Middle East Politics

This is a pretty good assessment:

“over the years, as the early revolutionary fervor gave way for most people to a yearning for a more normal existence, the rules became negotiable. While the political system is basically the same as in those early years, the society changed slowly, at times almost imperceptibly. Those changes have been enormous, and Iran today is closer than most outsiders generally appreciate to being that “normal” country Iranians want.”

 
Khamenei using Twitter - blocked in Iran on his authority - to remind everyone that Salman Rushdie must die:



(Edit): Twitter made the tweet unavailable, here it is:

Dze7YWGVYAAj0kZ
 
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I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a conflict with Iran on the horizon. All the ducks are lining up - BiBi pushing hard, Drumpf needing a distraction as Mueller closes in and the 2020 campaign looms, Khamenai hellbent on winding the US up, Bolton probably pushing hard for it as well. All we need is an inciting incident and we could see a series of knock on the effects culminating in armed conflict.
 
I’ve stated I think we’ll see a big push for regime change in Iran during the Trump years, but I think it’s more likely to be about supporting the MEK and other groups within Iran, not to mention the protest movement, rather than ‘war’. Would be no surprise to learn that the attack in Sistan-Baluchistan last week was linked to this in some way. MBS is currently in Pakistan, no doubt Iran is a topic of conversation there.

This ‘mistake’ though seems a fairly brazen PR exercise, aimed at an Israeli public going into the election season, and the Iranian leadership.
 
Thread on the Kahanists trying to make a political comeback in Israel:



Also there was a suicide attack in central Cairo last night, right near the Azhar mosque apparently.
 
Saudi-Arabia and Qatar should just acknowledge that they are both massive cnuts and call it quits. The company I work for got our GCC base in Jebel Al Ali in UAE, while we got a lot of work in Qatar, which is a fecking logistical nightmare. People and equipment all must be routed through Oman to avoid any issues.
 


(He’s the former head of the Israeli Archives)

(Edit):

 
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The centrists* respond:



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* “centrists” being relative in this context obviously.
 
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2cents said:


(He’s the former head of the Israeli Archives)

(Edit):

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Could this move cost Netanyahu some support/votes on the more mainstream right? Or are those who would have objected long gone anyway?
 
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Synco said:
Could this move cost Netanyahu some support on the more mainstream right? Or are those who would have objected long gone anyway?
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It’ll cost some but probably not enough. He’s 90% certain to form the next government, nothing substantial has happened to suggest he’s not the guardian of stability that many Israelis have come to see him as (whatever they feel about the allegations of corruption). And he’s had some big wins lately, especially the embassy move and diplomatic openings in the Gulf and Africa. There’s even been talk of an official visit to Morocco before the election which would be huge (Moroccan Israelis are the second or third largest descent-group in the country after the Polish and I think maybe Russians*).

His primary concern right now are the charges he’s facing, he’s happy to go to any lengths to retain his position it seems.

*(Edit): Wikipedia suggests Moroccans are second behind Russia/USSR, with Iraqis, Romanians and Polish next biggest. Lots of overlap though with intermarriage and all that.
 
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@Synco a good (if inconclusive) response to your question here:

 
Been reading up on the elections all day. Seems he's willing to do anything to avoid jail.
 
Don't know what this means for the JCPOA. The EU has done a lot to keep it going.
 
Whole thread is worth a read, Netanyahu apparently in meltdown mode:

 
Ahmadinejad continues to surprise:

“In the interview with Fars News Agency earlier this week, Ahmadinejad, known for not mincing his words, said Iranians are less free under the current cleric-dominated ruling system than they were four decades ago during the reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

"Although the ruling establishment reacts less harshly against its dissidents, it has expanded the sphere of its confrontation with the people. I mean, comparing with the past (during the Constitutional Monarchy), the situation with freedom is much worse today,” Ahmadinejad said.”

https://en.radiofarda.com/a/ahmadin...re-freedom-iran-during-monarchy/29796115.html
 
This is an interesting interview of former head of Saudi intelligence Turki bin Faisal with Israeli TV (starts in English at 01:00):

 
2cents said:
Quite rare in Iran:

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Iran threatens action against Pakistan-based terrorist groups

NEW DELHI: It is not just India that is taking action — and contemplating more — against Pakistan for its terror proxies. In the heat of the India-Pakistan conflict of the past week, it skipped notice that leaders in the Iranian government and armed forces have threatened to act against Pakistani terror groups since the country cannot act against them.

