Faizel Bham

The city of Dubai has set up little kiosks for stray cats to eat and drink.

Al Jazeera publishes details of Iran's latest offer to the U.S., delivered through Pakistan. The proposal has three phases: Phase 1: Convert the ceasefire into a full end to the war within 30 days, across the entire region including Lebanon. Mutual commitments by Iran, the U.S., Israeli, and Iranian proxies not to attack each other. Iran would gradually reopen the Strait of Hormuz and clear the mines it laid, accepting U.S. assistance. In return, the U.S. lifts its blockade of Iranian ports. An international body would be established to oversee compliance. Iran revised its demand for reparations in "new and sophisticated wording." The proposal also demands withdrawal of forces from Iran's maritime surroundings and an end to major force concentrations in the region. Phase 2: Freeze uranium enrichment for 15 years. After that, Iran resumes enrichment to 3.6% but commits not to stockpile enriched uranium. Iran rejects the U.S. demand to dismantle nuclear infrastructure or destroy facilities. Already-enriched uranium would be transferred to other countries or diluted to civilian levels. Sanctions lifted gradually on a clear timetable, including release of frozen Iranian assets worldwide. Phase 3: Iran enters strategic dialogue with Arab and regional states to build a region-wide security framework. Al Jazeera, citing the proposal delivered via Pakistan.

Tehran appears increasingly confident that it holds the upper hand in the negotiations, based on what it views as its achievements during the war. More concerning from Washington’s perspective is the apparent ineffectiveness of the maritime blockade in shifting Iran’s position. As a result, the U.S. administration may soon face a strategic decision: either escalate in an effort to break the current deadlock, or show flexibility and engage with Iran’s demands, namely, ending the war and opening discussions on the future of the straits before addressing the nuclear issue. Given the relatively low likelihood of the second option, and in light of the ongoing concentration of U.S. forces in the Gulf, the situation could evolve toward a military move. However, even such a step is unlikely to significantly alter the strategic balance, while its economic consequences would almost certainly intensify. #iran

Fascinating footage released by the IRGC of a class at the org's staff college in the 90s, where future IRGC leader Hossein Salami teaches a course on asymmetric warfare, teaching officers how to drag out a war with the US by driving up economic costs and political turmoil.

The very first sunrise of the 2000s, marking the start of a new millennium

61% of Americans say the Iran war is a "mistake," per new WaPo-ABC poll. In Iraq, it took more than 3 years to reach that high. In Vietnam, it took 6 years.

A CNN investigation reveals a majority of U.S. military sites in the Middle East are damaged by Iranian strikes. @tamaraqiblawi’s report:

In very unsurprising news, Russia turns out to be the world’s biggest cat nation. According to survey data, 59% of people in Russia have cats at home. 11 percentage points higher than runner-up Romania.

Khamenei's latest message is essentially a declaration of Iranian victory, while suggesting that the “humiliating defeat" of the US marks a new era geopolitically, both for the region and globally. While this will be seen as a major exaggeration, it could turn out to be a major inflection point geopolitically, certainly for the region in which Iran's position has become significantly strengthened strategically, while the US security umbrella is increasingly seen as ineffective and unreliable, but also globally as American global primacy cannot be sustained if much weaker powers can not only deny the US victories, but also startegically defeat it by relying on cheaper technology, assymetric tactics, and the use of geography. But none of this will come to pass if Iran loses the peace - meaning, it needs to negotiate a new regional order that is accepted by regional powers and not contested. (Iran's current gains remain effectively contested as we speak). That will not be done militarily, but diplomatically. And that phase has not even properly begun yet.

Once again, it's really funny to imagine being a Cambodian official or whatever and knowing that your economy and budget are going to be destroyed by this stupidity, but the Americans are telling you they're doing it for you and are practically asking you to thank them.

Rains revive Iraq’s wetlands after years of drought — in pictures aje.news/vyk0lf

Germany's Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil slams Trump: Trump’s irresponsible Iran war… has cut our growth in half. This is not our war—but we feel its impact massively. People feel it at the gas pump… companies face high energy prices.

The initial strikes, starting on 28 Feb, were also supposed to be short and decisive. They ended up as neither. Trump’s only way out of this is to make meaningful concessions to Iran. But he can’t, so the conflict will continue.

The human and financial cost of 76 years of US wars, from Korea to Iran aje.news/6nfyft

🚨🚨🚨🚨FULL STATEMENT: UAE says it's leaving the OPEC oil cartel from May 1. "... Following its exit, the UAE will continue to act responsibly, bringing additional production to market in a gradual and measured manner, aligned with demand and market conditions..."

Breaking news: The United Arab Emirates has said it is leaving Opec, dealing a significant blow to the oil cartel and its de facto leader Saudi Arabia ft.trib.al/08BCZA3

