Claiming that God is on your side, or that God talks to you, is quite questionable. And dangerous. “Khamenei warns of ‘divine wrath’ if Iran backs down amid Israel tensions,” Iran International, 8-14-24.
“Internal strife: Iran’s delayed retaliation to Israel sparks rift within terror proxies – report,” JPost, 8-14-24. It is just too bad these actors don’t get along—“Hezbollah, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, various Iraqi factions, and the Houthis.” But note that (they are unnamed) “[d]uring the meeting, the Hamas representative demanded the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in retaliation for Haniyeh’s death, warning that Hamas would not support the Iranian proposal otherwise, al Jarida noted.” But Note to Hamas: The Israeli PM heads up a state; Haniyeh and Sinwar head up terror organizations.
“Iran’s mixed signals leave some allies in the dark and set region on edge,” CNN, 8-14-24. The Leader appears to be worried about another 99% loss such as what happened in April when Iran sent 300 weapons at Israel.
“Google confirms Iran-linked hackers targeted Trump, Biden campaigns,” Politico, 8-14-24. “The Google Threat Analysis Group wrote Wednesday that APT42, a hacking group associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, had targeted “the personal email accounts of roughly a dozen individuals affiliated with President Biden and with former President Trump.” These included current and former U.S. government officials and people working on the campaign.”
“Projectiles Fired by Iran-Aligned Militia Miss U.S. Base Near Syrian Gas Field,” OilPrice.com, 8-14-24.
I tend to look at articles like this (I post articles on both sides of the Iran debate) and ask the authors why their view of Iran and other bad actors represents about one out of 50. That is the ratio I’d guess among IR observers. Certainly those who follow realism. And seemingly reflected in an overwhelming way by the evidence the international and domestic media report on of agreements, military movements, trade, support at international organizations, drug trade, proliferation (nuclear and conventional arms), the list is long of cooperation and bad acts, from Asia and the China Sea to the Middle East to Eastern Europe to South America to Central America. Am I missing something? “The ‘Axis of Evil’ Is Overhyped,” FP, 8-14-24.
“Google says Iranian efforts to hack US presidential campaigns are ongoing and wide-ranging,” CNN, 8-14-24.
Triggers. “Iran advancing research on nuclear bomb detonators, nuke expert tells ‘Post’,” JPost, 8-14-24.
Finally. “The U.S. Is Working to Curb Iran’s Oil Exports,” OilPrice.com, 8-14-24.