One reason I try not to post too much about Iran, other than blockade consequences, is that the level of bullshit flying around is so high, and it’s so hard to predict Trump. (He’s declared there was a deal over twenty times.)
However, this seems worth noting: Trump reposting Iran’s foreign minister:
Whether this will lead anywhere? Damned if I know. If I had to guess Trump’s threats to take Karch Island led to the military explaining to him that taking an island that is under artillery, missile and drone superiority by Iran, in a waterway which is mined, with the Iranians still having subs and plenty of speedboats left is a suicide mission.
But that’s just a guess, and probably wrong, since it assumes rationality.
I stumbled upon this graphic, it’s not quite right (the guy on the other side of Khameini is also alive) but it gives a sense of the scale of the leadership turnover in Iran:
Fundamentally the entire senior leadership of Iran was wiped out. The irony is that they were much less hawkish and far less willing to use force than the current bunch. Westerners (Israelis included) just cannot get thru their heads that assassination doesn’t work against functional organizations and societies. The leaders are simply replaced, often with more effective people.
Anyway, I hope there’s a deal that opens the Strait because I don’t want my food prices to double.
We’ll see.
(We’ll return to the “Freedom” series soon, probably with a discussion of Violence and Freedom.)
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Mark Level
In Ian’s “Iran war is ON!!” post of yesterday, thanks to the Due Dissidence Duo, I got comments 15 & 16 directly on the nose. Taco Thursday after usual Taco Tuesday.
Of course, I was very wrong a week or 2 into the (lost) U$A “war”, I thought Scotty Besent or some Adult in the Room might get the senile God-King to ease off before the US economy totally crashes. Well, no, his Ego is too insecure and his Id out of control, as we all know. Under the Naked God-Emperor, unless he can create an imaginary “Victory” and retreat, fool the remaining small CHUD MAGAts that he’s still Large and In Charge.
I’m with Ian, “Daddy’s” Weather-vane brain and mental decline means nobody can predict accurately. Now Aragchi is another matter, obviously, and that is reassuring. So DJT not just talking with the Voices in his Head.
Not too off-topic, Gwyneth Paltrow did an ad for expensive stolen beachfront Ultra-Luxe Apartments on the Mediterranean. A Palestinian village was destroyed, they all became refugees, we all know the story. The New Story though, is her advertising appeared on Instagram, and she got trashed in the comments, negative ratio was some 90%. Not many admirers of the Genocidal Entity, even in the US, much less internationally (some exceptions like the UN Leadership class of course known.)
They also cover her “Goop” Vaginal eggs bullshit and how it caused hundreds of infections in users and subsequent lawsuits, she is a walking shit-show. A very WASPy “Jew”, mom was lovely actress Blythe Danner, but on dad’s side from “27 generations of Rabbis”.
Paltrowich the original name, Russian obviously, some are very Aryan, white, see e.g. the commenter and veteran oil-industry guy, worked for Halliburton, Stanislav Krapivnik, a lot of blonde potential “beasts”, but most of those would rather work for Azov and revitalize Nazism obviously. (Krapivnik is very racist and bad on immigrants, part of his shtick, very gross. But at least he hates literal Nazis as well, once saw him call out the corrupt scum who took Prison Inmates and “rehabilitated” them via Military Service in the Wagner Group.)
Paltrow at least smart enough to OMIT the ad for the Luxury apartments on her own Social Media. Took her 30 million sheckels, she’s too old for most acting gigs now. She is openly genocidal, however.
Her famous ex-husband musician from Coldplay post-divorce has spoken out for and funded Palestinian Charities, I guess living with a Narcissist like her taught him something!! If interested, link here, a bit over 23 minutes–
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSkMGSY5LS0
Oh, and the Apartments have 2 Towers, what a coincidence. “My coffee needs a coffee,” Hannah Arendt’s banality of Evil.
Dan Kelly
Thank you Ian.
I hope there’s a deal too.
There may be some, err, structural obstacles to any peace deal. I think this particular comment from a thread over at MOA well illuminates the usual suspects:
It begins with the premise that ‘‘any MOU that requires Zionist withdrawal from Lebanon and cessation of its attacks on Lebanese and Palestinians will fail because the Zionists will never adhere to any such demands.’
It then proceeds to show, via Sputnick, that that is in fact the first demand Iran names!:
‘Iranian Media Publishes 14-Point Iran-US Deal Draft, Revealing Tehran’s Key Conditions
The first point of the plan:
An immediate and permanent halt to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon’
https://sputnikglobe.com/20260612/iranian-media-publishes-14-point-iran-us-deal-draft-revealing-tehrans-key-conditions-1124301003.html
So, far, so good.
But uh oh:
‘Israel will not withdraw from the security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza. The [army] will continue to defend our borders and our citizens from the peak of Mount Hermon, the mountains of Lebanon, the areas of our land in the Samaria [occupied West Bank] region, and most of the territory of Gaza against the threats posed by jihadist forces and organisations as a central lesson from the events of October 7.
