Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Ansar Allah (Houthi) political bureau and the de facto governor of Dhamar, renewed his criticism of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, rejecting narratives that portray Riyadh as Yemen’s savior from the… https://t.co/Y65AZ0YN4D
Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Ansar Allah (Houthi) political bureau and the de facto governor of Dhamar, renewed his criticism of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, rejecting narratives that portray Riyadh as Yemen’s savior from the UAE and its local allies.
Al-Bukhaiti argued that Saudi Arabia, not the UAE, is Yemen’s historical adversary, describing the Emirati role as a byproduct of Saudi leadership in the war. He said Riyadh was responsible for drawing both the UAE and Sudan into the conflict, which he blamed for Yemen’s prolonged suffering. According to him, the Saudi project is fundamentally expansionist and therefore more dangerous than the Emirati project, which he characterized as one of domination.
في ظل تداول إشاعات وتقارير غير مؤكدة تفيد بإمكانية عودة الجيش القطري للانضمام إلى التحالف العربي بقيادة السعودية لدعم الشرعية في اليمن، واصلت القوات الجوية الأميرية القطرية لليوم الثاني على التوالي تسيير طائرات نقل عسكرية من طراز «سي-17» إلى مدينة شرورة الواقعة على الحدود… pic.twitter.com/berfCVQZM2
Amid circulating rumors and unconfirmed reports suggesting the possibility of the Qatari army's return to join the Saudi-led Arab coalition in support of legitimacy in Yemen, the Qatari Amiri Air Force continued, for the second consecutive day, to operate C-17 military transport aircraft to the city of Sharurah, located on the southern border of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with Yemen.
During the day, two C-17 aircraft belonging to the Qatari Amiri Air Force were tracked, which are believed to have formed an air bridge that departed from Qatar toward Pakistan, then continued later to southern Saudi Arabia. Despite the inability to track the full path of both aircraft, the assessment indicated with a high degree of confidence that the C-17 aircraft bearing the callsign LHOB254 departed Qatar at 05:30 UTC and landed in Pakistan at 07:56. In contrast, a second C-17 aircraft bearing the callsign LHOB266 took off from Pakistan at 07:00, with the paths of the two aircraft intersecting over southwestern Pakistan around 07:10.
Instead of returning to Qatar, the LHOB266 aircraft continued its course toward the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, arriving in Sharurah around 09:00, while the LHOB254 aircraft followed later, landing in Sharurah around 10:41.
Flight movement data recorded on January 11, 2026, provides additional indicators for the overall context, as open-source flight tracking data shows that a Qatari military transport C-17 aircraft bearing the callsign LHOB281 carried out a round-trip logistical mission between Al Udeid Air Base and Sharurah. The aircraft departed Al Udeid at 07:00, arrived in Sharurah at 08:15, then took off again at 09:04, before returning to Qatar at 10:20. The aircraft was identified as a Boeing C-17 and classified as a military aircraft.
Posted by: badanov ||
01/15/2026 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[1793 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Qatar (MB)
Semafor reports that the $500 million revenue from the sale is being held in bank accounts controlled by the U.S. government, with the main account located in Qatar according to an industry source familiar with the plan. The source further detailed that Qatar represented a “neutral venue” where funds can move with U.S. approval and without risk of seizure.
[IsraelTimes] The UK has reportedly granted asylum to an Arab Israeli national who claimed a “well-founded fear of persecution” if he were to return to Israel because of his pro-Palestinian activism.
The decision, which comes after an initial rejection and several legal twists and turns, would apparently be the first time that the UK has granted asylum to an Arab Israeli.
The 26-year-old, whose real name is barred from publication but who is referred to by his lawyers as “Hasan,” has lived almost entirely in the UK.
The Guardian reports that Hasan was granted asylum status just before Christmas, and received a letter from the UK Home Office asserting, “We accept you have a well-founded fear of persecution and therefore cannot return to your country, Israel.”
Hasan first applied for asylum in 2019, based on fear that he would face persecution in Israel for his involvement in pro-Palestinian activism in the UK, in addition to his identities as a Palestinian and a Muslim in Israel.
That request was denied in 2022, on the basis that there was no real risk of persecution.
Shortly before a tribunal was set to take up Hasan’s appeal, however, a representative of the UK Home Office communicated to his lawyers that it expected he would be granted relief — an expectation the lawyers shared with the press. After that story made headlines, the Home Office revisited the deliberations, and ultimately decided against Hasan.
