Sits in a tank and thinks.
Joined March 2011
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14h
This should be obviously true but most of the establishment media in the U.S., Europe and Israel is dedicated to seeing only failure.
Jun 12
Lost in the noise about deal terms, and the underappreciation of the current level of U.S. leverage, is the most important piece of context:
President Trump has achieved what 45 years of U.S. policy could not. The regime's military leadership is decimated, its economy is in freefall, and it is diplomatically isolated more than ever.
Just a couple years ago Iran was building drone manufacturing in the U.S. backyard, Venezuela.
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Mike retweeted
16h
The war mongers are in Tehran, not Washington.
Between 2009 and 2025, the United States spent twelve years under Obama and Biden trying to reach a modus vivendi with the Islamic Republic. Sanctions relief, diplomacy, outreach, engagement. Yet a stable accommodation remained elusive.
Why? Veterans of the Obama team and their ideological supporters blame America’s supposed “war mongers.” The claim is absurd. The central argument of the hawks has never been that conflict is desirable. It is that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is a revolutionary jihadi organization that can only be deterred, not seduced.
Most Americans would prefer engagement to work. They are not eager for confrontation. They will give diplomacy every chance to succeed. But they are not willing to ignore reality indefinitely.
The problem was never those of us warning about the impossibility of a lasting accommodation with Tehran. The problem was Tehran itself.
When engagement fails year after year, American leaders return to deterrence not because American hawks are politically powerful, but because their diagnosis is far more accurate.
We hawks did not scuttle engagement. Tehran did.
From @tparsi Substack:
« After decades of failed wars, trillions of dollars squandered, hundreds of thousands of lives lost, and America’s global standing diminished, [the warmongers] increasingly rely on intimidation rather than persuasion. They will continue to attack me, my colleagues, and others who challenge their thirst for war. And who knows, they may even succeed in deporting me.
But good luck deporting an idea whose time has come.
The era of endless war is ending, and no amount of censorship, cancellation, or political intimidation will stop the growing demand for a foreign policy rooted in restraint, diplomacy, and common sense. »
open.substack.com/pub/tritap…
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15h
Mehdi is parroting stale talking points. I refuted them here:
Just a totally delusional post that ignores the key fact that Obama signed a nuclear deal with Iran that Iran was complying with, per the IAEA, that was robust, per Trump’s Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, but that Trump, not Tehran, tore up. Leading to today’s war.
Don’t let these people gaslight you.
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Mike retweeted
Two words that define Iran’s approach to the world throughout this period then and now: Quds Force. Those explaining Iran’s foreign policy avoid this topic or cast terrorism and missile proliferation as “forward defense.”
16h
The war mongers are in Tehran, not Washington.
Between 2009 and 2025, the United States spent twelve years under Obama and Biden trying to reach a modus vivendi with the Islamic Republic. Sanctions relief, diplomacy, outreach, engagement. Yet a stable accommodation remained elusive.
Why? Veterans of the Obama team and their ideological supporters blame America’s supposed “war mongers.” The claim is absurd. The central argument of the hawks has never been that conflict is desirable. It is that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is a revolutionary jihadi organization that can only be deterred, not seduced.
Most Americans would prefer engagement to work. They are not eager for confrontation. They will give diplomacy every chance to succeed. But they are not willing to ignore reality indefinitely.
The problem was never those of us warning about the impossibility of a lasting accommodation with Tehran. The problem was Tehran itself.
When engagement fails year after year, American leaders return to deterrence not because American hawks are politically powerful, but because their diagnosis is far more accurate.
We hawks did not scuttle engagement. Tehran did.
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19h
“[T]hese ideas hardened into what Hudson Institute scholar @zriboua calls a ‘political theology’: a worldview that treats any movement arrayed against Western power as inherently righteous. By 10/7/23, it had migrated from the fringes of academia into mainstream political life,” writes @reihan.
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Mike retweeted
Jun 12
This is the biggest outcome of the Trump-Xi Summit: Washington is doubling down on sanctions, and China can't rescue Tehran.
