Bitte Hammargren @bitteham.bsky.social

An Israeli airstrike struck an apartment building in central Beirut, on Wednesday. The Israeli army had warned residents to evacuate about an hour before completely flattening it as day broke.

𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗔 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗦 𝗜𝗥𝗔𝗡 𝗧𝗢 𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗥 According to diplomatic sources, Marco Rubio reached out to Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi through Oman as part of an American effort to explore a path toward ending the war. The message carried a single direct question: what does Iran want in order to stop the war? Tehran initially gave no response. Shortly afterward, France was tasked with delivering the same question in an attempt to reopen the diplomatic channel. This time the reply from Tehran was explicit: “We are not seeking to stop the war. There are objectives that must still be achieved.” Despite the public rhetoric from Donald Trump and officials in Washington claiming battlefield success, the quiet diplomatic outreach suggests a far more cautious calculation behind the scenes. The United States appears to believe that sustained military pressure will eventually force Iran to accept terms favorable to Washington for ending the conflict. Tehran, however, is signaling the opposite. Iranian officials indicate they are prepared for a prolonged confrontation and will not concede under pressure. The war has therefore evolved into a strategic contest of endurance, a test of which side can sustain the greater cost, absorb the escalating pressure, and ultimately compel the other to recalibrate its position. Behind the battlefield narratives and public declarations of victory, the real struggle is becoming clear: not who strikes harder, but who endures longer.

La veuve de l'ex-chah d'Iran, Farah Pahlavi, estime que "l'avenir de l'Iran ne doit pas être décidé à l'extérieur de ses frontières" et que le soutien de la communauté internationale doit "aller au peuple, pas à des calculs géopolitiques", dans un entretien mardi à l'AFP ⤵️

To our allies: Stand firm. Stand tall. Stand united.