E. (Eerie)Tori

In the restroom of my parent's synagogue

I am worried. I am worried not only about those who have already been killed or wounded because they happened to live, work, or sleep too close to the bombing. I am worried about what comes next, after the blast, after the headlines fade, after the television maps are cleared away and the experts move on to the next crisis. I am worried about hunger. I am worried about thirst. I am worried about a state that may no longer be able to provide even the bare minimum to a population already exhausted by fear, grief, and loss... And, as always, it is ordinary Iranians who will pay the price. nkowsar.substack.com/p/war-water-an…

@Kkvl025 @OunkaOnX You don't know what an American accent sounds like.

@OunkaOnX That’s an American accent, especially when she says bombs

A woman in Iran is documenting the reality of this illegal war - not through Western media filters

If the war ended tonight, its lessons remain unclear. It could normalize intermittent strikes, push Iran to accelerate a nuclear breakout, leave Israel to continue the campaign alone, or shift the conflict toward Lebanon. The end state will still be undefined.

👇 This is Tehran’s Revolution Square today, starting at noon local time, with crowds “pledging allegiance” to Mojtaba Khamenei. Similar scenes have been reported across multiple cities. One reality many outside Iran ignore: the Islamic Republic still has a social base. After war and the assassination of Ali Khamenei, that base appears deeply mobilized and radicalized. Diaspora narratives of imminent collapse—and the wishful thinking of some analysts—do not change this underlying objective reality. If the state were to collapse suddenly, the far more likely outcome would be fragmentation and civil war, not a smooth transition to a foreign-backed leader.

A review of open-source evidence and satellite imagery, including expert consultation, by @ntabrizy and me shows the March 5 strike destroyed a first responders’ outpost in Zibashahr Park, leaving a nearby military site about 200 meters away untouched. newlinesmag.com/spotlight/airs…

I swear I feel like I’m going crazy is nobody old enough to remember Ahmed Chalabi

My father used to say it (it hurt me to the core) but now I see he was preparing me for this very time. "Our people's lives are worth nothing to them and, sad to say, someday you may see this."

As I said days ago, Mojtaba Khamenei becoming Supreme Leader once seemed highly unlikely.👇 His selection now appears largely in response to the assassination of his father and family — a defiant message to the U.S. and Israel. But it’s also a major gamble by the Islamic Republic’s deep state. Until recently Mojtaba was a long shot: practically no public profile, deeply divisive where known, and closely associated with security hardliners. His selection reinforces that the Islamic Republic system is now willing to cross previous restraints/taboos, even at the cost of further alienating society and sidelining its own centrist and reformist wings. For years Mojtaba was seen as an unlikely successor precisely because dynastic succession risked undermining the system’s revolutionary legitimacy. Even his father had reportedly ruled out his son succeeding him. For the regime’s radicalized base, another “Khamenei” may feel like continuity and toughness. For most of Iranian society, it offers little. It also raises the stakes for Iran’s future trajectory — potentially pushing the system further toward a North Korea–style model: nuclear weapons, tighter security rule, and a “revolutionary” state that increasingly resembles a hereditary monarchy.