General Qassem Soleimani, the all powerful commander of the IRGC Quds Force, issued stern warnings to the Pakistani government and its military establishment. “I have this question for the Pakistani government: where are you heading to? You have caused unrest along borders with all your neighbours and do you have any other neighbour left that you want to stir insecurity for," Gen Soleimani was quoted as saying.

“Are you, who have atomic bombs, unable to destroy a terrorist group with several hundred members in the region?” he asked, adding that Pakistan should not test Iran’s resolve.

India and Iran have enhanced their counter-terrorism cooperation in recent years. This will top discussions between the two countries when the next round of foreign office consultations are scheduled. Foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale was scheduled to travel to Iran over the weekend but the trip was postponed due to the India-Pakistan crisis.

Chairman of the Iranian parliament’s foreign policy commission Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh was also quoted as saying that Iran wanted to build a wall on its border with Pakistan, and promised Tehran would take action inside Pakistan if it was incapable of doing so to stop cross-border attacks into Iran.

Even the top aide of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei, Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, went on record to castigate Pakistan. This is significant because it is a sign that Iran’s supreme leader wants the message to go out to Pakistan. "These criminal outlaws were from one of the tribes of Balochistan who had been trained on suicide operations in the neighbouring country, and the neighbouring country and the ISI should account to the Iranian government and nation and the IRGC for how they have crossed the borders of that country and why this neighbouring country has turned into a safe haven and a place for training and dispatch of these infidel terrorist grouplets (to Iran)," he was reported as saying.

Ali Jafari, commander of the IRGC, also warned Pakistan against supporting terror. "Pakistan should know that it should pay the cost for the Pakistani intelligence organisation's support for Jeish al-Zolm (as Jaish al-Adl is called in Iran) from now on and this price will no doubt be very heavy for them," he said. "Undoubtedly, the Pakistani security organisation knows the hideout of the grouplets but it has kept mum," Jafari added.

In Afghanistan, Rahmatullah Nabil, former chief of its intelligence agency and a contender in the upcoming presidential elections, said Pakistan’s ISI sheltered and supported between 45-48 terror groups for its neighbouring countries. “Pakistan has been using terrorism as a tool and tactic,” Nabil was quoted as saying to an interviewer. “India should have done this (Balakot strikes) much earlier,” he added.

“I hope Iran will also take action against Jaish al-Adl. Because if the US leaves the region — and we hope they leave behind a good legacy — but if they simply withdraw, that will give a sense of victory to all terrorist networks not just in the region but on the other side as well,” Nabil said.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...sed-terrorist-groups/articleshow/68248206.cms
 
Two rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip towards central Israel, prompting sirens to be triggered in Tel Aviv, the Israeli army said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman told Middle East Eye that the rockets were fired on Thursday evening local time.

She would not confirm nor deny whether the rockets were intercepted by the country's missile defense system (Iron Dome).

Israeli daily Haaretz, citing the military, said one of the rockets was intercepted.

The last time rocket sirens were activated in Tel Aviv was two years ago during a false alarm, Haaretz also reported.

More to follow...
 
Drifter said:
Two rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip towards central Israel, prompting sirens to be triggered in Tel Aviv, the Israeli army said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman told Middle East Eye that the rockets were fired on Thursday evening local time.

She would not confirm nor deny whether the rockets were intercepted by the country's missile defense system (Iron Dome).

Israeli daily Haaretz, citing the military, said one of the rockets was intercepted.

The last time rocket sirens were activated in Tel Aviv was two years ago during a false alarm, Haaretz also reported.

More to follow...
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Just reading the Reddit thread on this. People from Tel Aviv there seem unfazed.
 
:lol: Somehow missed this before...

 
Wtf? :lol:

Who were they fighting with?
 
2cents said:
Armenian-American gangsters fighting with the regime I think.
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Just looked in the thread one of them died other is still there.

Some of the other videos are comedy gold.
 
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