Very little in the Six Week War - capped off by the Desert Two debacle in Isfahan - could be considered a "tactical success" at all. We got stiff-armed by a well-prepared regional power, ran out of ammo, and the Chinese are once again about to win by doing absolutely nothing.⬇️ Let's actually assess this in a rational manner, working my best guess as to what our objectives actually were during this operation - which is in and of itself a difficult thing to figure out given they seemed to change daily because nobody at the Pentagon was willing to impose any kind of strategic discipline on Trump. So, uh, let's break this down by lines of effort because there were several. Line of Effort 1: Strategic neutralization of Iran as a threat vector to Israel and other US interests and forces in the Middle East OBJ 1.1: Regime change - FAILED. Iranian government as currently constituted ("regime") consolidated power; "Khamenei replaced with Khamenei". No significant anti-regime protests recorded. OBJ 1.2: Secure US/Israeli air supremacy over central Iran - FAILED. Coalition remained dependent on standoff weapons for strikes outside border regions; only apparent attempt to fly massed air sorties into central Iran resulted in lost aircraft and near-disaster. Most Coalition air assets withdrawn to inconvenient bases far from Iran due to missile threat and reliant on extensive tanker support to operate at low sortie rates. OBJ 1.3: Coerce existing regime to align with US strategic interests - FAILED. Iranian hardliners empowered by perceived victory against the United States and Israel; more moderate factions have aligned with hardliners. OBJ 1.4: Isolate Iran from great power support (Russia/China) - FAILED. Russia and China continue to provide substantial economic and military support to Iran. Line of Effort 2: Destruction of the Iranian WMD program OBJ 2.1: Seize Iranian enriched uranium stockpile - FAILED. Attempted SOF raid ended in debacle. OBJ 2.2: Destroy Iranian uranium enrichment capability - FAILED. Iranian enrichment capability is in extremely hardened underground facilities which do not appear to have sustained significant damage from Coalition attacks. OBJ 2.3: Destroy Iranian industrial pipeline to manufacture nuclear warheads - UNKNOWN. Little data exists here outside of raw speculation. Line of Effort 3: Destruction of Iranian means of coercion against Israel and US interests in the Middle East OBJ 3.1: Destroy Iranian missile force - FAILED. Iranian ballistic, cruise, and drone capabilities very much intact. OBJ 3.2: Destroy Iranian aerial forces - FAILED. Iranian tactical aviation intact; transport and logistics aircraft destroyed on the ground by Coalition forces were of limited tactical utility. OBJ 3.3: Destroy Iranian naval forces - FAILED. IRGCN mosquito fleet currently the dominant naval power in the Persian Gulf; naval balance of power in the key Persian Gulf and Hormuz region has shifted AGAINST the United States and allies. OBJ 3.4: Destroy Iranian regional proxies - FAILED. Iranian regional proxies in Iraq and Lebanon showed resilience well beyond that expected by analysts. OBJ 3.5: Prevent capture of Coalition aircrew by Iran - QUALIFIED SUCCESS. Thanks to strategically ruinous expenditures of standoff weapons, exposure of Coalition aircraft to Iranian air defenses was minimized, preventing Iran from taking POWs. Line of Effort 4: Protect Israel, friendly Gulf Arab regimes, US military forces, and broader US interests from Iranian retaliation OBJ 4.1: Secure oil shipment through Strait of Hormuz - FAILED. Iran secured control of the Strait of Hormuz and continues to export oil despite attempted blockade. OBJ 4.2: Disrupt Iranian retaliatory strikes - FAILED. Coalition strikes did little to nothing to disrupt Iranian missile and drone launches. OBJ 4.3: Degrade Iranian retaliatory strikes on Coalition military assets in theater - FAILED. US forces withdrew to bases at operational standoff from Iran rather than contest positions inside SRBM range, ceding influence over the strategically critical Persian Gulf to Iran rather than risk friendly casualties. Iranian drones and MRBMs caused painful if not decisive losses to Coalition assets throughout the war. OBJ 4.4: Prevent Iranian counter-value coercion against friendly Gulf Arab regimes - FAILED. Iran struck countervalue targets in the Arab states at will and continues to hold them at great risk; Qatar (previously home to a massive US presence) appears to have given Iran a massive tributary payment rather than face further attacks. OBJ 4.5: Prevent Iranian strikes against Coalition proxies in theater. - FAILED. Iran effectively struck Iraqi Kurdish militias being positioned as a proxy force, leading to the Kurds concluding a separate peace with Iran and withdrawing from the conflict despite extensive claims in Iranian territory. OBJ 4.6: Prevent second-order economic effects of the war in the United States - QUALIFIED SUCCESS. Stock market apparently unable or unwilling to believe magnitude of ongoing energy supply disruptions; jawboning and frequent false reports by the Trump Administration of imminent peace and successful negotiations reduced market turmoil at the cost of the long-term credibility of the US government. In summary: Deep failures across all lines of effort and very few objectives accomplished.

⭕️ Iran FM Araghchi meets with Russian President Putin According to Tasnim News Agency: 🔹Iran's Foreign Minister met and held talks with Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, and Sergey Lavrov, the FM of Russia. 🔹Putin said in the meeting that the Iranian people are bravely and courageously fighting to preserve their sovereignty. 🔹He expressed hope that the Iranian nation will pass through this difficult period and peace will be established. 🔹The Russian President emphasized that Moscow will do everything in its power to establish peace in the Middle East as soon as possible.

Moral framing in the media has hardened into something far more extreme—and it is actively undermining the possibility of compromise and peace. Conflicts are reduced to simplistic moral binaries, reinforced by emotional cues that dictate how events must be interpreted. Complexity and historical context - whether it is NATO expansionism and its role in the Ukraine war or decades of efforts to defeat Iran - are purged from the narrative as they do not conform to the assumed moral clarity. Any attempt at objectivity is dismissed as a moral failure. This culture of self-righteous certainty, cloaked as moral clarity, promotes a single, unexamined narrative that denounces mutual understanding as appeasement.

Iran's FM Araghchi TOUCHES DOWN in Saint Petersburg ahead of talks with President Vladimir Putin