The Big Middle Eastern Thread

[Harry]

Trump making more threats on Iran.

 

[Michael]

31 minutes ago, Harry said:

Trump making more threats on Iran.

 

Yes, I've just read that myself. So it seems like Trump will actually strike places in Iran now, if Iran retaliates in any sort of way for the killing of Soleimani. The US are really sending a strong message here and it will be interesting to see how Iran responds to this. What I really don't get is the following quote from Trump, in regards to the type of targets that he is intending to potentially hit: "at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture".

So he is intending to hit places that are important to Iranian culture, does that mean places of cultural importance? Why would he do that? Surely if he were to attack certain sites in Iran, the military bases or the military factories would be the best places to hit. There doesn't seem to be any justification in attacking places of cultural importance, as it will only infuriate many of the local Iranian populace, more so than the Iranian government.

[Azeem]

Cyrus Tomb possibly 

[Harry]

45 minutes ago, Michael said:

Yes, I've just read that myself. So it seems like Trump will actually strike places in Iran now, if Iran retaliates in any sort of way for the killing of Soleimani. The US are really sending a strong message here and it will be interesting to see how Iran responds to this. What I really don't get is the following quote from Trump, in regards to the type of targets that he is intending to potentially hit: "at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture".

So he is intending to hit places that are important to Iranian culture, does that mean places of cultural importance? Why would he do that? Surely if he were to attack certain sites in Iran, the military bases or the military factories would be the best places to hit. There doesn't seem to be any justification in attacking places of cultural importance, as it will only infuriate many of the local Iranian populace, more so than the Iranian government.

It's gotta be him trying to misdirect Iran as to what the targets are. Alternatively it's complete bullshit but he knows that would be extreme and he wants Iran to think him totally unhinged.

I'm not an expert in this topic but if they targeted cultural and other civilian sites and they actually admit to that I believe it'd be a war crime.

[Fairy In Boots]

13 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Yeah I’ve got family out there and tbh nobody really cares about Israel other than when they keep building settlements and then they bitch about how it’s bullshit they’re allowed to violate international law yet face no sanctions.

People out there hate Saudis more, as Saudis pose a more imminent threat to Iran with their support of salafi/wahabbi extremists on their borders.

Well the Middle East is a Cold War Shi’a Iran axis vs Sunni Saudi Axis and the west back Saudi, Russia and China back Iran. 

Its why the Trump being a Russian shill is so laughable 

2 hours ago, Harry said:

Trump making more threats on Iran.

 

That’s in response to Iran saying 35 US targets are being targeted, he’s upping the ante. 

1 hour ago, Michael said:

Yes, I've just read that myself. So it seems like Trump will actually strike places in Iran now, if Iran retaliates in any sort of way for the killing of Soleimani. The US are really sending a strong message here and it will be interesting to see how Iran responds to this. What I really don't get is the following quote from Trump, in regards to the type of targets that he is intending to potentially hit: "at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture".

So he is intending to hit places that are important to Iranian culture, does that mean places of cultural importance? Why would he do that? Surely if he were to attack certain sites in Iran, the military bases or the military factories would be the best places to hit. There doesn't seem to be any justification in attacking places of cultural importance, as it will only infuriate many of the local Iranian populace, more so than the Iranian government.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has its own cultural sphere of influence it has a tv network etc. 

Its a armed force designed to protect the political system of Iran, it does this militarily via strength of arms and interference in regional politics and internal they have their own culture network where they just pump out propeganda. I wouldn’t be surprised to see their media arm taken out to distabilse Iran. 

I very much doubt Trump wants to drone UNESCO world heritage sites. 

Honestly the hysteria of this  online especially twitter is laughable 

[Michael]

1 hour ago, Harry said:

It's gotta be him trying to misdirect Iran as to what the targets are. Alternatively it's complete bullshit but he knows that would be extreme and he wants Iran to think him totally unhinged.

I'm not an expert in this topic but if they targeted cultural and other civilian sites and they actually admit to that I believe it'd be a war crime.

Yes, the general message that Trump is sending, is that he is prepared to do pretty much anything in order to put Iran in place. There would be uproar around the world if cultural sites were targeted across Iran, as that would obviously be totally out of order.

