Image is of a destroyed American AWACS plane in Saudi Arabia, of which there is a very limited supply and each of which is enormously expensive both monetarily and in terms of components. Iran hit this with a precision drone strike that likely cost ~$20,000.
I don't have much to add from the last megathread description. This isn't to say that nothing has happened or has changed since then - decades are still happening in weeks - but the general flow of the war is remaining the same. Trump sometimes threatens to open the Strait with troops and flatten Iran to rubble, and other times threatens that he's gonna back off and let other countries handle it if they really want little trifles like "fuel" and "energy" so much. Iran continues to strike across the Middle East. The West continues to bomb civilian infrastructure due to their relative inability to affect the missile cities. In all: things are generally getting worse for America and the Zionists.
April is the month where the last ships that left Hormuz before it was closed will arrive around the world, so the last month of economic turmoil has been a mere prelude to what's going to occur in the near-future. The silver lining is that Iran appears to be formalizing the new state of affairs in Hormuz, creating a rial-based toll to allow passage between a pair of Iranian-controlled islands where they can be monitored, meaning that, as long as the US doesn't do something exceptionally stupid, the global energy crisis may "only" last a couple years instead of simply being the new reality from now on. Some countries have already agreed to this arrangement, and others will inevitably follow despite their consternation as their economies increasingly suffer.
Last week's thread is here.
The Imperialism Reading Group is here.
Please check out the RedAtlas!
The bulletins site is here. Currently not used.
The RSS feed is here. Also currently not used.
The Zionist Entity's Genocide of Palestine
Sources on the fighting in Palestine against the temporary Zionist entity. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:
UNRWA reports on the Zionists' destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.
English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news.
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.
Mirrors of Telegram channels that have been erased by Zionist censorship.
Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Sources:
Defense Politics Asia's youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don't want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it's just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
Simplicius, who publishes on Substack. Like others, his political analysis should be soundly ignored, but his knowledge of weaponry and military strategy is generally quite good.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists' side.
Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.
Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a 'propaganda tax', if you don't believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
Pro-Ukraine Telegram Channels:
Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.
I will second this: We should all be happy people aren't being bombed. People here had been dooming about nukes for the entire war, this seems better.
Like, I get it, we won't see more epic Ls of the dying empire for a bit, but Iran has to consider the safety of their population. And I think they made sure to show that they are a state you don't fuck with.
We will see how all this translates in the coming days. I have a decent amount of faith that the people who gave the US a bloody nose won't utterly fumble the bag now.
I'm almost at the point where I would start telling people to
or 
if they're so keen to see these Ls, make some themselves, instead of sitting on their asses, exposing their western chauvinism because they're fine with 
people dying to weaken the US, but aren't willing to put themselves in danger in the same way. But I recognise that isn't helpful or useful, so I'm not quite at the crash out stage yet, but my god, some of the takes I have seen really boil my blood (not too bad here thankfully, just the usual doomer stuff that always happens anything something happens/doesn't happen)
Iran's advantage is in long-scale attritional wars.
US/Israel's advantage is in short term wars.
If Iran keeps doing this, they cede their only advantage - and then the material conditions actually favour the US and Israel.
Yes they keep depleting the interceptors then stopping and letting them restock. Hey let's have our annual "dump munitions into Iran" party!
How is Iran ceding their advantage?
The US excels at hybrid warfare, perfidy/deception/espionage and short bursts of extreme destruction before they deplete their limited stockpiles. The way to defeat them is long protracted attrition conflict, not playing their hybrid warfare game and letting them pick the moments of engagement. If they are really running out of munitions, the strategic move is not to bow out, but to press your advantage and punish them. Iran fights on the backfoot until they have regained even footing, and then call a ceasefire. Then let Israel and US get them on the backfoot again.
I wanted the US trapped in the bear trap for as long as possible to create even a possibility of hope they collapse before having a chance to destroy cuba, or freedom of movement for others to create fires the US doesnt have forces to put out
There is a catharsis to it I get it, but be the change you want to be then and do something yourself, instead of demanding Iranians die for it.
I dont rly have the power to "do something myself" seeing as the "something" i want done is the US to be caught in irans bear trap as long as possible and to bleed as much as possible
Unfortunately, antiimperialists do not hold power where i live. I am protesting and organising for my country to leave NATO, condemn US attacks, stop supporting them etc, but I do not have command of missiles, guns, artillery or mines, or an artery of the global economy to hold hostage.
No amount of organising done by me has a chance in hell at protecting cuba even a thousandth as much as the US being embroiled in this conflict would. At best Ive been able to help raise a few hundred dollars which despite assurances of cuban comrades is very clearly drops of water on a raging fire.
So to put it uncharitably, you are fine with Iranians dying, so long as that keeps the US busy.
Not saying that is really what you think to be clear, but please realize what this sounds like.
If you know youre putting it uncharitably, why phrase it that way?
Am I fine with iranians dying? No
Do i think a temporary ceasefire now will lead to more deaths later, both iranian and cuban and, if the US successfully regains its imperial footing, in the AES states, the EZLN and other antiimperialist movements? Yes! Because thats what has happened every time the US eats shit and makes a retreat like this. They pillage latin america, rebuild their strength and crush everyone who asserts independence once by one
"So to argue in bad faith and make things up... you said this"