China’s independent oil refiners, known as teapots, have dialed back purchases and cut operating rates as they grapple with mounting economic losses
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
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Mike retweeted
Widespread disruptions are again rippling across Iran’s banking system, with customers of major banks reporting frozen accounts, dead ATMs, and downed apps.
This is another sector of Iran’s economy that’s been quietly failing for years. Iran’s banks are structurally bankrupt and the regime can’t dig itself out of this hole with a few billion dollars in frozen assets.
Most of the system is insolvent on paper. When the Central Bank dissolved Ayandeh Bank in late 2025, one of the country’s largest lenders, it carried ~$5.1B in accumulated losses, $2.9B in overdrafts, and a staggering negative 600% capital adequacy ratio. Iran’s Regulators admit at least eight other banks risk the same fate.
Several Iranian bank card services were disrupted on Saturday, with customers reporting failed payments, blocked transfers and POS errors in messages sent to Iran International.
Iranian media reported disruptions affecting cards issued by Bank Melli, Tejarat, Sepah and Saderat. Messages from users also cited problems with Mellat cards and said both online transfers and ATM or card payments were failing.
One shopkeeper said nearly 90% of bank cards had been down for about four hours, leaving customers unable to make purchases.
Another message from Mashhad said banks had been facing disruptions since the morning.
A customer said cards from Bank Melli, Mellat and Tejarat were not working at a shop, while another message said POS devices were showing an “issuer error.”
iranintl.com/en/202606136049
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Jun 12
I look forward to this
Jun 12
There is a concerted, nefarious effort to write the Children of Israel and the Hebrew Bible out of the American story.
I see it. We all see it.
This information operation is predicated on historical lies. And those lies are in service of an anti-American civilizational assault.
As America gears up for its next 250 years, it's never been more important to bolster our tried-and-true foundations for the many battles still to come.
The Hebrew Bible provided America's moral, political, and legal framework. It made, and ought to still make, Christian America.
I'm thrilled to share the news of my upcoming book out next year, *COVENANT AND CONSTITUTION: HOW THE HEBREW BIBLE MADE CHRISTIAN AMERICA,* for @Basic_Liberty @HachetteUS. Thanks as always to my agent @jbronitsky of @TeamATHOS. 📖
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Jun 12
Very interesting
The Iranian regime will lose the zero-sum game it is playing.
Any damage it inflicts on our allies in the Gulf will be paid for with funds extracted from Iranian Accounts.
Any tolls paid to the Persian Gulf Strait Authority will be offset by funds extracted from their accounts.
Every attack Iran launches will only deepen the economic and financial consequences it faces.
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Mike retweeted
Jun 10
NEW: How China's BYD saw its $1bn Turkey EV plant deal unravel
• After a high-profile launch with Erdogan, the promised Chinese electric car factory remains unbuilt and Ankara is weighing penalties against BYD
middleeasteye.net/news/how-b…
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Jun 11
The UK government is in crisis
Jun 11
Sir Keir Starmer has been accused by his own Defence Secretary of putting Britain in danger.
Read this front page story in full below 👇
telegraph.co.uk/politics/202…
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Jun 11
Academia speaks!
Jun 11
NEW: The Mellon Foundation gave $1.5 million to establish a "center for the defense of academic freedom."
In audio I've obtained, the group's leader says his goal is to undermine the newly launched classical civics centers: "map who these f---ers are... and knock them out." 🧵
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Jun 11
Following President Trump's statements about a peace deal with Iran, global oil prices have dropped by 4.5-5%.
The cost of a barrel of Brent crude has fallen below $89 for the first time since mid-April.
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Mike retweeted
Jun 11
WOW, Trump administration has launched a probe into Iran war critic Trita Parsi and is considering to cancel his Green Card and deport him out of the country, The Free Press reports
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Jun 11
RT @ProfBShaffer: "The American continent is enjoying a production boom, with output up about 2 million barrels between the second quarter…
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Mike retweeted
Jun 10
US President Trump says since last month more than 100 million barrels of oil have left the Persian Gulf in a “secret” US mission to get tankers out via the Strait of Hormuz.
If true, and counting 40 days (all May and first 9 days of June) that would equate to ~2.5m b/d.
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