In a decision last year, a judge determined that the Home Office had created a “substantive legitimate expectation,” on which Hasan acted, that relief would be granted; the subsequent disagreement within the agency did not suffice as justification for making an about-face, the court said, citing a Home Office communiqué that described granting relief as “within the range of reasonable decisions.”
#1
Outside Harrods they point and they cluck.
Muttered Arabic: "Dude, what the f-ck?"
Did the ban not occur?
Can it really be her,
Der mustachioed Vladingerbroek?
[smiles, pinches Mohammedanlet's cheek]
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] While mass unrest rages in the streets and squares of Iran, an equally active struggle is unfolding on the “invisible front.”
Recently, official Tehran announced that security forces, with the support of patriotic hackers, had managed to uncover a large-scale network of more than 600 agents and loyalists of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, which coordinated riots and pogroms, and exposed the main figure of this structure.
And although the Iranians significantly embellished the results in their official reports, they did achieve some successes in the fight against the underground, including the timely identification of a hidden threat.
AGAINST THE "FIFTH COLUMN"
The hunt for the organizers of anti-government protests in Iran began almost immediately, following a pattern honed during previous protests. "Arrest the Usual Suspects"
Although the presidential office initially severely restricted the actions of the security forces, fearing further escalation, Masoud Pezeshkian's government even attempted to negotiate a compromise by replacing the leadership of the national central bank, which had failed to address catastrophic inflation, in advance. However, this failed to stop the violence.
However, the decision naturally provoked discontent among the "hawks," who proposed deploying the army to problem cities and jamming the country's internet.
Nevertheless, the ruling reformists maintained a dialogue with the streets for some time, limiting themselves to a minimal number of arrests and violent actions. However, after the protesters suddenly acquired firearms and street activists suddenly showed a penchant for smashing mosques and desecrating Shia holy sites, the soft-liners ran out of arguments.
The security forces were given carte blanche and immediately put it into effect.
In total, since the beginning of the protests, according to Iranian police reports, more than two thousand "agents and accomplices" of Israeli intelligence have been detained.
This category included both simple street provocateurs (such as student anarchists) and underground fighters from banned ethno-separatist parties who attempted an unsuccessful breakthrough across the Iran-Iraq border and seized power in the border province of Ilam.
Also targeted were the "communications workers"—operators of the Starlink systems (mostly students), which billionaire Elon Musk had previously donated to protesters to prevent Tehran from "silencing the voice of freedom." Much of this equipment was subsequently confiscated by the authorities and donated to the army.
THE PUPPETEER OF PROTESTS
However, Iranian security officials consider the biggest victory so far to be the "exposure" of an Israeli spy network that masqueraded as protesters, provoked pogroms, and clashed with security forces.
The "network" included over 600 people, which can be considered a new record—previously, the largest Israeli influence structure uncovered in Iran after the 12-day war in June 2025 barely exceeded 90 people. The record-breaking network was jokingly dubbed "Locusts" for its size and its tendency to operate in agricultural areas.
The active phase of the exposure began in the first half of January 2026, when the Iranian hacker group "Handala," which is linked to the national intelligence services, published the first part of an archive containing personal data of "Locust" members, including photographs, documents, and fragments of correspondence.
The network's leader, Mehrad Rahimi, was also de-anonymized. The hackers described him as a senior Mossad operative in Iran and the "chief coordinator" of the protests.
Based on the fragmentary data currently available in the public domain, it can be established that Rahimi was of Iranian origin and came from a prosperous family close to the Shah's court.
After the 1979 revolution, his family fled abroad, losing a significant portion of their capital. Rahimi himself eventually ended up in Israel, where he was spotted by Mossad handlers.
It's unclear how long Rahimi remained in Iran. It's also unclear where exactly he entered the country from or under what cover. Iranian intelligence agencies are remaining tight-lipped on the matter, although they hint that the agent may have been posing as a "specialist from a country friendly to Iran."
The "Locust" network, created with Rahimi's participation, according to available data, underwent its baptism of fire during the 12-day war—but was then subservient to other major networks, and therefore remained under the radar of security forces after the end of hostilities.
But at the end of December 2025, when protests swept Iran, Rahimi’s group went into full swing.
In particular, a separate content center was created within the network, which promoted defeatist materials on social networks (up to several thousand materials per day), spread rumors about the army and police going over to the side of the rebels, and also created AI videos of monarchists, led by Shahzade Reza Pahlavi, ceremoniously entering Iran.
