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.
Apparently a loud record breaking thunderclap scared tf out of New York City yesterday, people thought it was Iran
Americans are a dim people
emoji when?
The Americans are tiiiired!
Remembering the beautiful rant Parenti had on people who think it’s Gaddafi in their mailbox, Gaddafi in their bathroom, Gaddafi in their bed at night.
"Yeah lets have people with bloodlust and hair trigger paranoia have undisputed and uncontested reign over geopolitics.
___Zeus expressing his assent for Mamdani?”
It is 2003 and America is using non-existant WMDs to start a war in the Middle East
It is 2025 and America is using non-existant WMDs to start a war in the Middle East
It is 2055 and…
The government that claims dominion over me is once again being a good little pet and lining up in support.
Yesterday it was “the rules based order” today it’s “wait they’re brown? let’s fucking gooooooo Aussie Aussie Aussie oi oi oi”.
Fuck these politicians, I feverently wish they die screaming.
…Prezidant Urk Gurk’s cave dweller posse is using non-existant WMDs (Wasteland Man Dangerous) to start a war in the Midwest
There will be no USA in 2055
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTly35T4fz0
Good overview of the weapon systems Iran has to close the strait of Hormuz if it so chooses. Mines, slow torpedoes (UUVs), multiple classes of submarines with torpedoes (they can also be equipped to lay mines), fast boats loaded with missiles/torpedos (including one-way attack boats completely loaded with a payload), missile corvettes, drone carriers, shahed drones, anti-ship ballistic missiles of various types and a small conventional navy.
inB4 USA sinks their own ship if Hormuz is closed
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Lusitania
Whenever I hear about Tonkin I read it again and every time I’m gobsmacked that a single 14.5mm bullet was enough damage to convince the Americans go to war.
USS Liberty (attempted)
This was very interesting. I don’t see why Iran wouldn’t be able to control this stretch of water if Ansarallah can control theirs with significantly less resources.
It basically seems that using submarines and unmanned underwater vehicles and divers and underwater swimmer-delivery vehicles Iran basically cannot be prevented from closing the strait via mines, if they so chose.
De-mining is possible, but the specialized ships are soft targets and vulnerable to any type of ASBM, slow torpedo, drone, etc. So as long as Iran can threaten to hit the anti-mine ships they can keep the strait closed, and some of their ASBMs have a range of 700 km, so even if there were a land invasion and Iran lost control of the entire coastline or something they could still have fire control over the strait from all over the place.
However, if they go the mining route then they can’t be selective about who to let through and who to restrict. It’s all or nothing. If they want to allow Chinese/Russian ships but stop EU/Israeli/American/Gulf State ships then they will need to do a more traditional blockade with submarines and missile corvettes. They will probably try to emulate Ansarallah tactics to avoid angering China, unless it got desperate and difficult to maintain, then they would mine as a last resort.
I know the dems are beyond pathetic but this is - I dunno what to call it - beyond beyond pathetic.
UPDATE, 24+ hours since the Trump-Vance admin bombed Iran:
- 52 House members signed onto the Massie-Khanna War Powers Resolution
- 3 Senators supporting Kaine’s War Powers Resolution
- 8 Senators signed onto Bernie’s No War Against Iran Act
60 total. 59 Democrats. 1 Republican.
https://bsky.app/profile/premthakker.bsky.social/post/3lsafl4p3pk2l
I am seen. I am heard. I am ignored.
That’s fewer democrats than they got to thank ICE for terrorizing Los Angeles, isn’t it?
Yeap.
Seventy-five House Democrats backed a resolution condemning antisemitism and expressing “gratitude” for ICE.
https://www.newsweek.com/75-democrats-house-antisemitism-resolution-ice-gratitude-2083177
Thanks for that link.
Are all 3of these acts good? What’s the difference?
Massie-Khanna and Kaine are going for the same thing- reaffirming that the president needs congressional approval to go to war. This is part of the constitution and has been completely ignored since the Patriot Act, and mostly ignored from the Vietnam war onward before that. The wording to me is accepting that the president can act unilaterally militarily anywhere they want except for Iran- and whichever specific countries end up being named in their own bills later- instead of trying to fight the authorities of the Patriot Act.
Sander’s bill is to restrict the use of federal funds to strike Iran unless authorized by the senate. IDK how it would work or how it would be enforced since Trump uses federal funds illegally for lots of stuff already.