#تهران یکشنبه امروز هم برای اینکه هنوز احساس کنم زنده‌ام، با تدی و کلویی از خانه بیرون رفتم و در شهری قدم زدم و رانندگی کردم که دیگر شبیه خودش نیست. تا هفته قبل سگ‌های من نجس و ممنوع بودند و از کنار ماموران با اضطراب رد میشدم و سعی میکردم اصطلاحا چشم تو چشم نشوم. این روزها اما مردم با عشق به سگ‌ها نگاه میکنند و سرکوبگران هم کارهای مهم تری دارند… حدود دو ساعت در تهران پرسه زدم. شهری که ظاهراً هنوز عادی است، اما زیر پوستش ترس جریان دارد. دیشب انبارهای نفت شهران، سوهانک، پردیس و جنوب تهران هدف حمله قرار گرفتند. از صبح، اثر آن در چهرهٔ شهر کاملاً پیداست. ترس حالا در نگاه مردم آشکارتر شده. پمپ‌بنزین‌ها شدید شلوغ‌اند. فروشگاه‌ها در تجریش باز هستند. مغازه‌ها کار می‌کنند. شهر ظاهراً به زندگی ادامه می‌دهد. تلفن‌ها وصل است و مادرم نیم ساعت یکبار تماس میگیرد، مکالمه سی ثانیه است. خوبی؟ خبری نیست؟ نرو بیرون. و همین سی ثانیه دلیل زنده بودنم است. اما این «عادی بودن» فقط یک پوستهٔ نازک روی اضطراب است. مواد غذایی تقریباً همه‌جا پیدا می‌شود؛ کمبودی نیست. فقط قیمت‌ها بالاتر رفته و نگرانی در چشم‌ها عمیق‌تر شده. شیرخشک و برخی داروهای خاص کمیاب‌تر شده‌اند و صف نانوایی‌ها همچنان طولانی است. بانک‌ها پول نقد ندارند. و تهران… تهران به شکل عجیبی خفه‌کننده آلوده است. به دلیل ممنوعیت انتشار عکس و ویدئو، نمی‌توانم تصاویر انفجارهای مهیب دیشب را منتشر کنم. اما تا حدود ساعت ۱۰ صبح که با دوستانم وضعیت را چک می‌کردیم، دو انبار نفت هنوز در آتش می‌سوختند. آسمان تهران امروز خاکستری نیست؛ سیاه است. دود غلیظ از چهار سمت شهر بالا می‌رود و روی آسمان می‌چرخد، انگار از آسمان با باران دود و سیاهی چرب میبارد. مردم کم‌کم به صدای جنگنده‌ها عادت کرده‌اند. چه کسانی که مخالف حمله بودند، چه کسانی که از ترامپ و نتانیاهو درخواست مداخله نظامی داشتند… حالا همه زیر یک آسمان مشترک زندگی می‌کنند؛ آسمانی که هر چند ساعت با صدای جت‌ها می‌لرزد. بحث‌های میان مردم، نوروز و روزانه‌ها نیست و فقط #جنگ است. از میان شبکه‌های ماهواره‌ای، در محدوده‌ای که من زندگی می‌کنم به جز یکی دوتا تقریباً همه کانال های خبری مختل شده‌اند. پارازیت و فیلترینگ هر روز شدیدتر می‌شود. در مسجدها افطاری می‌دهند. بعد از افطار، روحانی سخنرانی ضد آمریکا و اسرائیل می‌کند و در سوگ رهبر حرف می‌زند. بعد از آن شام می‌دهند.و بعد از شام، کارناوال شروع می‌شود. گروه‌هایی در محله‌ها راه می‌افتند، کوچه به کوچه می‌گردند و شعار «مرگ بر جهان» سر می‌دهند. در همان شهری که مردمش در صف نان ایستاده‌اند، در همان شهری که آسمانش پر از دود و صدای جنگنده است. و من، میان این همه تناقض، با دو سگ کوچک در خیابان‌های تهران قدم می‌زنم و سعی می‌کنم فراموش نکنم که زندگی هنوز ادامه دارد. بیشتر مینویسم و رفقای سیاسی قدیمی را تقریبا روزانه میبینم. بیمارگونه آشپزی میکنم و وسواس عجیبی در مرتب کردن خانه‌ام گرفتم.

Friend in Beirut, Lebanon needs our help with donations to support this grossly underfunded displaced persons’ shelter. #Iran #Israel They need to get around 800 / 1000 beds ($15 - mattress, $10 - blanket, $3-5 - pillow). I’ve known her for 20 years; she’s legit and this is not a scam. Reach out to Ghida Krisht here (and please share): facebook.com/2604970/posts/…

Similarities between Israel's bombing of Gaza and Tehran are growing stronger. In both cases, it appears Israel is using AI without any human oversight. For instance, Israel has bombed a park in Tehran called "Police park." It has nothing to do with the police. But it appears AI identified it as a target since Israel is bombing all government related buildings. No one in Israel brothered to check and find out that it is just a park.