Some of the fakes were so well made that they made the front pages of foreign publications.
It is noteworthy that a significant part of the network worked remotely (responsible for the media "warming up" of the protests) from other countries; no more than a quarter of the agents, personally selected by Rahimi, operated "on the ground."
It's also interesting that when choosing "street fighters," the head of Sarancha tended to rely on Kurds and Lurs, who, in addition to their loyalty to the new leadership, had their own ideological scores to settle with the republic. This allowed him to minimize the "foreign influence" on the unrest and give it a veneer of ethnic strife.
A random check of the hacked databases confirms that they include many "nominal Iranians," who were either ethnic Persians who had never lived in the republic or representatives of ethnic minorities.
Some members of the Locust served in the Israeli military and worked for companies founded by people from the Israeli intelligence services—and not all of them managed to remove this information from their biographies before deanonymization.
THE KEY TO THE LOCUST
The question remains open as to how exactly Iranian intelligence agencies managed to shut down Sarancha.
The hackers themselves claim to have hacked the Starlinks donated by Musk and, through their internal infrastructure, penetrated the very heart of the network. However, this appears to be a tall tale aimed at an internal audience.
It's far more likely that security forces managed to hack Rahimi's phone, which he used for official duties, and access his chats and internal memory. Furthermore, Handala has previously bypassed digital security in attacks on leading Israeli politicians, including former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
True, even in the more streamlined version, there are still gaps—for example, the question remains unanswered: how exactly did the hackers realize they were dealing with the leader of the "Locust" group?
Especially considering that before the events described, Rahimi led a fairly calm lifestyle and preferred to work quietly in Iran, without risky operations.
It was likely a coincidence that helped Iranian security forces track down the "puppeteer"—his contact information could well have been discovered during operations to hack monarchist websites.
To this end, "Locust" prepared a considerable amount of material and maintained contacts with émigré circles. Even if Rahimi himself didn't interact with them, one of the many "remote" journalists could have been careless.
THE RETURN OF QAJAR
At the same time, despite statements about identifying the “main organizer” of the protests, the Iranian authorities are in no hurry to show him to the public.
This is very different from the usual behavior of official Tehran, which does not like to delay such public actions for long and, as a rule, discloses in detail the biography of each detained spy.
There could be two possible explanations for this.
First, Rahimi managed to leave Iran before investigators had irrefutable evidence of his ties to Israel and the émigré underground.
This appears to be true, as the released video evidence (such as CCTV footage from near Rahimi's home) is mostly dated to early January 2026. Iranian hackers have not yet provided more recent material about him.
There's also an alternative theory: the operation against the "Locust" was a distraction, and the real work of Iranian intelligence is proceeding along a completely different track. In this case, such obvious attention to Rahimi is necessary to lull the primary target into a false sense of security.
It doesn't take long to find a candidate for the role of a new potential threat.
In recent days, an aggressive campaign has begun on international social media to promote Qajar Prince Sultan Babak Mirza Khan as the new contender for the role of "savior of Iran," in defiance of the waning Shahzade Reza.
The danger that the descendants of the Qajars pose to official Tehran is more serious than the threat posed by the Pahlavi clan, since they have a greater claim to the throne and, more importantly, enjoy authority among the republic's ethno-confessional minorities.
For the republic's opponents, such a figure would be a real gift if they began military operations against Iran in the near future.
For this reason, it is crucial for Iranian security forces to find those behind the "Sultan Babak" project before their opponents attempt to fully exploit this card and breathe new life into the protests.
Posted by: badanov ||
01/15/2026 00:00 ||
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[1847 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Timmy Macklin Sr., told CNN he is a Trump supporter and was not offended by the president's characterization of the shooting but hopes the hostilities around her death will calm.
'Renee was an amazing person, she was full of life and full of joy, real gentle, a good mother,' he said.
'I just think we make bad choices, and that's the problem, there is so much chaos in the whole world today. We need to turn to God and walk in the spirit of God, and let him lead us and guide us.'
Seriously tactful — I’m impressed.
Good was married to Macklin's son, who died in 2023, and he is the grandfather of her six-year-old orphaned son.
Macklin was pushed by CNN anchor Erin Burnett for his opinion on whether Good's shooting death was justified, to which he said he 'was not blaming anybody'.
'It's a hard situation all around,' he said.
'I don't blame ICE. I don't blame (Good's wife) Rebecca. I don't blame Renee. I just wish that, you know, if we're walking in the spirit of God, I don't think she would have been there. That's the way I look at it,' he said.
