Image is of destruction and damage inside Israel, sourced from this article.
Iran and Israel have struck each other many times over the last few days. There has been a general focus on military facilities and headquarters by both sides, though Israel has also struck oil facilities, civilian structures and hospitals, and in return for this, Iran has struck major scientific centers and the Haifa oil facilities.
Israel appears to have three main aims. First, to collapse the Iranian state, either through shock and breakdown by killing enough senior officials, or via some sort of internal military coup. Second, to try and destroy Iranian nuclear sites and underground missile cities, or at least to paralyze them long enough to achieve the first and third goals. And third, to bring the US into a direct conflict with Iran. This is because the US better equipped to fight them than Israel is (though victory would still not be guaranteed depending on what Iran chooses to do).
Iranian nuclear facilities are hidden deep underground (800 meters), far beyond the depth range of even the most powerful bunker busters (~70 meters or so), and built such that the visible ground entrances are horizontally far away in an unknown direction from the actual underground chambers. Only an extremely competent full-scale American bombing force all simultaneously using multiple of the most powerful conventional (perhaps even nuclear) bunker busters could even hypothetically hope to breach them (and we have seen how, in practice, American bunker busters have largely failed to impair or deter Ansarallah). There are several analysts on both sides who have concluded that it is entirely impossible to physically prevent Iran from building nukes.
I fully expect the US to join the war. I believe the current ambiguity is a deliberate invention of the US while they work to move their military assets into position, and as soon as they are ready, the US will start bombing Iran. After that, Iran’s leadership must - if they haven’t already - harden their hearts, and strike back with no fear, or risk following the path of Libya, Syria, and Iraq, either into either surrender, occupation, or annihilation. Every day where they do not possess a nuke is a day where lives are being lost and cities are being bombed.
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.
Israel-Palestine Conflict
Sources on the fighting in Palestine against Israel. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:
UNRWA reports on Israel’s 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.
English-language PalestineResist telegram channel.
More telegram channels here for those interested.
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’d love to say what I think of the publisher, editors, and people in power at the NYT but that would be fedposting.
-–
Not the Onion - NYT article
A U.S. Attack on Iran Would Show the Limits of China’s Power
China, which depends on Iran for oil and to counter American influence, has a lot to lose from a wider war. But there’s not much it can do about it.
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.
-
Is it actually plausible that America might really chicken out? Someone pour water on my optimism if it’s unfounded
If they drop a nuke on Fordow they can claim whatever they want to claim about its success because nobody will be able to verify whether it actually damaged the facility via radiation monitoring.
Reality is winning: War, resistance, and the reunification of nation and state in Iran by Nahid Poureisa
Something is happening in Iran.
People are not only supporting the war, but they are getting closer to the state. The concept of “nation” has undergone a shift. In recent days, I have seen things I never could have imagined.
One of the most powerful images was a viral video: A young woman in Tehran, without hijab, wearing a koufiyeh, singing a deeply patriotic song under Azadi Tower, the symbolic heart of Tehran. This was not just a moment of performative nationalism; it was a statement, a contradiction of the narrative that pits the Iranian people against their state.
Social media, once a battleground of polarizing slogans, has become a platform for national unity. Campaigns are emerging one after another: to sign under the Iranian flag, to denounce Iran International (a channel broadcasting from Tel Aviv), and to criticize its recent interview with Netanyahu.
And it’s not the so-called conservatives or state loyalists pushing this narrative. It’s people from the same class and lifestyle background as the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protesters, those who just 4 years ago were seen chanting for regime change.
On the train, the conversations are no longer about dissent, they’re about the war. Women were there for each other emotionally. One was unsure whether she should leave the capital. I told her, “The Zionists would not dare to attack civilians again.” she replied, “But they already did.”
“Yes,” I said. “They did, during the first two days. But after Iran’s retaliatory operations, they learned that Iran is not only capable, but determined, not just to restore deterrence, but to dismantle the enemy’s power entirely.” I could see confidence return to her face.
Another woman joined in, agreeing with me. “The attacks were mostly done by Mossad agents,” she added. “Now things are more under control.” I nodded.
In the same train, a street vendor walked through the wagon, smiling. “We continue to live,” she said. “There is no other choice. I need to sell.” That was it, that moment helped me piece together the answer to a question that’s been haunting me: Why are people scared and yet still supportive of Iran’s stance?
For years, especially during the peak of “Woman, Life, Freedom,” we witnessed a profound split between the state and the nation in Iran. During the 2022 World Cup, at the height of the protests, many refused to support the national team, claiming it represented the Islamic Republic, not the Iranian people. That moment became a defining line. If you cheered for Iran’s team, you were automatically seen as being against the “revolution” [of Woman, Life, Freedom], a movement that had been hijacked and bankrolled by imperialist agendas.
