📍تتجاوز أعداد الإيرانيين في مناطق سيطرة الحوثي 3000 جندي وضابط من الحرس الثوري الإيراني
• هم من يديرون غرف العمليات بالكامل • هم من يحددون توقيت الضربات والاعتداءات • هم من يطلقون الصواريخ الباليستية والمسيّرات الانتحارية باتجاه السعودية وباقي الدول العربية • هم من…
📍The number of Iranians in Houthi-controlled areas exceeds 3,000 Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers and officers
• They are the ones who fully manage the operations rooms
• They are the ones who determine the timing of strikes and attacks
• They are the ones who launch ballistic missiles and suicide drones toward Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries
• They are the ones who target ships in the Bab al-Mandab Strait
📍As for the Houthi militia, it is nothing more than a front and mercenary elements without real training; they know nothing of the science of war, and they have never faced regular armies; most of them are underage boys who have been deceived and pushed to the front lines, lost in the deserts under the illusion that the "Kalashnikov" slung over their shoulders is the most powerful weapon in the world, and no sooner do they hear the sound of the first bullet than they rush to surrender.
📍The indisputable truth:
Iran is fighting the Yemeni Republic from within Yemeni territory and with its tools.
📍As for those hired journalists who attack their government and army, there is no good in them; how can someone who has never carried a rifle in their entire life lecture the armed forces and teach them how to wage wars and liberate land?!
📍I wish for the honorable people in Yemen to emerge from the swamp of conspiracy narratives and accusations of treason,
standing alongside the state and rallying around the army is a sacred national duty, and a veneration of the blood of the martyrs of the armed forces who are sacrificing their lives to defend you and the Arab identity of Yemen.
📍The legitimate government and the army are not playing around; they are fighting a battle for existence.
🔺A message and tweet from a Lebanese citizen who has suffered bitterly from these militias, wishing peace and freedom for the great Yemeni people
Posted by: badanov ||
09/15/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[165 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
Key bits, with lot of snipping. Go read the whole thing.
[CrackingDefence] I recently contributed to a call for evidence on the state of the British Armed Forces. As such, I thought that I would expand on some of the contributions I made and put them into a single article. This is based on my own experiences as a soldier, and my many discussions with friends and colleagues still serving in the Army. These reflections unfortunately do not give cause for optimism.
STRENGTHS
Despite the gloomy picture I will paint below, the British Army does have some significant strengths. First and foremost is the general high quality of personnel, especially at the junior ranks and among the Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) corps. British soldiers are generally reliable, tough, and able to rapidly adapt to changing situations.
Similarly, the British Army has a very strong tradition of effective staff officers. The military staff, as I have written about previously, is one of the unsung heroes of any force, and utterly crucial to conducting military operations. From my experience, the British Army trains its staff officers at an earlier stage, and more effectively, than many of our counterparts, including the United States. This includes adaptability - you can generally throw British staff officers at an unfamiliar problem and they will come up with some sort of solution, while the more specialised officers of other militaries might struggle.
While far too few in number, the British Army does hold niche Corps-level capabilities, including ‘wide wet gap’ bridging equipment, which ensures a level of skill and experience in these areas. On paper at least, this means that if any expansion was to occur, the Army does retain a cadre of specialists who could train a new generation of personnel in these skill sets.
Finally, the British Army provides much of the Armed Forces’ irregular and special warfare forces. UK Special Forces are extremely capable, while the British Army’s irregular warfare units – including the Ranger Regiment and Information Operations troops – are growing in size, skill, and capability.
Problems — expanded at the link:
PERSONNEL PROBLEMS
The Regular Army is quite small; however, this would be less of a problem if we had a much larger reserve. Unfortunately, the Army Volunteer Reserve is far too small at approximately 26,000 personnel, and not well-organised for expansion.
British Army training is not sufficient, especially at the highest level.
Culturally (this is reflected across the entire MOD) the British Armed Forces are institutionally very risk-averse.
MATERIAL PROBLEMS
Equipment is either old and outdated, falling apart, or unavailable due to procurement and maintenance failures.
The Army also lacks sufficient numbers and breadth of certain capabilities which have proven critical for modern warfare - especially air defence and electronic warfare.
There is a general paucity of what are known as ‘enablers’ - including both the staff and equipment for logistics, medical support, engineers, and the like. This severely constrains the Army’s ability to deploy and sustain a large force abroad.