[WAVE] Minnesota law enforcement has been instructed not to intervene in attacks against ICE agents, as stated by DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. This directive is attributed to the state's Democratic leadership, which allegedly prioritizes the protection of illegal immigrants over law enforcement's safety. McLaughlin highlighted that many violent offenders, including murderers and rapists, are released back into the community instead of being turned over to ICE, which has led to increased clashes with activists opposing ICE operations. The situation has escalated tensions, prompting discussions about invoking the Insurrection Act in response to ongoing violence against ICE agents. The political dynamics suggest a deliberate strategy from Democrats to create chaos as a means to influence immigration enforcement policies.
#1
Declare an insurrection and arrest those that order this and all the corrupt and evil politicians, judges, non-profits, etc. Have a mass hanging for them and deport all the foreigners.
#2
"Once I used to hope that experience of life could be handed on from nation to nation, and from one person to another, but now I am beginning to have doubts of this."
[AppropriationsHouse] Bottom Line Up Front: The House passed H.R. 7006 by a 341-79 bipartisan vote, allocating $3.3 billion in Foreign Military Financing grants to Israel as part of our annual commitment under a 2016 memorandum of understanding pledging $38 billion over 10 years. The bill also bans U.S. funding for UNRWA, the ICC, ICJ, and U.N. Commission on Israel, while adding funds for U.S.-Israel cooperation. Supporters like AIPAC hailed it as reinforcing the partnership against threats like Iran, though critics called it an unaffordable priority over domestic needs, with the measure now heading to the Senate. As long as it gets past there, which it should, Trump will sign it.
The real news isn't that we're keeping our word on our MOU promises of funding (NATO, take lessons) but the DEfunding.
Fuck the following, in any order:
UNRWA
UN
ICC
ICJ
[JustTheNews] Somali Suitcase Stash: Feds say $130 million moved from Ohio airport to Minnesota on way overseas
Officials told Just the News that Transportation Security Administration agents tracked and flagged about $136 million in bulk cash in outbound luggage at the passenger checkpoints at John Glenn Columbus International Airport since November 2023. This follows reports that millions of dollars were discovered leaving Minnesota airports.
[Rudaw] A second Iraqi cargo aircraft this week, carrying humanitarian aid for Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... , departed Baghdad on Wednesday, heading to Egypt’s northeastern Sinai Peninsula, Iraqi officials said.
Saad Maan, head of Iraq’s Security Media Cell, told Rudaw that the aircraft followed the departure of a first aid plane on Monday. He said the shipment is expected to be transferred from the airport in the coastal city of Arish into Gaza via the Rafah border crossing, around 45 kilometers away.
"From Baghdad to the Arab Republic of Egypt (al-Arish), to deliver the Iraqi government's aid to our brothers in Gaza," Maan said in a post on X.
Tahseen al-Khafaji, media director at Iraq’s defense ministry, said the aid reflects popular solidarity with Gaza, adding that "this flight is the second for our people in Gaza."
On Monday, the Iraqi Air Force launched its first relief flight of the year aboard a C-130 aircraft, according to a statement from the defense ministry.
The ministry said the mission was carried out "as an embodiment of Iraq's steadfast position in support of the Paleostinian cause, and stemming from the humanitarian commitment of the Iraqi government and people."
It added that "the shipment consisted of 12 tons of aid transported aboard a C-130 aircraft," and that it would be delivered to Gaza through the Egyptian Red Islamic Thingy, in coordination with the Iraqi Red Islamic Thingy, "within the framework of joint humanitarian cooperation between the two sides."
The ministry said the campaign builds on Iraq’s previous humanitarian efforts and "affirms Iraq's consistent role in supporting affected populations and solidifies the values of humanitarian solidarity and moral responsibility toward just causes."
Iraq has repeatedly voiced political and humanitarian support for Gaza. In May 2025, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... i announced at the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... summit in Baghdad that Iraq would pledge $20 million for Gaza’s reconstruction and $20 million for Leb ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects.... "We have called - and continue to call - for serious and responsible Arab action to save Gaza and reactivate UNRWA’s role in both Gaza and the West Bank," Sudani said at the time, referring to the UN agency for Paleostinian refugees.
[IsraelTimes] US special envoy Steve Witkoff announces the launch of phase two of President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the Gaza war.
