March 5th of this year

June 29th of this year

Here one news article, from AA, covering the strikes

A missile and kamikaze drone attack struck Iraq’s northern city of Sulaymaniyah on Friday, triggering a fire, local media reported.

Erbil-based Rudaw TV reported that the attack involved both missiles and a kamikaze unmanned aerial vehicle. A fire broke out at one of the targeted sites, and ambulances were dispatched to the area.

Iraqi President Rejects Attacks on Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, Reaffirms Sovereignty

Sovereignty, Iraq? That’s funny

Article from National Context

Including excerpts – read entirely at link above. Thank you

At least nine Iranian Kurdish fighters from the Komala movement were killed today in an Iranian attack in Sulaimani province. The strike caps a violent stretch inside Iran’s majority Kurdish northwest, where at least nine armed incidents were documented in June, killing more than 20 Iranian Kurdish militants. Most of the significant engagements were initiated by the IRGC through ambushes and intelligence-driven operations.

The spike in incidents has coincided with a reported buildup of Iranian forces and special operations units in the same areas where the clashes occurred. On 14 July, Alhurra quoted senior Iranian Kurdish opposition figures describing an Iranian deployment along the frontier of roughly 3,000 Saberin special forces personnel, arriving in waves of approximately 1,000, alongside IRGC Ground Forces units, Aerospace Force elements, artillery, rocket launchers, armour and drones. Ali Khoshnamak, a senior figure in the Komala Revolutionary Organization of the Toilers of Kurdistan, told the channel these were trained and trusted regime forces whose scale and composition indicated preparation for possible ground warfare. The same sources described daily drone reconnaissance over the frontier and approaches to the Kurdistan Region, along with electronic warfare systems for jamming and satellite disruption.

Through March, the contours of a potential Kurdish front became public. On 6 March, Reuters reported, citing two Iranian Kurdish sources and one Israeli source, that Israel was supporting Iranian Kurdish planning to seize border areas around Oshnavieh and Piranshahr, with thousands of fighters gathering on the Iraqi side and opposition strength estimated between 5,000 and 8,000. The parties wanted air support and political guarantees before committing. They never received them. Turkey, Reuters reported in May, opposed and helped suppress the offensive proposal, fearing it would strengthen PKK-linked networks and derail Ankara’s own process with the PKK. The KRG, for its part, had no interest in becoming the staging ground for a war against its neighbour.

Hope you can see the linked images??

**Good read- War, Inflation, and the Hidden Costs of Closing the World’s Most Important Strait

The article actually talks about 2 chokepoints, excerpts below, read entirely at link above

I want to talk about the thing nobody in Washington seems willing to say out loud, which is that the cost of this war is going to show up at your kitchen table before it shows up in any congressional budget hearing.

But I’m not writing about the war. Not really. I’m writing about what the war is doing to the invisible infrastructure of the global economy, the shipping lanes and insurance markets, fertilizer contracts, and airfreight corridors that nobody thinks about until they break.

Because they’re breaking right now, in ways that will take months to repair, and the people who will pay for it aren’t the ones making the decisions.

The Chokepoint

The Strait of Hormuz is 21 miles wide at its narrowest point. Through that gap moves roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil, about 20.9 million barrels per day. It also carries a significant share of global liquefied natural gas, a third of the world’s seaborne fertilizer exports, and a meaningful slice of container traffic linking Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

It is, as of right now, essentially closed.

Not formally. Nobody has dropped a chain across it. But Iran’s Revolutionary Guard declared the waterway shut to allied shipping.

Protection and indemnity insurers pulled coverage. War-risk premiums, which had already tripled in the days before the strikes, became irrelevant once insurers stopped offering any coverage at all.

And without insurance, no shipowner will send a vessel through. It’s not the missiles that closed the Strait. It’s the actuarial tables.

Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has dropped from an average of 138 vessels per day to roughly two.

One hundred and fifty tankers are sitting at anchor in open Gulf waters.

One hundred and forty-seven container ships are trapped inside the Persian Gulf, unable to exit.

Maersk, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, MSC, every major container line, has suspended operations. Maersk paused two key services linking the Middle East to Asia and Europe and halted all trans-Suez sailings through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The Houthis, who had eased up on Red Sea attacks in recent months, announced they’re resuming. So now both chokepoints are closed, and the only way around is the Cape of Good Hope, which adds 10 to 14 days to every voyage.

This is what a dual chokepoint crisis looks like. It’s never happened before in modern container shipping.

Let me put this in dollars.

LNG shipping charter rates went from $40,000 a day to $300,000 a day in less than a week. That’s a 650 percent increase.

Asian spot LNG prices doubled.

Qatar halted all LNG production at its Ras Laffan hub, the largest LNG export complex on Earth, after Iranian drones hit facilities there, and declared force majeure on its contracts.

Qatar and the UAE together supply roughly 20 percent of the world’s LNG, and 85 percent of Qatar’s exports go to Asia.

The Oil Shock You Were Promised You’d Never See Again

Crude oil has risen roughly 50 percent since February 28. That’s not a typo.

