Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has reshuffled Iran's political and national-security establishment, appointing former SNSC Secretary Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr as his political adviser and veteran IRGC commander Mohsen Rezaei as his representative on the Supreme National Security Council, consolidating power amid the West Asia crisis and Strait of Hormuz tensions.
The decision marks a significant leadership transition as the administration seeks a commander who 'will implement Donald Trump and Hegseth's vision for the Army'.
Alliances fight wars effectively only when they share an endgame. If Israel acted without US knowledge, then the military alliance is operating without real coordination at the level of strategic targeting. Neither picture is reassuring in a war that is no longer regional in its consequences. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
Russia and China are tight-fisted and Iran is broke and none of them has the political will or capacity to bankroll the Afghan economy, which only the US can, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.