addition to those provided in situ above.

Slovenia axes Eurovision contest, opts for Palestinian film series; Al Mayadeen English; Al Mayadeen English; 2026-04-24

Police State: Saint Paul, Tehran or Tel Aviv?; YesXorNo; 2026-02-07

• Earlier coverage of the Filton 6.

Videos

Trump Compares Iran War to Vietnam as Germany Rearms | Tarik Cyril Amar; Almassian interviews Amar; Syriana analysis; 2026-04-24

Israel’s Agenda Is Collapsing Faster Than Anyone Expected; Alkhorshid interviews Chas Freeman; Dialogue Works; 2026-04-24

Jeffrey Sachs: Trump’s Defeat in Iran & Decline of the U.S. Empire; Glenn Diesen; Glenn’s Substack; 2026-04-24

Strait of Hormuz Control /Alastair Crooke & Lt Col Daniel Davis; Daniel Davis / Deep Dive; Daniel Davis / Deep Dive; 2026-04-24

Iran’s Unthinkable Move, US & Israel Respond - The Middle East’s New Reality; Alkhorshid interviews John Helmer; Dialogue Works; 2026-04-21

Hezbollah’s Real Position on Iran-US Deal – The One Detail They Won’t Report; Alkhorshid interviews Laith Marouf; Dialogue Works; 2026-04-22

Max Blumenthal: Israel’s Defeat Begins: Zionist Power Structure FALLING APART in the US; Alkhorshid; Dialogue Works; 2026-04-21

Strategic Defeat: Iran & Russia Destroying Western Hegemony; Prof. Lottaz interviews Col. Jacques Baud; Neutrality Studies; 2026-04-21

Weekly Wrap 24-April; Judge Napolitano interviews INTEL Roundtable w/ Johnson & McGovern; Judging Freedom; 2026-04-24

US Navy Just Fled From Iran – Trump’s Blockade Backfires in Humiliating Defeat; Alkhorshid interviews Mark Sleboda; Dialogue Works; 2026-04-25

• Sleboda provided many cogent analyses in the interview.

• A clear example is that the USraeli war on Iran is no proxy conflict. Iran has withstood, and is winning, a series of direct wars and “regime change” efforts by the US empire (and is regional extension Israel). These attacks have included a currency devaluation, a covert orchestrated color revolution, and two wars including leadership assassination campaigns. This is the best the empire could do to bring down the government of Iran.

• Iran is no only still standing and winning, it has emerged as a regional power.

• This is the definition of end of empire. One cannot hide from it. The US is, of course, issuing pure propaganda, lying to its people. This is conformant with imperial collapse.

• The emporer has no clothes.

LEGO News Recap: Everything That Happened This Week | Explosive Media 🔥; Explosive Iran 🇮🇷; 2026-04-24

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Published: 2026-04-20

Updated 2026:-04-22: Added “Lebanon’s Defiance” by Chris Hedges. “Destruction is not victory” he writes. The people of southern Lebanon have returned to destroyed villages, many jubilant, refusing to be eradicated by Israel.

Updated 2026-04-23: Added Alkorshid’s interview of Paul Craig Roberts wherein Roberts suggests that Iran should define the crux of the conflict as Israel’s expansionist doctrine known as “Greater Israel”.

IFLA

Bibi wanted Gaza cleared for beachfront property. What he got was a kill switch on the global economy wired directly to his own war cabinet, with a junior partner in Tehran whose patience for Israeli bullshit is measurably zero.

[I Fucking Love Australia (IFLA)]

IFLA is a newsletter on global politics. Its author expresses analysis independent of the hasbara and imperial psyops issued by corporate media on behalf of spy agencies. In addition to intelligent independent thought, the author has a gift for simile and metaphor:

[Iran] has a geographic accident of God-tier strategic value [the Strait of Hormuz] and it now has the proven willingness to use it.

[Iran’s use of it] leaves Trump, the spray-tanned bankruptcy warning, looking for an off-ramp that doesn’t exist.

[ibid]

IFLA noted that Iran had threatened to close the Strait “in 2011, in 2012, in 2018, in 2019, during the first Trump term, [and] during the Twelve-Day War in 2025”. In response to a war of aggression against it, Iran converted the threat into a devastating reality.

We and Iran now understand just how powerful a lever the strait’s closure is.

If Hormuz closes, Australian diesel, Australian jet fuel, Australian petrol, all of it is up for grabs globally at whatever price the panic sets. Truckies stop. Farms stop. Supermarket shelves clear in 48 hours. This isn’t hypothetical.

[ibid]

That lever is now, concluded IFLA, directly connected to Israel’s brutality and war crimes. Iran, with Ansar Allah in Yemen, the Resistance in Iraq and Hizbollah in Lebanon, has linked Israel’s genocidal behaviour and brutal, US supported expansion to the closure of the strait:

it leaves the Palestinians, finally, with something resembling actual leverage in their corner. Not a UN resolution. Not another strongly-worded letter from the EU. Not a Turkish presidential statement that gets forgotten by Thursday. An actual, physical, thirteen-million-barrel-a-day fuck-around-and-find-out lever that Iran has proven it will pull.

[ibid]

Lebanon, Hizbollah and the Shia

Israel has been razing southern Lebanon while the US has been bombing Iran.