Brent was trading around $70 a barrel before the strikes. It touched $119 overnight. (it has since come down)

WTI has moved from $67 to over $115.

Iraq, the second-largest OPEC producer, has seen output from its three main southern oilfields collapse by 70 percent, from 4.3 million barrels per day to 1.3 million, because there’s nowhere to put the oil.

Kuwait has cut production preemptively. The UAE is “carefully managing offshore production levels.”

Everyone in the Gulf is producing less because the tankers can’t get out.

Meanwhile, Israel struck a major fuel storage facility near Tehran over the weekend.

Saudi Arabia’s 550,000-barrel-per-day Ras Tanura refinery has been hit twice. Drones even targeted Saudi Aramco’s million-barrel-per-day Shaybah oil field.

We are watching the physical destruction of energy infrastructure in real time, which means this isn’t just a shipping problem. Even when the Strait reopens, some of this supply isn’t coming back quickly.

Did Donald Trump and Bibi Netanyahu consider these realities before striking Iran? Or was their hubris so great, they didn’t consider the possibility that Iran wouldn’t fall immediately?

Did Trump consider he would end up having to ease Russian oil sanctions in an attempt to try to keep global oil prices down?

**Trump eases Russian oil sanctions as Iran war sends prices spiking

The United States has temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian oil, a boost to the Kremlin as Washington tries to contain energy prices sent soaring by the American-Israeli assault on Iran.

The announcement failed to immediately calm oil prices, which have spiraled since Tehran effectively closed the vital Strait of Hormuz oil chokepoint and began attacking energy facilities across neighboring Gulf countries.

The international benchmark of Brent crude rose again overnight, sitting just above $100 a barrel as of 6 a.m. ET. Markets worldwide slipped, with U.S. stock futures down following slumps across Asia and Europe.

Announcing the move Thursday evening, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that until April 11 countries would be able to buy Russian oil that was already at sea.

That moves seems really at odds with the US sanctions regime.

**Europe Negotiating With Iran For Oil Access Through Strait—As U.S. Still Blocked—Report Says

Specifically France and Italy.

France and Italy have reportedly opened talks with Iranian officials in hopes of negotiating a deal to allow their vessels through the Strait of Hormuz after a weekslong standstill in the shipping lane has wrecked havoc on global energy markets.

**Drone attacks strike Italian and French military bases in Iraq amid Iran’s regional retaliation

Italy and France have maintained occupying forces in the Kurdish territory of Iraq for decades now

In a surge of violence linked to Iran’s broader retaliation against U.S. and Israeli strikes, drone attacks targeted military bases hosting Italian and French forces in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region on Thursday.

While the strike on the Italian base at Camp Singara in Erbil caused only material damage with no casualties, a subsequent attack in the nearby Makhmour area wounded six French soldiers and killed one officer, escalating concerns over the safety of international coalitions in the region.

The Italian incident occurred overnight on 11-12 March, when a drone struck Camp Singara, a facility near Erbil International Airport that hosts 141 Italian soldiers as part of Operation Prima Parthica. This mission, integrated with the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition and NATO’s Iraq operations, focuses on training, assisting, and supporting Kurdish Peshmerga and Iraqi forces, alongside logistics and protection duties

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto confirmed via X no victims or injuries among military personnel, though the attack caused material damage, including the destruction of a logistics vehicle.

***U.S. to send 2,500 Marines to Middle East as Iran, Israel continue to exchange attacks

Meanwhile, a U.S. official told The Associated Press that roughly 2,500 Marines and at least one amphibious assault ship were headed for the Middle East in a major addition of troops.

The US military has seen more casualties..

Did Trump and Bibi even consider any alternative scenarios, costs, damage to the global economy and worse before launching this attack? The fact they have made the offer to Russia to ease up on sanctioned oil, suggests, they didn’t consider all possibilities.

Thoughts, please?

Where to begin?

As I’ve written for some time now- The western allied Kurdish militias, US and Israel mostly, have gotten a free pass and very positive promotion. Often presented as egalitarian and democratic, in both the main stream and alternative media. Quite a successful PR battle has been waged to their benefit– This presentation of them is very different than the reality. They’ve been enlisted as the ground troops in Iran- This news broke yesterday. My readers, if you’ve been paying attention, all knew this was coming.

Iran has been striking northern Iraq (the kurdish region PKK and Barzani) the last few days- Because, frankly, Iran has the intel on what’s going on there in and among the US bases and have been trying to get ahead of it.

Word tonight is that there is movement across the border.

1st- https://archive.ph/H1t0b

Phone calls with Trump and the US/Israel working to weaken Iran.

The plan seems to envision these groups acting as ground forces operating inside Iran’s Kurdish region, known among Kurds as Rojhelat. These reports gained further credibility following a phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Mustafa Hijri, the head of a coalition of Iranian Kurdish opposition parties formed in late February. The call elevated the status and visibility of the Kurds in Iran in an unprecedented manner, as Hijri appears to have been the only leader of an Iranian opposition group to have held a direct conversation with Trump during the conflict.

