VD AMOK

Yassamine Mather (Weeklly Worker):
Foreign attack often strengthens the state in the short term. It allows the authorities to identify dissent with assistance to the enemy, restrict protest, intensify surveillance and demand ‘national unity’. People who would ordinarily mobilise against the government may hesitate, when demonstrations can be portrayed as weakening the country during war. Material hardship does not necessarily produce rebellion, especially where organisation is weak and repression is severe.
The Islamic Republic has long relied on crisis. External confrontation helps it justify internal coercion, while internal repression helps it manage the consequences of its foreign policy. This does not make the regime anti-imperialist or progressive. It remains a reactionary state, whose principal domestic enemy is its own population: workers, women, national minorities, political opponents and all those subjected to imprisonment and ex*****on. Wartime conditions may strengthen rather than soften this machinery.
At the same time, explaining the war primarily as the result of Iranian irrationality, or reactionary obsession with ‘crisis’, obscures the history of US policy. At several points, including after 2001 and during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Tehran offered cooperation to Washington. Those openings did not produce a stable accommodation. The US has repeatedly sought a settlement in which Iran is subordinated, contained or transformed. In fact Democrats and Republicans have never forgiven the Iranian people for overthrowing their stooge - the shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi - in 1979. The current war cannot be separated from the project for ‘revenge’.

Oppose both imperialism and tyranny Trump promises to mete out a beating. Saudi Arabia becomes directly involved. Pezeshkian urges Iranians to stand firm against the enemy. Yassamine Mather explains why the ceasefire could not hold

Joseph Gerson: NATO 3.0 Emerges Alive and Dangerous from the Ankara Summit
"There were four major dimensions to the summit: 1) NATO’s survival despite its fault lines, 2) the first day’s focus on expanding and integrating European and US military production infrastructures and weapons sales contracts. 3) The final declaration celebrated and committed to still more European military spending. And 4) support for Ukraine was manifest.(..)
The best way to understand what transpired in Ankara may be to use the lens of transactional dealmaking among Mafia families. Trump and Colby got what they wanted: European elites signed onto NATO 3.0 with increased European military spending and preparations to militarily contain and press Russia, so that the US can focus on containing China’s ambitions and reinforcing its 21st century Indo-Pacific hegemony. Remember, this has been a US goal that began with Obama’s “pivot to Asia.”

NATO 3.0 Emerges Alive and Dangerous from the Ankara Summit | Common Dreams What was gained—and what did they refuse to admit—when the powerful military bloc held talks in Türkiye?

Kom vrijdag 24 juli om 18 uur naar het Spui voor het 91e vredesprotest

Met sprekers, dichters, muziek en twee minuten stilte protesteren we vrijdag 24 juli van 18.00 tot 19.00 uur opnieuw op het Spui in Amsterdam tegen het bloedvergieten, bombardementen op civiele en militaire installaties en onophoudelijk sterven in de loopgraven.
Na een onderbreking van drie maanden is Guido van Leemput weer aanwezig met zijn analyse.
Hij zal ingaan op de achtergrond van de conflicten binnen de Oekraïense regering, en hoe deze zich verhouden tot de eisen die de EU aan het land stelt.
De muziek komt dit keer van Your Local Pirates.
Al meteen na de brute overval van Rusland op Oekraïne op 24 februari 2022 riepen wij onze Europese leiders op om in actie te komen en met onderhandelingen en diplomatie zo snel mogelijk een einde te maken aan het zinloze sterven en lijden.
Ruim vier jaar later organiseren we dit protest helaas voor de 91e keer.

Stop de Oorlog Stop de oorlog Amsterdam vrijdag 24 juli 2026 18 uur op het Spui 91e protest tegen meer dan 4 jaar oorlog in Oekraïne. Met sprekers, dichters, muziek en 2 minuten stilte voor de slachtoffers van beide kanten

Hammelburg: Trump staat schaak

Trump staat schaak - BNR De Wereld Schaken is bedacht in India, maar maakte vanaf de zesde eeuw furore in Perzië. ‘Schaak,’ de gevaarlijkste bedreiging van de koning, komt van het Perzische woord ‘sjah.’ Een metafoor voor de strijd tussen Amerika en Iran. Trump staat schaak. Nog niet ‘schaak mat,’ wat in het Perzisch ‘...

Laka
Urenco gaat uranium verrijken voor Brits militair programma
30 juni 2026

Nederland heeft ermee ingestemd dat Urenco wordt ingezet voor het Britse militaire nucleaire programma. Daarmee is de weg vrij om door Urenco verrijkt uranium te gebruiken in kernwapens. CDA-minister Berendsen van Buitenlandse Zaken neemt met deze beslissing afscheid van het uitgangspunt dat civiele en militaire nucleaire toepassingen strikt gescheiden moeten blijven. Nederland bezit, via UCN, een derde van Urenco en dat is waarom het Verenigd Koninkrijk Nederland om deze militaire instemming heeft verzocht. Volgens de CDA'er is deze Nederlandse betrokkenheid bij het Britse kernwapenprogramma "verenigbaar met het internationaal recht".

Urenco gaat uranium verrijken voor Brits militair programma Nederland heeft ermee ingestemd dat Urenco wordt ingezet voor het Britse militaire nucleaire programma. Daarmee is de weg vrij om door Urenco verrijkt uranium te gebruiken in kernwapens. CDA-minister Berendsen van Buitenlandse Zaken neemt met deze beslissing afscheid van het uitgangspunt dat civiele...

