‘On level of atomic bomb’: Iran highlights Hormuz importance amid US talks

May 9, 2026
Maziar Motamedi

The strategic strait represents ‘a capability that can affect the entire global economy with a single decision’, politician says.

Engels's Dialectics of Nature and Marxist Ecology

May 9, 2026
Chen Yiwen

Trump claiming Iran war ‘win’ – here’s the reality

May 8, 2026
Christian Emery

Trump’s shifting aims and desperate scramble for an exit show that the entire enterprise has been a colossal strategic failure

An Iranian walks next to a mural painted on a wall in Tehran, Iran, on May 4. Photo: Abedin Taherkenareh / EPA via The Conversation

‘An Almost Unthinkable Threat’: Trump Warning That Iran Will ‘Glow’ Sparks Latest Fears of Nuclear Attack

May 8, 2026
Stephen Prager

“It again raises urgent questions: Is this president fit to lead and make consequential decisions that impact countless lives?” said the National Iranian-American Council.

When Trump Compares Iran to Vietnam or Iraq

May 8, 2026
Mitchell Zimmerman

Neither of the two previous quagmires was revealed in its calamitous stupidity as swiftly as Trump’s war on Iran, writes Mitchell Zimmerman.

Satellite imagery of black smoke rising from the Port of Salalah on March 13, during Iranian strikes on Oman. (CC BY 4.0 /Wikimedia Commons)

Iran war marks the end of American primacy as we know it

May 8, 2026
Trita Parsi

For states that had opted to depend on US protection, this should be a wake-up call

Trump knows he lost the Iran war, and is now desperate to find a way out

May 8, 2026
Mitchell Plitnick 

Recent U.S. moves indicate that Donald Trump has finally recognized the disastrous mistake he made by listening to Benjamin Netanyahu and launching the war on Iran. Now he is looking to cut a deal, but Israel won't make it easy.

Kurds in the Crossfire

5/7/2026
Matt Broomfield

The Kurds are on the frontlines of the U.S.-Israel-Iran war. After their betrayal in Syria, can they survive another fight?

The aftermath of an Iranian airstrike on the headquarters of an Iranian Kurdish opposition party in Sulaymaniyah. Photo by Matt Broomfield

پیش‌پینی

اخیرا کتابی خواندم که در مورد پیش‌پینی بود. نکتهٔ جالبی که در این کتاب بود، و ما عموما در زندگی روزمره به آن توجه نمی‌کنیم، این است که همه ما، و در اکثر مواقع، در حال پیش‌بینی برای آینده هستیم. این پیش‌بینی را البته برنامه ریزی و یا تصمیم گیری نام می‌دهیم. به عنوان نمونه این مطلبی را که من اکنون در حال نوشتن آن هستم قبلا در مغزم پرورانده‌ام. یعنی کلیات این نوشته را برنامه ریزی کرده‌ام، و اکنون در حال گسترش این پیش‌بینی هستم.ا

From the Ancient Greeks to Trump, Iran has Stood up to Aggression

May 6, 2026
Amin Saikal
(The Conversation) – US President Donald Trump’s threats against Iran since the war began have targeted not just the country’s military capabilities, but its entire civilisation.

The method in Iran’s madness? Closure of Strait of Hormuz echoes a centuries‑old Danish play − and is a tragedy for the world order

May 5, 2026
More than two months into the war in Iran, navigation through the Strait of Hormuz – the key waterway through which more than a third of the international trade in oil and gas passes – remains perilous and uncertain. Underscoring the uncertainty, on May 3, 2026, the Trump administration launched Project Freedom to help stranded ships through the strait. Yet the next day, at least two ships came under fire from Iran.

Vessel movements in the Strait of Hormuz are seen on a ship-tracking website. AFP via Getty Images

Live: Report says Israel and US planning new strikes on Iran

May 5, 2026

Meanwhile, US military moves in Hormuz draw sharp warnings from Tehran

Iranian strike causes ‘major fire’ at petroleum facility – UAE

May 4, 2026

Three Indian nationals have been injured in the attack, according to the authorities in the Emirate of Fujairah

Iran Shifts from UAE Trade Routes as Pakistan Opens Transit Corridor

May 3, 2026

Pakistan authorizes Iranian trade transit routes as Tehran seeks alternatives to US blockade and Gulf shipping dependence.