The Zionist Occupation Forces have been heavily damaged by Hizbollah, defending the people and land of Lebanon. Hizbollah seems to have run an effective disinformation campaign of their own withering for willing Israeli ears. The duped Zionists sent their conscripted reservists into a Hizbollah prepared defense far stronger than they’d led themselves to expect. Israel lost 20% of its tanks in six weeks.

After the recent ceasefire, the dominantly Shia people of southern Lebanon have returned to their destroyed homes in jubilant defiance. The source of the ceasefire, unacknowledged in Western media, is the basis of their jubilance. It was demanded by Iran. “This is not a minor development. It is a strategic rupture” wrote Ramzy Baroud.

Israel has revealed one of the motivations for its murderous attempted annexation of southern Lebanon. The offshore Qana gas field is valued at $40 billion.

German Analogies

On last Friday’s episode of Kevork Almassian’s “Cold War 2.0” with Tarik Cyril Amar, the German historian Amar claimed the German right to compare a state regime with the Nazis. Amar’s comparison included citing an editorial writer using the German word “Lebensraum” and a belief in its ethnosupremacy pervading society. He was comparing the Netanyahu government of Israel, with its genocide advocating coalition leaders, Smotrich and Ben Gvir, to the WWII German government.

Amar recast the Israeli practice of demanding people in Lebanon or Palestine leave their homes (evacuation orders) into a European context.

Israel is an amazing state.

Can you imagine the Dutch send an evacuation order to the Germans and say “Please leave Cologne, now. We’re going to bomb it tomorrow. If you don’t leave Cologne now, its your fault if we kill you.”

That is Israel. That’s Israel. That’s Israel.

...

Or maybe the French?

Maybe the French should approach the Germans and say, “You know what? We do like the Rhineland. Please evacuate the Rhineland. We are giving you an evacuation order.

We are being very humane with you. You can leave tonight. But, if you don’t leave tonight, we’re going to kill you all.

[offset 00:17:24, Cold War 2.0]

We see this Israeli behaviour in the “spray-tanned bankruptcy warning” masquerading as a US President:

‘If Iran does not sign this deal, the whole country is getting blown up.’

[Antiwar citing the US President]

Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed that another state has agreed to something and then used their lack of complying with the falsehood to justify violence. This, outlined Amar, is a signature Israeli tactic.

While claiming to be seeking a “deal” the US issued sanctions against Iran and China and diplomatically insulted China to prevent any agreement.

Defiance

Iran has demonstrated that it is unmoved by Trump’s bombastic threats based on lies. It has declared Trump and the US military irrelevant. As IFLA wrote, Iran has bound the Strait of Hormuz to the behaviour of Israel.

This is Israel’s war. It always was.

It leaves Netanyahu staring at the fact that every single Palestinian baby he kills from now on is directly coupled to the price of petrol in Sydney, in Berlin, in Tokyo, in Los Angeles. The genocide just got plumbed into the global economy. Every bomb is now an oil shock risk. Every airstrike on Gaza is now a bet against the S&P 500.

[ibid, IFLA]

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for free (or “follow”), or support this work via Buy Me A Coffee or Patreon.

Sources

Israel Has Just Fucked Themselves Bigly; IFLOZ; I Fucking Love Australia; 2026-04-18

Collapsing Empire: Hezbollah Crushes ‘Greater Israel’; Kit Klarenberg; Kit’s Newsletter; 2026-04-16

Lebanon’s Defiance; Chris Hedges; Consortium News; 2026-04-21

• see also: Is Hezbollah Beating Israel in Lebanon? (w/ Laith Marouf); Chris Hedges; The Chris Hedges Report; 2026-04-18

The Collapse is Real; Ramzy Baroud; Savage Minds; 2026-04-17

• “Lebanon Ceasefire Marks a Historic Strategic Defeat” [for Israel]

Trump Threatens To ‘Blow Up’ the ‘Whole Country’ of Iran if Deal Not Reached; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-04-19

Israel Establishes Gaza-Style ‘Yellow Line’ in Lebanon as Occupation, Destruction Continues Despite ‘Ceasefire’; Jason Ditz; Antiwar; 2026-04-19

Israel’s Yellow Line Claims Valuable Off-Shore Lebanese Gas Field; Jason Ditz; Antiwar; 2026-04-21

Economic Fury Targets Illicit Oil Smuggling Network Run by Iranian Regime Elite; None; Archive.today; 2026-04-17

Donald Trump and Scott Bessent Destroy Any Chance to Negotiate an End to the War with Iran; Larry C. Johnson; SONAR 21; 2026-04-16

ibid, Wikipedia

Videos

Collapsing Empire: Iran & Lebanon Crushed “Greater Israel”?; Kevor Almassian interviews Tarik Cyril Amar; Syrianaanalysis; 2026-04-17

Paul Craig Roberts: Iran vs USA: US Forces FORCED to Retreat as Iranian Retaliation Turns the Tables; Alkhorshid; Dialogue Works; 2026-04-20

An Arch Zionist Career Collapses; Judge Napolitano interviews Max Blumenthal; Judging Freedom; 2026-04-16

Indian Ships FORCED to Turn Back Near Hormuz – Iran’s Chilling Message to Trump; Alkhorshid interviews Patrick Henningsen; Dialogue Works; 2026-04-18

Back on the Warpath in Iran /Prof Marandi & Lt Col Daniel Davis; Daniel Davis / Deep Dive; Daniel Davis / Deep Dive; 2026-04-19

INTEL Roundtable w/ Johnson / McGovern & Scott Ritter - Weekly Wrap 17-April; Judge Napolitano; Judging Freedom; 2026-04-17

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Published: 2026-04-17

In “The Petrogas-Dollar: The Secret US Strategy Behind the Iran War” (see Sources) Richard Medhurst presents a convincing case, based on documented recent history, that the war of aggression on Iran by the US and Israel is a core part of the US imperial project. The purpose of the illegal war is to extend US control over world energy resources, markets and production.

