PEPE ESCOBAR—What would it take for Kurds to understand no state – be it Iran, Syria or Turkey – will offer them land for their own nation? Parameters could eventually change in case Iraqis in Baghdad finally manage to expel the US. Before we get there, the fact is Iran has already turned West Asian geopolitics upside down – via its smart cruise missiles, extremely effective kamikaze drones, electronic warfare and even state-of-the-art hypersonic missiles. Empire “planners” never saw this coming: a Russia-Iran strategic partnership that not only makes total sense geo-economically, but is also a military force multiplier.
-
-
RAMIN MAZAHERI—But since when has American politics made moral sense? America has always been a deeply reactionary country – its founding revolution was merely against foreign control and not in favor of a progressive reordering of society – and thus its politics has always been defined by hypocrisy, zero memory and even less understanding of this thing we share called human history. The Democrats’ Russophobia made Russia the target, but the Democratic Party’s truly autocratic and anti-democratic commitment to “forever war” is the root cause of their undeniable electoral defeat this week.
-
When the CIA overthrew the democratically-elected Mossadegh government in 1953, it brought rent-a-mobs into the streets of Tehran to provide cover for the coup. Were the riots that broke out in Iran last week the latest iteration of the CIA’s rent-a-mob coup strategy?
-
FIRAS AL-SHOUFI—The Aramco attack only enhanced the regional reputation of these weapons and their ability to repeatedly infiltrate Israel’s airspace. This caught the attention of Russia, which reportedly plans to acquire Iranian drones and has requested training for Russian crews on how to operate them. While Ukrainian forces have now tested the domestically-manufactured Turkish Bayraktar drones, unlike the successes achieved by Iranian drones, Bayraktar appears to have performed poorly against the extensive Russian air defense systems. The reputation the Turkish drone earned from the battles of Azerbaijan and Armenia in the Nagarno-Karabakh region were cut short in Ukraine, as the former’s success was largely due to the absence of an effective Armenian air defense network.
-
NEWS DESK—THE CRADLE—Iran’s Forensic Medical Organization on 7 October released the autopsy report of Mahsa Amini, revealing she died from multiple organ failure (MOF) caused by severe cerebral hypoxia. The forensic report – based on her medical history, a CT scan of her brain and lungs, examination of the corpse, pathology, and necropsy – concludes that: “Due to the ineffective cardio-respiratory resuscitation in the first critical minutes, she suffered severe hypoxia and as a result brain damage.” According to her medical history, Amini underwent brain surgery at the age of eight for a “disorder in the important hypothalamus-pituitary axis and the glands under its command (including adrenal and thyroid).” Furthermore, the report details that her death “was not caused by a blow to the head or the vital organs of the body.”
