Hi there, !
Today Tue 06/09/2026 Mon 06/08/2026 Sun 06/07/2026 Sat 06/06/2026 Fri 06/05/2026 Thu 06/04/2026 Wed 06/03/2026 Archives
Rantburg
582797 articles and 1984932 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 50 articles and 93 comments as of 7:09.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion    Local News    Politix   
IDF kills Hezbollah chief engineer; 3 troops hurt in Lebanon clashes
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
0 [1776] 
1 09:48 Super Hose [1783] 
5 12:01 Skidmark [1788] 
0 [1773] 
2 07:07 SteveS [1788] 
4 11:18 NN2N1 [1819] 
0 [1803] 
4 11:20 NN2N1 [1819] 
0 [1762] 
0 [1797] 
0 [1764] 
0 [1775] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
0 [1770]
1 11:58 swksvolFF [1786]
0 [1765]
11 18:25 Frank G [1816]
0 [1826]
0 [1836]
3 07:45 Besoeker [1822]
0 [1791]
0 [1785]
0 [1792]
0 [1767]
0 [1777]
Page 3: Non-WoT
5 18:41 Sheba tse Tung9505 [1794]
0 [1759]
0 [1758]
2 09:49 Skidmark [1778]
0 [1767]
0 [1791]
0 [1771]
0 [1760]
3 12:25 DarthVader [1822]
0 [1763]
2 07:54 Warthog [1851]
Page 4: Opinion
3 13:35 Grom the Reflective [1797]
1 09:45 Skidmark [1769]
0 [1764]
1 05:38 Besoeker [1781]
5 14:11 Skidmark [1803]
Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
1 11:31 DarthVader [1769]
3 14:14 Skidmark [1866]
0 [1768]
1 12:09 Skidmark [1769]
Page 6: Politix
8 14:56 Besoeker [1806]
5 08:05 Skidmark [1808]
2 09:26 Super Hose [1768]
5 12:07 Abu Uluque [1768]
7 14:52 Besoeker [1821]
6 13:28 NoMoreBS [1853]
-Lurid Crime Tales-
San Francisco streets are reeling from deadly drug 20x more powerful than fentanyl
[NY Post] Oh good!
"Hey man, are you sure that's not isotonitazene?"
"Naaahhh it's OK, it's just fentanyl"

The streets of San Francisco are awash with a new drug called ISO that’s twenty times more potent than deadly fentanyl – and officials are sounding the alarm.

The killer counterfeit opioid isotonitazene – known on the streets as ISO – claimed its first life in the drug-ravaged city in April, San Francisco Health Department officials said in an alert issued that month.

San Francisco health officials said ISO was blended with another synthetic opioid called cychlorphine in the overdose death announced April 23. ISO is cheap and many times more powerful than fentanyl – making for a potential crisis.

Posted by: Frank G || 06/06/2026 01:38 || Comments || Link || [1819 views] Top|| File under: Narcos

#1  San Francisco health officials said ISO was blended with another synthetic opioid called cychlorphine in the overdose death announced April 23. ISO is cheap and many times more powerful than fentanyl – making for a potential crisis.

You see? They really are solving their own problems.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/06/2026 6:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Think of it as evolution in action.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 06/06/2026 11:29 Comments || Top||

#3  ^😎
Posted by: Grom the Reflective || 06/06/2026 12:00 Comments || Top||

#4 

Having built up a tolerance to fentanyl.
Their voters demanded something with a little more UMMP to it.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 06/06/2026 12:18 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
They Once Fought For Boko Haram. Now They Fight For Nigeria
[HumangleMedia] Officials say that former insurgents are helping in the fight against terrorism. But for people who suffered Boko Haram’s violence, seeing these men return as state allies brings back fear, anger, and painful memories.

SUMMARY
In northeastern Nigeria, former Boko Haram insurgents, now assisting the military, provide essential insights into insurgent strategies and terrain, enhancing operational effectiveness.

This collaboration, however, creates complex dynamics, including trust issues with soldiers and resentment among victims' communities who perceive insurgents as receiving privileges over them.

Despite the utility of former insurgents in intelligence and military operations, Nigeria faces challenges in adequately distinguishing their reintegration while ensuring justice and compensation for victims, raising concerns about long-term viability and social cohesion.

