vnsaroja

Oman’s foreign minister says Iran agreed to “zero enriched uranium stockpiling.” Within hours, Israel and the USA attacked them. It was never about peace or uranium but about acting out Netanyahu's biggest bloodthirsty fantasy.

I am a diplomatic aide in the Sultanate of Oman's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. My job is logistics. When two countries that cannot speak to each other need to speak to each other, I book the rooms. I prepare the briefing materials. I make sure the water glasses are the right distance apart. You would be surprised how much of diplomacy is water glasses. Too close and it feels informal. Too far and it feels like a tribunal. I have a chart. We had a very good month. Since January, Oman has been mediating indirect talks between the United States and Iran on Iran's nuclear program. The talks were held in Muscat and in Geneva. The Americans would sit in one room. The Iranians would sit in another room. I would walk between them. My Fitbit says I averaged fourteen thousand steps on negotiation days. The hallway between the two rooms at the Royal Opera House conference center is forty-seven meters. I walked it two hundred and twelve times in February. This is good for my cardiovascular health. It was less good for my knees. Both are in the service of peace. By mid-February, we had something. Iran agreed to zero stockpiling of enriched uranium. Not reduced stockpiling. Zero. They agreed to down-blend existing stockpiles to the lowest possible level. They agreed to convert them into irreversible fuel. They agreed to full IAEA verification with potential US inspector access. They agreed, in the Foreign Minister's phrase, to "never, ever" possess nuclear material for a bomb. I have worked in diplomacy for seven years. I have never seen a country agree to this many things this quickly. I made a spreadsheet of the concessions. It had fourteen rows. I color-coded it. Green for confirmed. Yellow for pending. By February 21 the spreadsheet was entirely green. I printed it. It is on my desk in Muscat. It is still green. That phrase took eleven days. "Never, ever." The Iranians initially offered "not seek to." The Americans wanted "will not under any circumstances." We landed on "never, ever" at 2:14 AM on a Tuesday in Muscat. I typed the final version myself. I used Times New Roman because Geneva prefers it. The document was fourteen pages. I was proud of every comma. Here is what they said, in the order they said it. February 24: "We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity." — The Foreign Minister, private briefing to Gulf Cooperation Council ambassadors. I prepared the slide deck. Slide 14 was the implementation timeline. Slide 15 was the signing ceremony logistics. I had reserved the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Room XX. It seats four hundred. We discussed pen brands for the signing. The Iranians preferred Montblanc. The Americans had no preference. I ordered twelve Montblanc Meisterstucks at six hundred and thirty dollars each. They arrive on Tuesday. February 27, 8:30 AM EST: "The deal is within our reach." — The Foreign Minister, CBS Face the Nation. He sat across from Margaret Brennan. He said broad political terms could be agreed "tomorrow" with ninety days for technical implementation in Vienna. He said, and I wrote this line for the briefing card he carried in his breast pocket: "If we just allow diplomacy the space it needs." He praised the American envoys by name. Steve Witkoff. Jared Kushner. He said both had been constructive. I watched from the Four Seasons Georgetown. The minibar had cashews. I ate the cashews. They were nineteen dollars. The most expensive cashew I have ever eaten. But it was a good morning and we were within our reach. February 27, 2:00 PM EST: Meeting with Vice President Vance, Washington. The Foreign Minister presented our progress. Zero stockpiling. Full verification. Irreversible conversion. "Never, ever." The Vice President used the word "encouraging." His aide took notes on an iPad. The aide did not make eye contact for the last nine minutes of the meeting. I noticed this. Noticing things is the only part of my job that is not water glasses. February 27, 4:00 PM EST: "Not happy with the pace." — President Trump, to reporters. Not happy with the pace. We had achieved zero stockpiling. Full IAEA verification. Irreversible fuel conversion. Inspector access. And the phrase "never, ever," which took eleven days and cost me two hundred and twelve trips down a forty-seven-meter hallway. Every American president since Carter has failed to get Iran to agree to this. Forty-five years. Not happy with the pace. February 27, 9:47 PM EST: The Foreign Minister's flight departs Dulles for Muscat. I am in the seat behind him. He is reviewing Slide 14 on his laptop. The implementation timeline. Vienna technical sessions. The signing ceremony. The pens. I fall asleep over the Atlantic. I dream about water glasses. February 28, 6:00 AM GST: I wake up to push notifications. February 28: "The United States has begun major combat operations in Iran." — President Trump. Operation Epic Fury. Coordinated airstrikes. The United States and Israel. Tehran. Isfahan. Qom. Karaj. Kermanshah. Nuclear facilities. IRGC bases. Sites near the Supreme Leader's office. Israel called their half Operation Roaring Lion. Someone in both governments spent time choosing these names. Epic Fury. Roaring Lion. I spent eleven days on "never, ever." They spent it on branding. The President said Iran had "rejected American calls to halt its nuclear weapons production." Rejected. Iran had agreed to zero stockpiling. Iran had agreed to full verification. Iran had agreed to "never, ever." Iran had agreed to everything in a fourteen-page document that I typed in Times New Roman. The President said they rejected it. I do not know which document the President was reading. I know which one I typed. February 28, 18:45 UTC: Iran internet connectivity: four percent. — NetBlocks, confirmed by Cloudflare. Ninety-six percent of a country went dark. You cannot negotiate with a country at four percent connectivity. You cannot negotiate with a country that is being struck. You cannot negotiate. This is not a political opinion. This is a logistics assessment. February 28: The governor of Minab reported forty girls killed at an elementary school. I do not have logistics for that. There is no slide for that. The water glass chart does not cover that. February 28: Lockheed Martin: up. Northrop Grumman: up. RTX: up. Dow futures: down six hundred and twenty-two points. Gold: five thousand two hundred and ninety-six dollars. An analyst at AInvest published a note titled "Iran Strikes: Tactical Plays." The note recommended positions in oil, defense stocks, and gold. The most expensive cashew I have ever eaten was nineteen dollars. The most expensive pen I have ever ordered was six hundred and thirty dollars. The math suggests I have been working in the wrong industry. Defense stocks do not require water glasses. Defense stocks do not require eleven days. Defense stocks require one morning. February 28: Israel closed its airspace and its schools. Iran launched retaliatory missiles toward US bases in the Gulf. The Supreme Leader promised a "crushing response." Israel's defense minister declared a permanent state of emergency. Everyone is using words I recognize in an order I do not. I recognize "permanent." I recognize "emergency." I do not recognize them next to each other. In diplomacy, nothing is permanent and everything is an emergency. In war it is the reverse. February 28: The Foreign Minister has not made a public statement. The briefing card is still in his breast pocket. It still says "within our reach."