[Michael]

7 minutes ago, Fairy In Boots said:

Well the Middle East is a Cold War Shi’a Iran axis vs Sunni Saudi Axis and the west back Saudi, Russia and China back Iran. 

Its why the Trump being a Russian shill is so laughable 

That’s in response to Iran saying 35 US targets are being targeted, he’s upping the ante. 

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has its own cultural sphere of influence it has a tv network etc. 

Its a armed force designed to protect the political system of Iran, it does this militarily via strength of arms and interference in regional politics and internal they have their own culture network where they just pump out propeganda. I wouldn’t be surprised to see their media arm taken out to distabilse Iran. 

I very much doubt Trump wants to drone UNESCO world heritage sites. 

Honestly the hysteria of this  online especially twitter is laughable 

Yeah, no doubt there is a hell of a lot of propoganda that goes on in Iran. But Trump's statement was ambiguous, probably deliberately so. If it is the media centres that he meant, then that clearly wouldn't be as bad as targeting literal cultural sites.

But generally speaking, if we do see that many US strikes on Iran, then this could perhaps be the start of the end for this Iranian regime. Because the Iranians will not stop retaliating and neither will Trump and there's only realistically going to be one so called winner in all of this and it isn't Iran.

[Fairy In Boots]

21 minutes ago, Michael said:

Yeah, no doubt there is a hell of a lot of propoganda that goes on in Iran. But Trump's statement was ambiguous, probably deliberately so. If it is the media centres that he meant, then that clearly wouldn't be as bad as targeting literal cultural sites.

But generally speaking, if we do see that many US strikes on Iran, then this could perhaps be the start of the end for this Iranian regime. Because the Iranians will not stop retaliating and neither will Trump and there's only realistically going to be one so called winner in all of this and it isn't Iran.

If Trump bombed the ruins of Susa I’d expect strong questions from the UN and politicians across both parties domestically

. Firstly because it’s wrong but also because it’s a horrific waste of resource for absolutely no strategical gain. 

[Michael]

13 minutes ago, Fairy In Boots said:

If Trump bombed the ruins of Susa I’d expect strong questions from the UN and politicians across both parties domestically

. Firstly because it’s wrong but also because it’s a horrific waste of resource for absolutely no strategical gain. 

Yes, definitely, but even attacks on the other cultural sites in Iran, would be condemned by the international community. As you said, there should be a strategical gain and a logical objective to any type of potential strike on Iran.

[Azeem]

18 minutes ago, Michael said:

Yes, definitely, but even attacks on the other cultural sites in Iran, would be condemned by the international community. As you said, there should be a strategical gain and a logical objective to any type of potential strike on Iran.

A lot of historic sites in Iraq and Syria i.e anciet mosques, tombs, royal monuments have been completely destroyed or damaged badly ny ISIS or by US/Russian bombing but no one even knows so i don't think so it would cause such an uproar. 

 

Edited January 5, 2020 by Azeem

[Michael]

4 minutes ago, Azeem said:

A lot of historic sites in Iraq and Syria i.e anciet mosques, tombs, royal monuments have been completely destroyed or damaged badly ny ISIS or by US/Russian bombing but no one even knows so i don't think so it would cause such an uproar. 

 

There was a lot of condemnation about the destruction of historical sites in Iraq and Syria, it's just the world knew that we were dealing ISIS maniacs who were beyond reason. So there wasn't a hell of a lot that we could do about it, except to get rid of ISIS. The mainstream media did cover a lot of sites that were damaged or destroyed and many were appalled by what happened.

However, we expect much better from a leader of the United States of America. So expect much more media scrutiny and questions about accountability, if the US were ever to destroy such historical sites.

[Stan]

So Raab has come out and said Iran needs to be 'diplomatic' to reduce tensions and 'avoid a major war'.

Isn't this what Corbyn wanted too? To be diplomatic, avoid senseless killings (of citizens/civilians/troops), avoid war? Isn't it good to have stability as opposed to potential attacks/revenge attacks now that Solemaini has been killed? I don't expect Iran to just sit quiet and take this on the chin...