The state's reliance on ex-insurgents must balance military gains with sustainable reintegration, ensuring that victims' recovery is prioritized to prevent deepening societal fractures.

More at the link
Posted by: badanov || 06/06/2026 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1764 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram (ISIS)


Mozambique Conflict Monitor Update: 3 June 2026
[ACLEDDATA] BY THE NUMBERS
Data highlights in Cabo Delgado province (18 - 31 May 2026)

At least 8 political violence events (2,397 in total since 1 October 2017)

At least 8 total reported fatalities from political violence (6,624 since 1 October 2017)

At least 6 reported civilian fatalities (2,768 since 1 October 2017)

At least 6 political violence events involving ISM across Mozambique (2,214 since 1 October 2017)

OVERVIEW
On 25 May, Islamic State Mozambique (ISM) was able to fire mortars at a Mozambican military position on the edges of Macomia, illustrating how fragile the town’s security is. At least three other violent incidents occurred in the town, with some residents blaming the security forces, who in turn blame ISM. To the south, ISM militants remain in Chiúre, though their motivation to be there remains unclear. On the coast, insurgents hijacked at least 12 boats in waters off Mocímboa da Praia and Macomia, illustrating the inability of the Mozambican navy to provide security to boat owners and operators.

SITUATION SUMMARY: INSECURITY THREATENS STATE CONTROL OF MACOMIA TOWN
Despite a significant military presence, with both Mozambican and Rwandan troops deployed in the town, Macomia remains unsafe for both residents and the military. Overall insecurity and a looming ISM presence threaten the state’s control of the town. On 20 May, unidentified armed men shot and killed a man in the Napulubo area of town. The victim, known as Mussa, dealt in fish from the coast. Sources say that armed men had entered the man’s home looking for him one week earlier. Sources differ on the identity of the killers. A security source claimed it was ISM, though local residents say it was the security forces.

Also on 20 May, unidentified armed men raided another businessman’s house in the Nanga A area. The target was not home, and the attackers seized some goods. On 31 May, shots were heard again in the area, with a source saying that the attackers were targeting the same businessman again.

On the southern side of the town, on 25 May, ISM fighters fired five mortars at a Defense Armed Forces of Mozambique (FADM) camp in the CETA area along the road connecting the Macomia town and the Xinavane area to the southwest, according to a claim released by the Islamic State (IS) the following day. No damage or fatalities were reported.

Suspected ISM fighters killed a man in Litamanda village, about 40 kilometers north of Macomia on the N380 road on 21 May. Global Islamic State (IS) media issued a claim for the attack, describing the victim as a “Christian fighter,” though a local source says he was with his family at the time.

INSURGENTS REACH THE LÚRIO RIVER IN CHIÚRE
ISM has remained in regular contact with IS media managers as it has moved south toward the Lúrio river. IS issued four claims for attacks by its Mozambique affiliate in Chiúre and Namuno districts between 19 and 27 May. As is normal during such sorties, there was minimal reaction from state forces. For an attack on Namoro village in Chiúre district, IS media claimed that ISM killed a member of the “infidel militia,” likely a civilian or Naparama militia member, and burned a church and other property. IS also claimed that the insurgents killed one Mozambican soldier in a clash with a patrol on 27 May, also in Chiúre district.

The objective of this move south is not clear. By 21 May, the group was close to the Lúrio river when they attacked Ingonane village, burning a church. According to one local source, the group wanted to cross to Nampula in order to sell gold they had taken from the Ravia mines in Meluco in April. They may also have wanted to collect recruits from Nampula. There is no evidence yet that they crossed the river.

More at the link
Posted by: badanov || 06/06/2026 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1775 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
CNN: Israel sent special forces to Azerbaijan for war with Iran
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] Israel has secretly deployed elite units to Azerbaijan to fight Iran. CNN reported this on June 5, citing sources.

According to the report, during the active phase of the armed conflict, several dozen Israeli special forces were deployed in southern Azerbaijan, performing intelligence gathering and drone control missions. Specifically, Israeli forces were stationed just 100 kilometers from Tabriz, Iran, where the airstrikes were carried out.

It is also specified that the key operation carried out from the territory of Azerbaijan was the liquidation of the head of the intelligence unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Rahman Moghaddam on March 4.

