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Tuesday, March 24, 2026

03/24 Links Pt1: The Iran War Is Saving the West; Iran Is Trying to Defeat America in the Living Room; US sent Iran 15-point truce proposal

From Ian: The Iran War Is Saving the West
The war that the U.S. and Israel finally initiated against Iran is saving the West.

The entire world is a beneficiary of the Allied campaign, since there was no remaining alternative to war.

The decision to attack Iran should have been taken two decades ago, in February 2006, when Iran brazenly resumed uranium enrichment and was referred by the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to the Security Council.

The world was faced with the prospect of Iran attaining nuclear weapons and had absolutely no plan to prevent it.

The U.S. was, in practice, pursuing only one policy option: waiting for Iran to obtain the means to mass murder either Americans or America's allies.

Some experts are complaining that there is no clear endgame to the current war. But without the war, there was a very clear endgame - a nuclear Iran and very probably nuclear war.

What is absolutely clear is that the war brings the possibility of a positive outcome. Without war, a catastrophic outcome was certain.
Amb. Alan Baker: Will the International Community Confront Iran's Illegal Use of Cluster Munitions?
Iran's use of cluster munitions has become a dominant feature in its conduct of warfare against Israel and many of the Gulf states. International law acknowledges that such munitions may be used against purely military targets. However, Iran's widespread and indiscriminate use of cluster bombs that could endanger civilians and civilian locations is strictly forbidden and constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law.

One of the principle international humanitarian law norms of armed conflict is that of distinction, requiring an attacker to distinguish between combatants and non-combatants. When fired at targets where non-combatants are in close proximity, their use violates the international law principle of distinction.

During the present, ongoing hostilities, Iran has been indiscriminately and deliberately firing cluster munitions on a large scale against Israeli residential areas. In light of Iranian violations, there exists every legal necessity and justification to make appropriate representations to the international community, its institutions and to the international media and to provide evidence of such misuse by Iran.

The malicious, deliberate, and indiscriminate targeting by Iran and its proxy Hizbullah of Israel's civilian areas clearly violates all humanitarian norms and is absolutely prohibited.
Iran Is Trying to Defeat America in the Living Room
Islamic Republic officials have actively sought to fracture Trump’s base by evoking anti-Zionist conspiracies. “Trump has turned ‘America First’ into ‘Israel First,’” the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, posted, adding, “which always means ‘America last.’” Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf, a former Revolutionary Guard commander who is close with Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, referred to Trump’s relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as an “Epstein Axis” and posted that “American families deserve to know why Trump is sacrificing their sons and daughters to advance Netanyahu’s expansionist delusions.”

Iranian state TV has also amplified the commentary of Tucker Carlson—an outspoken conservative critic of the war—including a recent interview with Joe Kent, Trump’s director of the National Counterterrorism Center who resigned after blaming “high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media” for the conflict. Tehran doesn’t want to turn Americans against just the war. It wants to turn Americans against one another.

Although opinion polls, oil prices, and the number of projectiles remaining are measurable, the fate of the war will be determined in part by the resolve of both parties, something far more difficult to measure. A democratic president’s will to fight is constrained by elections, polls, gas prices, and the news cycle. An authoritarian regime fighting for its survival answers to none of those pressures. Reagan had resolve until Congress didn’t. Bush had resolve until six in 10 Americans called his war a mistake. This asymmetry of resolve is Iran’s greatest structural advantage. Tehran wins by not losing; Trump loses by not winning.

The Islamic Republic’s decision to build its political identity around “death to America” has been a 47-year war of choice. Trump’s decision to try to end Tehran’s malign capabilities, rather than merely contain or counter them like past administrations did, has also been a war of choice.

If Iran’s strategy depends on Peoria, Trump’s presidency depends on the Strait of Hormuz. Trump cannot withdraw so long as Iran controls it, but securing it risks the kind of mass American casualties that ended Reagan’s and Bush’s resolve. If Trump reopens it, his appetite for regime change may grow. If he doesn’t, the economic pressure on his base will mount. This is ultimately a war between a democracy’s impatience and a theocracy’s ruthless endurance. The question is whether, for the first time since 1979, Tehran has finally met a U.S. president more committed to destroying the regime than the regime is to destroying him.


US sent Iran 15-point proposal for ending war in Middle East
The United States has submitted a 15-point plan to Iran aimed at ending the ongoing war in the Middle East, according to a New York Times report citing two officials briefed on the matter on Tuesday.

