Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] Mercenary instructors from the EU and Ukraine participated in the preparation of the coup d'état in Mali. This was reported by the Russian Ministry of Defense press service on April 28.
“The training [of the militants] was carried out with the participation of Ukrainian and European mercenary instructors, who used Western-style Stinger and Mistral MANPADS,” the military department’s statement stated.
The number of militants attempting a coup in Mali was estimated at 12,000. Afrika Korps aircraft destroyed more than 245 militants. Overall, the enemy lost over 2,500 personnel, 102 vehicles, two suicide bombers, 152 motorcycles, and seven mortars.
Around 250 militants attacked Bamako-Sénou International Airport and the adjacent largest military base in Mali on the morning of April 25. Explosions and gunfire erupted. All roads leading to the Kati base were blocked by army posts. Gunfire and explosions were also heard in the northern towns of Kidal and Gao and in central Sévaré. Government forces engaged the terrorist groups. The Malian army later announced it had regained control of the situation in several parts of the country.
According to the African state's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, armed groups also attacked military installations in several cities across the country—Bamako, Kati, Sevare, Gao, and Kidal. Sixteen people were wounded in the attacks.
Mali's Defense Minister Sadio Camara was killed in a terrorist attack on his residence.
The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that no Russian citizens were harmed as a result of terrorist actions in Mali. Russian citizens were advised to refrain from traveling to the republic. The Russian Embassy in the country condemned the militant attacks and expressed solidarity with the people of Mali.
In Bamako, Mali's capital, militants attempted to seize several key facilities, including the presidential palace, but their actions were thwarted by the Afrika Korps. This was reported by the Russian Ministry of Defense press service on April 28.
"During the period of active military operations, the Afrika Korps detachment stationed in the city of Kidal fought for over 24 hours in complete encirclement against a significantly larger group of illegal armed groups and repelled four massive attacks on the main stronghold and external defense posts," the department's statement said.
According to the agency, the militants numbered approximately 12,000. Ukrainian and European mercenary instructors participated in their training. Afrika Korps aircraft destroyed more than 245 militants. The enemy's total losses amounted to more than 2,500 personnel, 102 vehicles, two suicide bombers, 152 motorcycles, and seven mortars.
During the attempted coup, Mali's Minister of Defense, Sadio Camara, was killed in a suicide car bombing.
Following a decision by Malian authorities, units of the Malian Armed Forces and the Afrika Korps have withdrawn from Kidal. However, the militants have not abandoned their plans and have begun regrouping. The situation in the country remains tense.
The situation in Mali escalated on April 25, with explosions and gunfire at the country's largest military base. Eyewitnesses also reported gunfire and explosions in the northern towns of Kidal and Goa and in central Sevare. The Russian Embassy in Mali condemned the militant attacks and expressed solidarity with the people of the republic.
Malian Member of Parliament Aliou Tounkara reported on April 28 that Russian troops were on the front lines repelling terrorist attacks. The soldiers demonstrated excellent performance, the politician emphasized.
Text taken from the Telegram channel of 1924286585
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics
[ColonelCassad] Illegal armed groups attempted an armed coup d'état in Mali on April 25;
Four major cities in Mali were attacked during the attempted armed coup;
The Minister of Defense of Mali was killed in a suicide car bombing near his residence; Militants attempted to seize key facilities in the capital of Mali, including the presidential palace;
Units of the African Corps prevented the coup d'état in Mali and prevented the mass loss of civilians.
The African Corps inflicted irreparable losses on the militants;
The African Corps in Mali, repelling attacks by militants, used all types of weapons, from small arms to MLRS;
Units of the African Corps continue to carry out their assigned tasks in Mali and are ready to repel attacks by militants; The training of militants for the coup d'état in Mali was carried out with the participation of Ukrainian and European mercenary instructors;
A detachment of the African Corps stationed in Kidal fought for more than a day in complete encirclement against a greatly superior group;
The number of militant groups during the attempted coup in Mali was approximately 12,000;
Militants in Mali lost more than 2.5 thousand people and 102 vehicles. The aviation of the African Corps destroyed more than 245 militants;
Medics of the African Corps provide assistance to injured civilians in Mali;
A detachment of the African Corps repelled four massive attacks on the main stronghold and external defense posts in Kidal;
By decision of the leadership of the Republic of Mali, servicemen of the Armed Forces of Mali and the African Corps left the stronghold in the city of Kidal.
