news

Iran's former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt after his vehicle was allegedly sabotaged, Iranian media outlets reported on Wednesday, based on an investigation by Newsweek.

The plan involved manipulating the system of the car used by Ahmadinejad. During a trip to Zanjan on Monday, July 15, for a religious mourning ceremony for the month of Muharram, his security chief noticed that the air conditioning in the Toyota Land Cruiser was malfunctioning. He immediately advised the former president to change vehicles.

Also during the journey, the car initially assigned to Ahmadinejad - now with his security detail on board - lost control, collided with another car in the motorcade and only stopped when it hit another vehicle. The authorities were notified five days later.

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Really feels like we're in a situation where, given these assumptions:

• Iran commits to their stated war goal of punishing Israel until they dare to never strike Iran ever again.

• Iran has sufficient capabilities and internal popular support to do such. (And every analysis I've seen suggests they likely do on both counts.)

Then one of these two outcomes must occur:

• Either, the US enters the war, and Iran's retaliatory strikes on oil infrastructure and trade routes absolutely fuck the world economy, and have a serious possibility of triggering WW3.

• Or, the US doesn't enter the war with Iran, and Israel likely loses an attrition war against Iran. I dont really see how this doesn't eventually lead to the collapse of Israel.

That second option comes with the scary question of "will Israel resort to using its nukes?" So I guess that's another route to WW3.

Idk, I'm no expert and I'm open to hearing other likely ways for this to play out, but this is where my head is at given all the information I've been absorbing so far.

Global energy crisis and recession incoming and no reasonable person can blame the Iranians. In fact, people around the world are now calling on Iran to PRODUCE a nuclear weapon. I never thought I'd see the day...

The world is witnessing the strategic power of Husseini intisar al damm ala al saif (triumphing of blood over the sword).

Unconditional support to the Iranian "theocratic regime" and the entire axis.

Note: I photo shopped the stache

Germany’s Merz says ‘complete destruction’ of Iran’s nuclear programme possible

Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz said if Iran does not make concessions, the “complete destruction” of its nuclear programme could be “on the agenda”.

“The Israeli army is obviously unable to accomplish that. It lacks the necessary weapons,” Merz told broadcaster ZDF on the sidelines of the G7 summit. “But the Americans have them.”

Earlier, President Trump said he wants a “real end” to the Israel-Iran conflict, with Iran “giving up entirely” on nuclear weapons.

https://aje.io/gn5i1t?update=3781819

They are all in on it. They can claim how Trump is bad anti-democracy but they'll align with him on this.

US monopoly capital is all-in on this regional war and it will only stop when it is forced to concede. Everything else is just a route to get there. Lebanese Marxist economist Ali Kadri explains that the genocide is extremely profitable and the material force of capital is driving this. The destruction or waste is itself profit accumulation. The finance capitalists are clearly benefitting: DJI has gone up 10,000 points since al Aqsa Flood. The S&P500 is up almost 30% the Tel Aviv stock market has tripled as well. It is a genocide bubble.

Since monopoly capital is profiting obscenely then no politician or so-called "national strategic interests" will stop its trajectory.

Marx clarified this long ago:

Modern bourgeois society, with its relations of production, of exchange and of property, a society that has conjured up such gigantic means of production and of exchange, is like the sorcerer who is no longer able to control the powers of the nether world whom he has called up by his spells.

Even if the imperialists deploy nuclear weapons, the resistance will win. The defeat of US empire in West Asia will exceed the magnitude of the defeat US imperialism suffered in Vietnam. The only question remains whether millions will be exterminated such as the millions of lives taken in each war liberating Algeria, Vietnam, China, and Korea.

The US capitalist genocide machine will not be interrupted except by force, so everyone ought prepare to combat it with force so that it falls sooner rather than later. This why, more than ever, regular people must take direct action against zionism and its assets to assist the resistance in imposing a high cost and forcing the US empire to concede. As the Palestine Action people have proven, regular people can take direct action against the genocide machine!!

Every anti-genocide political organization and person in the world, especially in the West, ought be having this discussion seriously right now. Nothing is more important!

Lol NYT columnist only just learned israel has nukes from mission impossible 9

Trump at the moment gives me the same vibes as an inexperienced cook who just accidentally started a pan fire and doesn't know how to put it out safely. Maybe I'm being fooled but he seems to have no real plan while things get hotter and hotter.