The plan, which was delivered to Iran via Pakistan, reportedly addresses Iran's ballistic missile and nuclear programs, as well as issues regarding the Strait of Hormuz.

According to N12 News, citing three sources familiar with the details of the potential plan, the US is considering declaring a month-long ceasefire during which negotiations on the agreement would take place.

The 15-point plan reportedly contains terms including the dismantling of all existing Iranian nuclear capabilities, a commitment that Iran will discontinue efforts to obtain nuclear weapons, and a requirement that any already enriched uranium be moved out of Iran.

According to N12, the proposed plan would also require the Iranian regime to stop financing and arming all proxies in the region.

The Strait of Hormuz, according to N12’s sources, would be declared a free maritime zone and remain open under the potential deal.


Why Did Trump Drop His Iran Ultimatum?
President Trump decided to withdraw his ultimatum and not bomb Iran's power grid because such a move would have run counter to U.S. interests and to the war's objectives.

Last week, at Trump's request, Israel struck an Iranian gas production facility. It was an attempt to test Iran's response and determine whether such a blow would deter what remains of the regime.

At the same time, in order not to embarrass the U.S., it was agreed that the Israel Air Force would carry out the operation while Trump would pretend he knew nothing about it. But Iran raised the stakes and struck energy facilities in Gulf states.

In response, Trump confronted Iran head-on and demanded the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, giving Iran 48 hours, but the threat did not deter it.

Iran's strategy, after all, is: "I may die, but on the way I'll take everyone down with me."

During those two days global energy prices surged and the shah's son called on Trump to reconsider, noting that damage to the electricity infrastructure would primarily hurt the Iranian people, while the regime has shown no sensitivity to the plight of its citizens.

In the coming week, oil markets are expected to stabilize and pressure on the Iranian regime will continue.
Trump’s pause does not mean the war with Iran is over
Trump has temporarily refrained from immediate strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure, an action he had previously suggested could follow if Tehran failed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The delay contributed to a drop in oil prices and a positive reaction in global financial markets. It also reassured Arab partners concerned about economic instability.

The president, a businessman by instinct, understands the importance of maintaining economic stability alongside military pressure. Yet the core objectives outlined from the beginning of the war remain unchanged. Trump has repeatedly emphasized the central importance of dismantling Iran’s enriched uranium capability and ending the nuclear ambitions of the ayatollah regime. He has described this objective as definitive.

Questions remain regarding possible diplomatic contacts. Reports suggest that Washington may have explored indirect communication with Iranian parliament speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, a powerful figure with deep ties to the Revolutionary Guards, the Basij militia and Iran’s security establishment. While Iranian officials publicly deny such contacts, the possibility of exploratory dialogue should not be dismissed.

Iranian political culture has long employed tactical refusals as part of a negotiation strategy. Public rejection does not necessarily mean the absence of private communication. Nevertheless, if Tehran ultimately rejects compromise, the strategic meaning of the delay will become clearer.

American military deployments in the region continue to expand. The USS Tripoli, carrying approximately 2,200 Marines, is joining an expeditionary force already operating in the area. Additional vessels—including the USS Boxer, USS Portland and USS Comstock—are also moving toward the theater with thousands of personnel aboard.

These movements underscore the seriousness of the moment. Is diplomacy underway? Is Iran prepared to abandon its nuclear ambitions? The answers remain uncertain.

Trump is operating on a strategic chessboard, advancing multiple options simultaneously—moving both king and knight. Behind the scenes, Israel continues to act with determination.

The pause is tactical. The broader objective remains unchanged.


‘Persona non grata’: Lebanon boots Iran’s ambassador amid Hezbollah-Israel war
Lebanon’s foreign ministry said Tuesday it had withdrawn the accreditation of Iran’s ambassador, giving him until Sunday to leave the country.

Hours later, in a first, Iran fired a missile that was intercepted over Lebanon.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi wrote on X: “I instructed today the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants to summon the Iranian Chargé d’Affaires in Lebanon to inform him of the decision to withdraw the agrément for the designated Iranian Ambassador, Mohammad Reza Shibani, declare him persona non grata, and request that he leave Lebanese territory no later than 29 March 2026.”

The ministry also recalled the Lebanese ambassador to Iran for consultations, citing what it described as Tehran’s violation of diplomatic norms and established practices between the two countries.