They’re both something, but not much.
As the first mega dedicated to this shit show ends, let us remember the martyrs and the brave and united people of the axis of reaistance. They are the current vanguard of history, and we must make them proud.
My final contribution to thos thread, is this Al Jazeera update that shows satellite comparisons between the facilities targeted by the fascist empire this weekend.
Fuel tanks of Israeli jets keep being found on Iran’s Caspian coast.
Azerbaijani airspace is almost certainly being used as a launchpad towards Tehran.
In addition to not vetoing UN resolutions, Reagan took several actions that many in Israel and the United States perceived as anti-Israel. For example, on June 7, 1981, less than six months after Reagan took office, Israel launched a surprise bombing raid on the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak, and, in so doing, violated the airspace of Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Reagan not only supported UNSC Resolution 487, which condemned the attack, but he also criticized the raid publicly and suspended the delivery of advanced F-16 fighter jets to Israel. Moreover, over the strident objections of Israel and the pro-Israel U.S. lobby groups, Reagan approved the sale of advanced reconnaissance aircraft (AWACS) to Saudi Arabia, which Israel then viewed as a hostile state.
Fucking
makes 2025 usa look like a jokeAnd that’s when they knew they needed an Epstein to keep them in line
@MarmiteLover123@hexbear.net do you have any info on this?
Most likely flying over the Caspian sea to hit Mashhad, maybe also Tehran. Can be done entirely in international airspace and Iranian airspace though.
If you look at a topographical map of Iran, you can see that Israeli aircraft can “hide” from ground based radar behind the mountains in the Northwest by Tabriz, then enter the Caspian sea. Then fly over the Caspian, re enter Iranian airspace and hide behind the mountains again to get to Mashhad. Without AWACS aircraft or any real fighter jets, Iran is relying purely on ground based radar, making this corridor possible. Even if they’re not hiding behind the mountains, flying at high altitude and radar wave diffraction means that they’re not in the shadow of the mountain, flying over the Caspian sea can still keep them out of range of air defence systems in central Iran, on the way to Mashhad.
Per NYTimes. Not surprising given what we’ve talked about here:
The Israeli military, in an initial analysis, believes the heavily fortified nuclear site at Fordo has sustained serious damage from the American strike on Sunday, but has not been completely destroyed, according to two Israeli officials with knowledge of the matter. The officials also said it appeared Iran had moved equipment, including uranium, from the site.
A senior U.S. official similarly acknowledged that the American strike on the Fordo site did not destroy the heavily fortified facility but said the strike had severely damaged it, taking it “off the table.” The person noted that even 12 bunker-busting bombs could not destroy the site.
The officials also said it appeared Iran had moved equipment, including uranium, from the site.
The dastardly Iranians planning ahead.
The person noted that even 12 bunker-busting bombs could not destroy the site.
The dastardly Iranians planning planning ahead.
Last night Israeli media was reporting it as destroyed btw. Here come the walk backs.
it’s very funny how a few hours after it was hit, the media was unanimously like “Fordow has been obliterated. Annihilated. Wiped off the map. A curse will befall anybody who comes within a mile of it, the destruction is so great. We have salted the earth. The entire Iranian nuclear program was localized entirely inside Fordow and also all their nuclear scientists. Now every single one is dead.” and now it’s just like “yeah okay nvm turns out we can’t destroy it, ah well, ggwp”
Article
Iranian Ambassador Ali Chegini praised Venezuela for being on the right side of history in backing his country against Israel.
Mexico City, Mexico, June 20, 2025 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Thousands of Venezuelans marched Thursday in Caracas to express solidarity with Iran and Palestine, calling for peace amid Israel’s escalating actions.
Carrying Iranian flags and images of the Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei, demonstrators denounced Israel’s unprovoked attacks on Iran, defending the latter’s right to respond in a firm show of popular support for one of Venezuela’s closest allies.
Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, speaking to the crowd, framed the protest as both a show of unwavering solidarity with the Iranian and Palestinian peoples and as a rebuke to international silence, especially by the United Nations.
“Iran is the vanguard of the free peoples of the world and we support them to expose that Israel is nothing more than another paper tiger created by the United States,” Cabello said at the demonstration.