But now? Why not apply the same logic? Isn’t this just a war between the IRGC and “Israel”? Can’t we say it’s a war between two evils?
No. Not anymore.
Back on the train, I realized how the concrete conditions of everyday life override Western-fueled delusions.** The smear campaigns and misinformation wars can’t hold against direct, lived experience. Why? Because people realized something crucial: their loved ones were attacked by “Israel”. This wasn’t a fabricated threat from the Islamic Republic. The enemy of the state is now recognized, viscerally, as the enemy of the people.**
That unification is a turning point: the merging of state and nation.
Reality is defeating BBC Persian. Reality is defeating Iran International. Reality is bitter, but it’s powerful. In order to survive, you must fight back, and who has the means to fight back? The Iranian state. Its military.
After the recent Israeli aggression, Netanyahu posted a video calling on the Iranian people to rise up and “finish what he started.” He believed that by killing commanders, he could encourage the public to weaken the state. But this was a strategic miscalculation. He thought he could become more popular with the people by killing them.
No. He can’t. Reality is winning. The Iranian state is winning.
Looks like a single missile was fired, detected very late and impacted directly. First warning to impact was 2-3 minutes. Guess Israel was expecting a build up for a larger scale attack, and missed the launch of a singular missile, likely from a launcher dispersed somewhere. New tactic maybe, singular launches to try avoid detection?
Impact crater and damage to an apartment building. Looks like most of the damage to the building was done by the cars catching on fire from the missile hitting them, and the missile didn’t hit the building directly.
Thoughts and prayers for the Microsoft building
spoiler
it apparently did not hit the building itself according to marmite, but still a sick ass photo ngl
Funniest thing about Israeli interception rates falling dramatically is that it puts the United States in a damned if they do damned if they don’t situation.
Give the Zionist entity more anti-missile munitions and deplete your own difficult to replace stockpile at the cost of becoming basically defenseless against China
OR
Let Iran make the incredibly fragile Zionist entity unsustainable by not giving it the anti-missile munitions it needs and sending the settlers packing.
what are the pros and cons of an Iranian preemptive strike? for what legality is worth, the hostile positioning of US assets within the theater with the openly stated purpose of a pending decision to attack clearly constitutes an act of aggression. What about the middle path of threatening preemption by giving the US an ultimatum to stop hostile deployments else Iran will decide whether a strike is warranted?
World’s first flying robot took off in Italy - Prensa Latina
Article
Rome, Jun 19 (Prensa Latina) The world’s first flying robot, called iRonCub3, took off in Italy, marking a milestone in the country’s scientific and technological development, according to a press release.
A note published on the news site of the television channel Rai News points out that this success was the result of a project initiated two years ago by a research team of the Artificial and Mechanical Intelligence Laboratory (AMI) of the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), based in the northern city of Genoa.
“It was a radically different research from traditional humanoid robotics,” said Daniele Pucci, director of the AMI and main creator of iRonCub3, who indicated that the robot, in this first test, managed to fly at a height of 50 centimeters, which represents a significant advance.
The work also involved experts from the Aerodynamics Laboratory of the Politecnico di Milano, where the wind tunnel tests were carried out, as well as from Stanford University, where deep learning algorithms were used to identify aerodynamic models.
The iRonCub3 robot has a body and face similar to those of a child, weighing about 70 kilograms, and is equipped with four jet engines, two mounted on its arms and two in a backpack on its back.
The incorporation of these motors required additional modifications to the robot’s physical structure, including titanium elements that act as a backbone and heat-resistant covers, since the temperature of the exhaust gases can reach 800 degrees.
“Our models include neural networks trained with simulated and experimental data, and are integrated into the robot’s control software architecture to ensure stable flight,” said expert Antonello Paolino, one of the main drivers of this project.
In this sense, “it has control systems based on Artificial Intelligence that allow it to fly managing turbulent air flows at high speed and> extreme temperatures”, said Paolino, who considered that “the results of the research can be transferred to other robots with unconventional morphologies”.
These flying robots could be used in the exploration of extreme environments, such as space, deep sea and volcanoes, as well as for monitoring complex infrastructure, including dams, power plants and bridges, and in environmental or industrial crisis intervention,
Among the entities most interested in this equipment are space agencies, energy industries, healthcare systems and law enforcement.
In the coming months, experiments with the prototype will continue in a wider area, thanks to the collaboration with Genoa Airport, which will provide a specific area to be installed and equipped by IIT, in compliance with all safety standards, the source adds.
New TruthSocial post:
AJ live right now showing videos of Iran hitting a microsoft hq in the zionist regime!
chat is this true? someone get the apology form
On Channel 13, an Israeli commentator joked about war with Turkey.
Stupidest move Israel could make.
The pope off to a cringey start by meeting with Ben Shapiro:
https://xcancel.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1935613595318210617