Pakistan has authorized transit of good intro Iran. (Photo: Bjoertvedt/ Wikimedia)

Iranian strikes heavily damage majority of US military bases in West Asia

May 2, 2026

US military bases located in the Persian Gulf are now viewed as 'sitting ducks' to Iran's 'fast and precise' attacks

We Need a Guns and Butter Debate Over the Costs of the Iran War

May 1, 2026
Michael Hudson
Sixty years ago, opposition to America’s war in Vietnam, a major attack concerned the costs of diverting U.S. resources away from social spending to the military, what was called Guns and Butter.

Scholar Gilbert Achcar on the U.S. War Against Iran & Trump’s “Old-New Imperial Doctrine”

April 30, 2026

We speak with Lebanese-born academic Gilbert Achcar about the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, U.S. foreign policy under President Trump and more. Achcar says Trump’s military actions in Venezuela and Iran are not as dramatic a departure from U.S. policy as some commentators have suggested, calling it “an old-new imperial doctrine.” While the George W. Bush administration believed in “regime change,” says Achcar, Trump is “just going back to 19th-century gunboat diplomacy: You bomb a country until they submit.”

‘No More Mr. Nice Guy’: Trump Threatens Iran With AI Image of Himself Holding a Gun

April 29, 2026
Dave DeCamp

The post comes amid reports that the US is considering restarting the bombing campaign

A view of the UN General Assembly hall in New York during the NPT conference on April 28, 2026 (UN Photo/Manual Elias)

افسانه‌ی بنیان‌گذاری - چرا ناسیونالیسم مسیحی غیرآمریکایی است - نوشته‌ی اندرو- ال- سایدل

این کتاب در سال دو هزار و هجده، و در طول نخستین دورهٔ ریاست جمهوری ترامپ نوشته شده است. در این کتاب انتقاداتی نسبت به ریاست جمهوری ترامپ وجود دارد، اما نکتهٔ اصلی‌ کتاب، همانطور که از عنوان آن می‌توان حدس زد، بررسی این ایده است که ایالات متحده بر اساس و ارکان ناسیونالیسم مسیحی‌ بنا شده است، و این کتاب چنین نظریه‌ای را رد می‌کند. در حقیقت، این یک سند تحقیقی است، چرا که برای هر ادعا نقل قول‌هائی ارائه می‌شود.ا

The Founding Myth- Why Christian Nationalism is Un-American‌- By Andrew L. Seidel

The above titled book was written in 2018, during the first presidency of Donald Trump. It has some criticism of Trump’s presidency here and there, but the main point of the book, as it can be guessed from the title, is investigating the idea that the United States was built on the basis and pillars of Christian Nationalism. Andrew Seidel attempts to disprove such theory. It is a well-researched document, providing quotations for each claim.

Masoud Pezeshkian ; Donald Trump; Vladimir Putin Iran and Russia are gaming the United States, and winning

April 28, 2026
Ian Proud

Is Trump running out of time to end the war before the American economy catches up?

Iran Group’s ICC Evidence of US & Israeli War Crimes

April 27, 2026

Jake Johnson

Since the ICC does not have jurisdiction over war crimes committed on Iranian territory, human rights organizations and advocates have implored Tehran to grant the court jurisdiction, Jake Johnson reports.

International Criminal Court at The Hague in the Netherlands. (Vysotsky, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Iran war live: Tehran’s FM returns to Pakistan; Israel attacks Lebanon

April 26, 2026

• Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has returned to Islamabad, Pakistan, after a brief stint in Oman, where he met with its sultan to discuss efforts to bring an end to the US-Israeli war on his country.
• Israel has carried out more deadly attacks in southern Lebanon after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered “forceful” strikes, accusing Hezbollah of sabotaging peace efforts.
• US President Donald Trump has cancelled his envoys’ visit to Pakistan for negotiations, saying Iran did not make a satisfactory offer for a peace deal.
• Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that Tehran will not enter into negotiations with the US under pressure, threats or siege.