The high-ranking Chavista marched alongside National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez and Iranian Ambassador to Venezuela Ali Chegini, who also addressed the crowd.
“Today we are paying the price for standing with a free Palestine, and we will continue our struggle in defense of our people and territory,” said Chegini, who cast Venezuela as firmly on the right side of history for backing Iran in the widening conflict.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has likewise strongly come out in support of Iran’s retaliation against Israel’s offensive that began on June 13.
“Israel was stunned by the military prowess of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has defended itself in accordance with international law and in legitimate self-defense,” said Maduro Thursday during a televised event.
Venezuela and Iran enjoy an extraordinarily close diplomatic, political and economic alliance, with deep cooperation in various fields, including art and culture, and a critical partnership in the energy sector. The two nations have fostered their ties in recent years to overcome US economic sanctions.
Caracas was among the first to condemn Israeli strikes against Iran. Maduro last visited Iran in 2022, where he signed a 20-year cooperation agreement together with former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who perished in a crash in 2024.
After detailing Israel’s recent aggressions throughout the region—including the genocide in Gaza, its attacks on Lebanon that resulted in the death of Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, and its role in regime change efforts in Syria that ousted Venezuelan ally President Bashar al-Assad—the president denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strategy.
“Israel wants full control over the Middle East’s resources, in partnership with US imperialism,” said Maduro.
Opposition leader María Corina Machado has tried to use Venezuela’s close relationship with Iran as justification for US intervention, depicting the country as the most serious “security threat” in the region.
“Venezuela is a real threat to the hemisphere and the United States. It is the only country in the hemisphere, besides the US, with the capacity to build combat drones of Iranian origin,” said Machado on Wednesday.
The far-right politician, who is calling for a boycott of upcoming municipal elections, suggested Iranian drones could fly from Venezuela to attack US territory directly, in Florida. Machado’s statements were met with swift condemnation, with social media users pointing out that other nations in South America have drone technology and that her statements are blatant calls for further US aggression against the country.
The relationship between Caracas and Tehran blossomed under the leadership of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who sought to strengthen ties with other OPEC countries but fostered an especially close relationship with Iran over their shared opposition to US hegemony worldwide.
so erm what’s happening in ukraine right now? zelensky surely hasn’t been completely forgotten about
russia advances 10-40 sq km per day every day and every couple weeks there’s a large missile wave against Kyiv. Air defense systems have been pulled and sent to Israel. All going predictably
All going predictably
Who?
The US has called for China to prevent Iran from closing the Strait of Hormuz
Trump realizing that there’s a non-zero chance of a carrier on the ocean floor in the next month
People keep saying this but the US has so far shown they’re smart enough to know the range of Iranian missiles and keep their ships significantly out of that. They then use mid-air refueling to supplement the range of their aircraft if needed and because they control the skies completely they can do this.
It’s the same thing with the coming conflict with China. The US isn’t going to stupidly sail their fleet to within Chinese land missile range, they’re going to keep them over the horizon, use mid-air refueling and other tactics like area denial/mining and deny China a kill on anything so prestigious and valuable. They’ll seek like any competent planner to draw China’s navy out into deep water where they hold the advantage and destroy them there far away from where their land-based missile units can help them. And if China refuses to be drawn then they can say they have them effectively contained.
Frankly more than that I feel the Iranians don’t want to seriously anger the US. They want to avoid giving them a 9/11 style “tragedy” or level of destruction to rally around and justify going full sicko-mode on them because you’ve wounded anglo pride. So I don’t think they’ll go out of their way to try and smuggle a large missile onto a boat and get it closer to launch an attack like that.
Iran has 5 submarines. A very similar Chinese diesel-electric sub has surfaced in the very middle of a carrier group conducting drills where they should have been discovering submarines.
The carriers absolutely are not safe even if you put them outside the range of mainland missiles.
I’m not saying you don’t bring up an interesting point, I’m just imagining the mental image of Iranian (or even Chinese) senior officials watching the Americans use refueling tankers to extend the range of bombing strikes and going “Fuck. Our plans devised over the years didn’t consider that they’d use this military technology that we’ve known about for ages. Absolute trump card. What the fuck do we do now?”