However, the Azerbaijani Embassy in the United States denied this information, stating that the allegations were unfounded.

The US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, killing over a thousand people in three months. The Islamic Republic responded with strikes against its adversaries in several Middle Eastern countries. Since early April, Tehran and Washington have been engaged in unsuccessful negotiations. Iran later began blocking shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, and the US, in turn, blockaded Iranian ports.

Nevertheless, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that peace negotiations are progressing very well and are nearing completion. On May 24, he said that a deal with Iran was practically finalized and included the opening of the Strait of Hormuz. Trump clarified that the final details of the document were still being discussed, and he named Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Pakistan among the countries involved in the negotiations. The president also estimated the chances of reaching an agreement with Tehran at 50-50.

Posted by: badanov || 06/06/2026 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1762 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
France opens 'war crime' probe over Israel's treatment of flotilla activists
[IsraelTimes] Investigation launched at government’s request; two of more than 30 French activists aboard flotilla said to still be hospitalized; Israel denies abuse allegations

La Belle France has opened an investigation into an alleged "war crime" as well as "torture" over Israel’s treatment of French citizens who took part in the recent 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...
-bound activist flotilla, a prosecutor’s office said Friday.

The probe was opened at the government’s request, the national counterterrorism prosecutor’s office (PNAT) said, after activists accused Israeli authorities of mistreatment during their detention last month.

Israel detained more than 430 activists from countries around the world after intercepting them in international waters beginning on May 18 as they made the latest in a string of attempts to break Israel’s blockade of the territory.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir then sparked widespread condemnation, both in Israel and abroad, after he posted a video mocking the flotilla activists while they were bound and kneeling.

La Belle France was one of multiple countries to ban Ben Gvir from entry over the incident.

Several French activists described what they said was a violent mostly peaceful and humiliating ordeal when eight of them returned to La Belle France on May 22. Two of the more than 30 French citizens who were on board the flotilla were still hospitalized in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
, they told news hounds.

One returnee described a soldier groping and slapping her in a dark container, and being terrified that she would be raped.

Another recounted detained activists being put in what she called a "stress position," on their knees with their foreheads on the ground for several hours, while the Israeli national anthem played on repeat.

The Israel Prison Service has previously denied the flotilla activists’ claims of abuse, saying all of those detained were held "in accordance with the law, with full regard for their basic rights," and received necessary and professional medical care.

Asked by AFP to respond to the claims of physical and psychological violence, sexual harassment, assault and rape, the Israel Prison Service said the accusations were "entirely without factual basis."

Ireland bans Smotrich, Ben Gvir for anti-Palestinian remarks, flotilla actions

[IsraelTimes] Irish PM cast comments by ministers as pushing for ‘elimination of Palestinians from Palestine,’ says behavior justifies sanctions at EU level.
As if Smotrich and Ben Gvir had any interest in visiting Ireland anyway.

Posted by: trailing wife || 06/06/2026 2026-06-06 03:46 || Comments || Link || [1788 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Ohferfukssake (old Bavarian term).
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/06/2026 6:31 Comments || Top||

#2  Do you have to be at war with someone before you can commit 'war crimes'? Asking for a friend.
Posted by: SteveS || 06/06/2026 8:07 Comments || Top||


Fifth Column
Lakeside man among three arrested on suspicion of conspiring to support ISIS terror group
[SDUT] Sub Geniuses
The FBI arrested three men Friday, including a Lakeside man, for allegedly conspiring to support ISIS, including by providing funds they believed would go toward a plot to kill U.S. servicemembers overseas, according to the Department of Justice.

Bereen Dzayee, 25, of Lakeside, is charged along with Bisaam Ghafoor, 21, of Leawood, Kan., and Elias Shamsaldeen, 21, of Porterville, in Tulare County. The three were arrested in San Diego, Sacramento and Kansas City on Friday morning, the DOJ said.

Prosecutors allege the men collectively gave $2,000 to someone they believed was a member of ISIS, which has been designated as a terror organization by the U.S., with the belief that the money would go toward purchasing rocket-propelled grenades and drones.
"I would give more, but I need gas to get to work at the mosque Monday"
A complaint filed in Kansas federal court alleges the men exchanged messages over the course of more than a year detailing their intentions, which included traveling out of the country to fight for ISIS, the DOJ alleges.