Lebanon has been drawn into the ongoing regional war by Iranian proxy terror group Hezbollah, which has resisted the government’s demands to disarm and has been attacking Israel daily, leading to an intense Israeli bombing campaign and ground operation in southern Lebanon and the displacement of over a million people.

Hezbollah condemned the decision by Lebanon’s foreign ministry as a “national and strategic sin,” calling in a statement on “the president of the republic and the prime minister to demand that the minister of Foreign Affairs… immediately reverse this decision because of its dangerous repercussions.”

In Israel, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar praised Beirut for the move, calling it a “justified and necessary step toward the state responsible for violating Lebanon’s sovereignty, for its indirect occupation through Hezbollah, and for dragging it into war.”

Writing on X, he called on Lebanon’s government to take “meaningful steps” against Hezbollah.
Criticism of Hizbullah Growing in Lebanon
Where public criticism of Hizbullah in Lebanon was once rare and dangerous, now more voices, even from within the Shi'ite population, are questioning its role and the consequences of its actions on the country.

While Lebanon has yet to see a broad or organized protest against Hizbullah, a certain loosening of the fear barrier can be identified, particularly on social media.

Jonathan Alkhouri, a Lebanese affairs analyst, told Maariv, "We are seeing more people speaking out openly, posting videos, giving interviews, and asking why Hizbullah operatives are acting within civilian populations despite the risks this creates. Such things would never have been aired before."

Alkhouri also pointed to a shift in Lebanon's media language, which is moving away from defining Hizbullah as a "resistance organization."

"There is more and more use of terms like 'militia,' and this is part of an attempt to deny it legitimacy." Lebanon's Ministry of Information issued a directive to state-run media to stop using the term "resistance" in reference to Hizbullah.
Saudi Arabia and UAE ‘inching toward’ joining fighting against Iran — report
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are reportedly moving closer toward actively joining the fight against Iran, as the war in the Middle East threatens their economies.

According to the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, the Gulf states are “inching toward” a more active role, after Riyadh allowed US forces to use an air base within its borders.

A source familiar with the decision cited by the news outlet said it is “only a matter of time” before Saudi Arabia enters the war, after its foreign minister said last week that its patience for Iranian attacks “is not unlimited.”

Ahead of the war, Riyadh initially attempted to stay out of the impending conflict by refusing to allow its airspace to be used by US forces, though Iran launched missiles at the kingdom anyway.

After Israel and the United States launched the war with an attack on Iran on February 28, Iran responded not only against its attackers but also against all six Gulf Cooperation Council countries — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. The repeated strikes have killed several people and disrupted oil and gas production as well as tourism, both of which are important economic lifelines for the region.

Iran has also imposed a de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas normally flows, sending crude oil prices soaring. This handout picture released by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) shows, (L-R) Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Jassim al-Budaiwi, Kuwait’s Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled al-Hamad al-Sabah, Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, Oman’s Deputy Prime Minister for Defense Affairs Shihab bin Tarik Al Said, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Bahrain’s King’s Personal Representative Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, and the UAE’s Vice President and Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, posing for a group picture during the 2025 Arab-Islamic emergency summit in Doha on September 15, 2025. (Saudi Press Agency / AFP)

Now, despite initial opposition to the use of force, Gulf countries are pressing the US to continue striking the regime to ensure that Iran comes out of this war with its military power sufficiently degraded to cease posing a threat to them, four senior officials representing different Gulf capitals told The Times of Israel last week on condition of anonymity.

The countries have not yet carried out any attacks themselves, as Gulf leaders remain deeply fearful of triggering a broader, uncontrollable conflagration.


2,200 more Marines to arrive in Mideast region
A group of roughly 2,200 U.S. Marines are expected to enter the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) region on Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. It will take another few days for them to reach the Strait of Hormuz.

The troops of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, based in Okinawa, Japan, are traveling aboard the USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship, and USS New Orleans, an amphibious transport dock. Both ships are designed to transport, land and support Marine Corps forces.

Another group of about 2,200 Marines, the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), departed from San Diego aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer on March 18, about three weeks ahead of schedule, according to multiple reports. It will arrive in the CENTCOM region in a few weeks.

The two Marine units will supplement the 50,000 U.S. troops already in the region and bolster U.S. President Donald Trump’s ability to put boots on the ground. One scenario is to land troops along the shoreline of the Strait of Hormuz to secure that key oil supply chokepoint.

Despite accelerating the Marine deployments, Trump told a reporter last Thursday at the White House, “I’m not putting troops anywhere. If I were, I certainly wouldn’t tell you.”