NYT - emphasis mine

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew blowback in Israel after he lamented the “personal cost” of the war in a television interview at the site of an Iranian missile strike. “Each of us bears a personal cost, and my family has not been exempt,” Netanyahu said. “This is the second time that my son Avner, due to missile threats and rocket fire, has cancelled a wedding.”

The reaction from some Israelis was swift. Gilad Kariv, a member of the Knesset, wrote on X of families “who will now never celebrate the weddings that were once meant to take place.” Yehuda Cohen, the father of an Israeli being held hostage in Gaza, said that not only can his son not get married but “he can’t breathe, he can’t see daylight and has been in danger of death for more than 20 months.”

Avner Netanyahu’s wedding was scheduled to take place in November 2024 but was canceled for security reasons. It had been rescheduled for June 16 but was delayed again after Israel began bombing Iran.

Allow me to lib out for a second here and make two linked observations here:

1 - The last "legal" war started by the US was in 1942, meaning that's the last time a sitting US president had Congress approval for a formal declaration of war. Everything else since then has been illegal, not that it matters in the slightly.

2 - Despite point 1, the US still has veto power at the UN Security Council, meaning that they can unilaterally decide to go into just about any conflict, bring any of its allies and cronies into the fray, and shield themselves and their accomplices from any kind of UN sanction over illegal military actions. A country which has launched countless illegal wars in the past seventy years gets to pick who gets reprimanded by the managers of the global "rules-based order".

I know this is not new to anyone here, of course, but I just wanted to take this lib moment to truly appreciate how deeply fucked up all of this truly is. The world is the US's playground, and until the day comes in which a brutal reckoning is visited upon the US and its allies, there can be no semblance of security at a global geopolitical level.

If the Great Satan looks at you and decides you're gonna get got, then you're on your own. Therefore, and I want to believe my lib moment ends here, the first order of business for BRICS going forward is that, if you don't have any nukes yet... it's time to get them.

Rolling Stone article

Fox News Is Demanding War With Iran. Donald Trump Is Listening

Trump’s heavy consumption of Fox News content is increasing his appetite for direct military confrontation with Iran

I know this is fairly well known to most here, but for those who may not be familiar with how US government works:

In theory, the US should only be able to go to war by approval of Congress. And on paper, this IS how it works. You need an act of congress to declare war.

However, in reality the US President has virtually unlimited and unilateral power to conduct “war”. So long as you don’t call it “war” and instead call it something like a “policing action”. This has really always been the case in some form but this was really developed and used in the Cold War, when it was said that because of the threat of a nuclear first strike from the USSR, it would be impractical to try and convene congress to declare war as a nuke was in the air. Consequently, I do not believe the US has technically declared war since WWII.

War is the most serious action a nation state can undertake. The idea that the people (or their representatives) don’t need to be involved in the process really shows how much of a farce western liberal democracy is. This isn’t exactly news to us here as we understand the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, but I think it’s a good place to start with libs who are going to be angry about how Trump is able to do this (though tbh I think congress would be good with declaring war on Iran here)

Thoughts and prayers for the Microsoft building

source

::: spoiler spoiler

it apparently did not hit the building itself according to marmite, but still a sick ass photo ngl

This is the off ramp. Token strikes so Trump can say he didn't chicken out, and Iran has no reason to go sicko mode.

Iran will do some of their own token strikes on empty US bases, and then the ball is back in Israel's court.

Expanding on my comment earlier it isn't much of a surprise that the escalation has reached this point. The next couple of days will undoubtedly result in the unnecessary loss of lives and infrastructure as I believe that the current western actions are meant to further shock and awe the Iranians back onto the negotiating table as a nuclear Iran is existential in nature to the Israeli project.

However, this will not go nuclear as some commentators are fearing for the main reason that it would be self defeating for both the US and Israel as a whole. The nature of nuclear deterrence is paradoxical almost. If you want a solid threat of nuclear deterrence than the #1 thing you cannot do is show that you are actually willing to go nuclear in a non retaliatory way. Doing so would change the calculus for any opposition that you wish to engage in militarily in the future. In this case nuking Iran who is on the cusp of nuclear capabilities is in practice no different from first striking an actually nuclear capable state as it indicates you are willing to attempt to decapitate them before they can retaliate. The use of nukes would thereby actually encourage opposition to first strike you first if they believe you wish to engage on them in the future. A dark forest scenario if you will. This is both important to Israel as it would encourage everyone in the region to move first at some point in the future to avoid nukes and perhaps more importantly would greatly affect the US's ability to credibly go against China and Russia.

