Bel Ami

« Tous ces gens-là, voyez-vous, sont des médiocres, parce qu'ils ont l'esprit entre deux murs, — l'argent et la politique. » Bel Ami (1885) Guy de Maupassant

A transitional Iranian ambassador to Lebanon? Following the Lebanese state’s decision to end the mission of the previous regime’s ambassador—and the diplomat’s reported refusal to leave Lebanese territory while remaining under Hezbollah’s protection—the government in Beirut could consider a new course of action. One option would be to formally request that Iran’s transitional government appoint an interim representative to serve as ambassador to Lebanon. Under such a scenario, the current diplomat would effectively remain a rogue representative of the existing regime until removal is possible. While a newly appointed envoy could represent an alternative Iranian transitional government in official relations with Lebanon. @LBpresidency @YoussefRaggi @SecRubio @SenTedCruz @LindseyGrahamSC

Associated Press : * Les Émirats arabes unis exhortent Trump à ordonner une invasion terrestre de l'Iran, le Koweït et Bahreïn soutenant également cette initiative. * Des sources officielles d'Arabie saoudite, des Émirats arabes unis, du Koweït et de Bahreïn ont fait part, lors de discussions à huis clos, de leur opposition à la fin de l'opération tant qu'il n'y aura pas de changements significatifs au sein de la direction iranienne ou qu'un revirement radical ne se produira pas dans le comportement de l'Iran. In the Live news thread👇 @AP #0000019d-40d2-d7cd-a7df-dbfe27250000" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">apnews.com/live/iran-war-…

@hahussain The cancer is telling the brain this is not your body anymore.

BREAKING: In 1622, Shah Abbas I captured the Strait of Hormuz from the Portuguese and made it the economic engine of the Safavid Empire. He ruled from Isfahan. He built the Shah Mosque there, the Naqsh-e Jahan Square, the Ali Qapu palace, the Chehel Sotoun pavilion. Isfahan became, in the words of historians, one of the most beautiful cities ever constructed. Its wealth flowed from one source: control of the strait. Tonight, 404 years later, Isfahan is burning because of the strait. Al Jazeera confirmed overnight US-Israeli strikes hitting the Badr military airbase in Isfahan, producing a column of fire visible across a city of 2.3 million people. Bunker-busters detonated ammunition depots in secondary explosions that turned the night sky orange. This is the fourth wave of strikes on Isfahan since February 28. Previous waves destroyed Il-76 transports, C-130s, Su-22s, S-300 radar systems, and runway infrastructure at the 8th Tactical Airbase. On March 9, strikes damaged Naqsh-e Jahan Square itself, along with the Shah Mosque, Ali Qapu, and Chehel Sotoun. Blue Shield International called it a war crime. The monuments Abbas built with Hormuz revenue are being destroyed in a war triggered by Hormuz closure. The geography has not moved in four centuries. The chokepoint has not moved. The city that profited from controlling the strait is now paying the price of a regime that weaponised it. Shah Abbas understood something that the IRGC also understands: whoever controls Hormuz controls the economic destiny of every nation that depends on what passes through it. In 1622, he used English warships to seize it from the Portuguese and redirected its wealth to build a capital that rivalled Constantinople. In 2026, the IRGC is using the same chokepoint as a toll booth, charging two million dollars per tanker in yuan, while the air defences that protected the city Abbas built are systematically dismantled by the descendants of the same English-speaking naval power that helped him take it. But here is the connection nobody has made. Isfahan is not only the city that Abbas built with Hormuz wealth. It is where Iran’s enriched uranium sits underground. The same city. The same geography. The column of fire tonight is burning above the facility where 1,000 pounds of uranium hexafluoride sits in cylinders that both diplomats and commandos are racing to reach. Every strike that degrades Badr’s air defences makes a future special operations approach to that uranium more feasible. Rubio’s four stated objectives, destroy the air force, navy, factories, and missile launchers, are the precondition for the unstated fifth: extract the uranium. And the precondition converges on Isfahan. Shah Abbas captured Hormuz to fund Isfahan. The IRGC closed Hormuz and brought war to Isfahan. The uranium that could end or extend this war sits beneath the city that was built by the strait that started it. Four centuries of Persian strategic logic, from Safavid empire to Islamic Republic, compressed into one burning city where the chokepoint, the capital, the heritage, and the nuclear material all occupy the same coordinates. The Shah Mosque was designed to last a thousand years. Whether it survives April depends on whether a Pakistani diplomat landing in Beijing this morning can broker a deal faster than the bunker-busters can reach the cylinders beneath the city that Hormuz built. open.substack.com/pub/shanakaans…

