Women, life and freedom for post Mullah Iran!
Matein Khalid
There is precious little good news to emerge from the Middle East since the IDF launched its spectacular blitzkrieg and leadership decapitation strike against Iran's nuclear asset and military/intelligence elite last Friday. This weekend was grim with Iran's ballistic missile strike on Haifa and Tel Aviv with even a real miss on the IDF command and control complex in Kirya. Netanyahu's boast that he would order IDF warplanes to destroy 100 buildings in Iran for every building destroyed by an Iranian missile in Israel also suggested a protracted, bloody conflict. Yet Brent has plunged to 71.80 as I write with Nasdaq up 300 points on diplomatic signals that Iran wants to join Trump's call for immediate peace deal talk under his aegis.
It is also significant that Iran has dare not retaliate against US forces in the Gulf or Iraq. Since the IDF and Mossad destroyed Hezbollah in Lebanon last autumn and a Turkish backed insurgency overthrew its 54-year old Baathist dynastic vassal state in Syria last December, the Ayatollah's 'axis of resistance' in the Levant no longer restrains Israel military strike, as Operation Rising Lion suggests. In fact, the lion and sun were the ancient symbols of Iran's Zoroastrian imperial past and even adorned the flag of the last Pahlavi Shah. I wonder if Bibi wants to anoint Prince Reza Cyrus Pahlavi as the next Shah of Iran.
ADVERTISEMENT
For Reza's sake, I hope he stays in Washington and does not allow himself to be used by this cynical Israeli megalomaniac. His life is too precious to his wife and daughters as well as his mother Empress Farah, who has faced so much tragedy in her life with the loss of her husband, younger son Ali Reza and daughter Laila. Prince Reza Cyrus should also remember the fate of Bachir Gemayel, whom another nutcase Israeli Prime Minister (Begin) had anointed President of Lebanon in 1982 after the IDF's Operation Peace for Galilee, which ensured no peace for either Israel or Lebanon, midwifed the rise of Hezbollah and claimed 20,000 civilian lives in siege of Beirut.
Even though the IDF has scored yet another military and intelligence coup against Iran, I doubt if Netanyahu's call for a popular revolt will happen, let alone succeed. After all, the Ayatollah regime has massacred tens of thousands of young Iranian lives in the periodic revolts against the Islamic Republic that have occurred from the very first months of its existence in 1979.
It was surreal to see Bibi speaking the Persian words zan, zindagi, azadi (women, life, freedom). Anybody with a remotely humane moral compass wishes the beautiful Iranian people liberation from this evil and nightmarish mullah regime that has strangled Iran since 1979. Whatever happens, there is no doubt that June 2025 will join February 1979, August 1990, March 2003 and October 2023 as one of the decisive hinge months of Middle East history. That much, at least, is certain!
Also published on Medium.
Notice an issue? Arabian Post strives to deliver the most accurate and reliable information to its readers. If you believe you have identified an error or inconsistency in this article, please don't hesitate to contact our editorial team at editor[at]thearabianpost[dot]com. We are committed to promptly addressing any concerns and ensuring the highest level of journalistic integrity.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Middle East Eye
an hour ago
- Middle East Eye
Iran's foreign minister in Istanbul for meeting with leaders of Muslim-majority countries
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has arrived in the Turkish city to attend a meeting with fellow representatives at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Tehran's Tasnim Agency are reporting that Araghchi will be joined by 40 diplomats this weekend. Speaking to reporters, Aragchi said: "At this meeting, at the suggestion of Iran, the issue of the Zionist regime's attack on our country will be specifically addressed."