Prosecutors said Dzayee suggested U.S. Special Forces be targeted by drones in an attack, while Shamsaldeen allegedly said he wanted to stab and injure a U.S. servicemember.

The DOJ also claimed Ghafoor said it would be "sick" if his name was written on a drone used in an attack, allegedly said he wanted to behead a female soldier, and said, "I wish I could kill 300,000,000 Americans."
/Dr. Evil: "One Beeellion!"
Posted by: Frank G || 06/06/2026 01:19 || Comments || Link || [1803 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Home Front: Politix
Mamdani-backed Congress candidate defends joining Oct. 8 rally celebrating Hamas atrocities
[IsraelTimes] Darializa Avila Chevalier says participation in event that feted Israeli deaths was part of her longstanding advocacy for the ‘human rights of Palestinians’

Darializa Avila Chevalier, a candidate for Congress in New York City, has defended participating in an anti-Israel, pro-Hamas rally on October 8, 2023, the day after the Hamas onslaught in Israel, an event that saw participants celebrate the high number of Israeli fatalities in the worst terror attack in the Jewish state’s history.

Avila Chevalier, 32, is running against US Rep. Adriano Espaillat for New York’s 13th Congressional District in Upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx.

Avila Chevalier is a far-left, anti-Israel activist, and while Espaillat has longstanding progressive bona fides, he is a centrist Democrat when it comes to Israel.

The race is another test case for how anti-Israel activism is roiling US politics, particularly on the left, and illustrates the struggle between the Democratic Party’s centrist establishment and its far-left wing.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed Avila Chevalier last week, giving her campaign a major boost. Espaillat had endorsed Mamdani in the general election and Mamdani had reportedly pledged to support Espaillat’s congressional run. Mamdani’s about-face shook confidence in his trustworthiness among some political operatives in the city, Politico reported.

Images of Avila Chevalier at the anti-Israel rally over two-and-a-half years ago circulated after the endorsement. Avila Chevalier was not well known at the time and her participation in the rally had been previously reported by Canary Mission.

Times of Israel footage from the rally showed Avila Chevalier, wearing a keffiyeh, standing next to a protester holding a sign that said, “Zionism is genocide.”

The Times Square rally was largely a celebration of the Hamas invasion, which saw terrorist invaders slaughter more than 1,200 people in southern Israel, mostly civilians, and take 251 hostage.

The demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and chanted, “Resistance is justified,” “Globalize the intifada,” and “Smash the settler Zionist state.” They mocked and made obscene gestures toward Jewish counter-protesters.

Demonstrators also chanted “700,” apparently referring to the confirmed number of Israeli fatalities in the attack at the time, and held up the number seven on their hands while making throat-slitting gestures. Others flashed victory signs with their hands while shouting insults.

Avila Chevalier defended her participation in the rally in a Thursday statement to City & State.

“I have been advocating for the human rights of Palestinians for my adult life. And as someone who has seen a pattern, whenever anything happens on the ground [in Israel], there’s always a really outsized reaction that costs thousands of people their lives,” Avila Chevalier said. “That is what I was worried about.”

“At the core of it all for me is human dignity. And I think so often we get lost in the ‘well on this date, and on that date’ when it’s all cyclical, if we don’t get to the core of how we disregard the human rights and dignity of some people over others,” she said.

New York City’s chapter of the far-left Democratic Socialists of America — Mamdani’s base — endorsed Avila Chevalier in January. The party co-sponsored the October 8, 2023, rally, then walked back the endorsement days later.

Mamdani did not attend the rally. In an interview last year, he dismissed the party’s endorsement of the rally as an offhand social media post. Mamdani’s statement the day after the attack mourned “the hundreds of people killed across Israel and Palestine in the last 36 hours,” condemned Israel for going to war, and called for dismantling Israeli “apartheid.”

Espaillat, a Democrat, is a five-term incumbent, the first Dominican American and first formerly undocumented immigrant in Congress, and the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Avila Chevalier has attacked Espaillat for his support for Israel, such as in votes to send military aid to the Jewish state, and has accused Espaillat, who has earned the endorsement of the pro-Israel group AIPAC, of being “bought by the Israeli lobby.”

