Sergio Gor has cultivated a flair for spectacle since arriving in India as the U.S. ambassador. Yet, according to @nytimes, one aspect of his own background remained obscure until investigative reporters last year uncovered that he was born Sergei Gorokhovsky in Tashkent, the Uzbek capital, when Uzbekistan was still part of the Soviet Union. Gor had previously declined to disclose his birthplace. nytimes.com/2026/06/13/us/po…

Art of the Deal.

JUST IN: This Is A Pretty Stunning Observation. Trump is celebrating a new Iran agreement centered on a commitment that Iran will never obtain a nuclear weapon. According to ABC's Jonathan Karl, that same commitment appeared in the very first paragraph of President Obama's nuclear deal more than a decade ago. Think about that. First came Obama's agreement. Then Trump tore it up. Now Trump is celebrating an agreement built around the same core promise.

PRC state media reporting Australia’s, erm, vibrant AUKUS debate. Xinhua liking the Gareth Evans quotes:

🔴 The US and Iranian delegations will hold a virtual meeting today to sign the peace agreement, sources tell Al Arabiya 🔴 The meeting will be held in the presence of mediating states, Pakistan and Qatar, the sources say 🔴 The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed during the virtual meeting, the sources say 🔴 The meeting will be attended by US Vice President JD Vance and Iran Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the sources add 🔴 Following the signing of the agreement, the Strait of Hormuz will be reopened and transit will be permitted without fees, the sources say 🔴 The blockade on Iranian ports will be lifted, after the signing, the sources noted

Very sharp. Generally agree with @DrRGeistPinfold, except for the bit about “diminished Iran’s regional influence.” How can one say that with a straight face when Saudis, Emiratis, Qataris and Americans are writing them checks? when they have coerced Israel to back off from Beirut? when they are rn coercing the Americans into giving them what they want? when they have clearly tamed Abu Dhabi? From what I hear, the Azeri capitulation is next.

ראיון שלי @radio103fm: א.המשטר שרצינו להפיל יצא מחוזק במערכה הזו. זה בסופו של דבר האירוע. ב. חמור מכך, יכול להיות שלא נגיע להסכם הסופי שדרכו נטפל או האמריקאים יטפלו, בהקשר הגרעיני. אנחנו יכולים לצאת קירחים מכאן ומכאן - גם הסכם גרוע מאוד שיחזק את המשטר, וגם האורניום לא ידולל ולא ייצא מאיראן. ג. תוצאות המלחמה היו כאלה שבסופו של דבר חיזקנו את אותו משטר שרצינו להפיל, ולפחות בטווח הזמן הקרוב אני בספק רב מאוד אם נראה את האנשים יוצאים לרחוב.  @gidonucko1 @attaliami @maari maariv.co.il/news/military/a…

Ambassador Wang Xiaolong Attends the 2026 China Business Awards Gala Dinner of the New Zealand China Trade Association and Delievers a Speech On June 11, Ambassador Wang Xiaolong attended the 2026 China Business Awards Gala Dinner of the New Zealand China Trade Association (NZCTA) upon invitation and delievered a speech. Also present were Consul General in Auckland Chen Shijie, New Zealand Minister of Defense Chris Penk, former Speaker of the House David Carter, NZCTA Chair John Cochrane, New Zealand China Council Chair John McKinnon, Auckland Business Chamber CEO Simon Bridges, and representatives from major political parties. Ambassador Wang acknowledged the positive contributions of the NZCTA in promoting economic and trade cooperation between China and New Zealand, as well as the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations. He congratulated all award-winning enterprises and individuals. Ambassador Wang pointed out that during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, China will continue to pursue high-quality development and expand high-level opening-up, bringing new opportunities to New Zealand and other countries around the world. He encouraged all to continue leveraging their respective strengths and play a greater role in bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation, for the benefit of the two countries and their peoples.

This isn’t “GCC paying Iran to behave”, it’s Trump’s cover for “pallets of cash”.

A fan.

Jay Solomon, who wrote a piece in The Free Press (Bari Weiss's neocon propaganda outlet) aimed at getting Iran War critic @tparsi of @QuincyInst deported for exercising free speech, was fired by the Wall Street Journal for unethical conduct nine years ago.