Alongside these developments, the U.S.-Israeli air campaign has intensified strikes against regime targets across Iranian Kurdistan. The scope of these strikes suggests they are strategically devised to dismantle the totality of the regime’s security architecture in the Kurdish region, including installations belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), regular army (Artesh), border guard commands, intelligence centers, and even police stations. The apparent objective is to weaken the regime’s capacity to resist should a popular uprising occur or should Kurdish opposition forces move into Iranian territory from neighboring Iraqi Kurdistan

2nd- https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-888881

Hundreds of Kurdish fighters have begun ground activity inside Iran from areas near the Iraqi border, Israeli and American officials confirmed to The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, in a development that could open an additional front against Tehran as regional tensions continue to escalate.

The Kurdish forces operating along the Iran-Iraq border are considered one of the most prominent armed opposition groups confronting the regime in Tehran. The organizations involved are Iranian Kurdish groups that maintain thousands of fighters, most of whom operate from territory in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq along the frontier with Iran.

3rd-https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-888811

According to Kurdish sources, these forces have been preparing in recent days to participate in ground operations in western Iran with the aim of pressuring Iranian security forces and dispersing them across multiple arenas.

These fighters will not originate entirely from Iran. Most will come in from Iraq. Some freshly transported from Syria. Rebranded to SDF. I’m referencing PKK and their allied militias such PJAK in Iran. Bottom line is they are all PKK- Same ideology and criminality

4th- Netanyahu addresses nation: Time for Persians, Kurds, Azerbaijanis, Baloch and Ahwazi to create free Iran

The time has come for all segments of the Iranian people — Persians, Kurds, Azerbaijanis, Baloch and Ahwazi — to cast off the yoke of tyranny and create a free and peace-seeking Iran,” the Israeli prime minister said.

There are many Azeris in Iran. They were some of the earliest refugees when Armenia invaded Nagorno Karabakh decades ago. Not sure if they would participate.

5thThe Iranian Intelligence Ministry said on Thursday that it attacked Kurdish forces in Iraq to prevent them from advancing.

As part of its retaliatory operations in response to the US-Israeli war on Iran, Tehran’s forces have been attacking Iraq-based Iranian Kurdish groups, which have received foreign backing in the past and have participated in deadly violence against security forces, during the 2022 Mahsa Amini riots and the latest Mossad-backed unrest in January.
The ministry added that Tehran was coordinating with “noble Kurds” to thwart US-Israeli plans.

An Iranian military statement said Kurdish groups in Iraqi Kurdistan were targeted with three missiles on Tuesday. At least one was killed and three others were injured.

6th- Sky News- Kurdish fighters desperate to fight battle

False Flags- It seems the attack on Saudi oil fields was not the only false flag attack It’s looking very likely the attack on the British base in Cyprus may have originated with Israel

7th- Cyprus-mail

Asked if he believed the UK had acted with sufficient urgency to protect the people living in and around the British bases, Kouros said that “at this stage the most important thing is to strengthen our capacity to defend ourselves from these new technology threats.”

“We have ourselves technologies capable to stop ballistic missile threats, but on the drones we need more and already we have the presence of Greek forces on the island, four aircraft arrived, all of them with abilities to combat drones. The French are coming, so the least we expect is the British to also be present since we are not only defending Cypriots on the island,” he said.

“It was obvious that the drone attack after midnight on Sunday was a success because it hit a target. So, they need to augment their capabilities and capacities, at least. I am not going to tell them how to do this, it is not my job.”

Kouros said that from the start he made Cyprus’ case clear to his interlocutors in London.

The claim is the drone came from Lebanon– which doesn’t strike me as credible. Why would they? Not launched from Iran– resembled Iranian design– I’m thinking Israel would have the most to gain from launching an attack such as this on Cyprus.

8th-Kyivpost

In a statement released Wednesday, the MoD said the “Shahed-like” drone that targeted the base was not launched from Iranian territory, although it resembled Iranian-designed loitering munitions used widely by Tehran’s allies in the region.

Another likely false flag this time in Azerbaijan- remember Bibi called for Azeris to join the fight- So, which country in the region benefits from all these false flags?

9th- Iran denies its drones hit airport in Azerbaijan’s exclave as war widens

10th– Report: Pentagon told Iran war could last through September

Much longer than initially claimed

11th- Not all attacks coming from Iran- Prominent Saudi Arabian editor

Lots of reading- Take it all in and you’ll be smarter than the average bear!!

Back in 2011-

The US, Israel & other allies began, in earnest, to destabilize Syria with an eye to balkanization along the lines of what they had done in Iraq.

So called ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) which later rebranded into ISIS(Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) came via Northern Iraq and entered into North Eastern Syria. Often times in marketing the same product is rebranded to create a different perception in the mind of the targeted audience.. Hence the name change from ISIL to ISIS once the western backed terror group entered Syria

The common denominator in those two areas were the PKK affiliated Kurds. Not all Kurds are PKK. But many are. These irregulars crossed freely back and forth between those two regions for some time now. Always benefiting from the long present, well established American bases in place in Iraq. The move from Iraq to Syria was easy enough to make as the they could be and were supplied with their weapons of death and destruction

Erbil is often mentioned, but, there is a lesser known American base in Duhok as well as others

Erbil airbase (Iraq) – Used by US forces for air operations, particularly in northern Iraq and Syria, where troops advise Kurdish and Iraqi forces.