Espaillat has been targeted over Israel in the past. His Manhattan office, which had posters of Israeli hostages on its windows, was vandalized with anti-Israel graffiti in 2024.

Espaillat has the backing of centrists in the city, such as the Jewish New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin, who is leading efforts to combat antisemitism in the council. He has longstanding ties to unions.

The protest controversy comes after posts surfaced from an account that Avila Chevalier deleted. In the posts, Avila Chevalier denied Israel’s existence, called to abolish police and borders, decried interracial relationships and “white liberals,” voiced support for Communism, and used profane language to disparage police, the Democratic party establishment and Kamala Harris.

In 2020, Avila Chevalier reposted a comment that said, “Israel doesn’t exist.” That same year, she branded Joe Biden, then a candidate for the presidency, as a “rapist” and a “war criminal,” called the US a “fucking disgrace,” and attacked Jewish US Sen. Bernie Sanders, a harsh critic of Israel, for “liberal Zionism.”

Avila Chevalier has said she has “grown considerably” since the posts, telling WNYC, “I’m not interested in relitigating the politics of my tweets, which are politics of the past.”

She has been involved in pro-Palestinian activism since before she graduated from Columbia University in 2016, when she was part of the school’s Students for Justice in Palestine group, and in the 2016 formation of Columbia University Apartheid Divest, which is aligned with the larger Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement against Israel. She later helped organize Columbia’s Gaza encampment as an alumna in 2024.

Mamdani, an anti-Zionist, has also endorsed New York City congressional candidates Brad Lander and Claire Valdez. All three of his endorsees oppose US military aid to Israel.

The Avila Chevalier-Espaillat primary will take place on June 23.


Posted by: trailing wife || 06/06/2026 2026-06-06 03:52 || Comments || Link || [1773 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Home Front: WoT
US grants Iranian soccer players visas for World Cup, 10 days before first match
[IsraelTimes] Team set to land in Mexico on Sunday, where it’ll be based amid state of war with US, will play first game against New Zealand on June 15
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/06/2026 2026-06-06 03:52 || Comments || Link || [1788 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran



#3  Visa overstayed and illegal aliens.....same family of misciefmakers, same financial support hierarchy.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/06/2026 11:20 Comments || Top||

#4 

What if some one sub'ed a soccer ball made with Dog & Hog leather? 😇
Posted by: NN2N1 || 06/06/2026 12:26 Comments || Top||



Iraq
Iraq’s Hardline Factions Refuse a Disarmament Others Have Accepted
[InternationalContext] Iraq’s most powerful armed factions have begun responding to a renewed drive to bring all weapons under state authority. The political cover came from the Coordination Framework, which declared its support for “the monopoly of arms in the hands of the state”, and for separating the Popular Mobilization Forces from every political, party, and social framework. The Framework empowered Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, as commander-in-chief, to take the necessary measures, anchoring the move in the constitution, the 2016 PMF law, the government programme, and guidance from the powerful Shia marja’iyya.

Context: Implementation has passed to a three-man committee made up of Zaidi, former prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, and Badr leader Hadi al-Amiri. Its declared tasks read less like a disarmament order than a state-absorption checklist. The committee is to audit fighters, verify criminal records, count actual personnel, set a deadline for handing over weapons, distribute those personnel across ministries and security agencies, secure funding, and possibly create either a new security ministry for the PMF or an independent security body.

Three factions have publicly accepted the logic of delinking. Moqtada al-Sadr announced the separation of Saraya al-Salam from the Sadrist current and its attachment to the state, with its brigades to be folded into the Defence or Interior Ministry at the commander-in-chief’s discretion and their weapons handed to whichever body receives them. Asaib Ahl al-Haq followed on 2 June, declaring that it would sever its link to the PMF formations, confine its weapons to the state, and place itself under the commander-in-chief. It set up a central committee to inventory personnel, weapons, vehicles, and equipment before aligning with state institutions.

Kataib al-Imam Ali moved the same day, creating three committees: one for the inventory and handover of weapons, one for the families of its dead and wounded, and one for reintegrating personnel into state bodies. Ammar al-Hakim publicly praised Sadr, Qais al-Khazali, and Shibl al-Zaidi for the steps.

