Iran’s Future Not Dependent on Success of Nuclear Deal, Khamenei Says

Iran’s future should not be dependent on the success or failure of negotiations to revive the nuclear agreement with the world powers, the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told senior officials on Tuesday, according to state television. Khamenei said that the negotiations, reported to be stalled for the last month over a few remaining issues on which both Iran and the United States blame the other side for intransigence, “are progressing well,” but added that the officials “absolutely do not wait for nuclear negotiations in planning for the country and move forward.” He also called on his country’s negotiators to remain steadfast in “resisting America’s excessive demands.” Some of Iran’s demands include removing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from the US terror list and an American promise that there will be no repeat of former US President Donald Trump’s 2018 withdrawal from the deal.

US Wages Financial War on Russia

The latest developments, including:
– How US declared financial war on Russia
– The US Dollar as a weapon
– How 9/11 gave the US government power to wage financial war
– Key architects of US/EU financial war
– Russia’s debt default
– Turkish drones in Ukraine
– The truth of Bucha’s atrocities

Russia’s Success in Syria’s Civil War Doesn’t Mean Much for Its Chances in Vast, United Ukraine

As Russia appoints a veteran of the war in Syria as its overall military commander in Ukraine, who is expected imminently to launch an offensive in the Donbas industrial area, pundits ask if the tactics that proved successful in Syria could now be employed in Ukraine.

The new appointee is General Alexander Dvornikov, who was sent to Syria in September 2015 when Russia intervened directly in the war to stop a rebel offensive backed by Saudi Arabia which was making ground against the forces of President Bashar al-Assad.

Russian International Affairs Council Director Kortunov: Within Russia, Two Fundamentally Incompatible Approaches To Ending The War Are Contending

Andrey Kortunov the director-general of the Russian International Affairs Council admitted in an interview to Sky News that the launch of Russia’s military operation caught him by surprise. “I was shocked because for a long time, I thought that a military operation was not feasible. It was not plausible.”[1] In an article posted on the RIAC website, Kortunov listed the negative effects of the invasion:

Chinese Pundit And Military Expert Song Zhongping: The Bucha Massacre Was Staged By The Ukrainians

Popular Chinese military scholar and TV host Song Zhongping said in a video he uploaded to the Chinese short video sharing platform Douyin on April 4, 2022 that the massacre in Bucha, Ukraine was staged by the Ukrainian government, and that there is video evidence showing some of the dead bodies standing up. Like much of China’s domestic media, Song’s claims echo Russian propaganda about the massacre, even though the Chinese government has not openly expressed support for Russia.

U.S., India Take Steps to Increase Cooperation, Ties Between 2 Largest Democracies

U.S. and Indian leaders took steps today to deepen the cooperation and ties between the two largest democracies in the world.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken hosted their Indian counterparts, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar for the fourth Ministerial Dialogue between the two countries.

Treasury Targets Actors for Destabilizing Behavior Throughout the Western Balkans

Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated seven individuals and one entity across four countries in the Western Balkans pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14033. This is the second action OFAC has taken under E.O. 14033 targeting persons who threaten the stability of the region through corruption, criminal activity, and other destabilizing behavior. Today’s action reinforces Treasury’s commitment to promoting accountability for actors in the Western Balkans region engaged in destabilizing and corrupt behavior. Such corrupt behavior undermines the rule of law and economic growth, and it deprives people in these countries of opportunities and stability.

China’s Lessons From Russia’s War in Ukraine

China is learning from Russia’s troubled war in Ukraine to improve its battle strategies and prepare for economic sanctions if Beijing ever attacks self-ruled Taiwan, experts believe.

The country may also be looking harder at peaceful solutions for Taiwan, they say.

In Russia’s War On Ukraine, Effective Satellites Are Few And Far Between

By all accounts, Russia’s war on Ukraine isn’t going well.

The estimated death toll among Russian soldiers is about the same as Soviet losses for the entire 10-year Afghan war. Russian forces have failed to achieve strategic goals such as taking Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, or the major port city of Mariupol. More than two-thirds of Russia’s battalion tactical groups — its basic fighting units — have been deployed. Its forces have been plagued by major interoperability and communication failures.