Arabian Post
an hour ago
- Arabian Post
China's Iran Oil Bet Hits Strategic Snag
China is confronting significant disruption to its Iranian crude oil supply, risking both its energy security and geopolitical ambitions in the Middle East. With over 90 per cent of Iran's oil exports directed to China via Kpler, the contraction of that flow places Beijing's $400 billion 2021 cooperation deal in jeopardy. Major Chinese independent refiners, the so‑called 'teapots' in Shandong province, are enduring mounting losses as deepening discounts on Iranian oil clash with soaring global prices. Discounts have widened to between $3.30 and $3.50 a barrel against ICE Brent for July cargoes – up from approximately $2.50 in June – contributing to refinery utilisation dropping to around 51 per cent, down from 64 per cent a year ago. Despite Israel's airstrikes targeting Iranian energy infrastructure and concerns over potential U.S. sanctions, Iran has maintained its exports through a shadow tanker fleet and strategic logistics adjustments. Kpler reports that crude loadings have reached a five‑week high of about 2.2 million barrels per day, assisted by the use of a less exposed jetty on Kharg Island and pre‑positioning of floating stocks nearer to China – including approximately 8 million barrels stationed offshore China. ADVERTISEMENT In 2024, Iranian shipments to China peaked at 1.6 million barrels per day, but that volume had already declined to roughly 740,000 bpd by April 2025, as broader Middle East instability and tightening sanctions exerted pressure. Rival supplies from OPEC+ producers like Saudi Arabia and the UAE may partially compensate, yet analysts emphasise that prolonged disruption would still erode Beijing's strategic leverage and diplomatic role in the region. For China, this dependence on Iranian crude is part of a broader ambition to deepen its influence across the Middle East as a counterweight to the West. The initial rationale behind the 25‑year deal encompassed energy security, infrastructure projects, trade expansion, and regional diplomacy. But the conflict's escalation threatens those objectives, undermining China's established pipeline for cheap oil and complicating its efforts to mediate regional tensions. Economists note the urgency for Beijing to accelerate its shift toward renewable energy and domestic self-reliance. China had already reached a milestone with renewables comprising 56 per cent of its electricity capacity in 2024. The current moment has intensified calls to reduce external vulnerabilities and accelerate electrification. At present, the Chinese government has refrained from military engagement, calling for de-escalation and abstaining from direct intervention in support of Iran. Instead, it is pursuing regional diplomacy while guarding its considerable investments. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson emphasised the need to 'prevent the region from spiralling into greater turmoil', particularly to secure stable energy imports. However, should the conflict deepen, or if key Iranian oil infrastructure suffers irreparable damage, China's reliance on opaque supply routes and shadow trading may no longer suffice. Its medium‑term strategy of presenting itself as a credible peace broker in the Middle East faces growing strain amid diverging interests between Iran and Gulf states. China appears poised to rely more heavily on Gulf crude, yet that reliance comes with its own geopolitical calculations. Riyadh and Abu Dhabi together hold significant spare capacity – over 4 million barrels per day – which may cushion global shocks but do little to salvage China's ambition to sustain influence via energy partnerships. The unfolding developments in the Israel–Iran arena have exposed strategic fissures in a partnership that once appeared unshakeable. Even as Iran adapts tactically to maintain its export pipeline to China, Beijing must confront the reality that maintaining influence in the region demands resilience beyond discounted barrels and shadow fleets.
Gulf Today
an hour ago
- Gulf Today
Oil drops, stocks climb as Trump delays Iran move
Oil prices retreated on Friday while US and European stock markets gained ground as concerns over a war escalation in Iran eased. International crude benchmark contract Brent dropped more than two per cent, weighing on the share prices of energy majors, after US President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would decide whether to join Israel's strikes on Iran within the next two weeks. Traders said it suggested Trump preferred negotiations to end the fighting, as top European diplomats met Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on Friday to discuss a "diplomatic solution" to end the war. US indices opened slightly higher on Friday, though analysts said volumes were likely to be lacklustre with many traders taking a four-day weekend after Thursday's Juneteenth holiday. European stock markets were up in afternoon deals while Asian equity indices closed out the week mixed. "News that president Trump would delay any decision on joining Israel's attacks against Iran has boosted the market mood," said Kathleen Brooks, an analyst at trading firm XTB. "Brent crude has dropped... as traders price out the worst-case scenario for geopolitics," she said. Crude futures had soared and global equities slumped in recent sessions as the Israel-Iran conflict showed no signs of easing, with investors pricing in the risk of tighter oil supplies that would likely weigh on economic growth. "While the immediate prospect of a US intervention in Iran may have diminished, the fact this is reportedly a two-week hiatus means it will remain a live issue for the markets going into next week," said Dan Coatsworth, an investment analyst at AJ Bell. "A meeting of European ministers with their Iranian counterparts to try and formulate a deal today could be crucial." While the Middle East crisis continues to absorb most of the news, Trump's trade war remains a major obstacle for investors as the end of a 90-day pause on his April 2 tariff blitz approaches. "While the worst of the tariffs have been paused, we suspect it won't be until those deadlines approach that new agreements may be finalised," said David Sekera, chief US market strategist at Morningstar. "Until then, as news emerges regarding the progress and substance of trade negotiations, these headlines could have an outsize positive or negative impact on markets," he said. In Europe, Eutelsat shares soared 27 per cent on the Paris stock exchange after the French government said it would lead a 1.35 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in the European satellite operator. French President Emmanuel Macron urged a "speedy reconquest" for Europe in the space sector in the face of growing American competition, in a speech at the Paris Air Show. Agence France-Presse