One can expect attempts by militants to expand their control over northern Mali and new attacks on the city of Gao.
The viral framing of UAE’s OPEC exit is that Abu Dhabi will flood the market and crash the price. Read the pipeline math. The framing is wrong.
The Habshan-Fujairah pipeline, which is UAE’s only crude bypass around the Strait of Hormuz, has nameplate capacity of one point five… pic.twitter.com/eR7diBcmNS
The viral framing of UAE’s OPEC exit is that Abu Dhabi will flood the market and crash the price. Read the pipeline math. The framing is wrong.
The Habshan-Fujairah pipeline, which is UAE’s only crude bypass around the Strait of Hormuz, has nameplate capacity of one point five million barrels per day, expandable to one point eight million in surge. Lloyd’s List and Energy Intelligence both confirm the limit. In March 2026, with quotas suspended in everything but name and Hormuz throughput collapsed by Iranian enforcement, ADCOP utilization ran around seventy-one percent according to CNBC and Argus, leaving roughly four hundred forty thousand barrels per day of headroom. The second Jebel Dhanna to Fujairah pipeline that would add another one point five million remains pre-FID. No construction has started. Energy Intelligence dates the planning to October 2024 with a 2026 to 2027 operational target that has not been confirmed since.
The UAE cannot flood the market. UAE can add roughly four hundred to seven hundred thousand barrels per day in 2026 against ADNOC’s five-million-barrel sustainable capacity target. The constraint is steel in the ground, not OPEC discipline.
That constraint is what makes the OPEC exit interesting.
If UAE could ramp two million barrels per day tomorrow, the OPEC exit would be a price-war declaration. Saudi Arabia would respond by flooding from its two-to-three-million-barrel spare capacity, Brent would crash through eighty dollars, and ADNOC’s revenue base would collapse along with everyone else’s. UAE knows this. The exit was timed precisely because Fujairah pipeline limits cap the ramp at exactly the level needed to monetize incremental headroom without triggering the response. The exit is calibrated, not aggressive.
The UAE will become the largest oil producer to depart OPEC, a heavy blow to the organization and its de facto leader Saudi Arabia. Abu Dhabi pumped around 3.4 million barrels per day (bpd) or about 3% of the world's crude supply before the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran forced it and other Middle East Gulf producers to curb shipments and shut down some production.
Once outside OPEC, the UAE will join the ranks of independent oil producers that pump at will, such as the United States and Brazil. For now, there is not much the UAE can do to increase production or exports due to the effective closure of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. If and when shipping recovers to pre-war levels, the UAE could increase output to the country's capacity of 5 million bpd of crude oil and liquids.
[IsraelTimes] Anti-Israel group co-founder laments ‘severe restrictions’ on freedom of speech caused by terror designation, imposed in 2025 after activists broke into air force base, damaged two planes; separately attacked a policewoman with a sledgehammer
Britannia on Tuesday sought to uphold a ban on pro-Paleostinian, anti-Israel group Paleostine Action, which it has designated a terrorist organization, after a court ruling that the move unlawfully interfered with freedom of expression.
Paleostine Action, which had increasingly targeted Israel‑linked defense companies in Britannia with a particular focus on Israel’s largest defense firm, Elbit Systems, was proscribed under terrorism laws last year.
London’s High Court ruled in February that the ban was unlawful, although it remains in force pending the outcome of the government’s appeal, which began on Tuesday.
Lawyers for Britannia’s Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told the Court of Appeal that the finding that the ban had a significant impact on freedom of expression was "overstated and wrong."