Who funds the BJP in Northeast India? Over several months, I analysed the BJP’s donations from Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur & Tripura, tender databases and financial records of companies. A clear pattern emerged. 1/n @reporters_co

The BJP’s #VoteChori factory in Aland now stands fully exposed beyond doubt or aspersions. The Karnataka SIT has filed its chargesheet naming former Aland BJP MLA and his son as the main accused. After 2.5 years and despite the Election Commission roadblocking the investigation at every stage and refusing to share the information needed for a proper probe, the SIT has finally uncovered the truth. The 22,000 page document exposes how a whole operation was set up with data operators, fake SIM cards, fraud OTP platforms and forged logins to delete 5,994 voters in Aland. The factory rate was Rs.80 per voter. That is how cheaply the BJP values our democratic right. The BJP can duck these conversations in Parliament and shout down anyone who raises them, but the truth will prevail. We will expose their vote chori factories. @RahulGandhi

@M_Rajivlochan @sanjg2k1 @ECISVEEP @IASassociation @IITKanpur A EC that allows for so much duplication is not exactly the one I expect to check on indelible inks. If insiders are voting multiple times they will not be inked or the ink won't matter.

@sanjg2k1 @ECISVEEP @IASassociation @IITKanpur You are wrong; Gyanesh Kumar is right. Even if a person is registered in multiple booths, the person can vote only once. It is impossible for a person to vote more than once. An indelible physical mark is placed on everyone who enters an election booth.