More at the link
Posted by: badanov || 06/06/2026 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1797 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran Demands Billions in Deal Talks ‐ U.S. Intercepts Missiles as Trump Envoys Meet Nuclear Experts
[Breitbart] Iran is demanding the release of $24 billion in frozen assets as a condition for advancing a potential agreement with Washington, while U.S. forces intercepted Iranian missiles and drones targeting Kuwait, Bahrain, and maritime traffic near the Strait of Hormuz and President Donald Trump’s top envoys quietly convened nuclear experts to prepare for the possible implementation of a deal.

The developments underscored the fragile state of negotiations between Washington and Tehran, with diplomacy advancing alongside fresh military exchanges in and around the Persian Gulf, continuing disputes over Iran’s uranium stockpile, demands for sanctions relief and frozen assets, and competing claims over the future of the Strait of Hormuz.

In an interview aired Friday, Mohsen Rezaei, a senior military adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, declared that negotiations had reached “a deadlock” and demanded that the Trump administration release billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets to move talks forward.

“Trump must break this deadlock,” Rezaei told CNN. “The ball is in Trump’s court.”

According to the interview, Tehran is seeking the release of $12 billion immediately upon signing an interim agreement and another $12 billion at a later stage.

Rezaei framed the demand as a “test of trust” for Trump, insisting the administration must release the funds before negotiations can meaningfully advance.

“If he wants to reach an agreement with Iran, this $24 billion is a test of trust that Iran wants to have with Trump — this is a test that America must pass and the path will be opened,” Rezaei said, adding, “This is our own money, not America’s money.”

He also warned that Iran would expand the conflict well beyond the Persian Gulf if fighting resumes, threatening additional American positions throughout the region.

“We will give another dimension to the war by attacking these other American bases that we have been attacking so far,” Rezaei said, while simultaneously claiming that “the possibility of war is low.”

Rezaei also reiterated Tehran’s position that Iran and Oman share sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and defended Iran’s proposal to charge vessels what he described as a “maintenance fee” for passage through the strategic waterway.

The interview came as Axios reported Friday that White House envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner quietly traveled to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on Thursday to consult with nuclear specialists expected to play a key role in implementing any future agreement with Iran.

According to the report, the administration recently assembled a roughly 100-member team of technical experts tasked with preparing for detailed nuclear negotiations should a preliminary agreement be reached.

The team would be responsible for developing plans governing Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, future enrichment restrictions, verification mechanisms, and other technical requirements associated with a potential agreement.

“This meeting in Oak Ridge doesn’t mean that a deal is going to happen, but it is a sign that the negotiations are in a very serious phase and that there is a good chance to get it done and we want to be prepared,” a U.S. official told Axios.

The report said Witkoff and Kushner reached preliminary understandings with Iranian negotiators last week on a proposed framework that would extend the ceasefire, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, permit Iranian oil exports, and launch negotiations over Tehran’s uranium stockpile and future enrichment restrictions.

While the sides continue negotiating revisions to the proposed framework, Axios reported that officials view the remaining disagreements as relatively narrow.

Among the unresolved issues is a dispute over how quickly Iran would dispose of or down-blend its enriched uranium stockpile. President Trump is reportedly seeking a 60-day deadline, while Iranian negotiators are pushing for 90 days.

Another major sticking point involves Iran’s demand for the phased release of $24 billion in frozen assets, including an initial $12 billion payment upon signing an interim agreement.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this week that any second phase of negotiations would require months of highly technical discussions over Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, future enrichment limits, and verification mechanisms.

Even as negotiations continue, military tensions remain elevated.

Late Friday, U.S. Central Command announced that American forces intercepted four Iranian one-way attack drones that it said posed “an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic” near the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. forces shot down the drones before striking Iranian surveillance radar facilities in Goruk and on Qeshm Island.

Iran subsequently launched seven ballistic missiles toward Kuwait and Bahrain, according to CENTCOM.

The command said six of the missiles were intercepted and the seventh failed to reach its target.

“Iranian claims of damaging U.S. 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain are false,” CENTCOM said.

Air raid sirens sounded across Bahrain while Kuwaiti authorities said air defense systems intercepted hostile missile and drone threats.