Let’s read about the other bases? Established long ago.. Enabling the US to attack Turkey. Iraq. Iran. And to shift fighters in and out of the area

U.S. to open three huge US military bases in Iraqi Kurdistan region  31.5.2007

Sulaimaniyah, Erbil, Duhok, Kurdistan region (Iraq)

Although it is expected that today responsibility for security will be handed over to the Kurdistan authorities, exclusive military sources have told Hawlati that the US forces intend to open three huge US military bases in the Erbil, Duhok, and Sulaimaniyah areas. Meanwhile, senior peshmerga forces’ officials expressed their pleasure at such a move.

The three bases will be located in Qaradagh (south of Sulaimaniyah), Zakho area (north of Duhok), while the third one will be based near Erbil. There is also a possibility that the Incirlik base in Turkey, opened in 1992, will be transferred to the Kurdistan Region, (tells you the goal for the region- Southern Turkey annexed) which is heralded as an important achievement by Kurdistan regional government military officials who said they would welcome such requests from the coalition forces.

Have we forgotten the mass of Toyota trucks, brand spanking new, that ISIS had at their ready? Seriously, how does anyone think Toyota would have supplied that many vehicles to a terror group unless that had some sort of official okay?

US officials want to know how ISIS got all those Toyota Trucks

Toyota officials based in Japan, claimed they didn’t know? That’s not credible. NOT AT ALL!

The US and allies peppered the ISIS/ISIL irregulars with other fighters. They brought in, for example, Georgian fighters to fight alongside their Kurdish proxies. Many were trained by the US in the regular Georgian army. Much more information at my censored site on this topic, but the link included below should suffice

U.S. training helped mold Islamic State’s top military commander

According to Batirashvili’s ex-comrades in the Georgian military, Batirashvili was tapped immediately upon his enlistment to join Georgia’s U.S.-trained special forces.

“We trained him well, and we had lots of help from America,” said a former Georgian defense official who asked to not be identified because of the sensitivity of Batirashvili’s role in the Islamic State. “In fact, the only reason he didn’t go to Iraq to fight alongside America was that we needed his skills here in Georgia.” Even before Georgia and Russia came to blows in 2008, Batirashvili had earned a reputation for fighting Russians. While a part of Georgia, the Pankisi Valley’s northern end abuts Chechnya, where separatists fought a brutal war for independence from Russia in the 1990s. Batirashvili’s mother was Chechen, and his father has told local journalists that young Batirashvili had seen a handful of military operations as a rebel in Chechnya before joining Georgia’s military in 2006 at age 20.

They, the US and company, also funneled in their allies among the Uighur population, the ones they’ve assembled to target China. There are others, but, this should give anyone reading a basic idea of how this all started out

Kurds and ISIS

Please do understand that the Kurds and ISIS are equivalent to opposite sides of the same coin- Both groups propped up mainly by the US and Israel. Can you imagine that there would be any real or substantive conflict between them? I’m sure there’s some fighting over stolen goods, arms, smuggling, drugs sales. The kind of thing criminal organizations battle over- but higher up, there is coordination. Because both these groups have the same overseer.

Turkeys role

The disinfo or fog of war about Turkey’s role in all this has been thick and plentiful- It creates a smoke screen that helps obfuscate some of the realities were going to talk about.

• The biggest tell that Turkey was not on board with the Usrael backed plot was the fact they would not go along with a NATO no fly zone on their southern border (Syria’s north) opting instead to partner with Russia for overflights. And routine patrols.

The US floated the idea of a no fly zone October 2011- Had the piece below at my former site- Council on Foreign relations

There are two reasons put forward for why a NFZ is needed in Syria. First, some opposition members contend that it will protect civilians. Senator Joe Lieberman, who already supported a Syrian NFZ six months ago, more recently endorsed “safe zones inside Syria, particularly along the Turkish and Jordanian borders,” which would be enforced through a NFZ

Jordan went along Turkey didn’t

People conveniently forget this history.. to push an agenda

Turkey had it’s own reasons for entering Syria- and it did. Supporting the FSA. The empowerment of the Kurdish PKK by the US and Israel was the main impetus for Turkey to enter

I’m hoping this is enough background for readers to have a better understanding as we talk about the latest in N/E Syria.

Damascus was attempting unification

There are claims that Damascus was moving on the Kurds in N/E Syria. So the Kurds responded by releasing the ISIS fighters they allegedly held in some prison camp. Supposedly there was fighting. Probably was. But remember ISIS and Kurds have the same master, so, what ever fighting was short lived.