The reserve status of the US dollar, or the “LNG dollar” as Medhurst recasts it, will be preserved by demand because of the expanded US control over global energy production.

Background

It helps to already understand the US Military Industrial Complex as the overt operations arm of the empire. It is used if the financial and covert arms of the empire, as out lined by John Perkins in “Confessions of an Economic Hitman” (see Sources), have not already succeeded subverting the non-compliant government.

To this, add the revolution of “fracked” gas. The fracking method realised gigantic quantities of natural gas trapped under US territory. The extraction method converted the US from an energy consumer to a producer. It freed the empire from constraints in its approach to the global energy market.

The Pirate State

In 2026 the US has been systematically attacking energy worldwide. It abducted the President of Venezuela to secure political control over the world’s largest oil reserves. It has attacked energy trade in international waters by stealing tankers and the oil in them. It has attacked Russia’s energy production. It has started a war which is destroying energy production facilities in the Persian Gulf.

At the beginning of Russia’s Special Military Operation the US destroyed the NordStream natural gas pipelines. The US used the war it provoked in Ukraine to capture the European energy market.

In the Iran war, the key attack was on Iran’s side of the huge Pars gas field which lies under the Persian Gulf. Extracting from it on one side is Iran, on the other Qatar.

Iran had stated that it would retaliate to attacks, in kind, against neighbouring states which were facilitating the war. In response to the US+Israel attack on the Iranian side of the Pars field, Iran attacked the facilities in Qatar. The Iranian retaliation removed Qatar’s gas production, 20% of the world’s LNG supply. The US+Israel attack engineered the removal of both extraction facilities, first Iran’s and then Qatar’s as a consequence.

The US mission for the war against Iran, argues Medhurst persuasively, is the destruction of the energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf. The US is destroying competition to bind the world to its energy suppliers and currency.

Scope

Viewing the current behaviour of the US as an attack on China’s energy supply is a valid, and short sighted analysis. The correct term, as Brian Berletic quotes from US think tank produced foreign policy documents, is primacy.

There shall be no competitor to the US empire; neither China, nor anyone else.

Israel

The Zionist/Israel position has been elevated by the discovery of large gas fields off the Levantine coasts of Palestine, Lebanon and Syria (and Cyprus). The Greater Israel project is a genocidal nation building project for the Zionists. For the empire, Israel is a proxy to access and control those new gas fields. Israel has always been a colonial project. It remains so, no matter how vile.

As the Gulf Monarchies are destroyed in the war against Iran, one expects them to be replaced with compliant governments subservient to Israel. The Abraham accords will be reborn and/or renamed. Israel will rule the region as an imperial province. We will all be “Amalek” as a consequence, held guilty of thoughtcrime for words written on a t-shift.

Genocides do not matter to the empire. They are just a quaint label from international law, which the majority of the world’s governments have demonstrated as unimportant. More than a quarter of a million Palestinians are buried under the rubble and soil of Gaza, slaughtered by Israel. Nobody named in the Epstein files has been charged with raping children. They never will be.

What of genocides, wars of aggression, and ecocide?

Primacy.

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for free (or “follow”), or support this work via Buy Me A Coffee or Patreon.

Sources

The Petrogas-Dollar: The Secret US Strategy Behind the Iran War; Richard Medhurst; Richard Medhurst; 2026-04-11

WATCH: CN Live! - ‘The Pirate State’; CN interviews Medhurst; Consortium News; 2026-04-16

Police quietly drop all charges against Aussie arrested over ‘fuck Israel’ T-shirt; None; The Noticer; 2025-12-28

Confessions of an Economic Hitman - John Perkins | Short Documentary, Javed Khan, youtube channel, 2013-11-16

Indian Ships FORCED to Turn Back Near Hormuz – Iran’s Chilling Message to Trump; Alkhorshid interviews Patrick Henningsen; Dialogue Works; 2026-04-18

• Henningsen summarizes Medhurst’s analysis after about 15 minutes into the interview.

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[A montage of a sourced Al Mayadeen article.]

Published: 2026-04-13

Preface

“The Americans sought to stage a spectacle yesterday and, through deception, attempted to carry out movements in the Strait of Hormuz,” noting that “they have once again failed and were unable to influence the negotiating table.”

[Head of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, Ebrahim Azizi, via Al Mayadeen]

Azizi suggested understanding two events to reward ourselves. Lets take them in reverse order, staring with the negotiations before heading onto the water.

We then take a summary of military events and look at the changing world order with input from Profs Mearsheimer and Diesen.

Islamabad 2026

Talks in Islamabad from Saturday April 11th, 2026, between representatives for the aggressors, US Vice President Vance and dual US-Israeli agents Kushner and Witkoff, and a 71 member delegation from Iran, lasted 21 hours and ended without an agreement .