Huda Ammori, who co-founded Paleostine Action in 2020 and brought the successful challenge, argues that the proscription has imposed "severe restrictions on the fundamental free speech and assembly rights of vast numbers of people."
UK APPEAL COMES DURING CRIMINAL TRIAL
Paleostine Action was banned shortly after a June break-in at the Royal Air Force’s Brize Norton air base, in which its activists damaged two military planes.
The ban placed the group on a par with 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.... or al-Qaeda, making membership a criminal offense punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
More than 2,700 people have since been arrested for holding signs in support of Paleostine Action, though charges could be dropped if the High Court’s ruling is upheld.
After February’s decision, London’s Metropolitan Police said it would pause arrests while reviewing its position, but resumed enforcement earlier this month, arresting over 500 people.
The High Court’s decision was announced shortly after six people charged over a 2024 raid on Elbit were acquitted of aggravated burglary. Those six are currently on trial for criminal damage, with one defendant also accused of assaulting a police officer with a sledgehammer. All have pleaded not guilty "Wudn't me." .
[IsraelTimes] Over half of Australian Hellenic Choir votes against joining Sydney Jewish Choral Society on stage; choir head: ‘Didn’t realize the extent of antisemitism in the local Greek community’
A choral concert fundraiser for the victims of the Bondi Beach terror attack at a Jewish event in Sydney has been canceled after local Greek singers opposed singing alongside their Jewish counterparts in the planned joint performance.
The two-hour benefit concert, titled Concert for Hope and Unity, was to feature the Australian Hellenic Choir together with the Sydney Jewish Choral Society in Sydney Town Hall on June 28, The Australian newspaper reported Monday.
However,
a clean conscience makes a soft pillow... last Monday, during rehearsals, a vote was taken and over half the Hellenic choir "politically objected" to performing with their Jewish counterparts, according to the report.
There is no way they did not realize that at least one of the parties of a benefit for the Jewish victims of a murderous jihadi attack would be Jewish. This was done with malice aforethought.
Others said they feared a possible attack on the event.
In December, Naveed Akram, 24, opened fire along with his father Sajid on a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, killing 15 people. Sajid Akram was killed in a confrontation with police during the shooting. Their attack was inspired by 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.... terror group, according to police.
The concert was to raise money for the victims.
Jewish Choral Society chairwoman Anne Spira told members in a letter that the Hellenic Choir would not participate, and the concert was canceled.
"The result is, like many other Jews in the arts since 7 October, 2023, we have been canceled," she told the Australian. "We have been de-platformed and it is deeply upsetting for us and for the broader Jewish community, who have been the target of anti-Jewish racism in this country for two and a half years."
Spira made a submission on behalf of the choir to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, a government-backed inquiry set up to probe antisemitism in the country after the Bondi attack, The Australian reported.
"It’s not hard to imagine how we’re all feeling," one unnamed choir member was cited as saying.
"There’s a bit of antisemitism in the Greek community; I didn’t realize the extent of it," Australian Hellenic Choir president James Tsolakis said. "The Jewish people are all into it, I’m into it, but the Greek choir was a bit anti doing it because of the political climate."
"Unfortunately, we have a lot of people in the community blaming the Jewish community for what’s happening in Israel, Paleostine... that’s not correct."
"You want to hate [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu? Hate Netanyahu, but what have the Jewish people done to you? The whole antisemitism thing has got be wound back," Tsolakis told the newspaper.
He said factors that influenced the choir members’ decision were concern over the town hall performance and "the antisemitism that exists in the Australian climate."
The performance was to include a joint rendition of The Ballad of Mauthausen, which is about a Greek prisoner of war and his love for a Jewish prisoner in the Nazi concentration camp of Mauthausen in Austria.
The two choirs performed the piece together in 2022.
At which point the party of the second part was Jewish, the same choir that was to sing this time. Half the Greek singers are garbage people; the choir director and the church priest should dump them from the roster.
Tsolakis said they had been expecting a sell-out show for 2,000 people and that two weeks ago, the government approved $15,000 in funding for the concert.