The Minab school strike that killed hundreds of schoolgirls occurred in southern Hormozgan province — home to many Afro-Iranians. Footage from the massive funeral is a reminder of a part of Iran and a community that many outside and even inside the country rarely hear about.

A letter from a ICE hostage: “we are in dire straits and we are pleading for help”

I’ve talked about this before, but — one of the most destabilizing aspects of Algeria’s protracted civil war were the deliberate attempts to fragment communal trust and social ties, beginning with armed, masked men (the state? FIS militias? GIA?) kidnapping and attacking with the impunity of anonymity, staging check points while dressed as the (whoever party’s) Enemy. The next phase, much like ICE and CBP’s shift to “civilian” attire in an attempt to “blend in” overlapped with a rapid increase in almost accelerationist style attacks in towns and villages — with perpetrators whose identities remain unknown to this day, as do rumors and reports of every combatant party infiltrating the other by adopting their manner of dress. Those tactics of engagement are not remotely aimed at “enforcement operation efficacy” or “agent security.” They are deliberate techniques of organized chaos intended to divide-and-conquer and an intentional methodology to unravel social cohesion, sew paranoia, and turn neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend, family against family. It’s much easier for fascist power consolidation and authoritarian control to fill that vacuum when no one can trust anyone, anymore. Although I fear for future exacerbation of these parallels in the US, I’ve got to qualify that with a crucial point — — Minneapolis is stunningly resilient to this bullshit, and in the most beautiful, sustained, deeply rooted way. What Minnesota and the Twin Cities response to ‘Operation Metro Surge’ really is a model for repelling the poison of that political violence. Y’all are truly incredible — and everyone should follow your lead.

People with "not a mind control slave" in your bios - I've got news for you

This is a VERY significant interview with Shahriar Ahi, a longtime advisor to Reza Pahlavi who now appears to be on the outs with Pahlavi’s current core circle of advisors. What makes it important is not personal dynamics, but that Ahi directly engages with the core unresolved questions of Iranian opposition politics, including the theory of change, the risks of transition, and how to move away from the Islamic Republic without state collapse. Ahi speaks candidly about Pahlavi’s January 8 and 9 calls for people to take to the streets, which were followed by a brutal state response and the killing of thousands. He says this reaction should have been expected and "better predicted", and stresses that he was not part of the decision making behind those calls. Ahi argues that political resistance requires a diversity of tactics, including strikes, civil resistance, and weakening everyday cooperation with the state, and says this strategic approach has not been implemented in line with what leading theorists such as Gene Sharp identify as essential for successful political movements. He notes that people are angry, and that anger amplifies the angriest voices, even though "the angriest voices are the least strategic." He says the correct strategy is to "divide the enemy" rather than unite it, and that rhetoric suggesting all Islamic Republic figures will be punished or hanged only helps the Islamic Republic consolidate its rivalrous factions and institions. Ignoring this principle, he warns, creates serious problems not just now but in the next stage, when the challenge becomes stabilizing and governing the country after any transition. Ahi emphasizes that the IRGC is not monolithic and contains deep internal divisions, including cultural, ideological, and economic splits. Many members see themselves as defenders of the country during the Iran-Iraq war and do not want to fight fellow Iranians, while others are economically embedded actors with narrow ideological commitments. Ahi draws a sharp distinction between ending the velayat e faqih system and dismantling the state itself, warning that if the state and its functionaries collapse, 92 million people will not be able to eat or drink. He references debates in the Pentagon after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, noting that one school of thought favored preserving state institutions and functionaries while changing policies, while another sought to dismantle everything and rebuild from scratch. He cites US policymakers' conclusion that choosing the latter approach was a catastrophic mistake that could not be fixed afterward. Ahi acknowledges why many Iranians project hope onto Reza Pahlavi, seeing him as modern, Western oriented, and tied to memories of a better past. But he is clear that anger can push people to swing dramatically, especially when it is the opposite the ruling establishment, and that this support is not necessarily durable. He asks whether a singular leader can build and manage a system capable of holding Iran together, and answers unequivocally that the answer is no. He argues that Iran’s future politics (and opposition politics today) must be pluralistic and cannot be totalitarian. His core advice to Pahlavi is to work with others and build pluralistic political structures rather than trying to dominate the field. Ahi stresses that many political forces already exist inside Iran, including leftists, longtime civil society actors, Kurds, Baluch, and labor networks, but they are operating in isolation. What is missing, he says, is a concrete overarching organizational framework that allows cooperation without domination. He notes that discussions about who could even undertake this kind of work were unimaginable six months ago, but that now some actors are trying to build these bridges. He highlights former reformists who now openly say the Islamic Republic must go, like Narges Mohammadi, Mostafa Tajzadeh and Jafar Panahi, along with ethnic groups and domestic civil society networks. The goal, he says, is not to impose one vision of Iran’s future over another, but to cooperate in the present with a pluralistic mindset so as to be able to bring about positive and transformative change in Iran. Link: youtube.com/watch?v=X80a1b…