There were people suggesting this was Turkish disinfo about Kurds releasing ISIS. Ah,NO! The Kurds would make a public show of releasing their ISIS brethren for a number of reasons. Listed below…

1- Draw the US further in to “fight ISIS”- Though they’ve never left- But most don’t realize this

• US Strikes ISIS in Syria- earlier this month
• Islamic State fighters escape prison

2- Draw Israel in.

Notice the propagandistic, emotionally manipulative headline?

‘October 7 moment for Kurds’: Israel must assist Syria’s Kurds amid attacks, analysts tell ‘Post

Over the last decade, the SDF worked with the US and defeated ISIS in Syria. However, now the SDF is facing major setbacks, and Kurds fear they may be massacred.

3- Apply pressure on Damascus- the dupe in charge foolishly thinks he’s going to rebuild Syria

4- Message Turkey, we aren’t laying down arms

• Contrary to what Ocalan had claimed.. less than a year ago– and that was never going to happen, but, it was nice public relations, right?
• Turkey’s Erdogan says lay down your arms and disband

5- Draw more Kurdish fighters into Syria on the pretext of humanitarianism and fighting ISIS

• Kurdistan mobilizing support for Kurds in North eastern Syria

Meanwhile, public mobilization has intensified across the Region where hundreds of residents, activists, and Syrian Kurds recently held demonstrations in Al-Sulaymaniyah and Erbil, including protests outside the United Nations mission and the US consulate, calling for international intervention to halt military operations in northern Syria and to facilitate humanitarian access.

In plain and clear language- The Kurds of N/E Syria almost certainly released their ISIS prisoners in hopes of increasing pressure on Damascus and Turkey. Knowing that US and Israel would chomp at the bit. Considering how venomous Israel is towards Turkey- A Turkey that has been impeding their desired Israel 2.0 aka Greater Kurdistan for at least a decade now.

Pretty sure there is more than enough information here for you guys and gals to understand where I’m coming from.

Lastly there seems to have been some assassinations on Kurdish leadership hiding out in Iraq-

Iranian Kurd opposition party in Iraq accuses Iran of attack on HQ

Considering what the PKK affiliated Iranian Kurds did in Iran during this most recent uprising in Iran- I’m not surprised that Iran would undertake such action

Via Archive.ph

The Tariffs were always a from of economic warfare, to waged against other nations

1: Trump Imposes Tariffs on Countries Supporting Greenland

President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Saturday that he would impose an additional 10 percent tariff on eight European countries—Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the U.K.—for deploying a small joint force to Greenland to conduct reconnaissance. Trump said the tariffs would take effect on February 1 and increase to 25 percent on June 1, adding they “will be due and payable until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.” The leaders of the eight European nations responded in a joint statement, writing that “tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.” To learn more about Trump’s campaign to acquire Greenland, read Thursday’s TMD.

• Bloomberg reported Sunday that French President Emmanuel Macron plans to request that European Union leaders activate the EU’s anti-coercion instrument, a never-before-used mechanism created in 2023 that would implement further trade restrictions on the U.S., while also placing July 2025’s U.S.-EU trade deal in jeopardy. EU ambassadors met in Brussels later that night to discuss a potential response.

• On Friday, a bipartisan group of American lawmakers met with Danish lawmakers in Copenhagen.
• The same day, the chief military leader of Denmark’s Greenland-based Joint Arctic Command, Major General Soren Andersen, said that his priority is preparing against potential threats from Russia. “I don’t see a NATO ally attacking another NATO ally,” he said.

The EU is well positioned to trade with China and Russia and should do so- As they were before

2: Trump Issues More Pardons

Trump keeps right on pardoning criminals

Trump issued 14 pardons and eight commutations on Thursday and Friday. To learn more about Trump’s use of the pardon power, read the December 11 issue ofTMD. Last week’s pardons included:

• Former Puerto Rican Gov. Wanda Vazquez Garced—who was indicted in August 2022 for allegedly engaging in a bribery scheme to fund her 2020 re-election campaign—along with Garced’s two co-defendants.
• Venezuelan-Italian banker Julio Martin Herrera Velutini, whose daughter donated $3.5 million to Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc.
• Adriana Camberos, a California businesswoman who was convicted of wire fraud in October 2024 for making tens of millions of dollars by giving false information to consumer goods and food manufacturers. She received a commutation by Trump in 2021 after being convicted for operating illegal business schemes.

3: More Details on the U.S. Campaign in Venezuela

Reuters reported Saturday that U.S. officials had been communicating with Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello months before the U.S. apprehended Nicolás Maduro in a raid earlier this month. Sources told Reuters that the Trump administration has continued talks with Cabello, including warning him against ordering violence against opposition members. The Associated Press also reported Saturday that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has categorized acting Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodríguez as a “priority target” for several years, with one confidential informant telling the federal agency in 2021 that she was running a money laundering scheme in the Caribbean

4: Ukraine Meetings in Florida

Ukrainian officials met with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law and foreign policy adviser, Jared Kushner, in Florida over the weekend for a two-day discussion of prospective security guarantees and post-war reconstruction proposals. On Sunday, Ukrainian lead negotiator Rustem Umerov said that discussions focused on “practical mechanisms and carrying out and implementing them,” adding that both sides plan to meet again later this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine’s defense systems were “insufficient” and that some were currently “without missiles.

