An Iranian military spokesperson mocked US attempts at a ceasefire deal, insisting Americans were only negotiating with themselves. Lt Col Ebrahim Zolfaghari’s statement came after the Trump administration reportedly sent a 15-point ceasefire plan to Iran through Pakistan.
(The leaders’ miscalculation also includes a dramatic ignorance of the interests of the potential allies of those under attack.
Just as Europe (and, at the time, the US under Joe Biden) was not going to simply let Putin have his way in Ukraine, so Russia and China now have an interest in the US remaining tied down in Iran for a long time to come, using up its ammunition and keeping its warships in the region, runs an article 'The Guardian'.)
Trump’s war in Iran exposes US’s shift from a global guardian to an arbiter of chaos
Iran's ambassador to Pakistan says no direct or indirect talks with US yet
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| Smoke rises from Beirut's southern suburbs following an Israeli strike |
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz says that the Israeli army has “crossed the 15,000-munitions threshold” in Iran since the US-Israeli war on Iran started on February 28, as reported by Al Jazeera.
That is four times more than the 12-day hostilities in June last year, the minister added.
Europe is less reliant on fuel from the Middle East. But it is intensely dependent on imported oil and, critically, natural gas, whose price has surged since US and Israeli bombardments began in Iran.
"So far, the advanced economy that has shown most resilience as war in the Middle East wreaks havoc in energy markets is that of the United States. The S&P 500 index has lost a relatively modest 5% since the beginning of Trump’s war. And that reveals a lot about where we are going," -- The Guardian.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, posted on X that Tehran was “closely monitoring all US movements in the region” following reports that Washington will deploy additional troops to the Middle East.
A translation of his post read:
We are closely monitoring all US movements in the region, especially troop deployments.
What the generals have broke, the soldiers can’t fix; instead, they will fall victim to Netanyahu’s delusions.
Do not test our resolve to defend our land.
It follows reports by the Associated Press and the New York Times that the US could send 1,000 or 2,000 troops to the Middle East to join the 50,000 soldiers already there. Some 4,500 marines are already en route to the region,
Robert Habeck writes for 'The Guardian' :::
"There are big differences between the war of aggression that Russia has now been waging against Ukraine for four years and the war the US and Israel launched against Iran.
The biggest difference: the US is still a democracy. Even a president who considers himself all-powerful is not.
From scathing press coverage to anger over high oil prices, fear of the midterm elections and – the capitalist form of democracy – falling stock prices, what people think makes a difference. That is why the US president is occasionally forced to change his mind. That is not the case in Russia.
Vladimir Putin had a clear plan: Russia wanted to occupy the whole of Ukraine and turn it into a satellite state or annex its territory."
A few important lessons ::: ---
Authoritarian rulers are driven less by ideology than by the intoxication of their own historical grandeur.
As important as it is to demand compliance with international law, there is little reason to trust that it will have any effect.
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| Smoke rises from Kuwait international airport after a drone strike on fuel storage (AP/The Guardian) |
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