In total, the absolute worse case scenario going forward from a leftist perspective is if Iran is more of a paper tiger than the US is. If the leadership collapses and their ability to complete the bomb in a timely manner is compromised then they will likely be forced into a disadvantageous agreement and cease to be eventually. If they've dragged their feet in their development of nukes this could also result in a very uncomfortable time for Iran. I am not an expert on the ME but based off of other commentators I do not see them as that weak. Optimistically outside of this worse case scenario this will be a severe blow towards US imperial ambitions going forward.

If this level of bombing and attacks do not work to dissuade the development of the nuke in Iranian research sites deep underground and the Iranians refuse to comply with the NPT than the only card the US has left is to either acquiesce to Iran who will at this point all but certainly complete the bomb or go boots to the ground. Such an operation would come at a high price and would not even be guaranteed to succeed. Staging for even the Iraq war at what was arguably the height of American power took several months and occurred when support for such actions from the public were at an all time high. One may argue that leadership would force the issue but military manpower is currently at an all time low. Any delays and any time given to the Iranians is time they will use to develop their nuclear capabilities which will result in a strategic defeat for the west.

In all, this is now a race against time for both sides. My hope is that in the face of such destruction that the spirit if the Iranian people may persevere even in the face of such evil.

During a call with the Israelis, VP JD Vance pushed back on demands for an immediate American strike on Iran accused them of trying "to drag the [US] into war"

He must be just faking it. He knows that the US bombing is a done deal, so he can pretend to be the "reasonable guy" for his run in 2028.

Resistance News Telegram

Saraya Al-Quds: — We have downed and taken control, using appropriate means, of an advanced zionist enemy drone of the ‘MATRICE 600’ type, east of Al-Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City. The drone was loaded with ammunition, bombs, and mortar shells that are dropped vertically.

Al-Aqsa Flood.

: "There are many underground facilities in Iran, most have not been affected at all. The Iranian population seems to be rallying around its leadership."

RIP African Stream:
https://xcancel.com/african_stream/status/1936632532943970802

AFRICAN STREAM IS CLOSING DOWN

This is, sadly, a farewell to you, our loyal followers and supporters. Under relentless attack, we’ve made the painful decision to shut down African Stream—a platform that many of you’ve come to trust and love. This decision was not made lightly.

The smear by then–US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on September 13, 2024, labelling African Stream “Kremlin propagandists”—triggered a wave of censorship. Within days, YouTube, Meta, Google, and TikTok removed our accounts, and we were demonetised on X. These actions shattered our ability to survive financially. Personal accounts were restricted. What followed was a daily uphill battle. Now, we’re left with only one path: closure.

We are deeply grateful for your unwavering support. Your comments, your messages, your shares—you made us stronger, sharper, and more determined.

We are deeply proud of the work we’ve done since 2022: bringing attention to the most underreported and misrepresented continent. The imperalists want to perpetuate the dominant narrative that Africa is underdeveloped due to corruption and the mismanagement of resources. They want to remove colonialism, neo-colonialism and imperialism from the picture. We refused to play by those rules. For that, we paid the price. But it’s a price we would pay again and again.

Refusing to play by their rules led to NBC saying we spread ‘disinformation’ without providing a single example of what ‘disinformation’ we shared. Voice of America condemned us for reporting a fact: since the George W. Bush administration, every US president has authorised drone strikes on Somalia. As we responded to every smear piece, we just grew bigger and stronger until, finally, those in positions of power realised the smears weren’t working, and the rest is history.

We will cease posting as of July 1, 2025, except for a few remaining documentaries from Liberia and Mali.

With your support, we managed to ruffle many feathers. Please continue the fight and keep the Pan-African flag flying. Thank you for helping us build African Stream. As we always say: #WeAreAllAfricanStream.

https://aje.io/gn5i1t?update=3780366

Israelis in ‘shock’ as Iranian missiles hit their targets

Bernard Smith ~Reporting from Amman, Jordan~

Al Jazeera is reporting from Jordan because it has been banned from Israel and the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli broadcasting authority is saying that several missiles fell in open areas injuring several Israelis who fled to shelters.

