Xerxes

A+ The PR campaign is full on now in Dubai. Over the long term though Dubai will be fine, I have no doubt. But it would be interesting in the next few years.

Disfigured, hiding, badly injured ? Whatever it is, it is retribution, for all those people in the 2014 protest had acid thrown to their face by the regime goons https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/22/isfahanis-protest-over-iran-acid-attacks

lol. Can make this stuff up. Indeed. That is the whole point. That is why Iran never went back to pre-1979 large conventional force. Where are the Bonapartes in the Pentagon ?

Maybe in North America we are innocent until proven guilty. Not sure being innocent until proven guilty applies in Iran without “proper” connections. … but with connections anything goes https://www.reuters.com/investigates/iran/#article/part1 I posted this earlier. Reposted here. Khamenei may have lived a humble and modest life, but the organs of State under him confiscated wealth in excess of tens of billions. On Ayandeh Bank https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2025/10/27/corruption-mismanagement-in-spotlight-as-iran-dissolves-major-private-bank https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/inside-irans-regime-part-3-irgc-economic-frustrations On Shamkhani oil trading empire I am not sure why you are surprised at the level of corruption of the regime. Any praetorian guard like entity that tries to stay disengage from the world, does benefit from that disengagement. Think of it the daily need of 92 million people, import/exports, the very lucrative oil trade all controlled by the praetorian guard, their families and the elite. PS : I’ll say this about Qassem Suleimani, he was the only one who was not corrupt. He didn’t have anything nor wanted anything. He was very capable and the regime was not able to replace him after his death.

Cheers. FYI https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/48203712/f1-cancel-bahrain-saudi-arabia-races-iran-war

We are talking past each other. that is ok I guess.

I disagree. That rosy picture is only possible if the regime falls, and new government takes over. Then we are off to the races. Abraham Accords in the current context with Saudi joining or not joining is not relevant. That is more of a Palestinian issue and Saudi sensitivity around it. I understand Fox News fantasies about it. But fantasies doesn’t mean reality. Saudi Arabia has a defense treaty signed few months ago with the U.S. and has a military defense pact with nuclear armed Pakistan. Neither of which helped it. In the current context, although they and UAE are angry at Tehran, they also aware of who pulled the trigger first, against their better judgment. They were not interested in these wars; they had a functional relationship (all bit frosty at time) with Tehran. their focus has shifted to their economies in the past 8 years or so, not empire building. Then someone from Washington throws a grenade, and goes off whistling.

You should be able to detect BS and stop within the first 20 min. Not a full episode and half.

Marshall is garbage. I smelled in 20 min in that first free episode of Prime. Stopped right there and then. Much like Landman these are just adjacent properties using off Taylor Sheridan IP, but the script is written inside a zoo by gods what creatures.

Sorry, but that is very recent. After the disastrous Raisi reign as president, the regime finally figured out that maybe we got to let people be. Again that speaks to complete lack of leadership and moral compass. Why so many has to suffer and worse case die in 2022 … that has nothing to do with American and Israelis

@ourkid8 Putting aside the current military intervention, you cannot say that the regime in Tehran is NOT a deeply corrupt and repressive oligarchy for the benefit of a few. This has absolutely nothing to do with Americans and Israelis. Those two got their issues … and one can write a whole PhD thesis on the topic, but that is not the point. Khamnei had the power to pull a Salman-MBS at anytime in his decades long reign. He could have focused on economics rather than an outdated foreign policy from the 1980s and repression.

And Aramco facilities … I don’t know whose brilliant idea (IDF or Pentagon) was to attack the Iranian water desalination facility, which was right away followed by IRGC getting even across the Gulf on Bahrain’s desalination facility. Homelander and his Warriors got to use what they have between ears far more a than what Palantir’ AI machine tells them to do. Sadly they measure success by tons of TNT dropped. Listening to them is like listening to potential employee talking about his CV and accomplishment in bullet terms.

I have the exact same question. If @ourkid8 was against Israeli brutality toward Palestinians (as I was as well and wasn’t shy in expressing my views) logic suggest the same view toward a brutal theocratic regime. It is ok not like the Israel/US approach, as I surely don’t like it as well, as they are really just making stuff as they go. But to suggest that the regime in Tehran is anything else the corrupt and brutal is a bridge too far. —- side note Iran population is about 90 million. A good 10-15% regime supporters comes to over 10 million people. Minority in % terms but still millions with control of the security apparatus. change has to come from within and not Homelander throwing off stats on FOX news to the MAGA Faithful on how many tons of TNT they dropped. Showing off stats of one destructive path is a sign of weakness not greatness. on this destructive behaviour I agree with @ourkid8

Is there a picture of these leaders walking side by side with the protestors in January

Anybody knows/understand this

Maybe you went to the old airport. I did use that as well the new airport is going to be massive. been around for 5 years I think and aiming for a 200 million capacity in its expansion up from 90 million as far as I know Turkish Airline can be a good network alternative to the Gulf Region

Copy paste from the political thread : Recent conflict in the Middle East, Iran and UAE would probably mean a re-balancing of long haul flights away from the Ethihad, Qatar and Emirates, and their hubs and toward Bangalore, Istanbul and other hubs. Call it a structural change. Tourism to the Middle East will of course not stop. But there is no reason for that over concentration to not be rebalanced for transiting passengers. It is up for grabs

Btw I have no doubt that tourism will come back .. it always does. The effect I think is more trade and capital investment. For instance the aspiration to turn into a AI hub. Things like that. Emirates Airline may not be a long haul network of first choice. Other hubs like Bangalore, Istanbul and other major airport will pick up long haul traffic, that has been so over concentrated in the Gulf region. A rebalancing.