The Pentagon is deliberating a deployment of a combat brigade of about 3,000 soldiers from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, which would include elements of the division’s headquarters staff, The New York Times reported on Sunday, citing anonymous senior military sources. The soldiers could be used to seize Kharg island, Iran’s main oil export hub, the paper said.
Katz says Israel will hold ‘security zone’ in Lebanon until Hezbollah threat removed
Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that Israel will maintain control of a “security zone” in southern Lebanon, up to the Litani River, until the threat of Hezbollah is removed, as the Air Force continued to pound targets belonging to the Iran-backed terror group, which kept up its rocket barrages on northern Israel.

“The IDF will continue to operate in Lebanon with full force against Hezbollah. Hundreds of thousands of residents of southern Lebanon who evacuated northward will not [be allowed to] return south of the Litani River until security for the residents of the north [of Israel] is ensured,” he said during an assessment with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other top officers.

Katz said that all bridges over the Litani River that had been used by Hezbollah to move operatives and weapons into southern Lebanon “have been blown up, and the IDF will control the remaining bridges and the security zone up to the Litani.”

“The principle is clear: Where there is terror and missiles, there will be no homes and no residents, and the IDF will be inside [Lebanon],” he added.

The IDF said Tuesday that it had struck another bridge on the Litani that it said was a “key” crossing used by Hezbollah to move operatives and weapons into southern Lebanon.

The al-Dalafa Bridge, located on the eastern portion of the river, was struck on Monday following a warning by the military.


Golani troops kill eight terrorists in southern Lebanon raid
Israeli troops from the Golani Brigade killed eight terrorists during a targeted ground operation in southern Lebanon last week, the Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday.

The soldiers, operating under the 36th Division as part of efforts to bolster Israel’s forward defenses along the border, engaged the terrorists in several locations with close-quarters fire and aerial support, the army said.

Among those killed was a member of Hezbollah’s Radwan Force who served in its sniper unit, according to the IDF.

During continued activity in the area, the troops discovered and dismantled an underground shaft leading to the position from which the terrorists had emerged and seized dozens of weapons, including anti-tank rockets, Kalashnikov rifles, machine guns and grenades, the Isaeli military said.


Woman killed in Hezbollah rocket attack named as Nuriel Dubin, 27
The woman who was killed earlier today in a Hezbollah rocket attack in northern Israel is identified as Nuriel Dubin, 27, from Margaliot in the Upper Galilee.

According to the local municipality, Dubin is survived by her parents, Yoram and Shoshana, her brother Aviram, her sister Sapir and her partner Yadid.

Nuriel and Yadid had gotten engaged in September 2025, and were planning a wedding for September 2026.

Dubin worked as a youth counselor and a preschool caregiver and also served as a combat soldier in the reserves, the municipality said.

She was killed and two others were injured when a Hezbollah rocket struck the Mahanaim Junction in the Galilee earlier today.
4 people lightly hurt, buildings mangled as Iranian missile attack hits Tel Aviv
An Iranian ballistic missile attack lightly injured four people and badly damaged property in Tel Aviv on Tuesday morning after Israeli airstrikes struck multiple Islamic Republic regime sites overnight.

The attack on Tel Aviv was one of several salvos fired from Iran at Israel overnight Monday and into Tuesday morning, targeting north, south, and central Israel, sending millions repeatedly scrambling for bomb shelters. One person was also lightly wounded in a Haifa suburb.

In Tel Aviv, medics said they treated the four people at the site of the Iranian ballistic missile impact, but none required hospitalization.

Images showed widespread destruction after the missile impact left a large crater alongside mangled buildings and vehicles at the scene of the attack.

According to the military, the Iranian missile carried a conventional warhead — with an estimated several hundred kilograms of explosives — not a cluster bomb.

“As soon as we received reports of the impact, we responded with large forces and arrived at the scene within minutes. We saw destruction, smoke, and chaos. We immediately began conducting searches. Four casualties were walking around in mild condition and did not require further medical treatment,” said Magen David Adom medic Yoel Moshe. Security and rescue forces at the scene where a missile fired from Iran caused damage in Tel Aviv, March 24, 2026 (Flash90)

Home Front Command official Col. Miki David said the warhead caused significant damage to three nearby buildings, but resulted in no serious injuries.

“I’m happy to say that in this incident you’re seeing behind me, which appears visually dramatic, there are only light injuries,” he told reporters at the scene, adding that most residents took cover in a nearby bomb shelter.