Iran seeks Omani, Russian mediation in addition to Pakistan

April 25, 2026
Juan Cole
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – According to the pro-government Tasnim newspaper, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has begun a trip to Islamabad, Musqat and Moscow. Iran appears to be attempting to widen negotiations beyond Pakistan, feeling that Field Marshall Asim Munir is well-meaning but is captive to Washington and may lack the independence necessary to be a third-party mediator.

Middle East conflict looks increasingly like a war nobody can win

April 24, 2026
Bamo Nouri and Inderjeet Parmar

Describe things as they are: This now is not a war moving toward a decisive conclusion but a conflict settling into a pattern

A billboard in a square in Tehran reads in Persian: “Forever in Iran’s hand.” Photo: Abedin Taherkenareh / EPA

Indestructible Iran: What does D.C. want from Tehran? Regime change, total collapse, or a deal?

April 23, 2026
Joaquin Flores

Trump sounds crazy, but he is not. He is, however, the product of an American empire that had gone completely mad.

Israelis are being recruited as spies for Iran in what security experts call an espionage ‘epidemic’

Apri l22, 2026
Abdaljawad Omar 

Israel has long used the same playbook to recruit informants from enemy societies. Iran is now using it to recruit spies in Israel by exploiting new cracks in Israeli society.

حکومت‌های حاکم بر ایران

بسیاری پرسش می‌کنند که چگونه است که ما نه تنها مطالبی را در موافقت با پاره‌ای از فعالیت‌های جمهوری اسلامی در اینجا عنوان نمی‌کنیم، بلکه بطور یک‌جانبه و صرفا به آنچه که در موافقت با سایر دیدگاه‌ها و یا نظرات می‌باشد می‌پردازیم.  از طرف دیگر و در عین حال در توافق و همسوئی و همصدایی با رژیم‌های پیشین، چون رژیم پهلوی و سایر حکومت‌های حاکم بر ایران، اثری در این مجموعه نمی‌توان یافت.ا

$2 Billion Per Day Spent by US on Iran War Could Have Saved 87 Million Lives, Says UN Humanitarian Chief

April 21, 2026
Stephen Prager

A UN official said a proposal to provide food, water, medicine, and shelter to tens of millions of those facing war and poverty could have been funded “in less than a fortnight of this reckless war.”

Protesters hold signs at the US Capitol to for the Anti-Iran War Rally on January 09, 2020 in Washington DC, United States. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Live: Trump says Iran deal will be signed 'today' in Pakistan

April 20, 2026

Vance and US negotiators are due to arrive in Islamabad within hours, US president says

Trump renews threats to ‘knock out’ Iran’s power plants, bridges if final deal fails

April 19, 2026

Iran has reclosed the Strait of Hormuz due to Washington’s ongoing blockade on the country’s ports

Iran: Strait of Hormuz is Open; but with Conditions

April 18, 2026
Juan Cole
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, announced on “X” Friday morning that the Strait of Hormuz is “completely open.”

Victory Disease in Iran

April 17, 2026
Matthew Stevenson 

Old fortification in Oman. Photo by Matthew Stevenson.

War on Iran leaves $58 billion repair bill across region – report

April 16, 2026

US-Israel strikes and Tehran’s retaliation are pushing oil and gas facility damage costs toward $50 billion, Rystad Energy projects

Research reveals that EU AI rules stop at its borders with little accountability for human rights impacts abroad

April 16, 2026

Nadim Nashif

EU exports AI systems that are escalating human rights violations in Palestine and the WANA region

An aerial view of the Flour massacre, when at least 118 Palestinians were killed, and 760 were injured after Israeli forces opened fire while they were seeking food from aid trucks, February 29, 2024. Photo on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0).

هدیه مجوسان

 شاهکاری از ویلیام سیدنی پورتر - ا«او هنری»ا

The Gift of the Magi

A Masterpiece By William Sidney Porter- “O’Henry”

ONE DOLLAR AND eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one's cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.

US Sends Thousands More Troops to Middle East, Considers Ground Ops in Iran

April 15, 2026
Dave DeCamp
The US is sending thousands of additional troops to the Middle East and is considering restarting the bombing campaign against Iran or launching ground operations in the country, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed US officials.

