tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post5425383129653146229..comments2024-03-27T23:28:20.274-04:00Comments on Face to Face: Expansionist realignment in Iran after overreach by US, Saudi, Israeli expansionagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-80882795117015478982020-01-09T11:30:22.466-05:002020-01-09T11:30:22.466-05:00It has been encouraging to see the patriotic outpo...It has been encouraging to see the patriotic outpouring that has gripped Iran over the last couple of days. Iranians now understand that they must unite against foreign aggression. gumdeohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16176571456227420680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-88198149249576367072020-01-08T23:03:02.730-05:002020-01-08T23:03:02.730-05:00Iran starting to get more insistent on what Iraq&#...Iran starting to get more insistent on what Iraq's gov does regarding regional geopolitics (and intl, involving the US intervention):<br /><br />"A high-ranking Iranian official contacted the Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi after midnight to inform him that Iran had decided to retaliate for the assassination of its General. Iran said it would hit a concentration of US forces in Iraq, without hitting any Iraqi forces.<br /><br />"Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi – according to well-informed sources in Baghdad – answered that “this act may carry devastating results on the Middle East: Iraq refuses to become the theatre for a US-Iran war”. The Iranian official replied: “Those who began this cycle of violence are the US, not Iran; the decision has been taken.”<br /><br />"Prime Minister Abdel Mahdi informed the US forces of the Iranian decision. US declared a state of emergency and alerted all US bases in Iraq and the region in advance of the attack."<br /><br />https://ejmagnier.com/2020/01/08/iranian-messages-behind-attacking-us-bases-in-iraq-and-the-consequences/<br /><br />That episode shows how far from unified the Axis is -- the Iraqi PM balked at Iran's plan for retaliation. But it also shows how things are starting to change, where Iran straight-up overruled its junior partner and carried out its plan of retaliation.<br /><br />For a decision that big to be made over the objection of a junior partner's PM, shows how different this new phase is going to be. Discipline and cohesion will be all the more necessary, now that the US / Israelis / Saudis are assassinating top leaders and heroes.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-36543330324021705702020-01-07T16:22:11.803-05:002020-01-07T16:22:11.803-05:00When Anna Khachiyan is drawn to identifying as Ira...When Anna Khachiyan is drawn to identifying as Iranian, you know a realignment is coming. She discusses her reactions to Soleimani's assassination in the latest Red Scare podcast:<br /><br />https://redscarepodcast.libsyn.com/desert-shitstorm<br /><br />On her father's side, she's ultimately from Iran's ethnic Armenian minority (who made a stop-over in the Soviet Union before winding up in America).<br /><br />I couldn't quickly find stats on their voting patterns, but Armenians in Iran must be more reformist than conservative -- they're urban, more affluent, and specialize in commerce, arts, culture, and other non-material forms of activity. They are not rural or involved in agriculture, the military, Muslim / Shia clerical elites, etc.<br /><br />Certainly the conservative side in Iran would have previously been averse to welcoming a Brooklyn art hoe whose main relationship with men was having gay BFFs.<br /><br />And yet, if they're both responding so deeply to Soleimani's assassination, maybe that means they can agree on a shared goal in the near-term -- the best defense is a good offense, otherwise there will be more assassinations of the future Soleimanis.<br /><br />Neither the conservative sectors (esp. the military) nor the reformist sectors (esp. urban culture-makers) will be safe to pursue their activities, without at least a nuclear weapon to deter their enemies. Just check out what Kim Jong Un managed to do when he showed he could shove a nuclear bomb up the Pentagon's ass.<br /><br />But LOL at Anna wanting to convert to Islam and digging the Shia sober aesthetic -- if she wants, OK, but she can do that while remaining true to her Armenian roots. They're Christian of an Eastern tradition, more like the Catholic and Orthodox, and easily adaptable to a severe / minimalist aesthetic.<br /><br />"Iranian" does not require one to be ethnically Persian, Shia, etc., even if they are the majority. They protect ethnic minorities, the Armos more than the others.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.com