Image is of destruction and damage inside Israel, sourced from this article.
Iran and Israel have struck each other many times over the last few days. There has been a general focus on military facilities and headquarters by both sides, though Israel has also struck oil facilities, civilian structures and hospitals, and in return for this, Iran has struck major scientific centers and the Haifa oil facilities.
Israel appears to have three main aims. First, to collapse the Iranian state, either through shock and breakdown by killing enough senior officials, or via some sort of internal military coup. Second, to try and destroy Iranian nuclear sites and underground missile cities, or at least to paralyze them long enough to achieve the first and third goals. And third, to bring the US into a direct conflict with Iran. This is because the US better equipped to fight them than Israel is (though victory would still not be guaranteed depending on what Iran chooses to do).
Iranian nuclear facilities are hidden deep underground (800 meters), far beyond the depth range of even the most powerful bunker busters (~70 meters or so), and built such that the visible ground entrances are horizontally far away in an unknown direction from the actual underground chambers. Only an extremely competent full-scale American bombing force all simultaneously using multiple of the most powerful conventional (perhaps even nuclear) bunker busters could even hypothetically hope to breach them (and we have seen how, in practice, American bunker busters have largely failed to impair or deter Ansarallah). There are several analysts on both sides who have concluded that it is entirely impossible to physically prevent Iran from building nukes.
I fully expect the US to join the war. I believe the current ambiguity is a deliberate invention of the US while they work to move their military assets into position, and as soon as they are ready, the US will start bombing Iran. After that, Iran’s leadership must - if they haven’t already - harden their hearts, and strike back with no fear, or risk following the path of Libya, Syria, and Iraq, either into either surrender, occupation, or annihilation. Every day where they do not possess a nuke is a day where lives are being lost and cities are being bombed.
Last week’s thread is here.
The Imperialism Reading Group is here.
Please check out the RedAtlas!
The bulletins site is here. Currently not used.
The RSS feed is here. Also currently not used.
Israel-Palestine Conflict
Sources on the fighting in Palestine against Israel. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:
UNRWA reports on Israel’s destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.
English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news.
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.
English-language PalestineResist telegram channel.
More telegram channels here for those interested.
Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Sources:
Defense Politics Asia’s youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don’t want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it’s just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
Simplicius, who publishes on Substack. Like others, his political analysis should be soundly ignored, but his knowledge of weaponry and military strategy is generally quite good.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists’ side.
Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.
Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR’s former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR’s forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster’s telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a ‘propaganda tax’, if you don’t believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
Pro-Ukraine Telegram Channels:
Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.
Apparently a loud record breaking thunderclap scared tf out of New York City yesterday, people thought it was Iran
Americans are a dim people
Trump says he wants regime change. But how? He can’t send in troops, bombs alone probably aren’t enough, and a color revolution seems unlikely.
It’s clear they really want this. Destroying Iran is critical for the US. They’ve been mobilizing for months. They’ve been whittling away Iran’s regional allies for years.
What is the plan here?
As the first mega dedicated to this shit show ends, let us remember the martyrs and the brave and united people of the axis of reaistance. They are the current vanguard of history, and we must make them proud.
My final contribution to thos thread, is this Al Jazeera update that shows satellite comparisons between the facilities targeted by the fascist empire this weekend.
Russia at the UN Security Council: Israel is still not a member of the NPT, so full IAEA inspections of Israel are not carried out. Iran is the only country that has accepted the most inspections, but instead of thanking this country, we bomb it, and its civilians are targeted. Unfortunately, the director general of the IAEA has never called for Israel to join the NPT; this situation is fraudulent.
Happy brexit anniversary for all who celebrate
I know the dems are beyond pathetic but this is - I dunno what to call it - beyond beyond pathetic.
UPDATE, 24+ hours since the Trump-Vance admin bombed Iran:
- 52 House members signed onto the Massie-Khanna War Powers Resolution
- 3 Senators supporting Kaine’s War Powers Resolution
- 8 Senators signed onto Bernie’s No War Against Iran Act
60 total. 59 Democrats. 1 Republican.
https://bsky.app/profile/premthakker.bsky.social/post/3lsafl4p3pk2l
Article
Iranian Ambassador Ali Chegini praised Venezuela for being on the right side of history in backing his country against Israel.