Nine people wounded in Bnei Brak by Iranian cluster bomb munitions
An Iranian cluster bomb hit central Israel on Tuesday, with nine people wounded by multiple impacts in Bnei Brak, according to first responders.

The attack came as the Israel Defense Forces said it struck a key Iranian explosives production facility in the area of Isfahan, and Iran accused the US and Israel of bombing its Bushehr nuclear site.

The wounded in Bnei Brak included a 23-year-old man in moderate condition and eight other people, among them six children and a woman in her eighties, who were lightly injured by a blast or shrapnel, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said.

“We went into the shelter and there was a boom like I’ve never heard in my life,” a resident who lives near one of the fall sites told Ynet. “We looked out the window… the road was full of shards and smoke. It was really scary. My ears were ringing.”

Other bomblets struck Petah Tikva, Givat Shmuel, and Rosh Haayin, causing damage but no physical injuries, rescue services said.

The attack was the 12th of 13 Iranian missile salvos fired at Israel on Tuesday. At least nine people, including two infants, were wounded across the country in earlier strikes throughout the day.

Later Iranian missiles overnight into Wednesday also triggered sirens in the southern city of Eilat and in the areas of Jerusalem and central Israel, with no direct injuries reported. The MDA said medics treated several people hurt while running to shelters or who were suffering from acute anxiety.
3 injured as fragments of Iranian missile fall in unrecognized Bedouin village
Three people were wounded Tuesday when an Iranian missile fragment impacted at an unrecognized Bedouin community in the Negev Desert, paramedics said.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service reported that a man in his 40s was moderately hurt after being hit by a blast, and a woman aged 26 and a 2-month-old baby were lightly hurt, in the village of Alsira.

The man’s condition was later described as serious.

He and his baby were taken to the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, MDA said. His wife was hurt very lightly and did not require hospitalization.

According to reports, the wounded man was himself a doctor at Soroka. He had just returned from a shift when he was hurt in the incident.

The doctor was admitted to the trauma center of the hospital, while his baby was treated in the emergency room.

Ahmed Nassara, a member of the Regional Council of the Unrecognized Villages in the Negev, told Ynet that the doctor was his nephew and had been wounded in the leg.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, an Iranian missile fired at the area was intercepted, and falling fragments likely caused the injuries.

As many Bedouin communities in the Negev are not recognized by the state, there are few public bomb shelters, and residents largely lack private protective rooms.

The incident highlighted the vulnerability of the roughly 130,000 residents of some 35 unrecognized villages.


UN Watch accuses Albanese of distorting international law
A new legal analysis by UN Watch accuses Francesca Albanese, a special U.N. rapporteur whom the U.S. federal government sanctioned for her anti-Israel remarks, of distorting international law in her March 2026 report to the Human Rights Council.

In the report, Albanese wrote that Israeli actions “meet the threshold for genocide under the Genocide Convention” and described “a continuous, territorially pervasive regime of psychological terror.”

She asserted that “torture is a structural feature of the ongoing Israeli genocide and broader settler-colonial apartheid.”

Dina Rovner, a legal advisor at UN Watch, wrote that Albanese’s conclusions offer “no new evidence of genocidal intent, an essential element of the crime,” and rely on debunked statements and non-mainstream legal theories that “radically expand the definition of torture beyond existing international law.”

“The result is a complete inversion,” Rovner wrote. “Hamas’s openly declared genocidal intent and mass atrocities are recast as crimes committed by Israel. While the Hamas Charter is openly genocidal against Israel, Albanese attributes such intent to Israel.”

The criticism comes after France called for Albanese to resign in February, citing her “outrageous and reprehensible remarks” about Israel.
HonestReporting: The UN Is Broken: How The Top Human Rights Body Declared War on Israel
For decades, the United Nations has positioned itself as the world’s moral authority on human rights.

But inside the room, a very different reality is unfolding.

In this in-depth interview, Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of UN Watch, breaks down how the UN system works from the inside, and why it so often turns its focus toward Israel.

From the so-called “automatic majority” behind anti-Israel resolutions, to the role of UN rapporteurs like Francesca Albanese, to Agenda Item 7, the only permanent agenda item targeting a single country, this conversation exposes the structure, incentives, and political forces shaping global narratives that vilify Israel.

