JOSSICA - jossica.comOther Key Takeaways:
Iranian regime media notably acknowledged that Iran’s control over the strait may be waning on September 14, which suggests that some factions within the regime recognize how Iran’s current constraints are impacting its ability to achieve its positive objectives.
Yemeni government-aligned forces appear to have halted Houthi advances south along Yemen’s Red Sea coastal plain since September 11. Sustained Houthi control of Dhubab, Mokha, and the Hanish Islands preserves the Houthis’ ability to threaten international shipping in the Red Sea.
The Iraqi federal government has taken some recent steps to show that it is taking the threat posed by Iranian-backed Iraqi militias to other countries seriously, including closing border crossings with Iran. These actions are unlikely to stem the flow of Iranian arms to Iranian-backed Iraqi militias that the militias are using to conduct attacks on US regional assets and US allies as a part of Iran’s broader campaign in the US-Iran conflict.
Iran is also reportedly prioritizing newly-formed, IRGC-directed Iraqi militia cells over Iran’s historic Iraqi partners to conduct operations against the United States and its allies in the region. Iran may be prioritizing support for these new militia cells due to command-and-control issues that Iran has reportedly faced with some of its historic Iraqi partners. Some Iraqi militias appear dissatisfied with Iran’s development of new networks in Iraq, however.
Here are AI transcripts of Don Jr’s and Omeed Malik’s remarks on Russia-Ukraine at the Doha Forum last December, which came amid the big peace push around the 28-point plan. TLDR—Malik proposes a “reverse Kissinger” to ally with Russia against China, while Don Jr says that the Ukrainian leadership is “no different than Putin” in that it is sending the “peasant class” to “die for nothing.”
Makes for interesting reading on top of New Yorker report—confirming earlier reporting from WSJ and others late last year—that the Russians had proposed massive energy deals involving various figures around the admin, including Don Jr.’s friend Gentry Beach and Richard Grenell, who was the focal point for all sorts of corrupt chavista intrigue until he lost power struggle with Marco Rubio for control over Venezuela policy.
So, not too big of a leap to speculate that Don’s “dear friend Umar” could have been a vehicle for this sort of, uh, “Track II diplomacy.”— https://x.com/hpmcd1/status/2099680916394344894