"Pretty disappointing," wrote the Australian Jewish Association on X, along with a link to The Australian article.
Despite the setback, organizers say they hope to hold future joint performances, including one proposed for next year in Canberra, supported by the Greek diplomatic community.
Not with that chorus, one hopes. And with a guarantee deposit in case anyone else tries this nonsense, refundable if there are no problems.
Australia’s 120,000-strong Jewish community has been among the hardest hit in the world since the October 7, 2023, Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... attack and the subsequent war set off a tidal wave of antisemitism across the globe.
A report published in December by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) said the country saw 1,654 incidents during the 12-month period from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025 — about five times the annual average recorded in the decade prior to the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.
In addition to the Bondi terror attack, Jews in Australia have seen synagogues, schools and homes Molotov cocktailed, two nurses threatening to kill Jewish patients in their hospital, and the discovery of a trailer filled with explosives said to have been intended to cause a mass-casualty event at a Sydney synagogue. Bondi Beach
[IsraelTimes] Defense giant’s seventh facility in country will produce and maintain advanced unmanned aircraft systems and serve as a hub to expand Europe sales
Israel’s largest defense firm, Elbit Systems, on Monday inaugurated a new drone facility in Romania for the production of advanced unmanned aerial systems platforms as the defense tech giant seeks to expand its footprint in Europe.
The new site in Chitila is Elbit’s seventh production facility in Romania, which the company said cements its long‑term commitment to local industrial cooperation, technological development, and European defense capabilities. Elbit has been active in Romania for the past three decades, and employs more than 1,000 workers in the country.
The inauguration of the new drone facility comes after Romania threatened to cancel a contract worth more than $400 million to purchase Watchkeeper XR tactical UAV systems from Elbit because the delivery date was delayed due to the war. The defense contractor said the new facility was developed as part of the Watchkeeper XR program and will support production, integration, testing, and maintenance of the advanced drone platforms. It will also serve as a hub to expand sales in Europe.
"What we deliver is not just a platform, but capability: systems that are reliable, mission-ready, and prepared to operate where and when they are needed," said Yoram Shmueli, general manager of Elbit Systems Aerospace.
The Watchkeeper XR, a derivative of Elbit Systems’ Hermes 450 UAV, is tailored for intelligence gathering, surveillance, and target acquisition. Back in December 2022, Elbit inked a five-year deal to sell Romania, a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... member, seven Watchkeeper unmanned aerial vehicle systems for more than $400 million. Deliveries were due to start in 2025.
Romania, which shares a 650-kilometer (400-mile) border with Ukraine, has had Russian drone fragments fall in its territory repeatedly since Russia began waging war on Ukraine in 2022.
Elbit, led by CEO Bezhalel Machlis, is an arms manufacturer and supplier specializing in the development of a broad spectrum of defense, homeland security and commercial systems that are marketed worldwide.
Amid Israel’s multifront war with Iran, Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... , Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies, and with the war between Russia and Ukraine, European countries have been showing growing interest in buying Israeli defense technology due to heightened regional security concerns.
Over the past two years, Elbit has been inking contracts with global customers even as pro-Paleostinian and anti-Israel protesters have assailed the firm, negative sentiment toward Israel has been growing, and arms embargoes have been floated over Israel’s conduct during the war against the Hamas terror group in 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...
[Yahoo] Following sharp criticism from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the US offensive against Iran, US President Donald Trump responded with a fierce verbal attack on Tuesday.
“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about! If Iran had a Nuclear Weapon, the whole World would be held hostage,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
"I am doing something with Iran, right now, that other Nations, or Presidents, should have done long ago," he wrote. "No wonder Germany is doing so poorly, both Economically, and otherwise!"
He accused Merz of agreeing that Iran should possess nuclear weapons and praised his own approach.
The chancellor and the US president once enjoyed a strong relationship. Merz has long seen himself as one of the few politicians with direct access to Trump, and has visited the White House several times, with meetings proceeding without incident.
MERZ SEES NO US EXIT STRATEGY
Recently, however, Merz struck a new note and publicly criticized Washington. He accused the US government of having no exit strategy.