Marines aboard the USS Portland, part of the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, conducting weapons functions check during a drill in the Pacific Ocean on April 9, 2026 (US Marines Corps photo)

LIVE BLOG: Iran Signals Ceasefire End over Hormuz Rights as Lebanon Toll Rises – Day 46

April 14, 2026
Iran warns ceasefire may collapse without recognition of Hormuz control, as Israeli strikes intensify across southern Lebanon front.

 

PFP Gubernatorial Candidate Ramsey Robinson is Fighting for the People of California, not the Billionaires

April 13, 2026
“Billionaires have their two parties. Working people need our own. That’s why I’m thrilled to be part of the Peace and Freedom Party’s long history of anti-war candidates. I’m fighting for a socialist California where healthcare, housing and good jobs are human rights, not luxuries.”

Trump Orders Naval Blockade of Iran After Failed Talks, Iran Threatens Retaliation in Gulf

April 13, 2026
Ship traffic has been halted again in the Strait of Hormuz after President Trump ordered the U.S. military to begin a naval blockade of all Iranian ports and coastal areas starting Monday at 10 a.m. ET. Iran denounced Trump’s move as an illegal act amounting to “piracy” and has threatened to strike Gulf ports in retaliation. Trump ordered the blockade after the U.S. and Iran failed to reach a deal to end the war following 21 hours of talks in Islamabad, Pakistan. Global oil prices jumped after Trump announced the blockade.

DAYS 41-44: Trump Declares Blockade As Talks Collapse

April 12, 2026
Joe Lauria

Donald Trump has announced plans for a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz after the collapse of U.S.-Iran peace talks following 21 hours in an Islamabad hotel, writes Joe Lauria.

Trump’s Truth Social post on the blockade.

US-Israeli Strikes on Iran’s Universities Signal Higher Ed No Longer Off-Limits

April 11, 2026
Kourosh Ziabari

Even if the ceasefire holds and the war comes to an end, Iran’s academia will bear great costs and long-term impacts.

The Shahid Beheshti University seen destroyed after a missile strike the previous day, on April 4, 2026, in Tehran, Iran.

US ceasefire with Iran: What’s next? A former diplomat explains 3 possible scenarios

April 10, 2026
Donald Heflin
President Donald Trump on April 7, 2026, announced a ceasefire between the United States and Iran, after more than a month of war marked by U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iranian military leadership, Iranian retaliation against regional oil infrastructure and a global energy crisis.

A vessel passes through the Strait of Hormuz following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran. Shady Alassar/Anadolu via Getty Images

What Israelis can learn from the nightmares of an Iranian hangman

April 9, 2026
Orly Noy

As Israel embraces the death penalty, government ministers can look to what they call the ‘Iranian terror regime’ for inspiration — and caution.

A public execution in Fayyam Square, Shiraz, November 21, 2018. (Students' News Agency)

US-Iran talks in Pakistan: Who’s attending, what’s on the agenda?

April 9, 2026

Abid Hussain

Islamabad hosts negotiations as US and Iran seek an off-ramp. But deep mistrust and regional tensions threaten talks.

Middle East ceasefire may have made Iran stronger

April 8, 2026
Bamo Nouri and Inderjeet Parmar

Sustained bombing of its infrastructure may have left Iran with new financial mechanisms to rebuild and even expand its regional influence

آتش‌بس با شرایط ایران، اشتباه استراتژیک جنگ را برجسته می‌کند

نوشتهٔ تریتا پارسی‌

استفاده ناموفق ترامپ از زور، اعتبار تهدیدهای نظامی آمریکا را از بین برده و پویایی کاملاً جدیدی را در مسیر دیپلماتیک ایجاد کرده است

Iranian Synagogue ‘Completely Destroyed,’ Reportedly By US-Israeli Airstrike

April 7, 2026
Stephen Prager

The representative for Iran’s Jewish community in Parliament said Israel “showed no mercy... during the Jewish holidays and attacked one of our ancient and holy synagogues.”

A person holds the damaged fragments of a text in Hebrew after a US-Israeli strike on a residential building destroyed the adjacent Rafi-Nia Synagogue on April 7, 2026, in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

Iran war live: Israel strikes second petrochemical plant after hitting South Pars

April 6, 2026

Iran reviews Pakistan's ceasefire deal but rejects any immediate move to reopen Hormuz