Trump, meanwhile, said Friday that Iran’s military capabilities have been dramatically degraded following more than three months of sustained U.S.-Israeli operations targeting missile launchers, drone facilities, weapons-production sites, air defenses, and other military infrastructure.

“We know where their drones are, and we know where their drone factories are. Most of the drone factories have been knocked out,” Trump said in an interview with NBC News.

“They have some missiles. They have some drones. I would say percentage-wise, maybe 21 percent, 22 percent of their missiles.”

Asked why negotiations have not yet produced a final agreement, Trump argued that Iran’s leaders are struggling to accept the position they now find themselves in.

“They’re strong. They’re proud. There are things they never thought they’d be doing that they’re going to have to do. They’ve got no choice,” Trump said.

The president also reiterated that Iran would never be permitted to obtain a nuclear weapon.

“One way or the other, it’s finished,” Trump said of the conflict. “It’s either finished with a piece of paper or it’s finished in a more difficult way.”
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/06/2026 10:54 || Comments || Link || [1776 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Iran’s reformist ex-PM hospitalized after 15 years under house arrest, aide says
[IsraelTimes] Mir Hossein Mousavi was focus of 2009 mass protests after he was declared loser of disputed election; his condition is said to have worsened after Feb. 28 airstrike damaged his home

Iran’s former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, a reformist who was the focus of a 2009 mass protest movement and has spent the last 15 years under house arrest, has been hospitalized after his health deteriorated, an adviser said on Friday.

Mousavi, the last person to serve as Iran’s premier before the post was abolished in 1989, had claimed to be the rightful victor of the disputed 2009 presidential elections against incumbent Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad
... former president of Iran...
. He argued that the hardliner’s victory was rigged and was the focus of vast protest rallies in his support, known as the Green Movement. Ahmadinejad remained in office despite the protests.

Most recently, Mousavi urged Iran’s holy manal leadership to step down because of its deadly crackdown on protesters in January, in which rights groups said tens of thousands were killed.

Last week, "he suffered a health crisis and was transferred to a hospital," his advisor Ardeshir Amir Arjomand, who is based outside Iran, told BBC Persian.

"He is now hospitalized, although his condition has improved since today," he added.

Arjomand said Mousavi’s condition had been affected by being moved to a new location when his previous residence in central Tehran was damaged in the US-Israeli strikes on February 28 that launched the 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 Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
war and killed then-supreme leader Ali Khamenei
...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...>
Mousavi, 84, and his wife Zahra Rahnavard, 80, also under house arrest since 2011, had been living on Pasteur Street, close to Khamenei’s offices.

"They remain in a state of uncertainty and displacement. They were previously under pressure, and now it has increased further," said Arjomand in the interview.

"It is unclear how many more times they must go through such crises before officials realize that they should be released," he added.

The Iranian news site Avash said on Thursday that Mousavi was suffering from a serious heart condition and his family was unhappy over the lack of attention from authorities. Unconfirmed reports on Friday said the health ministry had pledged to closely follow his condition.

Earlier this year, he said the crackdown on January’s protests was a "black page in the history of our nation, a "great betrayal and a crime."

Mousavi was prime minister from 1981 to 1989 under the presidency of Khamenei, who became supreme leader after the death of revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Even in the 1980s, Khamenei viewed Mousavi as a rival, with the then-premier regarded as a more moderate figure within the system.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/06/2026 2026-06-06 03:52 || Comments || Link || [1783 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  If I had 15 years of house arrest, I might get some of my to do list done.
Posted by: Super Hose || 06/06/2026 10:48 Comments || Top||


Reports: U.N. Nuclear Body Has No Idea Where Iran's Enriched Uranium Is, Demands Access
[Breitbart] A report drafted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the status of Iran’s nuclear program reportedly asserts that the U.N. agency has no way of verifying the status or location of the country’s illicit enriched uranium stockpile, multiple news outlets reported on Thursday.
"Bring a shovel"
The IAEA has a global responsibility to inspect and approve the nuclear activities of countries that are parties to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), such as Iran. The Iranian terror regime has historically obstructed the IAEA’s ability to monitor its activities, however, particularly its high levels of uranium enrichment, which experts agree are not consistent with any known civilian use.