Even though Khamenei disastrous foreign policies have largely been responsible for losses and misfortune that IRGC had to endure, there was always deference toward him by the IRGC, the institution. Maybe because when Khameni took over back in 1989, he had no base of his own, so he allied himself with IRGC and a mutual reliance developed. That is why no matter who is now the new leader, never again so much power will be allowed to be concentrated in one institution (Leader office). Which means despite the non-sense coming from Mojtaba (assuming he is actually around) IRGC is now free to chart a course of its own. What course that remains to be seen. It is an institution with many stakeholders, some commercially driven, some ideologically driven. They need to duke it out, what is important to them.

lol. I left Iran decades ago, in the 90s i am a full blown French Canadian (but speaking mostly in English) now

Regime focus was on self preservation. They were willing to burn any and all bridges. I think I heard somewhere that more missile were hurled against UAE than Israel. One thing for sure, the regime in however shape and form it survives has to reform. We are not asking for the moon here. We are just asking them to focus on their national interest and that of the people …. as opposed to a 1979 bygone revolutionary era. I also don’t see a protracted war. To me IRGC may be hiding behind the revolutionary zeal and of a forever war, but again the logic of self preservation would throttle them back. I guess we just have to wait and see

lol

What I wrote is a view frozen in time about 10 days in. That view six months from now can look very different. Much better or worse. The negotiations were sham, and both sides knew it. The gap was too wide. They were never going to dismantle their ballistic program. It is just that when I hear how the reprisal against Gulf and Hormuz came as a surprise, that is not an encouraging sign. Wasn’t that obvious … what do you think it was going to happen. Yet i remain optimistic. As there is a lot we don’t know.

Here is my take after +1 week of this shit show. As an Iranian-born Canadian, me and countless others were grateful on the fall of a tyrant. But we also know and understand better, that is not that simple. - Khameni is now replaced with Khameni (a younger version) - Regime is wounded; but also more dangerous than ever before - Despite the theatrics of an “Islamic” republic, don’t be fooled, this is going to be a military dictatorship going forward - Office of Supreme Leader will be there to give IRGC legitimacy - Mojtaba will never be as powerful as his father. Power dynamic has shifted - Saudi Vision 2030 is gone. It is now Saudi Vision 2040. Ops. - The illusion of safety that UAE try to cultivate and build over decades has now fallen over 10 days Losers - Iranian people. Stuck between having their infrastructure destroyed by IDF and Americans, and a regime that even now is sharpening its sword to go after them once the war is over. - Regime in Tehran favouring the status quo. They died clenching their fist. - Trump. Even John Bolton, the mega Iran hawk, has enough sense to criticize Trump for a half baked plan. - Gulf states. As said earlier, that entire vision for Gulf centred around trade, tourism has gone in smoke. - The Office of Supreme Leader. It will never regain its power over IRGC. - Ukraine; from what I understand the Gulf state fired hundreds of Patriot in the first few days; more than Ukraine was ever able to buy in the entire war. Also there are report of dwindling supplies of all kinds of munitions from late last year, as Pentagon priorities its own build up over Ukraine needs. - China; yet one more KPI how sophisticated Western military prowess and doctrine is and how purge-ridden PLA may not be … yet. - Customers of Qatari LNG. From what I understand those plants once shutdown will take 3-4 week to power back up. With crude, at least that huge surplus built inside the Persian Gulf can Ben tapped once the crisis over. Winners: - Bibi; he did the impossible. Was able to fully pull U.S. into the war. - Israeli State; as it will not have to bear the cost and will have all the upside. The geopolitical cost will be amortized and carried by the Gulf nations and U.S. - Kremlin; sanction relief on crude, Patriots pull into the Middle East, etc. they weren’t planning for this. Seems 2026 is their lucky year. They are drinking vodka straight from the bottle this weekend, as the saying goes. - U.S. defense contractors. Only if they could expand capacity. - The lower and mid echelon of IRGC, with the old guard either dead or moving out, it is their time to feast. - War porn on YouTube and message boards. It is a bull market for self-declared analysts. I mean who would have thought to see 20 million barrel of crude not flowing through Arrakis. - sadly the regime in Iran may also be a winner by not losing and demonstrating how far they are willing to go.

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/iran/#article/part1 From 2013 and still relevant today The theft of century