CONCLUSION
While modernisation and reform is occurring, I do not think it is happening at the speed at which it needs to. This is partly institutional, and partly due to lack of funds. There is also forever an issue over what role the Army should play. Is it, fundamentally, a lightweight and flexible expeditionary force? Or is it a ‘heavy metal’ armoured force for fighting on the Great European Plain? The Army is currently trying to do both, but does not have the resources to effectively achieve both missions as well as its various concurrent minor tasks. What role does the Reserve, and especially the Volunteer Reserve, perform? Is it meant to simply backfill gaps in the Regular force? Or is it supposed to be a mass second-line force, purposefully quite different from the Regular Army? At the moment it is too small to be both. These questions remain unanswered in full, and there isn’t the money to do it all, not least as the rest of the MOD is just as hungry for resources.
The British Army consists of high-quality personnel let down by deficiencies in materiel, process, and policy. … Being charitable, the Army could described as a ‘glass cannon’ which might be able to hit hard (if given suitable weaponry and training) but will likely shatter at the first serious blow it receives.
#2
I am reminded of an old family sailor's expression: "Battleship mouth on a tugboat ass", but even that seems a bit less than this - the Whole Brit Army could deploy 2 bde's to Europe at best... and they want to talk about standing up to .the Russians
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Gregor Spitzen
[Regnum] Three weeks before the start of the heating season, which formally begins in Germany on October 1, the filling level of German gas storage facilities remains low, at just 55%.
This is the lowest level in the 15 years since occupancy levels have been recorded. For example, at this time in 2025, occupancy was over 74%. And winter is coming soon.
An equally pressing issue is the price of natural gas during the peak season. Last week, the price per megawatt-hour of natural gas for November delivery on the Amsterdam TTF exchange rose to almost €75. This is the highest price in two years.
Meanwhile, gas for the first quarter of next year is currently available for just over €72. Therefore, anyone who buys gas in November and stores it for sale during the cold winter days of the new year is incurring losses.
According to industry agency Ines, which tracks energy price dynamics, storage facilities can technically be filled to 77% capacity by November 1. This is also supported by storage space reservations: currently, 83% of capacity is reserved by gas traders.
"However, technical feasibility alone does not guarantee adequate filling," warns Ines. For this to happen, the pace of filling must accelerate significantly. "If filling remains at the current low level, then the filling level that is still technically achievable will decrease over time." The colder the winter, the higher the risk of gas shortages.
The low occupancy rates are primarily due to the Persian Gulf crisis. Gas prices typically drop in the summer. In the Northern Hemisphere, heating is practically unused, so fuel is in abundance.
In theory, this is the best time for traders to buy cheap gas, fill storage facilities, and then sell it at a premium when temperatures drop. However, since Iranian missiles struck liquefied natural gas export terminals in Qatar, the global market has been short 20% of gas. Prices have skyrocketed since the summer, disrupting the traditional business model.
Even legal requirements don't change anything. They stipulate that by November 1, most gas storage facilities must be 80% full, while for six—due to special conditions—45% is sufficient. However, there are no penalties for failure to comply with these requirements.
In a worst-case scenario, the state could intervene and fill the storage facilities. Through Trading Hub Europe, the company responsible for the smooth operation of the German gas market, the federal government could purchase gas.
In 2022, after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the then federal government had already prevented a shortage in this way. However, strong demand from Germany led to a sharp rise in prices—the markets did not ignore the emergency situation in the Federal Republic.
According to some estimates, the German government bought up all available gas volumes on the market during the 2022/2023 season, spending €26 billion on this, in order to fill gas storage facilities and avoid an apocalyptic scenario.
The Federal Ministry of Economics is determined to prevent a repeat of this situation at all costs—and has been calling for calm for weeks. "Germany is well supplied with gas," Economics Minister Katherina Reiche hastened to assure just last week. The ministry's draft document for the extraordinary meeting of the Bundestag Committee on Economic Affairs and Energy conveys a similar message.
However, it stresses that “unusual weather conditions or infrastructure scenarios may lead to additional stress.”
The dilemma is clear: if the government intervenes, prices will rise, but the likelihood of winter shortages will become less likely. If it leaves everything to the market, prices will be lower, but the risk of winter problems will increase.
Sahra Wagenknecht, who won a seat in the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament with her BSW party in the recent elections, plans to introduce a proposal to supply local storage facilities with Russian gas via the Nord Stream pipeline, one line of which remained intact after the terrorist attack.
However, it is unlikely that the current German government would approve such a move, while the federal states lack the authority to make such decisions independently.