The U.N. agency, in the report, allegedly demanded that Tehran allow immediate access to its nuclear sites for its inspectors to assure that the material is safe and compliant with the NPT. The status of the enriched uranium stockpiles is of particular concern following American military activities in June 2025 targeting the enrichment facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, which may have destroyed the enrichment facilities. President Donald Trump announced the decision to conduct airstrikes on those sites after last year’s IAEA report on Iran’s status, which resulted in the agency passing a resolution condemning Iran for violating international law for the first time in two decades.

Reuters, the Associated Press, and the Agence France-Presse (AFP) all reported having seen a copy of the upcoming IAEA update on Iran on Thursday. Their reports widely coincided, sharing that the agency was demanding immediate access to Iranian nuclear sites and had no way of verifying if Iran was abiding by international law.

The agency “cannot provide any information on the current size, composition or whereabouts of the stockpile of enriched uranium in Iran or whether Iran has suspended all enrichment-related activities,” the report allegedly stated, citing a “loss of continuity of knowledge over all previously declared nuclear material ​at affected facilities in Iran.”
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/06/2026 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1819 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Well the US and Israel sure as hell isn't gonna tell them where it is.
Posted by: DarthVader || 06/06/2026 1:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Shoot all those useless mf'ers in there head also! Now where are all the bitches that will start whining? Y'all are the problem ALSO!
Posted by: Chris || 06/06/2026 1:27 Comments || Top||

#3  If I were the Iranian leadership, I'd pick a third country to safeguard the enriched uranium and continue to confound US resolve with useless denials and refusals.

I think we've seen this movie previously, have we not ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/06/2026 6:27 Comments || Top||

#4 
So the UN fails again?
Why US Taxpayers, hell any nation funding the UN?

Or are certain UN leaders - Auditors retiring early this year?
Posted by: NN2N1 || 06/06/2026 12:20 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
25[untagged]
6Govt of Iran
3Islamic State
3Hezbollah
2Hamas
2Migrants/Illegal Immigrants
1Allied Democratic Forces
1Narcos
1PLO
1Pak Taliban (TTP)
1Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
1al-Qaeda
1Govt of Iran Proxies
1Boko Haram (ISIS)
1[untagged]

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2026-06-06
  IDF kills Hezbollah chief engineer; 3 troops hurt in Lebanon clashes
Fri 2026-06-05
  Secret Signal chats reveal how anti-ICE agitators coordinated Newark riots
Thu 2026-06-04
  California tech CEO arrested for allegedly supplying equipment to Iranian nuclear programs: DOJ
Wed 2026-06-03
  Unsuccessful Congolese government offensive against Rwandan-backed M23 rebels in eastern DRC, US govt sanctions M23 and FDLR commanders
Tue 2026-06-02
  The Nigerian Army conducted raids into several suspected Islamic State - Sahel Province (ISSP)
Sun 2026-05-31
  The jewel of Paris: Champs-Elysee area trashed by gleeful migrant gangs, more than 416 arrested in post-championship celebration
Sat 2026-05-30
  UAE struck Iran dozens of times during war and amid truce, including with Israel -- WSJ
Fri 2026-05-29
  Iran-backed militia leader killed in car bombing in Iraq
Thu 2026-05-28
  Nebraska K9 sniffs out 525 pounds of cocaine during routine traffic stop, leading to California man's arrest
Wed 2026-05-27
  UN condemns drone strike on UAE nuclear plant, doesn’t assign blame for attack
Tue 2026-05-26
  US Carries Out 'Self Defense Strikes' on Iran, As Trump Makes Important Announcement About 'Nuclear Dust'
Mon 2026-05-25
  Iran’s Revolutionary Guards UAE-based company to procure Chinese satellite equipment tied to its drone and missile programs
Sun 2026-05-24
  IDF struck an Hezbollah underground compound in the area of the Beqaa that was used by terrorists to manufacture weapons
Sat 2026-05-23
  'State Security Service' conducted an operation against 'Islamic State' (ISIS) cells in Pankisi Gorge
Sat 2026-05-23
  'State Security Service' conducted an operation against “'Islamic State' (ISIS) cells in Pankisi Gorge


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.
216.73.216.168
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (12)    Non-WoT (11)    Opinion (5)    Local News (4)    Politix (6)