David Barnea—the director of Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad—arrived in Miami on Friday to discuss with U.S. officials prospective responses to Iran’s violent crackdown.
Leaders of an Iraq-based Kurdish separatist group told the Associated Press that they have provided military and financial support to the anti-government protesters.
Reza Pahlavi—the son of the deposed shah of Iran—urged Trump during a press conference on Friday to intervene and support the anti-government protesters in the country, laying out a plan to lead the country through a prospective transition to democratic governance. On Sunday night, hackers broadcast footage supporting Pahlavi on Iranian state television transmissions.

5:Iran Blames Trump for Killings

In a Saturday speech—later reiterated on Twitter—Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei admitted that thousands had died in the country’s protests, but blamed the demonstrations and the deaths on U.S. interference. “We find the U.S. President guilty due to the casualties, damages and slander he inflicted upon the Iranian nation,” Khamenei’s account posted. Trump had commended the Iranian regime on Friday, posting on Truth Social that he “greatly respect[s] the fact that they canceled” the execution of more than 800 protesters scheduled to take place last week. But when asked about Khamenei’s posts over the weekend, Trump toldPolitico, “It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran.” On Sunday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that “any aggression” against Khamenei would be treated as “tantamount to all-out war against” the country.

Reza Pahlavi—the son of the deposed shah of Iran—urged Trump during a press conference on Friday to intervene and support the anti-government protesters in the country, laying out a plan to lead the country through a prospective transition to democratic governance. On Sunday night, hackers broadcast footage supporting Pahlavi on Iranian state television transmissions.

David Barnea—the director of Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad—arrived in Miami on Friday to discuss with U.S. officials prospective responses to Iran’s violent crackdown.

Leaders of an Iraq-based Kurdish separatist group told the Associated Press that they have provided military and financial support to the anti-government protesters.

As mentioned in a previous post- This would be the PKK providing guns and money to PJAK in Iran- They are the same

**More on the hacking of Iranian television

To broadcast the so called exiled crown prince (resident of the US)

Hackers disrupted Iranian state television satellite transmissions to air footage supporting the country’s exiled crown prince and calling on security forces to not “point your weapons at the people,” footage online showed early Monday, the latest disruption to follow nationwide protests in the country.

***Some Kurdish thugs in Iran were killed according to this group

Since they were given cash and arms from the PKK- I gotta figure they were up to no good!

In plain talk, this may be just another ploy (a cunning plan or action designed to turn a situation to one's own advantage) in the US/Israel war machine- An attempt at persuasion. Before their attack, already planned and prepared for goes forward. As stated, Iraq, 2003

Or it could be something else? I’ve mentioned this “something else” further down in the report- I hope you read through to the end.

UN Security Council Meeting on Iran, at US request- the latest

The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting Thursday to discuss Iran’s deadly protests at the request of the United States, even as President Donald Trump left unclear what actions he would take against the Islamic state

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has spoken with his counterpart in Iran, who said the situation was “now stable,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

To my understanding Iran has largely gotten the very violent western backed destabilization under control

Abbas Araghchi said “he hoped China will play a greater role in regional peace and stability” during the talks, according to the statement from the ministry.

“China opposes imposing its will on other countries, and opposes a return to the ‘law of the jungle’,” Wang said.

“China believes that the Iranian government and people will unite, overcome difficulties, maintain national stability, and safeguard their legitimate rights and interests,” he added. “China hopes all parties will cherish peace, exercise restraint, and resolve differences through dialogue. China is willing to play a constructive role in this regard.”

Turkey says it’s opposed to any foreign military intervention in Iran

Turkey also opposed the US attack on Iraq in 2003!!

“We are against military intervention in Iran,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told journalists in Istanbul on Thursday. “Iran must address its own internal problems… They must address their problems with the region and in global terms through diplomacy so that certain structural problems that cause economic problems can be addressed.”

Ankara and Tehran enjoy warm relations despite often holding divergent interests in the region.

Yes, they do. They manage. They work stuff out.

Fidan said the unrest in Iran was rooted in economic conditions caused by sanctions, rather than ideological opposition to the government.

Of course there is one other possibility for this stall- I have to consider everything… Perhaps there are some unknown weapons or challenging alliances that have been brought to Donald Trump’s attention that is giving him pause for thought? Maybe the western bought and paid for destabilizers failed to accomplish certain military goals that would have been needed to be done before the USrael strike? Just throwing it out there!

Link

During an event at the White House, Trump stated that he had been informed “by a trusted source” that “the killing is stopping in Iran. It has stopped… and there are no planned executions”, without providing further details.

In response to a question from an Agence France-Presse reporter in the Oval Office about whether US military action is now ruled out, Trump answered “We will monitor the situation and see how things go”.

The UN meeting may shed more light on this situation.

There have been many internal attacks undertaken in Iran recently, including car bombings, as part of the very obvious destablization campaign running in tandem with Israel’s bombing aided by the US.