If I was Trump I would at least have tied John Bolton to one of the bombs
Can we treat Iran as a big boy regional power with remotely competent leadership and long historical consiousness and agency, look at their choices and approachments regarding military partenerships and buildup and factor that in on the where China or russia are currently, regarding capability and willlingness to directly intervene in iran. As well as where Iran currently stands militarily. Instead of treating it like some big baby that is being let down by its bigger “anti-imperialist” daddies?
Sure China’s willingness to intervene in military material, manpower and economic ways can be judged on its own but for that to even be possible we have to know the answer to some questions regarding Iran. Was iran ever open and ever attempted any level of meaningful military alliance with China? Even thought of hosting any military power or bases? Ever tried purchasing en mass any relevant Chinese systems and weapons? After the UN weapons sanctions/ limits or whatever ended in 2020?? iranian army and irgc generals and politcians visited China and Pakistan in official and unoffical capacities multiple times and inspected j-10c and JF-17s. Pakistan itself only procured them a couple of years before. After dragging their feet they made a su-35 deal with Russia AFTER the ukraine war started and have gotten ass as of yet. You cant actualy convince me with certainty that if they really wanted and were desperate for it that they couldnt have made some deals. We cant know details so its no use making accusations but its something to consider. Maybe it was distrust towards china and a pakistan like china dependency and “we got this” delusion, maybe to prioritize their proxies (keeping that bum assad in power and that state working probably cost them more than 100 j-10cs) in the region and domestic assymetric drone and missile capabilities. Maybe China said no no we cant cause US and israel said so but who knows.
What we do know is that Iran had its own views regarding own sovereignty, its military power and what and where it wanted to focus on and spend money and capital within its military strategism. And the urgency and type of approachments or proccurements it made regarding china and russia were a function of that as much as they were of what russia and china itself wanted or didnt want to do or give iran. Iran’s view of itself, the west and russia or china along with the internal factions pushing in different directions forged today’s Iran-Russia and Iran-China relations and relative standing just as much as China’s and Russians foreign policies did. Even for non military, strategic partnership cooperation agreements like the one Iran fast tracked and signed today with Russia. They were literally dragging their feet until they were getting bombed and US tanker aircraft are flying over the Atlantic toward the Middle East. Who’s to say irans government and strategism where not as much of a roadblock to some alt universe closer chinese relationship and cooperation that could have made a big difference in this scenario as China’s non interverntion or do nothing brainworms or whatever we are calling them.
Even right now as we speak, should China be more desperate to provide militarily help to Iran than Iran is desperate to seek that very same help from China. Are people really sure that the latter condition exists right now, let alone 2 or 5 years ago to a sufficient degree and that the former condition was the issue? What exactly people think Iran’s outlook and trust and effort for closer military and political alliance was towards China in recent years ? Their strategy and willingness to use and accept Chinece force and influence for their protection and regional aspirations?
And i repeat this should be judged irrispectively of China’s willingness or strategy to do the regional moves or alliances or sell the things iran did or did not, would or would not ask? And where one side stands is directly related to where the other choses to, it goes both ways
He will be replaced by another fascist. I would give my life if he shoots down b2 or sinks a carrier
oh yeah we know, but sometimes fascists gotta get got anyway
JD Vance on Meet the Press:“I certainly empathize with Americans that are exhausted after 25 years of foreign entanglements in the middle east. I understand the concern, but the difference is that back then we had dumb presidents and now we have a president who actually knows how to accomplish national security agendas.”
I love the implication that Trump is not one of the dumbest people alive
literally the obama line about “not against wars, just against stupid wars”
You can’t even parody this. But how do americans still fall for a country like Iran having anything to do with “national security agenda”?
when the fuck did my freedoms get over there in iran?
Got to love Great Man Theory.
Don’t worry JD, once you fail exactly the same way everyone else did, you’ll be written off by the next foreign adventurist as a past ‘dumb’ administration as well.
We live in an eternal treadmill of blind savage idiots.
Looking forward to Mayo Pete talking about “getting smart in Iran” in the primaries
25 years
Just 25?
Have you considered that Trump is smart and sexy and he’s my dad??
Sometimes these guys say something like this, that would be such an on the nose joke in a movie that it would just make the audience cringe, and it makes me wonder, are they actually self-aware? Do they know they’re making the US crash and burn and their actions could literally kill all of humanity, and they just are full on “joker” about it?
Hey nation we sanctioned and tariffed, tell the sanctioned nation we bombed not to hit back