From the proceedings, including the exchange of documents by technical staff, Iran noted some positives:

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said that the two sides reached a consensus on some issues, but held different views regarding 2-3 important matters.

[M.K.B]

Iran’s political leadership emphasized that it remains open to discussion, this being the only mature international policy.

The lack of any agreement was expected due to perennial US intransigence. US Vice-President Vance demonstrated his delegation’s problematic mindset when he described his interlocutors and the US approach in a single sentence:

“They have chosen not to accept our terms.”

[Vance via Moon of Alabama, via NYT]

Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Zarif helpfully observed:

“The US must learn: you can’t dictate terms to Iran.”

[Zarif vi Al Mayadeen]

On the Strait

Two Arleigh Burke-class US Destroyers, the USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) and the USS Frank E. Peterson (DDG 121, see lead graphic), “attempted to pass through the strategic waterway on Saturday” during the diplomatic meeting in Islamabad. This insane, failed, US, naval passage was the spectacle to which Azizi directed our attention.

The Iranian navy contacted the US naval vessels on standard international maritime radio channels. The Iranian navy, which US President Trump claims to have destroyed, issued the US destroyers a 30 minute period in which to about face and return from whence they’d come.

The US navy complied.

An Emperor’s Narratives

[A montage of an archived copy of the NYT article, dissected below.]

On Friday 10th April, the day before the Islamabad negotiations, Julian E. Barnes of NYT’s “National Security” desk, issued one of the most hilariously, illogical narrative frames in memory.

Iran has been unable to open the Strait of Hormuz to more shipping traffic because it cannot locate all of the mines it laid in the waterway and lacks the capability to remove them, according to U.S. officials.

The development is one reason Iran has not been able to quickly comply with the Trump administration’s admonitions to let more traffic pass through the strait. It is also potentially a complicating factor as Iranian negotiators and a U.S. delegation led by Vice President JD Vance meet in Pakistan this weekend for peace talks.

[NYT via Moon of Alabama]

Sentence one is not only false, but also inverts reality.

If one lays mines in one’s own territory one keeps a record of their location so one does not blow up one’s own feet or ships on them. Barnes is asserting the nonsense that Iran cannot keep records. As for the inversion, Lawrence Wilkerson has confirmed that the US delegated naval mine clearance to its partners decades ago. It is the US which “lack[s] the capacity to remove them”. Barnes is paid to issue narratives, not to report information.

Sentence two is predictive programming. It foreshadowed the predictable failure of US negotiators. It used the most passive of language, “admonitions to let traffic pass”, to mask the expected autocratic behaviour of US representatives. It prepared the US populace to accept another diplomatic failure by the Trump regime.

In response to Iran not accepting US diktats and sending the two US destroyers packing Emperor Trump declared a naval blockade! Wonderfully, that blockade is of the same strait the naked emperor previously demanded be open, and which Barnes just informed us is full of lost, mythical Iranian mines. [There’s a movie in here, somewhere.]

Strategy Trump: Blockading One’s Allies

As Brian Berletic has been informing us, the commercial, policy planning/proposal community of the US, known as “think tanks”, have been advocating the option of a naval blockade against China’s oil supply for years. It has finally materialised as an emergency outburst from the orange baboon living in the White House.

Evidence has been mounting that the US military is not following prepared plans in its war with Israel on Iran. Washington reacts to events initiated in Tehran or Tel Aviv. The Iranians and Israelis are “inside the US military’s OODA loop”, to borrow a phrase from Scott Ritter.

Military Failure

Larry Johnson and Scott Ritter agreed that the most plausible explanation for the scale of the “airman rescue” escapade reported in US media was a failed US special forces operation. The operation was being prepared when the plane with the US colonel was downed. The hardware provisioned for the special ops mission was repurposed for the recovery. This explained the type and excess of military hardware. The media issued lie recast the debacle as an heroic rescue.

During the same live-streamed discussion hosted by Danny Haiphong (see sources), Ritter declared emphatically that the US military is spent. Its remaining capacity (excluding nuclear weapons) is to drop bombs on Iranian suburbs and businesses. At 7,000 sites destroyed, its contractor provided, AI filtered and ordered list of premises to destroy has hit that suburban home and private business rock bottom.

The US cannot invade to wrest control of Iran’s territorial waters without having its ships sunk. It does not even have the volume of troop transport ships required. There is no US military solution to Iranian control of its territorial waters.

Israel and Iran

Prof. Postol shared his analysis of the aerospace war on Nima Alkorshid’s Dialogue Works.

For Israel, Postol noted a grave error. It wasted massive quantities of its “Arrow and Sling” missiles on Iranian ballistic missiles on which they are inconsequential. The Israeli error was not preserving those missile to defend against Iran’s very dangerous, slower flying drones against which the missiles would have been effective.

Postol’s analysis of Iran’s strategy and munitions was glowing. Iran’s destruction of the US ground-based radar locations within the first two days was a tactical success which yielded a strategic advantage. The US radars were arranged hierarchically, with the largest feeding direction and warning to the smaller. The initial destruction of the largest radar accelerated the completion of the destruction of the entire US defence architecture. The US defence setup collapsed like a house of cards once the major radars were removed.