A BIZARRE STATEMENT FROM THE CEC @ECISVEEP As a retired civil servant from the @IASassociation and an alumnus of @IITKanpur, I am, yet again, appalled to hear the CEC state that de-duplication software is unnecessary simply because a person is “expected” to fill only one Enumeration Form during the BLO’s house-to-house visit, and that one would sign twice only if he/she has a “criminal mind”. This is an astonishingly casual dismissal of a very real and well-documented issue. Yes, #GyaneshKumar, registering as a voter at more than one location is a clear offence under the Representation of the People Act, often driven by political or financial motives. That is precisely why technology-based de-duplication is essential. Moreover, the manner in which you brushed aside the valid concerns raised by @anubhutivishnoi (@EconomicTimes) and @vrinda_tulsian (@htTweets), by invoking the completely unrelated Schrödinger Equation, was rather disappointing. The credibility of our #electoralrolls depends on robust systems, not wishful assumptions. Sometimes, such casual remarks leads to avoidable controversy about #SIR. @SpokespersonECI @PMOIndia @HMOIndia @KirenRijiju @BJP4India @INCIndia @AITCofficial @Jduonline @arivalayam @AIADMKOfficial @RJDforIndia @sardesairajdeep @BDUTT @vijaita @tehseenp @amitmalviya @sanjayuvacha @KapilSibal @pbhushan1 @_YogendraYadav @adrspeaks @IndiaToday @IndianExpress @RitikaChopra__ @navikakumar @iamnarendranath @RShivshankar @ShivAroor @rahulkanwal @anjanaomkashyap @TimesNow @timesofindia @ThePrintIndia @TheLallantop @saurabhtop @MnshaP @DrSYQuraishi

@AshwiniVaishnaw Was Arattai /zoho developed using indigenous technologies?

Swadeshi ka Sankalp! 🇮🇳 ✔️ Presentation created using Zoho Show ✔️ Map sourced from Mappls by MapmyIndia

The Prime Minister addressed the nation today to claim sole ownership of the amendments made to the GST regime by the GST Council, a constitutional body. The Indian National Congress has long argued that the GST has been a Growth Suppressing Tax. It is plagued with a high number of tax brackets, punitive tax rates for items of mass consumption, large-scale evasion and misclassification, costly compliance burdens, and an inverted duty structure (lower tax on output as compared to inputs). We have been demanding a GST 2.0 since July 2017 itself. This was a key pledge made in our Nyay Patra for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections. The current GST reforms are inadequate. Outstanding issues include – • The widespread concerns of MSMEs - the major employment generators in the economy - must be addressed meaningfully. Apart from major procedural changes, this involves further increasing the thresholds that apply to interstate supplies. • Sectoral issues that have surfaced — for instance in textiles, tourism, exporters, handicrafts and agricultural inputs — must be tackled. • States should be incentivized to move towards the introduction of state-level GST to cover electricity, alcohol, petroleum, and real estate as well. • The key demand of the states made in the true spirit of cooperative federalism — namely, the extension of compensation for another five years to fully protect their revenues— remains unaddressed Whether this round of GST changes--delayed by 8 years--will actually boost the private investment that is essential for higher GDP growth remains to be seen. Meanwhile, the trade deficit with China has doubled in the last five years to cross $ 100 billion. And Indian business is crippled by fear and oligopolisation that is leading many to resettle abroad.

@kiranpatel1977 @mr_mayank Non biological ka naya level

@mr_mayank Nothing can bear this, though!!

These journalists destroyed BJP’s Bihar Bandh drama with satire 🤣 30 sec of peak content. Enjoy 😂🍿

@RShivshankar Lol...but nose is also longer.

ECI EMERGES TALLER FROM SC HEARING SC TO ECI: "We're appreciating the endeavour you're taking, we're acknowledging your effort that the exersice is of inclusion." OPERATIVE WORD HERE IS "INCLUSIVE".