Mexico City, Mexico, June 20, 2025 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Thousands of Venezuelans marched Thursday in Caracas to express solidarity with Iran and Palestine, calling for peace amid Israel’s escalating actions.
Carrying Iranian flags and images of the Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei, demonstrators denounced Israel’s unprovoked attacks on Iran, defending the latter’s right to respond in a firm show of popular support for one of Venezuela’s closest allies.
Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, speaking to the crowd, framed the protest as both a show of unwavering solidarity with the Iranian and Palestinian peoples and as a rebuke to international silence, especially by the United Nations.
“Iran is the vanguard of the free peoples of the world and we support them to expose that Israel is nothing more than another paper tiger created by the United States,” Cabello said at the demonstration.
The high-ranking Chavista marched alongside National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez and Iranian Ambassador to Venezuela Ali Chegini, who also addressed the crowd.
“Today we are paying the price for standing with a free Palestine, and we will continue our struggle in defense of our people and territory,” said Chegini, who cast Venezuela as firmly on the right side of history for backing Iran in the widening conflict.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has likewise strongly come out in support of Iran’s retaliation against Israel’s offensive that began on June 13.
“Israel was stunned by the military prowess of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has defended itself in accordance with international law and in legitimate self-defense,” said Maduro Thursday during a televised event.
Venezuela and Iran enjoy an extraordinarily close diplomatic, political and economic alliance, with deep cooperation in various fields, including art and culture, and a critical partnership in the energy sector. The two nations have fostered their ties in recent years to overcome US economic sanctions.
Caracas was among the first to condemn Israeli strikes against Iran. Maduro last visited Iran in 2022, where he signed a 20-year cooperation agreement together with former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who perished in a crash in 2024.
After detailing Israel’s recent aggressions throughout the region—including the genocide in Gaza, its attacks on Lebanon that resulted in the death of Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, and its role in regime change efforts in Syria that ousted Venezuelan ally President Bashar al-Assad—the president denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strategy.
“Israel wants full control over the Middle East’s resources, in partnership with US imperialism,” said Maduro.
Opposition leader María Corina Machado has tried to use Venezuela’s close relationship with Iran as justification for US intervention, depicting the country as the most serious “security threat” in the region.
“Venezuela is a real threat to the hemisphere and the United States. It is the only country in the hemisphere, besides the US, with the capacity to build combat drones of Iranian origin,” said Machado on Wednesday.
The far-right politician, who is calling for a boycott of upcoming municipal elections, suggested Iranian drones could fly from Venezuela to attack US territory directly, in Florida. Machado’s statements were met with swift condemnation, with social media users pointing out that other nations in South America have drone technology and that her statements are blatant calls for further US aggression against the country.
The relationship between Caracas and Tehran blossomed under the leadership of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who sought to strengthen ties with other OPEC countries but fostered an especially close relationship with Iran over their shared opposition to US hegemony worldwide.
Fuel tanks of Israeli jets keep being found on Iran’s Caspian coast.
Azerbaijani airspace is almost certainly being used as a launchpad towards Tehran.
JD Vance on Meet the Press:“I certainly empathize with Americans that are exhausted after 25 years of foreign entanglements in the middle east. I understand the concern, but the difference is that back then we had dumb presidents and now we have a president who actually knows how to accomplish national security agendas.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives in Moscow for a meeting with Vladimir Putin. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss regional and international developments following the US military aggression against Iran. According to Abbas, the United States “betrayed diplomacy” and, he says, “will face eternal consequences” after joining Israel in its air campaign against his country.
- Telegram
The Atlantic, surprise surprise, is in full consent manufacture mode. It’s so on the nose you can practically see the talking points emails…
It is 2003 and America is using non-existant WMDs to start a war in the Middle East
It is 2025 and America is using non-existant WMDs to start a war in the Middle East
It is 2055 and…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTly35T4fz0
Good overview of the weapon systems Iran has to close the strait of Hormuz if it so chooses. Mines, slow torpedoes (UUVs), multiple classes of submarines with torpedoes (they can also be equipped to lay mines), fast boats loaded with missiles/torpedos (including one-way attack boats completely loaded with a payload), missile corvettes, drone carriers, shahed drones, anti-ship ballistic missiles of various types and a small conventional navy.
Funny seeing that European Leaders who were “strongly decoupling” from America because of “Fascism” are now back to boot licking their masters so that they get to kill innocent people in the middle east as well.