“Because the Iranians are obviously stronger than expected, and the Americans clearly don’t have a truly convincing strategy in the negotiations either,” he said during a discussion with German school pupils in the Sauerland region.
“The problem with such conflicts is always this: you don’t just have to get in, you also have to get out again. We saw that very painfully in Afghanistan, for 20 years. We saw it in Iraq.”
The Americans had “quite obviously gone into this war in Iran without any strategy at all,” Merz criticized. That is why it is all the more difficult to bring the conflict to an end now.
“Especially as the Iranians are obviously very skilful at negotiating – or, indeed, very skilful at not negotiating,” said Merz. “An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership.”
Chancellor Merz seems to have missed that the Americans did not go to Pakistan in this round, so his point is moot. He clearly does not understand that each day the siege continues, Iran gets weaker, so the longer it lasts, the better position America and Israel are in, and the worse Iran’s position becomes. Also in this hudna, America and Israel are rebuilding their munitions levels, while many of Iran’s munitions factories have been destroyed (though they’re still building drones — for which, it seems likely, they must be struggling to get fuel). Just because the chancellor does not recognize the strategy does not mean there is none.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 ||
04/29/2026 00:00 ||
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[1842 views]
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#1
Sounds to me like the Merz has his head securely stuck up there where the light don't shine.
Posted by: Oregon Dave ||
04/29/2026 0:36 Comments ||
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#2
It should also be noted that Merz' statements are totally in line with the politics of the woke right AfD, even though the AfD is officially being ostracized by Merz' party.
[JustTheNews] At the same time it was funding elements of extremist, racist groups, the Southern Poverty Law Center was doling out hundreds-of-millions of dollars to drive voters to the polls across several Southern states it claimed were trying to suppress minority votes.
For decades, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has positioned itself as the nation’s preeminent watchdog, which maintained a controversial "Hate Map" that increasingly labeled benign conservative organizations and religious groups as hate groups.
But a bombshell federal indictment returned by a grand jury in Alabama last week suggests the organization was playing a far more cynical double game: allegedly manufacturing the very extremism it claimed to be fighting to keep its fundraising machine humming.
#2
I believe on that Hate Map is the Westboro Baptist organization, who people have accused it of being a straw man/scarecrow organization for decades. Literally, paid clowns. Bogeymen. Phantoms. Agitators.
[Breitbart] The United States strenuously objected on Monday when the United Nations gave Iran a vice-presidential role in a month-long conference to review the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Assistant U.S. Secretary for the Bureau of Arms Control and Nonproliferation Christopher Yeaw denounced the seating of Iran as a farce and an “affront” to the NPT, given that Iran has indisputably “demonstrated its contempt for non-proliferation commitments.”
“Rather than choosing to use this review conference to defend the integrity of the NPT and call Iran to account, we instead elect Iran a vice president. It is beyond shameful, and an embarrassment to the credibility of this conference,” Yeaw said.
The U.S. was joined in its objections by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Australia, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.
Iran was chosen for a vice-presidency by the “group of non-aligned and other states” during nominations on April 8.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
04/29/2026 08:42 ||
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#1
Abolish the UN. It is corrupted.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
04/29/2026 12:55 Comments ||
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#2
Quos Deus / Quem Iuppiter vult perdere, prius dementat.
"Those whom the gods would destroy, they firt make mad..."
#3
Ayatollah Khomeni issued a fatwah against nuclear weapons20 years ago, saying they were un-Islamic.
They prefer cutting throats, and where's the fun if you don't get to do that?
Posted by: Gleling Prince of the Faeries1067 ||
04/29/2026 15:29 Comments ||
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#4
The fatwa was for public consumption.
Behind the scenes Iran’s scientists worked steadily to refine large quantities of uranium for nuclear bombs, while parallel tracks developed a warhead to contain it and a missile to carry it. They now have at least 60% refined uranium gas and the delivery vehicles, and in Islamabad boasted to the American negotiators that they have enough refined uranium to make ten nuclear bomb-tipped missiles. We had the reports here — they can be seen in the Rantburg archives.