We are waiting on some more details on that. The most significant damage so far has been to Haifa port where refinery operations have been halted because of severe damage to the refinery. This is one of two refineries. Israel refines a large chunk of petrol, diesel and jet fuel, and it will be considerably inconveniencing and difficult for Israel to manage.

Israelis have never experienced anything like this in the last 40 or 50 years. So it’s come as a bit of a shock to a lot of Israelis.

Israelis are beginning to realise that this is a very, very dangerous situation that they are in. Nevertheless, Israelis always rally around the flag. They may not like Benjamin Netanyahu or his extreme right-wing government – he personally remains unpopular – but Israelis will rally around the flag when the country is under attack.

~Smoke and fire rise after an Iranian missile attack on Israel, at Haifa port, on June 15, 2025 [Rami Shlush/Reuters]~

Looks like Randi Weingarten, the leader of the American Federation of Teachers, and Lee Saunders, the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees have both quit the DNC.

Unions seem to be separating from the Democrat machine more often than not these days

Via Al Mayadeen

According to Turkey’s Doğru Haber newspaper, Israeli warplanes violated Turkish airspace, triggering an immediate military response.

Alert levels were raised, as Turkish Air Forces scrambled F-16 jets and issued radio warnings that ultimately forced the Zionist aircraft to retreat.

According to the newspaper, Turkish forces intensified monitoring along the eastern border using round-the-clock early warning systems.

Doğru Haber described the Israeli breach as a serious escalation, warning that the war is no longer confined to the region but now directly threatens Turkey’s national security. The newspaper suggested the Israeli airspace violation may have been a calculated move to test Turkey’s air defense capabilities.

I don't understand this at all

Well Hexbear crew, looks like our analysis was correct on Israel running low on anti-missile defenses. Israel has between 10-12 days of anti-missile munitions without resupply from the U.S.

Link to separate discussion post & Link to the article

Per Washington Post:

Without resupplies from the United States or greater involvement by U.S. forces, some assessments project Israel can maintain its missile defense for 10 or 12 more days if Iran maintains a steady tempo of attacks, said an individual briefed on U.S. and Israeli intelligence assessments, adding that as early as later this week, Israel’s systems may only be able to intercept a smaller proportion of missiles because of a need to ration defensive munitions. “They will need to select what they want to intercept,” said the individual, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter. “The system is already overwhelmed.”

Given this knowledge, we may be seeing something quite interesting strategically from Iran. I would not be surprised if they’ve figured the right amount of missiles to launch and where in order to draw out the best (highest, aka worst for Israeli stockpile) ratio of anti-missile defenses to ballistic missiles launched. Iran knows that its missile production is more efficient in cost (significantly so) and quantity than anti-missile production.

Iran is also aware that the United States is probably unlikely to willingly toss all of its anti-missile munitions over to Israel, when those anti-missile munitions are likely to be far more valuable in the event of a PRC reunification with Taiwan that the U.S. intervenes in.

Iran: 639 dead and more than 1,220 wounded since the start of Israeli attacks

Casualty count is much higher than I'd previously seen. Death to Israel.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives in Moscow for a meeting with Vladimir Putin. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss regional and international developments following the US military aggression against Iran. According to Abbas, the United States “betrayed diplomacy” and, he says, “will face eternal consequences” after joining Israel in its air campaign against his country.

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Bedbug's new column...

Trump’s Courageous and Correct Decision

I read the final paragraph. That was enough for me.

Whether or not that happens, Iran’s hopes of acquiring a nuclear weapon have probably been seriously degraded. And adversaries everywhere, including in Moscow and Beijing, must now know that they are not dealing with a paper tiger in the White House. The world is safer for it

https://archive.ph/edL6I

This CNN update from an hour ago is an eerie echo of 2003.

Analysis: US strikes mark a stunning demonstration of military might and presidential power

President Donald Trump’s attack on Iran’s nuclear sites is both a stunning demonstration of US military might and unilateral presidential power...

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-iran-conflict-06-21-25-intl-hnk#cmc6wb9w1000r3b6nrbjg5rup

The matter-of-fact way the US reports this stuff is making me [redacted]

NYT

• What’s next? If Mr. Trump decides to send American bombers to help Israel destroy a uranium enrichment facility in Iran, it will likely initiate a more dangerous phase in the war. Here are some ways that could play out, and a look at how the U.S. military’s powerful bunker-busting bombs work.