The country’s security doctrine is “sharp and clear” and Israel acts against both “near and distant threats” for outcomes, rather than “compromises and concessions”’ – Israel Katz, ‘Israel’ Defense Minister
And they continue to create the facts on the ground despite the best efforts of the resistance:
Israel orders evacuation of 3 villages in Saida, Zahrani River in its sights
South Lebanon — After having focused its airstrikes in previous days on the districts of Sour and Nabatieh, the Israeli military appeared on Friday to be concentrating its offensive on the Saida region and the Zahrani River.
In the early afternoon, through its Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee on the X platform, it issued an evacuation order to residents of three villages in the district: Sarafand, Tefahta, and Mazraat Sinay, in anticipation of upcoming bombings.
In its message, the Israeli military claimed to be targeting Hezbollah before ordering residents to take refuge north of the Zahrani River, which is located south of the city of Saida, the district center.
The municipality of Sarafand immediately called on residents to evacuate and “go to the nearest safe zone until the threat is gone.” Residents of Qaqaaiyet al-Sanawbar (Saida) also evacuated the Baqbish neighborhood at first, after one of them received a phone call ordering him to evacuate his home, our correspondent in the south, reported. A second call then ordered the evacuation of the entire town.
The idea of a complete disarmament of Hezbollah is considered unrealistic by anonymous defense officials.
The Jerusalem Post reports in this context that the Israeli army is considering pushing Hezbollah beyond the Zahrani River.
They suggest that if Hezbollah could be pushed not only beyond the Litani River, but also as far as the Zahrani River, south of Saida, the volume of threats to northern Israeli villages would be significantly reduced.
The Zahrani River is about six kilometers from Israeli positions, while Nabatieh is about three kilometers away. Hezbollah is said to be concerned about a possible advance by the Israeli army and has reinforced these areas, according to the Israeli daily.
These evacuation orders north of the Zahrani come AMID PERSISTENT TALK OF A POSSIBLE agreement between the United States and Iran.
https://today.lorientlejour.com/article/1538060/israel-orders-evacuation-of-3-villages-in-saida-zahrani-river-in-its-sights.html
All of this happening in, on and around the most fertile land in Lebanon.
—
Aoun briefed on damage to Qaraoun Dam after Israeli strikes
Beirut — President Joseph Aoun met Friday with Sami Alawieh, head of the Litani River Authority, for a briefing on the state of installations in the area amid the current war in Lebanon, particularly in light of the recent Israeli attacks near the Qaraoun Dam in western Bekaa.
Alwieh thanked the president for his interventions in averting “a catastrophe at the Qaraoun Dam after the Israeli army targeted its surroundings and vital installations during a series of strikes that directly damaged part of the dam’s infrastructure and its power supply system.”
In recent weeks, Israeli strikes have intensified in the area, with some targeting roads and infrastructure around the Qaraoun Dam and Qaraoun Lake, raising fears of an environmental and humanitarian disaster.
On May 27, an Israeli drone strike in the dam’s vicinity killed a Lebanese Army soldier. One of the access points to the dam, located within the facility itself, was also targeted, along with components of the power supply system and adjacent buildings.
https://today.lorientlejour.com/article/1538038/aoun-briefed-on-damage-to-qaraoun-dam-after-israeli-strikes.html
—
Meanwhile, back in the occupied West Bank:
Israel finances 61 new settlements in occupied West Bank before even approving them
While the world’s attention is focused on the war between the United States and Iran, the Israeli government was due to approve on Thursday, June 11, a plan to finance the establishment of 61 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to Axios journalist Barak Ravid, citing a source familiar with the matter.
[yes Ravid is unit 8200 but this is real not propaganda]
The government is reportedly preparing to allocate more than $350 million over several years to build the settlements, even before planning procedures are completed.
That is what distinguishes the project from previous waves of settlement expansion. Until now, new settlements had to pass through a multistep approval process, including a period during which objections could be filed — primarily by Palestinian residents and NGOs — followed by validation from the Higher Planning Council…
https://archive.ph/QnENR
—
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/06/iran-open-thread-2026-123.html/comment-page-5#comment-1369173
spud
FDR, churchill, stalin, truman, never stopped, stopping meant the enemy has breathing room to come up with more and better weapons, and better defenses.
putin has never figured this out, the chinese think they are untouchable.
but north korea never took its eyes off of the prize, knowing full well what would happen if they did. today they are heading for super power status.
hope cuba has learned something out of this before its to late.
Iran has two choices right now, slavery or freedom. if they have been warned a nuke is coming, well they had time to develop their own and hit back. if they did not take advantage of that time, they are bigger fools that we thought
better to have a free nation that is severely damaged, then a nation enslaved with no hope of future freedom.