Moon of Alabama Brecht quote
June 25, 2025
Mark Sleboda – What the Hell Just Happened in the Middle East You May Ask?

Mark Sleboda is summarizing his view of the current episode in the war on Iran (slightly edited for clarity):

What the Hell Just Happened in the Middle East You May Ask?

My take –

The US/Israel realized:

  • that their regime change plans were not coming to fruition,
  • that the Iranian govt had more support and stronger foundations than they had believed,
  • that Israeli air defense was collapsing/exhausted and
  • that an attrition war of long range strike was going to go badly for Israel.
  • And Trump began to get freaked out over the rising price of oil with the Iranian threat of closing the strait of Hormuz.

So they wrapped it up, declared victory, and demanded a ceasefire.

Iran agreed because they too have been badly shaken through Israeli covert warfare and their own air defense all but collapsed.

The can will only be kicked down the road, and both sides will start rebuilding, and making preparations and plans for the next round, the next war. This was only a skirmish at the end of the day …

Iran, for surviving, maintaining a civilian nuclear enrichment program, and for the fact that it was the US/Israel that pushed for the "ceasefire", comes out slightly ahead on points.

The biggest loser – the collapse of the NNPT and international law.

Israel is already thinking about restarting the war.

But in the long term Sleboda's last point is the most important one. The Non-Nuclear Proliferation Treaty has kept a cap on the number of countries with nuclear weapons. The attack on Iran's civilian nuclear installation, and the lack of a serious IAEA's reaction to it, proves that the NNTP fails to provide the security it once had promised.

No only Iran will take conclusions from that.

Iran's parliament has, for good reasons, decided to stop all cooperation with the IAEA.

It seems to have support for this from Russia:

"IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi could have provided a more precise report," [Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei] Lavrov said. "He is now insisting that Iran grant the agency immediate access to its nuclear facilities to verify the whereabouts of enriched materials and assess the situation on the ground. But where are the assurances that this information won’t be leaked? I see no such safeguards."

Lavrov also pointed to broader concerns about the neutrality of international institutions. "This ties into what I mentioned earlier: the West is exerting serious influence over the secretariats of international organizations. In some cases, it’s as though they have been effectively privatized," he remarked.

The West is demolishing the international order that had, for the last 80 years, provided some 'rules of the road' in global behavior. The U.S. is preventing the World Trade Organization from doing its job. The agreements that limited nuclear weapons were done away with one by one. The recent conflict blew up the NNPT and further diminished the UN Charter.

The consequences go far beyond the Middle East. They makes the world less peaceful.

Comments

Posted by: james | Jun 25 2025 23:39 utc | 241
No, I just don’t want b to miss any of English Outsider’s dazzlingly original insights. Not an ego thing at all. I could never compete with that level of incisive critique.

Posted by: Patroklos | Jun 26 2025 2:40 utc | 301

If Iran already had nukes, there never would have been this war at all, is the thing.
Posted by: jonboinAR | Jun 25 2025 17:37 utc | 103
Yes there would.
Nukes are the excuse.
BRICS is the underlying reason.
The Empire is losing to China. China is already doing more transactions on its system than swift does.
They can’t allow that. They can’t allow the n/s corridor
Posted by: Mary | Jun 25 2025 22:15 utc | 211
==========================================
I’m not saying that they would have wished less to harm Iran, but that they would have feared her more, most likely, I think, too much to attack her. By the same token, Israel’s possession of the ability to actually make Iran disappear gave Israel the confidence to attack Iran as she did. Without Israel’s possession of nukes and their devastating power, Iran could have, and might have, pretty well anihilated most of Israel’s infrastructure by about now, quite beyond the extensive damage she has caused. Iran has HAD to be very careful.

Posted by: jonboinAR | Jun 26 2025 2:40 utc | 302

Posted by: Melaleuca | Jun 26 2025 2:17 utc | 310
I have not been on this site as long as you.
So I do not necessarily know who is a troll and who isn’t. I also think B. is the moderator here not you. Others who have been here a long time also feed trolls and I do not see you taking the moral high ground on them. And if you pay attention you will also notice that the ‘said’ troll has not re-appeared since I replied to him/her. I will also say that sometimes I have been accused of being a troll when I am not. To be truthful M8 I prefer the trolls who I usually also ignore if I identify them, than self-appointed police men that think they own this blog.

Posted by: George | Jun 26 2025 2:45 utc | 303

George | Jun 26 2025 2:45 utc | 314
There is perhaps one or two that keep changing names. So many new names but posting in the same vein. They engage one or two unwary and it swamps the thread. b frowns on me ripping their guts out.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 26 2025 2:52 utc | 304

Shame ED4 apoears to have been reassigned. One of their best.

Posted by: Exile | Jun 26 2025 3:09 utc | 305

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 26 2025 2:52 utc | 316
Thank you Peter you are at least civil, helpful, and informative. And I understand B’, concerns and try to respect them. But with some here I get the feeling that it is a ‘boys club’ where one is only accepted if you are part of the accepted team.

Posted by: George | Jun 26 2025 3:10 utc | 306

Posted by: Wodger | Jun 26 2025 1:50 utc | 296
You’re obviously not paying attention here. The Biblical legend of Samson may inform.

Posted by: Laurence | Jun 26 2025 3:17 utc | 307

George @ 321
True, that.

Posted by: drinky crow | Jun 26 2025 3:23 utc | 308

||||||||Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jun 25 2025 23:30 utc | 238 |||||||
In the question of who were required to get the job done.
Recruits – job posts via messenger, or similar apps.
Russia – local and Ukrainian?
Iran – majority were Afghans and Indian, and small percentage Iranian.
In Iran it seems to be mostly non-native, immigrants, hence the recent announcement by Iran to speed up the deportation of all Afghans.
In the last 4years there was a huge spike in developed countries of I creasing quotas in the number of immigrants, which are in the millions for mostly skilled labor and service jobs, causing job displacement, lower wages etc. One only has to visit any major airport and you’ll get the picture.
From mossads POV, these make excellent recruits, in ANY country.

Posted by: RoB | Jun 26 2025 3:29 utc | 309

Bear with me here, but what if?
The attacks on Iran wasn’t about nuclear weapons/threshold or Regime change. Mission creep certainly.
What if it was because of the reams of state secrets Iran got hold of.
That Iran targeted a selection of scientific research facilities is intriguing.
So, “scientific” research in Israel, “CIA” test laboratories in Ukraine.
Spiderweb and Isreal’s preemptive attacks share the same MO and very likely organizers.
Everyone was certain SBU assasinated Russian General Igor Kirillov, doesn’t it bear all the hallmarks of a typical Mossad operation in hindsight?
Who better to organize and arrange this with many Russian Isrealis willing to do the devil’s work.
—————
On TT/9 thread, I share a Substack article translated from Chinese because it was great. I meant to say it had me laughing in hysterics and I genuinely found it very humorous. Apologies for the confusion.

Posted by: Suresh | Jun 26 2025 3:39 utc | 310