Postol’s assesses that Iran’s most dangerous weapons are not its ballistic missiles, but its drones. He stresses that their danger comes from their precision. A simple analogy would be building demolition. One can destroy a building by placing a small amount of explosives in the “correct” locations. Throwing ten times that amount of explosives “onto” the building will damage it, but not bring it down. Precision accelerates the achievement of military objectives.

That precision is a combination of Iranian engineering and China’s Beidou satellite “GPS” system. Target selection is aided by satellite and other “ISR” data. It is not public knowledge what combination of Chinese and Russian ISR data is augmenting Iran’s own. That this type of assistance is being provided by some combination is certain.

These Chinese and Russian additions to Iran’s capabilities are analogous to the US augmentation of Ukraine’s in the other major war the US is maintaining.

Two Wars and Two Destroyers

Prof. Diesen related a suggestion and a correction he received from Prof. Mearsheimer. One should describe reality as it is, lest one base one’s understanding on falsehoods.

That correction came from Diesen describing the conflict between the US and Russia in Ukraine as a proxy war. The war is being directed by US military officers, noted Mearsheimer. It is a direct war.

Following Mearsheimer’s suggestion of clarity of language, when framing a question to Stanislav Krapivnik, Diesen declared that the US has lost both of its current, major, active wars, those against Russia in Ukraine and against Iran in the Gulf region.

As noted above, the US has no military solution to the problem it and Israel have created for themselves and the world in the Gulf. It is obvious to everyone that nobody can push Russia out of Novorossiya (the territory is has claimed during the war in Ukraine).

It was the US which initiated last weekend’s diplomatic discussions with Iran. Following the lack of agreement it is the US which is under international diplomatic pressure from its allies, including Australia and Britain, to reach an agreement to restore international energy trade.

An Iranian official told the media that the process of preparing new infrastructure for managing vessel traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has been completed by Iran and more than 100 vessels of various nationalities have so far submitted written requests to transit the strait under the new protocol.

[M.K.B]

While the US argues about whether Israel or the US is in charge of US foreign policy, Iran, with assistance from China and Russia, is consolidating a new currency and energy trade architecture.

That newly born architecture, as two US destroyers were turned around, confirmed the transition from US hegemony.

<>

Update 2026-04-14

[Ed: Sometimes one gets a two part story over two days. The Wall St. Journal has joined the New York Times in publishing its own uniquely hilarious piece of wishful thinking.

The correct term is copium. The title has been adjusted to celebrate this magnificent double gift. Enjoy.]

The Non-Story

The burning question is, when will the US establishment (deepstate) remove Trump? His malignant narcissism is seriously damaging the empire. He just started another war he’s going to lose, this time with the Pope. But, that is not our topic.

The international news is the US pivot from war to negotiations, then to an ephemeral naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, then to a naval blockade of the southern coastline of Iran. This new blockade will be temporary, too. As we shall see, it is unachievable. It does, however, clearly reveal an entitled attitude unbecoming in current circumstances.

The US has yet to dig itself out of the war it started with Iran. While in that state, Iran has all of the international leeway it needs to free itself of the economic and political strangulation which it has suffered from the US empire since it overthrew the US [and British] imposed Shah in 1979. Iran, Russia and China are all freeing themselves of their versions of the same imperial economic and political strangulation and are helping each other in the process.

Before we get to the new version of the blockade of the blockade, let’s remind ourselves where we are.

Iran, in response to the US and Israeli illegal war of aggression, destroyed at least 13 of 17 US bases in the Gulf. When was the last time that a nation’s military destroyed 13 US military bases in a month?

The answer is never.

And, that, is why it is not in the news. It also partially explains the copium.

Copium

The word “Copium” was born on the internet. Wiktionary provided the etymology and original meaning:

copium (uncountable) (Internet slang, originally 4chan slang) A metaphorical opiate taken in order to cope with a loss or disillusionment, often leading to one becoming detached from reality and in denial of their situation.

[Wiktionary]

The Wall St. Journal [WSJ] has gifted us a piece even better than the above ficititious Iranian sea mines from the NYT.

Question:

How can the WSJ, as a news organisation, maintain the fiction that Iran’s navy has been destroyed, as claimed by the insane Emporer, and acknowledge that two US Destroyers were just denied passage through the Strait of Hormuz by Iran?

Answer:

[Montage of the actual article from the Wall St Journal as captured and preserved by Archive.today.]

Thank you to Simplicius for bringing this hillarious wad of copium to our attention.

What was the US navy doing, again?

[CENTCOM ‘began setting conditions’ to do magical things.]

To summarize, we have another Iranian navy keeping the US navy out of the Strait of Hormuz, which is not strewn with fictitious mines, which the US navy is clearing by not sailing those waters, as a nearby US aircraft carrier is 1000 Km away beyond the range of thousands of Iranian drones and missiles.

Seriously. That is the mighty US narrative.

Protecting the Dollar

Firstly, I wish to re-acknowledge US Navy Admiral Holsey who retired from his posting heading SOUTHCOM. He recognised the immorality of the murder spree which was just beginning on the seas of SOUTHCOM’s area of responsibility, at the beginning of 2026, and wanted nothing of it.

Today’s new mission for the US navy in CENTCOM is to blockade the south coast of Iran. That amounts to the port of Chabahar.