[6666]

2 hours ago, Michael said:

However, we expect much better from a leader of the United States of America. So expect much more media scrutiny and questions about accountability, if the US were ever to destroy such historical sites.

I think expectations went out the window a long time ago. Trump pardoned war criminal, Eddie Gallagher, who shot kids for fun from a distance. Trump's being a seasoned conman, a massive buffoon, a man with zero morality is all completely normal now. People expect a lot less from the Trump's behaviour than they do from regular people. It's a surprise if he behaves in a decent manner regarding anything.

[Dr. Gonzo]

3 hours ago, Fairy In Boots said:

If Trump bombed the ruins of Susa I’d expect strong questions from the UN and politicians across both parties domestically

. Firstly because it’s wrong but also because it’s a horrific waste of resource for absolutely no strategical gain. 

The UN will never do anything to the US. If the US does something horrible here, they’ll be completely unpunished. Laughable and naive to think otherwise 

[Dr. Gonzo]

2 hours ago, Michael said:

However, we expect much better from a leader of the United States of America. So expect much more media scrutiny and questions about accountability, if the US were ever to destroy such historical sites.

Maybe 4 years ago. This guy is a hateful idiot and proud of it. And now he’s got a shitload of domestic pressure mounting on him 

[Azeem]

9 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

The UN will never do anything to the US. If the US does something horrible here, they’ll be completely unpunished. Laughable and naive to think otherwise 

No you're dead wrong, they'll send highly trained unarmed personel to look closely anything they do and give a strongly worded condemnation if anything bad happens.

Edited January 5, 2020 by Azeem

[Dr. Gonzo]

4 hours ago, Fairy In Boots said:

Well the Middle East is a Cold War Shi’a Iran axis vs Sunni Saudi Axis and the west back Saudi, Russia and China back Iran. 

Its why the Trump being a Russian shill is so laughable 

Well that depends, if the aftermath of this is Iraq kicking out US troops... then Iran and Russia are the big winners here.

Its a joke though that the west stands with the side that backed Al Qaeda and ISIS though 

[Spike]

Sometimes I think the USA secretly runs on a war economy.

[6666]

6 hours ago, Fairy In Boots said:

Well the Middle East is a Cold War Shi’a Iran axis vs Sunni Saudi Axis and the west back Saudi, Russia and China back Iran. 

Its why the Trump being a Russian shill is so laughable.

Nah, it's why he's so much of a target for being a Russian shill. He's supposed to just suck Saudi and Israeli dick. If he just did shady stuff with them, they'd give him much less of a headache.

[Azeem]

Iraqi Prime Minister said in the parliament that Saudis had offered to defuse the tensions and lower the proxy wars with Iran and Soleimani was carrying a message from the Iranian leadership in response to the offer from Saudi Arabia when America killed him.

[Azeem]

2 minutes ago, Azeem said:

Iraqi Prime Minister said in the parliament that Saudis had offered to defuse the tensions and lower the proxy wars with Iran and Soleimani was carrying a message from the Iranian leadership in response to the offer from Saudi Arabia when America killed him.

He also said Trump had on one side called him and asked to mediate between Iran & America and Soleimani was called into Iraq by the Iraqi PM to give Trumps message.

[Stan]

2 minutes ago, Azeem said:

Iraqi Prime Minister said in the parliament that Saudis had offered to defuse the tensions and lower the proxy wars with Iran and Soleimani was carrying a message from the Iranian leadership in response to the offer from Saudi Arabia when America killed him.

what was the response he was carrying?

[Azeem]

2 minutes ago, Stan said:

what was the response he was carrying?

Don't know possibly some kind of step towards peace agreement or ceasefire in the region if Iran responded positively to this olive branch by the Saudis

[Azeem]

I saw it on PressTv an Iranian English news channel so it could be not exactly true

[Azeem]

12 minutes ago, Azeem said:

Iraqi Prime Minister said in the parliament that Saudis had offered to defuse the tensions and lower the proxy wars with Iran and Soleimani was carrying a message from the Iranian leadership in response to the offer from Saudi Arabia when America killed him.

 

10 minutes ago, Azeem said:

He also said Trump had on one side called him and asked to mediate between Iran & America and Soleimani was called into Iraq by the Iraqi PM to give Trumps message.