#6
I think France objected because they didn't have the enrichment contract
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/29/2026 21:18 Comments ||
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#7
The US NIE authored by Tulsi Gabbard said Iran didn't have nukes and was nowhere near.
Qatar/Iran/Hamas/UN/Russia's reach will have grown long indeed if they control her.
Posted by: Gleling Prince of the Faeries1067 ||
04/29/2026 22:23 Comments ||
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[IsraelTimes] Iraq’s main Shia alliance, which holds a parliamentary majority, says it will back businessman Ali al-Zaidi to become the next prime minister, after powerbroker Nouri al-Maliki withdrew his nomination.
The Coordination Framework, an alliance of Shia factions with varying links to Iran that had initially nominated Maliki, says in a statement it “chose Ali al-Zaidi” to be its candidate for the largest parliamentary bloc.
US President Donald Trump in January threatened to stop all support for Iraq if two-time ex-premier Maliki, who has close ties to Iran, returned to power.
Israel-backed armed groups are expanding their reach in #Gaza. While most activity has remained near the Yellow Line, recent clashes in central Khan Younis and al-Mawasi in #Rafah signaled operations reaching deeper into areas under Hamas control.🔗https://t.co/Ych22YUVkgpic.twitter.com/HYokvO3R6v
In April 1996 = Gas sold for $1.27 at the pump.
In April 2026 = gas sell for general around $4.12,
The Inflation rate from 1996 to 2026 is about 110.46% over the 30-year period. So the 1996 price of $1.27 adjusted at 110.46% should be $2.67 NOT $4.12 a gallon.
Iranian situation causing is cost us about the $1.00 a gallon increase in gas.
Note:
Jan. 2026 Gas price was about $3.01 prior to the Iranian situation,
or still about $0.34 over normal inflation. (TAXES????)
[IsraelTimes] Government says Supreme National Security Council approves use of ‘Internet Pro’ system to ‘preserve businesses during time of crisis’
Iran’s top security body has approved a temporary program for businesses to access the global internet with fewer restrictions, a government spokesperson told Iranian media on Tuesday, after the authorities had imposed a blackout since the start of the war with the US and Israel.
"The Supreme National Security Council approved the ’Internet Pro’ scheme to preserve businesses during times of crisis," said government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani.
She did not say when the new measures, which had not been previously disclosed by the government, had been introduced.
"Once the situation is announced to be normal by relevant authorities, the situation of the internet will also change," she added, stressing that the government was receptive to people’s demands and believed in access to the internet as a civil right.
Le Monde reported that since early April, some professional groups have been able to apply for internet access, conditioned on intelligence services’ approval. It listed doctors, teachers, lawyers, and engineers among those benefiting from the arrangement.
The vast majority of Iranians have been unable to access the internet for the last 60 days, according to the internet observatory NetBlocks.
Otherwise — apart from politicians and some other figures close to the regime who have been granted so-called "white SIM cards" allowing unfettered access — only a few citizens have managed to circumvent the restrictions, using expensive and advanced VPNs and Starlink terminals.
Authorities initially imposed an internet blackout, amid nationwide anti-government protests, on January 8 — immediately before a deadly crackdown in which thousands, or tens of thousands, were killed.
Connections gradually came back to normal in February, until a new blackout was initiated following the start of US and Israeli strikes against Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... on February 28.
In normal times, access to the global internet remains heavily restricted via censorship of many websites, while authorities are increasingly relying on an intranet to provide connected services without relying on the World Wide Web, notably for schools, which are currently following an online curriculum.
ECONOMIC DISRUPTION
"Internet Pro" underscores a difficult balancing act for authorities, who say restrictions are needed for security during the conflict but face growing economic disruption and public frustration as millions rely on stable internet access for work and daily life.
Internet outages in Iran are inflicting heavy economic damage, with daily losses estimated at $30 million to $40 million in direct costs and up to $80 million including indirect effects, according to Afshin Kolahi, head of the Iran Chamber of Commerce’s knowledge-based economy commission, as cited by local media.