Could be MEK. Sure. But it could also be the the West’s Kurdish proxies.- The relationship is not new- I’d covered the special relatinship at my former site- Below we see the latest news covering the US relationship with their Kurdish Muslim terrorists.

Newsweek- May 2025

The head of a dissident Iranian Kurdish movement has told Newsweek his group is urging the United States to foster contacts with opposition factions in the Islamic Republic to undermine and ultimately overthrow the government.

While not seeking armed support, Komala Party of the Iranian Kurdistan Secretary-General Abdullah Mohtadi appealed to President Donald Trump to establish a relationship that would help set the conditions for the unraveling of the Iranian government.

“We think that the administration should have an open-door policy with the Democratic opposition to the Iranian regime, like Kurdish people, like different ethnic minorities, different ethnic political groups, providing they are not terrorists, providing they are not undemocratic,” Mohtadi told Newsweek.

Wow, that’s some perception management type spin– He knows Kurds that would ask the US to enable the “overthrowing” of an elected government would be terrorists and undemocratic.

“We think it is in the best national interests of the United States to have a direct dialogue with the different components of the Iranian opposition,” he added, “because if the United States has ties with them, the regime might collapse under pressure from domestic crises."

And while some critics of Iran voice opposition to Trump’s efforts to strike a nuclear agreement with Tehran, Mohtadi felt a deal that restricted the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program would only further serve to impair, rather than empower, the government.

“We stand for a non-nuclear Iran, like the Trump administration does,” Mohtadi said. “We also share the administration’s policy of countering Iran’s malign activity in the region. In my opinion, a deal based on these points does not strengthen the regime. In fact, it weakens it.”

Komala emerged as one of the leading Kurdish armed groups, initially adopting a Marxist-Leninist outlook, to challenge the newly formed Islamic Republic. The party has operated largely underground, establishing networks both within the country and abroad.

Other leading Kurdish movements in Iran include the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) and the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK). These groups have been engaged in clashes with Iranian security personnel in recent years, as have other Komala factions, yet Mohtadi said his movement has renounced armed struggle.

Still, all three parties are designated terrorist organizations by the Iranian government.

Engaged in clashes? You gotta love the mind control in that wording. “Engaged in Clashes” Besides Kurdish terror, Iran has also been targeted by ISIS- Or as I like to call the amalgamated western backed terror crowd- KurdIShIS

And Trump, the peacemaker, is very clearly the war maker I’d fully anticipated he would be! There were reports that Bibi had left Israel, heading for Greece. This seems possible as Israel may have had intel that Iran would try to take to strike at the leadership.

Below are a bunch of links to different reports:

Reuters

President Donald Trump told Reuters in a phone interview on Friday that he and his team had known the attacks were coming – and still saw room for an accord.
“We knew everything, and I tried to save Iran humiliation and death”

Asked if the U.S. would support Israel against Iranian counterattacks, Trump said he supported Israel. He said he was not concerned about a regional war breaking out as a result of Israel’s strikes but did not elaborate.
“We’ve been very close to Israel. We’re their number one ally by far,” Trump told Reuters, adding, “We’ll see what happens.”

Later on Friday, two U.S. officials said the U.S. military had helped shoot down Iranian missiles headed toward Israel.

Besides intercepting Iranian missiles, the US has aided in refueling Israeli jets over Syrian territory

Iran is striking back- lots of available footage.

AlJazeera- Hundreds of missiles launched at Israel

“The Zionist regime [Israel] will not remain unscathed from the consequences of its crime. The Iranian nation must be guaranteed that our response will not be half-measured,” Khamenei said in a statement.

Three separate waves of attacks and hundreds of missiles were launched at Israel on Friday night, Iranian state media said.

USA Today

Iran launched three retaliatory waves of missiles at targets in Israel on June 13, as Israelis rode out the attacks in bomb shelters and world leaders discussed the deepening conflict.

Plumes of smoke rose over central Tel Aviv and at least one building was hit and set ablaze. Israel said fewer than 100 rockets had been fired from Iran. Israel’s Channel 12 said two people were critically injured, eight moderately and 34 slightly from shrapnel..

The U.S. military has helped shoot down Iranian missiles headed for Israel, American officials told USA TODAY.

Oil Prices Spike

Hoping you can see this video?

Iran has hit the Pentagon equivalent in Israel

“Iran struck The Kirya compound, Israel’s equivalent to the U.S. Pentagon, Fox News confirms”

Other reports..

Sirens are sounding at the US embassy in Baghdad. There were reports an airport may have been hit in Erbil, Iraq.

Trump praises Israel’s Iran attacks

Netanyahu is speaking to Iranians, urging them to stand up and overthrow their government- but, they are out cheering in the streets

How an Israeli American Deception Campaign lulled Iran into a false sense of security

Forex

USD/JPY has fallen further on a report that the Naval Support activity in Bahrain has been placed on ‘high alert’ with dependants of service members being told to prepare for evacuation.

The logical jump here is that something could be happening with Iran.