Reiche points out that sufficient quantities of the gas can be delivered via a pipeline from Norway and recently built liquefied natural gas terminals. However, this doesn't apply to very cold winter days: in such cases, storage facilities would also be required.
Secondly, it would be reckless to make a country of 84 million dependent on a single pipeline from Norway. Or to rely recklessly on LNG tankers, which could at any moment turn to Asia because they offer better prices, as happened during the pandemic.
Meanwhile, countries whose energy supply systems before the 2022 crisis were largely oriented towards stable supplies of cheap pipeline gas from Russia are demanding compensation from the EU due to the forced reduction in Russian energy exports.
Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said the country's government will ask the European Union to include compensation for countries refusing Russian energy supplies in the bloc's new seven-year budget.
Speaking in Bratislava at a press conference following the summit of the Visegrad Group, which includes Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, Magyar called on the EU to put forward concrete initiatives to support Central European companies in the energy transition.
The Hungarian Prime Minister noted that the global energy situation remains "extremely difficult" as many countries face shortages of gasoline and diesel fuel.
Magyar warned that EU member states' budgets are unlikely to withstand further financial pressure. He also noted that maintaining the fuel price cap would "inevitably" lead to deficits.
The head of the Hungarian government said that European leaders have limited themselves to general slogans about maintaining fair conditions for doing business, while Central European companies face the risk of bankruptcy due to the inability to pay electricity and gas bills.
"We need concrete proposals for all European citizens," Magyar said, stressing the need to clarify how exactly support will be provided to businesses.
The Tisza party, which won the parliamentary elections on April 12, previously promised to free Hungary from dependence on Russian fuel by 2035. However, its program does not specify specific measures to achieve this goal.
Upon taking power, the Magyar government continued to declare its commitment to reducing dependence on Russian energy resources and diversifying its list of suppliers. At the same time, the Hungarian cabinet acknowledged that completely cutting off Russian oil and gas supplies was not yet feasible and would continue to cooperate with Moscow in this area.
Currently, Hungary receives oil mainly through the Druzhba pipeline and gas through the Turkish Stream pipeline, as well as through lines passing through Bulgaria and Serbia.
According to the association of gas infrastructure operators Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE), gas reserves in underground storage facilities across Europe stood at 68.04% as of September 12. This is 16.29% lower than the average for that date over the past five years.
Low reserves are forcing European governments to actively refill storage facilities ahead of the heating season, which inevitably leads to higher gas prices.
In 2025, under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Hungary imported more than 8.5 million tons of oil and more than 7 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia.
At a summit in New Delhi, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that it was European buyers' demands to switch to short-term contracts that had driven the EU energy sector into crisis.
Therefore, Russian gas, which Europeans once bought for $150–180 per thousand cubic meters, can now cost more than $1,000 after the transition to exchange pricing and the abandonment of pipeline gas from Russia.
Three days later, the Russian leader's prediction was fully justified: on September 14, the price of natural gas in the EU rose significantly due to concerns about a supply shortage caused by supply disruptions from production areas in the Persian Gulf.
At the start of trading on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the price of the TTF futures contract for the delivery of natural gas in a month jumped by more than 5% to reach €83.75 per megawatt-hour, or $1,004 per thousand cubic meters—the highest level since the end of 2022.
[Reuters] Canada is seeking a "unique alliance" with the European Union but is not looking to become a member, Prime Minister Mark Carney
…who has passports to three nations — Canada, Britain, and Ireland — and mild-mannered, totalitarian loyalty to the Euro-globalist ideal, which he expresses most happily by insulting President Trump and America at every opportunity. This is what in his circles passes for diplomacy…
said on Sunday after the Wall Street Journal reported he was exploring whether Canada could become an "associate member" of the bloc.
The EU, which has not been flexible about membership rules in the past, is open to the idea of granting Canada a yet-to-be-created status of associate membership, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed officials both from the EU and Canada.
"We're not looking to become a member of the European Union," Carney said. "Just Syrupeons"
"What we are looking — and will begin discussions for — is a unique alliance between Canada and the European Union," he told reporters at the Toronto International Film Festival. "We share the same values, we have the same priorities and we have very complementary strengths."
Carney's office confirmed on Saturday he will travel to France and Britain next week. He will address the European Parliament in Strasbourg and attend EU President Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the European Union address.
The Globe and Mail newspaper separately reported it was the EU, not Carney, that floated the associate membership title, citing an anonymous source who said any discussion of a title for the relationship is premature.
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.
