David D. Pearce

As an Iranian, outraged by Donald Trump’s reckless aggression & crude insults, yet proud of our armed forces & resilient people, I am torn about publishing this peace-plan in Foreign Affairs. Yet I'm convinced that war must end on terms consistent with Iran’s national interests.

Important read reader.foreignaffairs.com/2026/04/03/how…

If this is true it would be a serious counter-punch by the UAE

@VeraCausa9 I particularly like this one. Note the oak leaves on the head. Reminds me of my visit to magical Dodoni where the priests in this most ancient oracle went barefoot and interpreted the will of the gods through the rustling of oak leaves

Theophoric names embedding Zeus name are Zeno and Diodoros (genitive of Zeus is 'dios') Silver Tetradrachm with head of Zeus of Dodona, wearing crown of oak leaves ca. 280 BC.

A theophoric name embeds the name of a god by invoking & displaying the protection of that deity. From Greek, θεόφορος theophoros, literally "bearing a god." For example, names embedding Apollo are Apollodorus & Apollonia Silver tetradrachm w/ laureate head of Apollo ca. 200 BC

Good. Late, but good.

I was US Consul General in Jerusalem 2003-2005. This a disgrace.

All the more reason to hope for more of the same kind of reporting that was done by @JDiamond1 and his team. This is truly reporting that made a difference on an important issue

Jeremy Diamond and his crew deserve a lot of credit for this important reporting on illegal outposts and daily state-supported Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank

One of the most useful discussions I've seen

@JDiamond1 @cyrilthps This daily reality gets too little coverage. Kudos @JDiamond1

While covering the latest Israeli settler attack in the West Bank, Israeli soldiers assaulted my photojournalist @cyrilthps and detained my team. But our 2-hour detention revealed a lot about the motives of these Israeli soldiers: acting in service of the settler movement. W/ @AbeerSalmanCNN

Let's take a step back. I have lived the Iran issue for a long time. I was a UPI journalist in Beirut, I served on the foreign desk of Washington Post. and as a diplomat in Riyadh, Kuwait, Dubai, Damascus, Baghdad, Algiers and Kabul. I trained in Arabic. I trained in Farsi. I served as director for Iran and Iraq in the State Department. I was the acting Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. So looking at all this I ask myself, OK much can go wrong, but what can maybe go right? Regime change - This was an Israeli goal and the American hope. However, the Iranian regime has proven resilient (in face of attacks) and ruthless (in face of internal dissent). So in terms of ending the conflict this is likely off the table as an issue in ending the conflict. Iran acquiring nuclear bomb - US/Israel say can't have it. Iran says don't want it and won't do it and have fatwa against it. So both sides can plausibly claim a win if Iran pledges to not pursue bomb. Missiles - Many launchers destroyed but know-how is there and things can be rebuilt. Drone production easy to do. So best protection is negotiated arrangement that prohibits aggression against neighbors. An issue is whether Israel and Iran would ever agree to a mutual nonaggression pact. But it is not beyond the wit of man to negotiate various interim or confidence building arrangements, possibly including not only the US but other regional and international parties. Enriched uranium - Talk of US troops going in to do this is nonsense. U.S./israel want it out. Of course. But in the context of any agreement on this the IAEA would need to do the job. Iran won't accept US/Israel personnel, and US/Israel won't accept Iran oversight. So multinational effort will be required. Iran does have the right to enrichment under the NPT and this will need to be agreed in principle BUT with strict limits -- ie way less than 60%. This is all very doable, and very negotiable, with the help of the IAEA. But it will require a multinational force to supervise it -- not the 82nd Airborne. So all the elements are there to end this: President Trump can claim a win on all counts -- military success, notably destruction of missile launchers, navy etc: Iran agrees to no bomb, no enrichment beyond low levels, Iran agrees to IAEA supervision and removal of Iranian HEU, and all with no U.S. boots on the ground. Furthermore this will lead to reopening Hormuz, restored stability in the Gulf, and resumption of energy flows. Iran can claim it not only withstood a ferocious military attack, but also it preserved its right to enrichment under the NPT, it frustrated a combined U.S./Israeli effort to overthrow the government and it demonstrated Iran's strategic leverage on the world's economy. - Not perfect for either side but preferable to further escalation.

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Prayer Walk, Roussanou Monastery, Meteora, Greece #watercolor #greece #cliffhangingmonasteries #ddpearcefineart

If you want the background on how we got to this point with Iran, watch this, to the end

I sure hope we're thinking a few steps down the road and don't bomb Iran's power grid. Remember Iraq. Destruction of the grid there became a very tough problem. It led to widespread discontent with the post-Saddam government, which was unable to fix it, and this helped fuel the insurgency.

They are stating the obvious - our political leadership gets an F-minus on emergency planning and protecting both our official personnel and private American citizens, and their families, who were in harm's way

Listen to what they had to say: youtu.be/9W4sSATWeR0?si…

Old City Hall, San Clemente 7x9.5" #watercolor #landmark #SanClemente #Californiahistory #SoCal #architecture #ddpearcefineart daviddpearce.com @visitsanclemente @paintsanclemente @sanclementehistoricalsociety