00:00 Introduction: The most hated man at the UN
00:02:43 What it’s like to confront dictators at the UN
00:04:08 When Hillel Neuer realized the system was broken
00:06:03 How the anti-Israel machine works
00:10:24 From Eleanor Roosevelt to institutional bias
00:14:03 Colonialism rhetoric, ideology, and realpolitik
00:16:47 The UN’s silence on Iran and outrage at Israel
00:20:32 Francesca Albanese, rapporteurs, and zero accountability
00:32:02 Agenda Item 7, reform, and whether the UN can change
00:38:04 Outro




US, Iranian bank settle 17-year-litigation for $318 million, to paid to victims of Iran-sponsored terrorism
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced a $318 million settlement with an Iranian regime-owned bank on Monday, compensating hundreds of victims of Iranian state-sponsored terrorism and concluding a 17-year legal battle.

The case centered on hidden Iranian government interests in 650 Fifth Avenue, a Manhattan office tower. The building was “originally constructed by a charitable foundation controlled by the former shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi,” according to court records.

After the 1979 Revolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran “took over control of the charitable foundation and created a partnership with Bank Melli Iran, an Iranian government-owned bank sanctioned by the U.S. government for its role in financing Iran’s weapons of mass destruction programs,” the Justice Department said.

The bank allegedly concealed its stake through front companies while continuing to receive income from the building in violation of U.S. sanctions. American authorities first moved to seize those assets in 2008.

The settlement will distribute funds to victims and families affected by attacks including the 1984 Beirut bombings, the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and other assaults carried out by Iranian-backed groups targeting civilians.

Victims received an initial $129 million payment on March 20, with the remaining $189 million to be paid over three years with interest.
Ben Shapiro: Iran Escalates. Some Americans Are Cheering.
As the war in Iran continues, Iran ups the ante by firing a long range missile capable of hitting Europe; President Trump hints at negotiations; and we examine the collaborationists who are rooting for the rise of China and Russia.


Coleman Hughes: Is Regime Change Possible? Niall Ferguson vs. Richard Haass
Is war with Iran necessary, or a catastrophic choice? Two of the West’s most prominent foreign-policy thinkers clash over the defining geopolitical questions of our time: Should the United States go to war with Iran? Historian Niall Ferguson argues that the greater danger is allowing Tehran to obtain nuclear weapons. Former diplomat Richard Haass warns that preventive war risks unleashing a conflict far worse than the threat it seeks to eliminate.

0:00- Intro
0:58- Is the War with Iran in America’s National Interest?
3:33- Regime Change vs. “Problem Management” in Iran
7:35-What Would Success in This War Actually Look Like?
11:13- Should the U.S. Prolong the War to Weaken Iran Further?
20:42-Is the War Really About China and a Future Taiwan Conflict?
26:45- How Will the War Affect the Abraham Accords and Saudi-Israel Relations?




Avraham Burg, longtime fixture of Israeli left, meets Tucker Carlson on his own turf
Tucker Carlson has set off alarm bells among many Jewish groups and even some conservative allies by hosting conspiracy theorists, grilling the United States ambassador to Israel and dabbling in sinister-sounding theories about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chabad.

But on Monday, a notable Israeli opted to appear on Carlson’s show: former politician and left-wing figurehead Avraham Burg. And their talk was demonstrably cordial — though not without some gentle ribbing.

“Listen, Tucker, I cannot stand you,” Burg told his interviewer over a video call. “But you’re a nice person, so I talk with you.”

“I’ll take that as a half compliment,” Carlson responded, laughing.

A former speaker of the Knesset, interim Israeli president and onetime chair of the Jewish Agency for Israel and World Zionist Organization, Burg today remains an outspoken member of Israel’s dwindling left. A proponent of positions like post-Zionism and the Palestinian right of return that are deeply unpopular in Israel, he is also a frequent Netanyahu critic and current member of Hadash, an Israeli far-left party with Communist roots.

In his newsletter, Burg explained his decision to appear on Carlson’s show by saying the influential podcast host was “one of the most powerful voices in today’s American Right.”

“This interview was born out of a genuine desire to step outside familiar patterns and meet the person behind the public image that has been built around him, not out of prior agreement and not out of any need to adjudicate, but out of a willingness to seriously engage with the challenges he poses to the political and cultural discourse of our time,” Burg wrote in his Substack.

In a veiled swipe at other Jewish groups and Israeli leaders that have denounced Carlson, he added, “Carlson manages to touch a raw nerve of an American society whose doubts are deepening, and the temptation is to dismiss that with slogans. I chose not to do that.”




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