1️⃣Accountability Now has filed a sanctions submission with the @USTreasury against Speaker Nabih Berri. The filing presents a compelling case for his designation based on rampant corruption, state capture, control over a suspicious oil cartel tied to the Zahrani oil installations

@BeirutBased @NowActs Berri = HA

@NowActs +Aiding HA..

Le discours que j’aurais tant aimé entende en 2015 à l’Assemblée Nationale. @marcorubio

Mélenchon et Ben Gvir devraient être enfermés dans la même cellule.

@DianaMenhem @Confusezeus Not really, he did zero investigations on the source and purpose of the ammonium nitrates.

🇱🇧 A major milestone for justice in the August 4 Port explosion case. Judge Tarek Bitar pushed through with courage and today submitted his final investigation file to the Prosecutor General. The Prosecutor General must now review the file, after which the indictment can be issued. It is important that this step not be delayed. The Judicial Council should then move ahead with the trials, a crucial and likely lengthy step in the process. Pressure will be needed at every stage to ensure that no one evades justice and that those truly responsible are held accountable. So much respect for everyone working tirelessly for this cause and fighting to see justice done.

Senior Hezbollah official says his militia told the Lebanese state that Lebanon was not its territory, that the land belonged to those who defended it and that Lebanese government resolutions belong in the trash can. And now Hezbollah apologists will complain that Israel is violating laws in warring with the Hezbollah rogue military power.

U.S./Israel blew up Iranian missile stock in Isfahan. Instead of investing its oil income in a knowledge and services economy, the crazy Islamist regime transformed granite mountains into a killing machine that rains death on the region. Now regime watches all its money in flames.

La réalité c’est quand on se cogne disait Lacan. Dans un tournant inédit, les pays du Golfe seraient enclins à se retirer de la Ligue Arabe.

תחשבו מה שתחשבו על עונש מוות: לפתוח שמפניה על מוות זה מעשה אנטי-יהודי.

“Lebanon’s future depends on the expulsion of Iran’s regime, not merely its ambassador. This war provides the best opportunity in years to do so, and the U.S. and Israel can help. But if Lebanon wants independence, the country will have to seize it.”

Lebanon’s future depends on the expulsion of Iran’s regime, not merely its ambassador. WSJ editorial:

This Hezbollah-inspired attack on U.S. soil underscores the depth of the evil and depravity emanating from the Iranian regime. Hezbollah — one of the most violent terrorist organizations supported by Iran — has way too much American blood on its hands. To the Lebanese army: Up your game.

I called the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia Sugiono, and conveyed my sincere condolences for the death of the Indonesian soldier who lost his life while carrying out his duties with UNIFIL in southern Lebanon. I strongly condemned the attack and commended the sacrifices of the Indonesian contingent and its continued efforts, alongside UN peacekeeping forces, to preserve security and stability in the south. I also expressed Lebanon’s gratitude and appreciation for this role. I noted that the young soldier deserves to be recognized as a fallen peacekeeper.

@RaymondFHakim العظيم

📌مسلمين ومسيحيين يد واحدة دفاعًا عن لبنان 🇱🇧

After more than 5.5 years, investigative judge Tarek Bitar has completed his investigation into the August 4, 2020 Beirut port explosion 70 people have been reportedly charged in the case. After years of waiting, victims & their families deserve justice. nna-leb.gov.lb/ar/news/423571

We are not just carrying out strikes on Russia. We are responding. After the global energy crisis began, we received signals from some partners requesting that we reduce our responses targeting Russia’s oil and energy sector. I emphasize once again: if Russia is ready not to strike Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, we will not retaliate to theirs. We are open to discussing any type of ceasefire—a full ceasefire, an energy ceasefire, a food security ceasefire. We have already proposed all of this, and we are still open. If the Russians are ready, let them suggest any timeframe—we are ready to resolve this issue. From my conversation with journalists (3/3).