At least there's some humor. Calling him "Mr. Trump" is so goofy. Plus - "That will likely initiate a more dangerous phase in the war," could be a line from a very shitty CIA action movie that has a 3.5/10 rating at Imdb.

Stay safe if you're in Iran. May the Entity and the US Empire crumble to dust.

Surprise, Surprise, the Israelis have revised their count of Iranian ballistic missiles up to 22,000

A ton of American refueling airplanes have been landing in Azores

Supreme Court decided 6/3 to ban medical transition for minors.

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-477_2cp3.pdf

If anyone's wondering why there's little to no footage out of Iran: the internet has been down for over 12 hours, only one spike of connectivity. I'd guess to try combat Israeli spying through CCTV cameras open to the internet, and the use of the network by Mossad assets in Iran. War censorship is also another potential reason.

Large scale pro-Islamic Republic and anti-America protests in Tehran. President Masoud Pezeshkian appeared in public in Tehran's Revolution Square.

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IMAGES OF BRAVERY ARE COMING IN FROM TEHRAN

THE PEOPLE ARE RISING UP AGAINST THE REGIME

Bombs over Haifa and Tel Aviv

Good to see that hasn't changed

In NYC mayoral election news:

Brad Lander, NYC Comptroller and mayoral candidate (considered the second-best progressive candidate to Zohran Mamdani) was escorting a defendant from immigration court when ICE apparently wanted to detain the defendant. Lander was asking for a signed judicial warrant, so ICE handcuffed and detained Lander as well. Kudos to him for fighting for immigrants a week before the primary election. This might give him a boost electorally but unlikely it would be enough to propel him to "top-two" status as progressives coalesce around Zohran and the Dem establishment coalesce around Cuomo.

https://xcancel.com/bradlander/status/1935016805099016236

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/17/brad-lander-ice-mayoral-comptroller.html

Bernie Sanders has endorsed Zohran Mamdani.

https://xcancel.com/ZohranKMamdani/status/1934938924385710464#m

https://nitter.privacyredirect.com/ME_Observer_/status/1935620132836950250#m

????

edit: this is the guy that is so much of a frothing at the mouth rabid fascist that even canada and the uk sanctioned him personally

Israel just issued an evacuation notice for the heavy water nuclear reactor/facility located near Arak, Iran.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IR-40

Unclear what Israel will target at the Arak complex, but they very well could directly hit a 40 Megawatt nuclear reactor. Could also directly hit the water treatment facility there. It's also unclear to what extent IR-40 is operational, it might not be active at all. If it's not active, this might be a repeat of "Operation Opera", where Israel destroyed an incomplete nuclear reactor in Iraq in the 1980s, preventing it from becoming operational. Under the previous nuclear agreement (JCPOA), Iran was supposed to fill the core with concrete, thus not operational. However:

Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, was interviewed on Channel 4 TV (Iran) on January 22, 2019. He said that the negotiations surrounding the JCPOA had required Iran to destroy the Arak reactor's calandria by filling it with cement, but that Iran had secretly acquired replacement tubes ahead of time so that the reactor's functionality would not be ultimately affected. He also said that pictures that had circulated that showed the Arak reactor's pit filled with cement had been photoshopped. He explained that Iran has no intention to build a nuclear weapon, and that the Arak reactor is nonetheless incapable of producing weapons-grade plutonium.

So there could be plans to get it operational again now or in the future.

Israeli sources were talking about how tonight's strikes on Iran would be considerably different hours ago, I guess this is what they meant.

~~The Iranian armed forces display missiles adorned with the images of the martyrs—Commander Yahya al-Sinwar and General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah

The Arabic text on the missile in the image reads: “إِنَّا مِنَ الْمُجْرِمِينَ مُنتَقِمُونَ” “Indeed, We will take retribution from the criminals.”

This is a verse from the Qur’an, Surah As-Sajdah (32:22).

~~

EDIT: I MAY HAVE BEEN BAMBOOZLED

I think this is a photoshop

https://www.reuters.com/article/world/khamenei-says-missiles-not-just-talks-key-to-irans-future-idUSKCN0WW0PS/

BALLISTIC MISSILES LAUNCHED TOWARDS HAIFA AND THE NORTHERN OCCUPIED TERRITORIES