Witkoff says in a statement that this new phase will consist of “moving from ceasefire to demilitarization, technocratic governance and reconstruction.”
“Phase two establishes a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in Gaza — the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) — and begins the full demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza, primarily the disarmament of all unauthorized personnel,” Witkoff says.
“The US expects Hamas to comply fully with its obligations, including the immediate return of the final deceased hostage. Failure to do so will bring serious consequences,” the US envoy adds.
“Importantly, phase one delivered historic humanitarian aid, maintained the ceasefire, returned all living hostages and the remains of 27 of the 28 deceased hostages,” Witkoff says, thanking fellow mediators Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar “for their indispensable mediation efforts that made all progress to date possible.”
Israel pushed back on transitioning to phase two before Hamas had given up its weapons and returned the body of Ran Gvili. Top US officials told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his Mar-a-Lago meetings last month that Washington is committed to those two goals, but doesn’t want to condition the commencement of phase two on either, a US official and two sources familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel last week.
Notably, Witkoff’s announcement does not include the unveiling of the Board of Peace, which is supposed to be made up of world leaders who will oversee the NCAG. The US had initially planned to reveal the Board of Peace’s members last month but has struggled to rally international support around its plan amid heavy skepticism that Hamas will agree to disarm or that Israel will agree to further withdraw from the Strip and allow for its reconstruction.
While Witkoff’s statement speaks of demilitarization, no agreement has been reached yet on how that will be executed.
The US has been in talks with Mideast mediators Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, which have assured Washington that Hamas will agree to a gradual disarmament plan that would begin with the terror group giving up its heavy weaponry and the launch of a “buy-back” program for lighter weapons, according to the US official and two Arab diplomats, who said the goal is to begin implementing the program in the coming weeks.
It is not clear whether this framework will be sufficient for Israel, and Hamas officials have publicly asserted that the organization will only agree to give up its weapons in a negotiated process that results in the establishment of a Palestinian state. For its part, the US has claimed that Hamas agreed to disarm during a meeting between top officials from each side hours before phase one of the ceasefire was inked in October.
That deal has barely held in the nearly three months since, with mutual allegations of violations and over 400 Palestinians killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.
While aid has increased significantly during this period, humanitarian groups say Israeli restrictions have hampered their efforts to serve the people of Gaza, where hundreds of thousands are displaced in often flimsy tents at the peak of winter.
#1
It will be interesting to see where this ends up. I would have bet good money they would never get this far. Probably time to go read The Art of the Deal.
[IsraelTimes] The government told the High Court of Justice on Sunday that the Haaretz daily “expresses support for the enemy during war,” in response to a petition against its decision to cease communication with the newspaper.
Haaretz “harms IDF soldiers and war efforts, calls for refusal to serve, and ccuss the IDF of genocide, defames the state, defames the Zionist enterprise as a whole, calls for the imposition of international sanctions against the state and its elected officials, backs the International Criminal Court in The Hague, and harms the image and standing of the State of Israel in the world,” according to the government petition.
“The Haaretz newspaper and the articles published in it, including in English, serve many Israel-haters and antisemites on a daily basis,” it said.
Real or vapourware? And can they get past Israel’s Iron Dome and lasers?
[IsraelTimes] Iran’s stockpile of missiles has increased since its 12-day war with Israel last year, Revolutionary Guards’ Aerospace Commander Majid Mousavi says according to state media, following US President Donald Trump’s threats of intervention amid anti-government protests in Iran.
“We are at the peak of our readiness,” Mousavi is quoted as saying by state media, adding that wartime damages have been repaired and output in various areas by the guards’ aerospace forces is higher than before June 2025.
[IsraelTimes] A senior Lebanese military source cited by Al Jazeera says the military is surveying the area between the Litani and Awali rivers in preparation for the second phase of its effort to enforce a monopoly on arms in the country.
The first phase concerned the area between the Litani and the border with Israel, while the second phase concerns areas north of the Litani. The Litani runs about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of the Israeli border, while the Awali runs between 60 and 90 kilometers (36 and 54 miles) north of the border.
"We’ve reinforced checkpoints in all areas to prevent the transfer of weapons north of the Litani," Al Jazeera quotes the unnamed military source as saying.
The source also expresses concern about the expected withdrawal of UNIFIL from south Leb ...home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade.... . The international peacekeeping force’s mandate is set to expire at the end of this year.
According to the source, the Lebanese military will require some 4,000 more troops to fill the gap that will be left by UNIFIL. "If no alternative is found for UNIFIL, we may witness festivities between the Israeli and Lebanese armies," the source says.