The S&P 500 quickly drop by 30 points on the headlines and USD/JPY hit a session low of 144.33. Oil has been surging all day and is now at fresh session highs, up nearly $3 on the day.

The bases in Bahrain and Kuwait would be two of the closest US operations to Iran. Bahrain hosts the headquarters for US Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) and the U.S. 5th Fleet. That includes approximately 8,300 US personnel and dependents. Kuwait hosts Camp Arifjan, which is a massive army installation that routinely hosts 10,000-plus troops and personnel along with Camp Buehring, which can also host 18,000 personnel along with two other bases.

The reporting of a partial base evacuation is also interesting- One would think it possible that Iran, if struck by Usrael, might hit the Iraqi base in retaliation- Nothing is off the table.

US preparing to partially evacuate Iraq embassy

The United States is preparing a partial evacuation of its Iraqi embassy and will allow military dependents to leave locations around the Middle East due to heightened security risks in the region, US and Iraqi sources said Wednesday.

“The State Department regularly reviews American personnel abroad and this decision was made as a result of a recent review,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Reuters when asked about reports of the partial evacuations, without giving further details.

A White House official said US President Donald Trump was aware of the move.

The partial evacuations come at a moment of heightened tensions in a region already aflame after 18 months of war in Gaza that has raised fears of a wider conflagration pitting the US and Israel against Iran and its allies.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to strike Iran if stuttering talks over its nuclear programme fail and Wednesday he said he was growing less confident that Tehran would agree to stop enriching uranium, a key American demand.

The JCPOA, P1+5, took years to negotiate and Trump during his first administration destroyed this deal which would inevitably lead to the theater of a new negotiation, setting Iran up for an attack, should this new deal not be accomplished in a very narrow time frame.

Covered in 2018 at my former site, moved here as reference and reminder of history

NYT’s

https://archive.ph/QScpj#selection-4961.0-4975.397

Mr. Trump made his decision after months of internal debate over whether to pursue diplomacy or support Israel

The debate highlighted fault lines between historically hawkish American cabinet officials and other aides more skeptical that a military assault on Iran could destroy the country’s nuclear ambitions and avoid a larger war.

Israeli officials had recently developed plans to attack Iranian nuclear sites in May. They were prepared to carry them out, and at times were optimistic that the United States would sign off. The goal of the proposals, according to officials briefed on them, was to set back Tehran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon by a year or more.

Almost all of the plans would have required U.S. help not just to defend Israel from Iranian retaliation, but also to ensure that an Israeli attack was successful, making the United States a central part of the attack itself.

For now, Mr. Trump has chosen diplomacy over military action. In his first term, he tore up the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration But in his second term, eager to avoid being sucked into another war in the Middle East, he has opened negotiations with Tehran, giving it a deadline of just a few months to negotiate a deal over its nuclear program.

Earlier this month, Mr. Trump informed Israel of his decision that the United States would not support an attack

Israel has long planned to attack Iranian nuclear facilities, rehearsing bombing runs and calculating how much damage it could do with or without American help.

Initially, at the behest of Mr. Netanyahu, senior Israeli officials updated their American counterparts on a plan that would have combined an Israeli commando raid on underground nuclear sites with a bombing campaign, an effort that the Israelis hoped would involve American aircraft.

Some American officials were at least initially more open to considering the Israeli plans. Gen. Michael E. Kurilla, the head of U.S. Central Command, and Michael Waltz, the national security adviser, both discussed how the United States could potentially support an Israeli attack, if Mr. Trump backed the plan, according to officials briefed on the discussions.

With the United States intensifying its war against the Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen, General Kurilla, with the blessing of the White House, began moving military equipment to the Middle East. A second aircraft carrier, Carl Vinson, is now in the Arabian Sea, joining the carrier Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea.

The United States also moved two Patriot missile batteries and a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, known as a THAAD, to the Middle East.

Around a half-dozen B-2 bombers capable of carrying 30,000-pound bombs essential to destroying Iran’s underground nuclear program were dispatched to Diego Garcia, an island base in the Indian Ocean.

Even if the United States decided not to authorize the aircraft to take part in a strike on Iran, Israel would know that the American fighters were available to defend against attacks by an Iranian ally.
There were signs that Mr. Trump was open to U.S. support for Israeli military action against Iran. The United States has long accused Iran of giving the Houthis weapons and intelligence, and of exercising at least a degree of control over the group. On March 17, as Mr. Trump warned the Houthis in Yemen to stop their attacks, he also called out Iran, saying that it was in control of the Houthis.

Etc., etc.,

Don’t be distracted by the Trump dog and pony show- The preparations are being made- Patriot missiles, THAADS, B-2 Bombers, the so called negotiations are distractions- We saw the exact same scenario played out before the US brutally attacked Iraq. Recall the ongoing weapons inspection drama? All the while the military machinery, weapons, aircraft carriers were all being put in place? I remember this well. And, of course, there were NO WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.

History may not repeat exactly, but, it does rhyme. What does makes this a bit different this time? The US is not as dominant globally as it was when it bombed Iraq to smithereens. Is this enough to prevent WW3? Let’s hope so.