@tishasaroyan The overlap between believers in human rights and believers in animal rights is very high. Very unlikely that an animal rights activist believes in violence and killing of humans and communalism and mob killing and so on.

In a country rife with issues of femicíde, casteism, poor infrastructure, rampant communalism, growing unemployment and poverty, the people chose to come out to save dogs and won. What a pantomime!

If Iran bombed an American facility in the Middle East, there would be a response from Trump. Hoping there will be a response to this attack on us as well.

I listened to CEC Gyanesh Kumar's PC so you don't have to. A thread 🧵

After lauding Modi’s GST for a decade, @FollowCII now asks industrialists to praise Modi for admitting GST was a disaster👇🏽 They even provide tweet drafts for industrialists to post, with clear instructions on who to tag🤦🏽‍♂️ Corporates are not so craven & servile even in N.Korea!

@SauravDassss There was no NCR in 1980....yeh woh entire political science photoshop wale se hi banwaya hai kya?

They have all kinds of records from pre-2014 available. Only records post May 2014 are “not available”.

@ndtv There was no NCR in 1980....yeh woh entire political science photoshop wale se hi banwaya hai kya?

Sonia Gandhi's Name Added To Voter List Before She Was Citizen, Alleges BJP ndtv.com/india-news/son…

@ashish40411 @JhaSanjay Lol...yes if you are not frustrated that 800 crore need free ration in a country and the govt equates consumption equality with income equality to pretend this are good, or how many jets were lost in OpS or if Trump indeed mediated, you are not a good citizen.

@vnsaroja @JhaSanjay Here goes the ecosystem. Kicking the turf for a slanging match. Bring on all your frustration of last 11 years — and counting.

MODI IS NOT JUST WEAK, HE IS THE WEAKEST PRIME MINISTER IN HISTORY. That the American President Donald #Trump has publicly announced that India has lost 5 jets during #OperationSindoor is a tragic commentary on India’s weak and insipid political leadership. Donald Trump also announced the military ceasefire between India and Pakistan. He has said that he brokered a trade deal to ensure that over 20 times. We are seeing “ reverse outsourcing” going on here: The weakest prime minister in India’s history, Modi continues to embarrass our great country. US speaks on our behalf, or they know about our internal security issues before we Indians do. #Jets

@sanjayv13764962 @JustPunforfun @JhaSanjay Only way to show good governance, transparency and responsibility is a open press conference where any body can ask any questions and demand answers. The aap thakte kyun nahin lot may be your kind but the kind that ask how the citizens' money is spent are the real journalists.

@vnsaroja @JustPunforfun @JhaSanjay Who said that only way to connect with public is through Press Conference, which has many DALALS? It's not for nothing that journalists are popularly called Presstitutes. In curent times leaders are directly connected to masses through social media. No need to use MSMbrokers.

@rajeshkumawat @JhaSanjay I haven't said that. The ministers of this govt have. That is why they also not telling us what this adventure cost. Maybe you are giggling...people like me are aghast that ppl like you show such poor citizenship and don't want answers from the PM and his govt.

@vnsaroja @JhaSanjay So by your logic, one vaccine should’ve ended all viruses forever? Operation Sindoor wasn’t a fairy tale ending , it was a strategic message: You strike, we strike harder. But keep giggling, it’s all your brain seems to do.

The controversy stems from Assam's eviction drive in Paikan Reserve Forest on July 17, 2025, where a mob attacked officials, leading to police firing that killed 1-2 and injured 21 officers plus others. Rahul Gandhi, visiting July 16, promised land to the landless and accused CM Sarma of corruption, which Sarma claims incited the violence. Facts show evictions were planned pre-visit; Rahul's words supported evictees but didn't directly call for violence. Congress alleges targeted evictions against minorities.

@rajeshkumawat @JhaSanjay Lol...so tell me what you hear from him? Very curious to learn. How has operation sindoor ensured there will be no more terror attacks in India?

@vnsaroja @JhaSanjay He doesn’t need press conferences, the people hear him loud and clear. The real joke is on those who talk non-stop and still lose ground.