Chabahar port is a part of the Asian trade network established by China, Russia and other partner states represented in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and EurAsian Ecomonic Union [EAEU]. Specifically, it is a part of the International North-South Trade Corridor (INSTC) which connects India, Iran and Russia via ports and rail. This network trades using its own currencies and non-US financial institutions established by China and Russia within the BRICS and SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) cooperations.

[A graphic comparing the routes from India to northwest Russia via the Suez or INSTC.]

The US navy has been tasked to sort imperial “approved” commercial shipping between those transiting the Strait of Hormuz or using Chabahar. While the US is at war with Iran the US navy is stuck out in the Indian Ocean, unable to sail the sea lanes it is meant to police for fear of being legally attacked by … thousands of Iranian drones and missiles.

The US navy’s role as the enforcement arm of a trade protection racket became crystal clear earlier this year. While claiming to police narcotics trafficking by murdering people in boats, the US seized oil tankers bound for China. This is the racket which admiral Holsey wanted none of, and one can presume, thought unbecoming for the US Navy.

SOUTHCOM’s campaign of maritime murder has not finished.

[Antiwar]

The new “blockade” of the INSTC via Chabahar is a copy of that illegal, civilian murder spree cum trade protection racket in a new location. Its purpose is, again, to limit trade outside of the US dollar and to limit non-imperial energy exports.

The mission will fail because it is impossible. The US navy is short of the sailors and ships. Maintenance alone will doom the mission. The empire is clutching at straws and narratives. Its current leadership of gangsters cannot see the cycle of damage into which they have trapped the empire.

Political Survival

The question of whether the US establishment will intervene to depose its insane political leader may be moot. There is growing discontent in the both the population, being attacked by Trump’s ICE army, and from within the ranks of the administration, being asked to perform immoral or illogical acts.

Simplicius’ article included a video of that “other” Iranian navy sending the two US destroyers packing from Iran’s territorial waters. Before getting to the video, it behooves us to understand what it depicts.

As mentioned in the above article, DDG 121 and DDG 112 attempted to traverse the strait while negotiations were in session in Islamabad. Alastair Crooke reported (see Sources) that what turned them around was that they knew they were locked on by Iranian cruise missiles. The brave sailors on the fast, little Iranian boat were there to fly the flag and say hello. The threat was ashore.

The video was shot by someone aboard one of the DDGs. It shows the other destroyer and the plucky little Iranian boat. The video is branded with Euronews, a CIA mouthpiece in Europe. Ergo, the CIA published the footage of both US destroyers being warned out of the Strait of Hormuz.

NATO has directly refused the US request for the EuroVassals to commit naval suicide in the Strait. The CIA has shown us the US navy being sent packing. Effecting a selective trade blockade in the Indian ocean is a fools errand too.

Meanwhile, the US bases in the Gulf are in smoking ruins and the US and Iran are not firing at each other.

Israel is receiving a shellacking from Hizbollah in Lebanon while trying to manipulate its government to disarm the one force which is defending the country.

To join the INSTC trade “blockade” the carrier USS George Bush is sailing around Africa to avoid Yemen’s Ansar Allah.

[More excellent reporting from Al Mayadeen.]

Things are looking pretty bleak for the empire and its Zionist wing.

Update Sources

Trump Declares US Blockade on Strait of Hormuz After No Deal Reached With Iran; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-04-12

NATO Rules Out Role in Strait of Hormuz Blockade, Rebuking Trump; Kyle Anzalone; Antiwar; 2026-04-13

DAYS 41-44: Trump Overruled on Hormuz Blockade; Joe Lauria; Consortium News; 2026-04-12

U.S. Forces Start Mine Clearance Mission in Strait of Hormuz; CENTCOM; X/Twitter; 2026-04-12

Khatam HQ warns Trump: Security for all ports in the Gulf or for none; Al Mayadeen English; Al Mayadeen English; 2026-04-13

Hezbollah FPV, OWA drones swarm Israeli positions, strike troops; Al Mayadeen English; Al Mayadeen English; 2026-04-13

US carrier takes Africa long-route to avoid Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab; Al Mayadeen English; Al Mayadeen English; 2026-04-14

Masterful 5D Stroke: Trump’s Blockade Charade Deflects From Ceasefire Flop; Simplicius; Simplicius’ Garden of Knowledge; 2026-04-13

The U.S. Sank One of Iran’s Navies. The Other Still Controls Hormuz; WSJ; Archive.today; 2026-04-12

US Southern Command Bombs Two Alleged Drug-Running Boats, Killing at Least Five People; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-04-13

Post-Peak Empire; YesXorNo; 2025-11-15

Iran Will Not Be Bullied; Judge Napolitano interviews Alastair Crooke; Judging Freedom; 2026-04-13

Subscribe now

for free (or “follow”), or support this work via Buy Me A Coffee or Patreon.