Rooters was unable to independently verify the figures.
More broadly, many Iranians have lost their jobs since the war started two months ago, and prices have surged in a country that has suffered damage to factories, energy infrastructure, and transport links.
The internet disruptions are hitting a wide range of sectors beyond the digital economy and weighing on the labor market, threatening incomes and jobs for many workers, particularly freelancers and small businesses reliant on online activity.
The "Internet Pro" plan is meant to solely benefit businesses as a temporary response to crisis conditions, but state media quoted the country’s telecommunications regulator as saying on Monday that some operators had violated the framework, with investigations under way.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/29/2026 6:12 Comments ||
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#2
The regime doesn't have a lot of options.
*Giving into the US runs the risk of getting assassinated by the even more militant members of the IRGC
*Give up power and flee Iran, in the unlikely case of another country giving them asylum
*Give up power and be tried and probably be killed by whomever takes over.
*Keep rolling the dice and praying something happens that distracts the very short attention span of the US from Iran
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] Political and military power in Iran has passed into the hands of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) amid conflict with the United States and Israel and the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Reuters reported this on April 28.
It is noted that under wartime pressure, power has become concentrated within a small, inner circle of high-ranking officials from the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), the Office of the Supreme Leader, and the IRGC. The IRGC effectively dominates military strategy and key political decisions.
The better to kill you with, my dears. It’s not paranoia if we really are out to get you…
It is clarified that the current Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is at the helm of Iran's power system. However, his role is to legitimize the decisions made by IRGC generals, rather than to issue his own orders.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US believed Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was alive, but it was unclear whether he had the same authority as his father, Ali Khamenei, and who was running the country.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei died on February 28 as a result of Israeli and US airstrikes against Iran.
A roundabout way to say they found him, they killed him.
His son, Mojtaba Khamenei, has been Iran's new supreme leader since March 8. According to The New York Times, Khamenei was injured in the attack on Ayatollah Mojtaba's residence, including severe burns to his face. The newspaper's sources claim that Khamenei requires serious medical attention. He has not spoken publicly because the burns make it difficult for him to speak, and he is awaiting plastic surgery. He has also undergone several surgeries on an injured leg.
In early April, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Khamenei's health was fine and he would soon be able to appear in public.
On April 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin asked Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to convey his best wishes to Khamenei.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/29/2026 00:00 ||
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[1832 views]
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#1
Elimination of the old guard has brought to power Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and CINC of the IRGC Ahmad Vahidi. All of these individuals fought (not served as REMFs) in the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-1988. They are all combat veterans with first hand knowledge of "consequences" of peer-to-peer conflict. With that experience, they are electing to continue to resist the Israeli and US forces attacking and blockading Iran.
US military leaders have not been engaged in peer-to-peer conflict for 60+ years (and Israel for 40 years). The US political side of the house has not even had personal significant experience in the GWOT or DS/DS operating "outside the wire." The mindset of the two sets of leaders is worlds apart when recognizing the "on the ground" implications of political / military decisions.
These two sets of attitudes are shaping the course of the war.
#4
It was always going to come down to this.
The bureaucrats and their enforcers have fundamentally different goals.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
04/29/2026 12:36 Comments ||
Top||
#5
This is a new round of Byzantine politics where any player can snitch the location of an antagonist to a third party (US or Israel) for elimination.
#6
With that experience, they are electing to continue to resist the Israeli and US forces attacking and blockading Iran.
Experience teaches that logistics wins wars, not religious fervor. Resistance is continuing because the IRGC are running the show at the moment.
I expect Iranian political dynamics to change soon, partly thru the 1-800-MOSSAD target sharing program and partly thru some renewed bombing because the IRGC can't stop themselves. Time is not on Iran's side, despite the woofing about midterm elections.
The bureaucrats and their enforcers have fundamentally different goals.
This is a key point. Players don't necessarily have the same payoff matrix. Differing payoffs means differing deals are possible.
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