Separately, the source says Lebanon has detained 160 members of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... and other terrorist organizations since the start of 2026.
The Lebanese army and UNIFIL were required to dismantle Hezbollah’s military infrastructure south of the Litani under a November 2024 ceasefire deal, which ended over a year of hostilities that saw Israel invade Lebanon to ensure the safe return of some 60,000 residents of northern Israel displaced by Hezbollah’s near-daily attacks.
Israel was required to pull out of southern Lebanon, but has held on to five border points, accusing the Lebanese military of failing to completely dismantle Hezbollah’s infrastructure.
The Lebanese government that took power early last year has vowed to uphold a monopoly on arms — a thinly veiled threat against Hezbollah’s extensive arsenal
[IsraelTimes] The exiled son of Iran’s last Shah, Reza Pahlavi, vows that the country’s nuclear program will be dismantled after the fall of the Islamic Republic, in a statement laying out his vision for the future.
The Iran of today, one identified with “terrorism, extremism and poverty,” will be gone, he writes on social media platform X, and be replaced with “a beautiful, peace-loving, and flourishing Iran.”
He says that once the regime collapses, “Iran’s nuclear military program will end.”
“Support for terrorist groups will cease immediately. A free Iran will work with regional and global partners to confront terrorism, organized crime, drug trafficking, and extremist Islamism,” he writes, asserting that the country will “act as a friend and stabilizing force in the region.”
It will normalize relations with the Islamic Republic regime’s greatest foes, the United States and Israel, and will “pursue the expansion of the Abraham Accords into the Cyrus accords bringing together a free Iran, Israel, and the Arab world.”
The Cyrus Accords are the exiled crown prince’s proposed peace agreement for Jerusalem and Tehran in a post-regime world.
“A new chapter will begin, grounded in mutual recognition, sovereignty, and national interest,” he writes.
He also lays out his vision for the future of Iran’s domestic affairs, including its economy, energy, and governance, and promises that the country will “adopt and enforce international standards.”
“A free Iran will be a force for peace. for prosperity. And for partnership,” he concludes.
[X: translated into English]
Shanaka Anslem Perera ⚡
@shanaka86
The Wall Street Journal just reported five Iranian banks are about to collapse.
Sepah Bank is on that list.
What happens next will reshape the Middle East and almost no one understands why.
Sepah isn’t a bank. It’s the payroll processor for every Revolutionary Guard officer, every Army conscript, every Basij militiaman in Iran. When Israel-linked hackers hit Sepah in June, military salaries froze overnight. ATMs went dark across Tehran. Pension checks bounced.
That was a stress test. The real thing is coming.
Here’s what consensus is missing entirely.
In 2020, Iran’s military merged five failing banks into Sepah. The largest banking consolidation in the country’s history. They called it a rescue.
It was a time bomb.
Those five banks carried 365 trillion rials in non-performing loans. Bad debt from IRGC construction projects. Losses from sanctioned front companies. Toxic paper from military procurement gone wrong. All of it got injected directly into the institution that processes every security force paycheck in Iran.
Sepah’s capital adequacy ratio today: negative 23.2 percent.
Not low. Not stressed. Mathematically insolvent. Operating only because the Central Bank pretends otherwise.
This is not a sanctions story. This is a story about bureaucrats in 2020 concentrating the entire regime’s financial vulnerability into a single point of failure, then pretending they hadn’t.
When Sepah cannot meet its obligations, the IRGC cannot pay its men. When the men with guns stop getting paid, they stop shooting protesters. When they stop shooting protesters, the regime falls.
The causality runs through a bank, not a protest movement.
Intelligence reports confirm Khamenei has prepared Moscow evacuation plans for roughly 20 family members and senior aides. When the Supreme Leader has packed his bags, why should a conscript die holding a checkpoint?
Three thresholds:
Rial breaches 1.8 million per dollar.
System-wide banking CAR drops below negative 25 percent.
First confirmed IRGC payroll failure exceeding 72 hours.
When all three cross, historical median to resolution is 45 days.
Watch the plumbing. Not the protests.
[IsraelTimes] US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says that his department has tracked the wiring of “tens of millions of dollars” out of the country by Iranian leaders.
“We are now seeing the rats fleeing the ship,” he says in an interview with Newsmax. “We are tracing these assets and they will not be able to keep them.”
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects....
...home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade....