Yassamine Mather: Funeral in Mashhad

The late Ali Khamenei is being transformed into a potent symbol. But, with his son and successor completely absent, continued sanctions and an on-off war, factional rivalries above may become more acute. Meanwhile, those below experience continued repression and worsening conditions. Yassamine Mather reports

Funeral in Mashhad The late Ali Khamenei is being transformed into a potent symbol. But, with his son and successor completely absent, continued sanctions and an on-off war, factional rivalries above may become more acute. Meanwhile, those below experience continued repression and worsening conditions. Yassamine Mathe...

Jim Naureckas: "I was one of those students—not in Southern California, but in the Bay Area, where the Central America solidarity group I was part of brought Stockwell to speak on campus. The entire speech was riveting, but what most struck me was his discussion of the Indonesian genocide of 1965. There’s a similar passage in a speech Stockwell gave later, whose transcript he posted on his website:
The Indonesian covert action of 1965 [was] reported by Ralph McGehee, who was in that area division, and had documents on his desk, in his custody, about that operation. He said that one of the documents concluded that this was a model operation that should be copied elsewhere in the world. Not only did it eliminate the effective Communist Party (Indonesian Communist Party), it also eliminated the entire segment of the population that tended to support the Communist Party—the ethnic Chinese, Indonesian Chinese. And the CIA’s report put the number of dead at 800,000 killed."

John Stockwell, CIA Dissident Who Helped Inspire FAIR Few people have had as much impact as John Stockwell on FAIR and our determination to bring to light the underreported realities of US foreign policy.

The International Peace Bureau (IPB) unequivocally condemns the detention and deportation of its Executive Director, Sean Conner, alongside other activists from Germany, Finland, and Italy. Upon arrival at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen International Airport at 17:27 local time on Friday, 3 July, Sean had his passport and cell phone confiscated and was subjected to two hours of interrogation, including scans of his fingerprints and mugshot photographs. Turkish authorities repeatedly lied about the reasons for the interrogation and claimed that the reason for the check was a flagging by the German authorities, who denied any involvement.

IPB Statement on the Detention and Deportation of Executive Director Sean Conner and other Activists in Istanbul on 3 July 2026 – IPB – International Peace Bureau IPB Statement on the Detention and Deportation of Executive Director Sean Conner and other Activists in Istanbul on 3 July 2026 Monday, 6 July 2026 The International Peace Bureau (IPB) unequivocally condemns the detention and deportation of its Executive Director, Sean Conner, alongside other activi...

Deze week werden inlichtingendiensten AIVD en MIVD op de vingers getikt door hun eigen toezichthouder, de CTIVD: De diensten zouden slordig, en op punten zelfs onrechtmatig omgaan met bulkdatasets vol gevoelige gegevens van miljoenen mensen. Te veel medewerkers met toegang, te lang bewaarde data, en achteraf blijkt amper te reconstrueren wie wat heeft ingezien.
Verrassend nieuws, of een decennia oud patroon? Hoe ging dat vroeger met de voorganger van de AIVD, de Binnenlandse Veiligheidsdienst?
Sinds 2022 zijn 71.000 historische persoonsdossiers van de BVD, de voorganger van de AIVD, openbaar. Genoeg voor journalisten en onderzoekers om zelf een beeld te vormen. We praten er over met journalist Teun Dominicus: hij spitte wekenlang door dat vrijgegeven BVD-archief en publiceerde er meermaals over.

Inlichtingendiensten op de vingers getikt Deze week werden inlichtingendiensten AIVD en MIVD op de vingers getikt door hun eigen toezichthouder, de CTIVD: De diensten zouden slordig, en op punten zelfs onrechtmatig omgaan met bulkdatasets vol gevoelige gegevens van miljoenen mensen. Te veel medewerkers met toegang, te lang bewaarde data, en...

[Pre-Summit] NATO in Crisis: Time to Overcome the War Machine

3 jul 2026 19:00 in

Pre-Summit – July 3, 7:00–9:00 PM CEST

Session 1 (7:00–8:00 PM): US Global Strategy and NATO

Discussion on U.S. foreign policy under Trump, its impact on NATO, U.S.–Europe relations, European militarization, and prospects for a new peace architecture. Opening remarks from the No to NATO Network and Turkish partners.

Speakers: Anu Chenoy, Reiner Braun, and Firuze Taner
Moderator: Kristine Karch.

Session 2 (8:00–9:00 PM): The New International Situation
Examines European rearmament, the militarization of society, political and economic restructuring, and the portrayal of China and Russia as strategic rivals.

Speakers: Michael von der Schulenburg (MEP), Laetitia Planche (France), Paul Murphy TD (Ireland), Oleg Bodrow (Russia)

Moderator: Kate Hudson.

Organized by “No to war – No to NATO”

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: [Pre-Summit] NATO in Crisis: Time to Overcome the War Machine - July 3. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting. Pre-Summit – July 3, 7:00–9:00 PM CEST Session 1 (7:00–8:00 PM): US Global Strategy and NATO Discussion on U.S. foreign policy under Trump, its impact on NATO, U.S.–Europe relations, European militarization, and prospects for a new peace architecture. Opening remarks from the No to NATO Netw...