Sources

Trump vows to block Strait of Hormuz, says US ready to ‘finish up’ Iran; Imran Mulla; Middle East Eye; 2026-04-12

New World Busy Being Born While Old One is Busy Dying; Pepe Escobar; Sputnik International; None

US, Iran end 21-hour talks without agreement; M. K. Bhadrakumar; Indian Punchline; 2026-04-12

War On Iran: - Loser Tries Setting “Terms” - The Strange Idea Of Blockading Blockaders; b.; Moon of Alabama; 2026-04-12

War On Iran: - Negotiators To Become Scapegoats For U.S. Defeat; b.; Moon of Alabama; 2026-04-11

Iran Unable to Find Mines in Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Says; The New York Times; Archive.today; 2026-04-10

DAYS 41-44: Trump Declares Blockade As Talks Collapse; Joe Lauria; Consortium News; 2026-04-12

2026 United States F-15E rescue operation in Iran, Wikipedia

Videos

Negotiations Collapsed - Return to War; Glenn Diesen interviews Seyed M. Marandi; Glenn Diesen; 2026-04-12

Trump Orders FULL Blockade on Iran – Talks COLLAPSE, Will This Spark WAR?; Alkhorshid interviews Nima R. Alkhorshid; Dialogue Works; 2026-04-12

• Nima tells the story of the events which lead up to the talks, including all of the begging from the US and the series of hoops which Iran required the US to jump through to agree. It displays how much the US empire relies upon its mendacious, compliant media and how deceitful the US regime is.

Iran Lesson - Will Russia Retaliate Against Estonia?; Glenn Diesen interviews Stanislav Krapivnik; Glenn Diesen; 2026-04-11

America’s Suez Crisis (w/ Alastair Crooke); Chris Hedges; The Chris Hedges Report; 2026-04-11

Iran Retaliates, Hormuz CLOSED – Israel ENDS Trump Ceasefire; Danny Haiphong interviews Scott Ritter & Larry Johnson; Danny Haiphong; 2026-04-09

It’s Over” – Israel Faces Total Collapse If This War Continues; Alkhorshid interviews Prof. Ted Postol; Dialogue Works; 2026-04-10

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[A human chain across a bridge in Iran, after the US started bombing bridges. Iran is fearless.]

Published: 2026-04-08

The Trump and Netanyahu regimes, which began the criminal war against Iran, and the government of Iran, have agreed to a 14 day conditional pause in hostilities. It was initially announced at

23:50 UTC [2026-04-07] [by] the Foreign Minister of Pakistan Shahbaz Sharif.

[Moon of Alabama [MoA]]

The ceasefire is for the entire region. It applies to all running conflicts, including Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen. Thus, the opportunity for the ceasefire to be broken is broad.

The MoA article has the timeline and rough background. In it Bernhard also provided Trump’s response “tweet”, from which he highlighted:

… We [the US regime] received a 10 point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate. …

That 10 point proposal was Iran’s response to a US 15 point demand for capitulation issued when Trump was threatening a genocide of Iran (“destruction of a civilization”). These messages and presumably others have been relayed between these two states by Pakistan.

MoA summarized the Iranain proposal during the day at the end of which the ceasefire was announcement.

Iran’s 10-point plan includes:
1. Guarantee that Iran will not be attacked again
2. Permanent end to the war, not just a ceasefire
3. End to Israeli strikes in Lebanon
4. Lifting of all US sanctions on Iran
5. End to all regional fighting against Iranian allies
6. In return, Iran would open the Strait of Hormuz
7. Iran would impose a Hormuz fee of $2 million per ship
8. Iran would split these fees with Oman
9. Iran to provide rules for safe passage through Hormuz
10. Iran to use Hormuz fees for reconstruction instead of reparations

[Iran’s 10 point plan, the basis for discussion, via MoA]

One can see that certain US-Israel demands like nuclear enrichment levels or national defense missile levels are not open for discussion. Iranian control of the joint Iranian-Omani strait (of Hormuz) is bound into half of the clauses. Clause 10 implies a single reduced demands (“instead”).

Confirming the ceasefire opportunity, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated on behalf of the Iranian Supreme National Council:

In response to the brotherly request of PM Sharif in his tweet, and considering the request by the United States for negotiations based on its 15‑point proposal as well as the US announcement by POTUS about acceptance of the general framework of Iran’s 10‑point proposal as a basis for talks, I hereby declare on behalf of Iran's Supreme National Security Council: If attacks on Iran are halted, our Powerful Armed Forces will cease their defensive operations.

[Aragachi via Al Mayadeen, emphasis mine]

The Supreme National Council was appropriately circumspect, cautious, and ready to unleash more devastating retaliation when the warmongers betray peace again:

“It is emphasized that this does not signify the termination of the war. Our hands remain upon the trigger, and should the slightest error be committed by the enemy, it shall be met with full force.”

[via Joe Lauria, Consortium News]

Bernhard from MoA also noted:

As very positive sign Trump reposted Araghchi’s statement on his Truth Social account.

The burning question is how will Israel respond?

Israel has also agreed to the ceasefire with “concern,” reports Haaretz, which said an Iranian missile had still been launched against Tel Aviv around 8:20 p.m. EDT. Israel had struck eight railway bridges in Iran during the day Tuesday.

[Consortium News with emphasis]

It is interesting that Israel has begun targeting railway assets. These are likely components of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. They signal the geoeconomic nature of the war.

Bernhard cited Israel undermining the ceasefire at the outset.

Netanyahoo falsely claims that the ceasefire “does not include Lebanon”.

The opposition in Israel is furious about this defeat.

[MoA]

Initial Analysis

Notwithstanding that US President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu are insane, the logical conclusion to draw from the ceasefire is that both sides see advantage in not shooting at each other for a while. Both sides and their allies will use the pause to prepare for the next phase of the war, irrespective of whether they wish for it to resume or not.