The strategic interests of India and the US do not converge. This has been clear for the last four years. Some people who believe in a simplistic application of structural realism, according to which both countries have a common rival in China,... 1/8

Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh met with Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese foreign minister, in Ulan Bator on Saturday xhtxs.cn/bcWB

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, held talks with Mongolian Foreign Minister Batmunkh Battsetseg in Ulan Bator on Saturday xhtxs.cn/bcWC

Pakistan will facilitate a virtual signing ceremony between the United States and Iran as part of ongoing efforts to support regional peace and stability, sources familiar with the arrangements said on Sunday xhtxs.cn/bcWD

If hostilities restart, Iran could treat Azerbaijan as a legitimate military target. Baku would then be forced to choose between full alignment with Israel — and devastating retaliation — or a break with its most important defense partner, alongside Turkey. responsiblestatecraft.org/is…

Vice President Vance told Fox News today Iran will not get any frozen funds released up front. Then forget what you've heard from President Trump today, there almost certainly will NOT be a deal signed tomorrow, as long as VP Vance's words reflect U.S. policy. Almost all Iranian leaders, for weeks, have said they would not sign any deal or enter into any agreement that did not release funds, up front, owing to the absence of any trust in the United States' resulting from the last two wars we've started against them while allegedly engaging in diplomatic talks. Nearly impossible to imagine how Iran would suddenly go back on that most fundamental requirement *tomorrow* as doing so would require them to put all trust in the U.S., give Trump all he wants, while they get nothing until potentially much later. Signing without any unfrozen funds or relief on the energy-sanctions by the U.S., and open the Iranian closer of the SoH up front, would also greatly reduce leverage for Iran in subsequent negotiations. Iran would have to be fools to agree to such terms, and they have not shown themselves to be such. Therefore, unless Trump and his team gave Iran something as profoundly important as the unfrozen funds AND forcing Israel to withdraw from Lebanon, there won't be a deal signed tomorrow.

OPEN to US warships too? In the JCPOA Iran gave a firm commitment never to acquire nuclear weapons. This commitment was made not only to the US but the P5 plus Germany. And to the UN as the agreement was ratified by the Security Council. It thus became a commitment to the international community as a whole. Iran could have walked out of the NPT in recent years but hasn’t done so. The present deal puts the nuclear issue in the second phase of negotiation. For Trump the nuclear issue has been central to the war. It has been relegated to a secondary place , with the primacy given to opening of the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait was open before the US triggered its closure by attacking Iran. A totally botched up operation that has severely damaged peace and security in the Gulf and economically punished countries which had nothing to do this US/ Israel initiated war.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas @Araghchi gave a lengthy interview to Iranian state television yesterday offering Tehran's framing of the prospective agreement with the United States. Much of his presentation appeared aimed at the domestic political debate surrounding the deal, where deep distrust of Washington is widespread and hardline critics are already mobilizing against any compromise. Araghchi framed the agreement as a means of consolidating what he described as Iran's battlefield success. He argued that Iran had "achieved a strategic victory" and "shattered" the notion of a "weak Iran," but said those gains now needed to be "stabilized" through a memorandum of understanding. Seeking to defend the deal against domestic criticism, Araghchi acknowledged that compromise was unavoidable, arguing that "there is no agreement where one side wins 100 and the other side zero" and that "one must consent to give and take." He also sought to discredit opponents of the agreement by arguing that its foremost enemy is Israel. According to Araghchi, the memorandum itself will be "less than 2 pages" and initially signed through a "digital" and "remote" process. Echoing previous reporting in Iranian state media, he said the nuclear issue has been deferred to a subsequent 60-day negotiating period. If a broader agreement is not reached during that window, he said the talks could be extended or ultimately fail altogether. Importantly, Araghchi repeatedly stressed that progress toward a final agreement will be contingent on the memorandum being fully implemented first. He presented this sequencing as a key safeguard against future American noncompliance. On substance, Araghchi said the memorandum includes the lifting of the U.S. naval blockade and provides not merely for a regional ceasefire, including in Lebanon, but for Israeli "withdrawal." He also stated that Iran's frozen assets blocked under U.S. sanctions would be released under the agreement. Perhaps the most notable element of the interview concerned the Strait of Hormuz. Araghchi said management of "transit in the Strait of Hormuz will not be like the past" and indicated that Iran is working with Oman on a new legal framework governing the waterway. While ruling out "tolls," he suggested that "service fees" would be collected under the new arrangement. Throughout the interview, Araghchi repeatedly emphasized that the 60-day negotiations and any broader agreement would not proceed if the memorandum is not implemented by the United States. He also repeatedly defended the negotiating process as having been approved through consensus by Iran's decision-making institutions, particularly the Supreme National Security Council, which he said has maintained oversight of every stage of the process. Summing up the government's position, Araghchi argued that "the result of the understanding will be good for the national interests of Iran and will stabilize the field achievements."

Interesting Indian think tank perspective.