Critical to mention three key points here: 1) those far-right influencers framing free speech as terrorism have the ear of the FBI Director - meaning propaganda producers now transparently dictate the targets of federal investigation. 2) this predates Minneapolis' response to ICE by a long, long time - Trump's "antifa" roundtable included notorious figures like Andy Ngo and other far-right influencers masquerading as 'objective journalists.' Policy measures also flowed from these propagandists, by way of the admin's antifa terrorism FTO. 3) NSPM-7. the Trump executive order-style decree on "terrorism" criteria, criminalizes constitutionally protected free speech and political dissent through vague and nebulous (albeit blatantly partisan) criteria such as "extreme on migration" and "anti-Americanism" / "anti-Christian" ideology as indicators of domestic terrorists. Finally, and it should be apparent, but just in case: 1-3 above are inextricably intertwined -- and if it tastes like fascism, that's because: it is.

This Holocaust Remembrance Day remember that Jews died because of anti immigrant American policies. Remember it started because Jews & Romani were othered as “not German.” Remember that it began by blaming an other for economic problems. Never Again means Never Again for everyone

In light of yet another ICE shooting in Minneapolis, URGENT REMINDER: immigration is just than excuse for a far darker and older strategy than the DHS justification of “domestic terrorist” and self-defense” would have you believe. There are 100% white supremacist accelerationists inside CBP and ICE. It’s absolutely NOT (all) “bad training,” and many were already inside before the Trump regime lowered hiring standards (that just lets more slip through). If you don’t know what “accelerarionist” means — look it up FAST.

Alex Pretti was a Minneapolis ICU nurse who spent his days caring for and saving others. Today, he was shot and killed by a Border Patrol Agent. Alex’s life was extinguished by state violence. We must tell the truth about what is happening. My father warned us, “When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind.” What we are witnessing now (masked raids, people taken without due process, vigilante, Gestapo, and slave patrol-like tactics normalized under the color of law) is a moral crisis. Nonviolence demands more than outrage; it demands action. Congress must dismantle ICE; enact just, humane immigration policies; and ensure implementation of the policies by people who honor the humanity of Black and Brown immigrants, respect those raising their voices in support of immigrants, and seek the safety of community. The blood of those who are being kidnapped and unjustly killed by agents with impunity is not only on the hands of those who pull the trigger, but on every lawmaker and every court that has the power to intervene and chooses silence. Creating the Beloved Community requires truth, accountability, and the courage to act before more lives are lost. #Minneapolis #CallToAction #ShowUpCongress #BelovedCommunity