United States and Israel are deceitful. They will break the agreement the moment they see advantage in so doing.

This war has been a desire of the US establishment for decades. It is also Genocider-in-Chief Netanyahu’s life’s work.

Updated 2026-04-09

Nope

A loud noise interrupted the live-streamed discussion between Nima Alkorshid and Laif Malouf in Beirut within hours of the start of the “ceasefire”, on April 8th, 2026.

Minutes later Alkorshid informed Malouf of the cause. Israel was bombing Beirut, again.

At Least 254 Killed, Over 1,100 Wounded in Massive Israeli Attacks on Lebanon; Jason Ditz; Antiwar; 2026-04-08

On Wednesday morning [day one of the ‘ceasefire’], Israel launched a massive bombardment across Lebanon, killing and injuring hundreds of people, as part of a new escalation it dubbed “Operation Eternal Darkness.”

“The two-week ceasefire does not include Lebanon,” the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu [had written] on X.

“The Iran-US Ceasefire terms are clear and explicit: the US must choose—ceasefire or continued war via Israel. It cannot have both,” Araghchi wrote on X.

“The world sees the massacres in Lebanon. The ball is in the U.S. court, and the world is watching whether it will act on its commitments.”

[Dave DeCamp, Antiwar, with a little re-ordering]

This was Israel’s response to the opportunity to stop the war. It matches Israel’s response to every other ceasefire to which it has recently “committed”.

In Lebanon, Israel violated two ceasefire, one with Iran (a day old) and the other Lebanon (years old), at once. The Zionist entity is still murdering children and journalists in Gaza, too.

Trump also contradicted the terms of the ceasefire, also within hours, and also by stating its did not apply to Lebanon.

Trump told PBS “everyone knows” Lebanon is not part of ceasefire. “Yeah, they were not included in the deal,” Trump said.

[Joe Lauria “Day 40”, Consortium News]

Trump and Netanyahu burnt down the opportunity for peace in under 24 hours with a massive bombing attack on Beirut and two outright lies. Their deceit and criminal international violence continues.

Subscribe now

for free (or “follow”), or support this work via Buy Me A Coffee or Patreon.

Sources

War On Iran: - April Ceasefire - A Tick Tock Of Statements And Comments; b.; Moon of Alabama; 2026-04-08

War On Iran: - Trump Threatens Genocide - More Tit-for-tat Bombing; b.; Moon of Alabama; 2026-04-07

DAY 39: CEASEFIRE!; Joe Lauria; Consortium News; 2026-04-07

DAY 40: Netanyahu Says Iran War Is Not Over; Joe Lauria; Consortium News; 2026-04-08

Iran secures 2-week ceasefire with US on its terms, to include Lebanon; Al Mayadeen English; Al Mayadeen English; 2026-04-08

Statement of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council on the Two-Week Ceasefire and Negotiation Conditions; Larry C. Johnson; SONAR 21; 2026-04-07

• “If you think the war is over, think again. Iran has not agreed to a ceasefire. They have agreed to stop retaliating as long as Israel and the US stop their attacks. So that ball is in the West’s corner. …” Yes, Larry. Have fun with the hair splitting.

• “The enemy, in its unjust, illegal, and criminal war against the Iranian nation, has suffered an undeniable, historic, and crushing defeat. Thanks to the sacrifice of the martyred leader of the Islamic Revolution, Grand Ayatollah Imam Khamenei, the leadership of the Supreme Leader and Commander-in-Chief, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, the courage of fighters on the frontlines, and …” [A translation of the release in Farsi, in Iran, of the government statement on the ceasefire.]

Trump Declares Two Week Ceasefire With Iran; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-04-07

• This early report from Antiwar shows the level of distrust Trump has created with DeCamp choosing “declares” as his verb. He helpfully provided the link to Trump’s “tweet” if you like READING capital case EMPHASIS now then from the MALIGNANT NARCISSIST.

Iran Says Ceasefire Must Include Halt To Israel’s Attacks in Lebanon; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-04-08

Israeli Attack Kills Al Jazeera Journalist in Gaza; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-04-08

Videos

Nima R. Alkhorshid: Iran-US Double Ceasefire: What Just Happened?; Alkhorshid; Dialogue Works; 2026-04-08

• Alkorshid provides an Iranian perspective which includes confidence in Iran’s position in the war.

US 2 Week “Ceasefire” is ANOTHER Trap For Iran; Brian Berletic; The New Atlas; 2026-04-08

• No, no, no! Who would ever believe that the US will never attack Iran again?

• [Berletic’s post. Chat with Racheal Bevins.]

• The US will use the space to reposition & rearm. The US will blame shift onto Israel. It will use the negotiations as a justification [we tried to negotiate …].

• Same old proxy game. yadda yadda.

Israel Breaks Ceasefire, Iran Retaliates With Missile Strikes; Glenn Diesen interviews Seyed M. Marandi; Glenn Diesen; 2026-04-08

• Prof. Marandi stated that Iran retaliated against Israel after it began its bombing of Beirut.

You Call This a CeaseFire? /Fmr CIA Analyst Larry Johnson; Davis interviews Johnson; Daniel Davis / Deep Dive; 2026-04-08

What Happened to the American Pilot in Iran? 🇮🇷🇺🇸 #ShutUpGun; Explosive Media اخبار انفجاری ; 2026-04-08

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