Indonesia scrambles to deal with Pentagon request for 'overflights'

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth shakes hands with Indonesia's Director General of Defence Strategy Major General Agus Widodo at the Pentagon on Monday as Indonesian Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin (right) looks on. Photo: AFP

South China Morning Post

In Indonesia, leaked plan for US military overflights triggers sovereignty row

Internal warnings reveal a government split over risks that blanket access for US warplanes could drag Indonesia into foreign conflicts

A leaked plan to grant the US military sweeping overflight access to Indonesia's airspace has triggered a domestic backlash over concerns that Jakarta is "colluding with the aggressor" amid Washington's war on Iran.

Analysts say the defence document, first reported by New Delhi-based newspaper the Sunday Guardian, raises concerns that President Prabowo Subianto may be trading away Indonesia's strategic independence.

The proposal, which reportedly emerged following a meeting in February between Prabowo and US President Donald Trump, is said to grant American military aircraft "blanket" overflight access to the Southeast Asian nation's airspace for contingency operations, crisis response and joint exercises.

Indonesia's defence ministry on Monday acknowledged the existence of the plan but said it had not been finalised, describing it as a draft "letter of intent" still undergoing review. It further stressed that the government maintained full control of Indonesian airspace.

On Wednesday, foreign ministry spokesperson Yvonne Mewengkang said Indonesia had no policy granting unrestricted access to its airspace to any foreign party, and that the US proposal remained under internal consideration. She said any form of cooperation with Washington would remain subject to Indonesia's national mechanisms and procedures.

Behind the scenes, divisions have emerged. According to a Reuters report on Wednesday, Indonesia's foreign ministry sent a letter marked urgent and confidential to the defence ministry in early April warning that granting blanket overflight rights risked entangling Jakarta in foreign conflicts.

Indonesian Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin flew to Washington to meet his US counterpart Pete Hegseth later in April and sign a "major defence cooperation partnership" aimed at bolstering regional security through military modernisation, increased interoperability and expanded joint exercises.

Both developments suggest that former military general Prabowo is "increasingly comfortable" pursuing closer defence ties with the US, according to Abdul Rahman Yaacob, a research fellow at the Rabdan Security and Defence Institute think tank in the United Arab Emirates.

Indonesian airspace itself could become contested, effectively drawing the country into a conflict it seeks to avoid Abdul Rahman Yaacob confirmed.

At the operational level, overflight access would allow US aircraft to slash transit times from bases in Australia or the Indian Ocean "to key theatres such as the Philippines and South Korea", he said.

But Rahman warned that granting such access could expose Indonesia to "retaliation or escalation".

"Indonesian airspace itself could become contested, effectively drawing the country into a conflict it seeks to avoid," he said.

"Early signs of domestic backlash, particularly in online discourse, suggest sensitivity to any perceived erosion of strategic autonomy or non-alignment."

Perception problems

Any agreement granting the US military broad overflight rights "has the potential to create a misleading impression in the eyes of China", said Febry Triantama, an assistant professor of international relations at Paramadina University in Indonesia.

Not only could such a move prove costly if conflict were to erupt in the South China Sea, it is also unclear what Indonesia actually stands to gain, according to Febry.

While the advantages to Washington were obvious, he said the benefits to Jakarta were "not visible and raise questions" - especially as Indonesia is not a formal US ally.

Febry also raised the possibility that the overflight access might be linked to trade negotiations: under Trump, several countries leveraged defence commitments and military procurement to secure better tariff terms with Washington. 

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto (left) at US President Donald Trump's inaugural 'Board of Piss'. 

Indonesia itself agreed in February to a 19 per cent US tariff on most of its goods - down from a threatened 32 per cent, but far higher than the near-zero rates it previously enjoyed.

Days later, the effective rate dropped even lower following a US Supreme Court ruling that struck down Trump's "reciprocal" tariff regime, at least temporarily.

Alfin Febrian Basundoro, a lecturer in international relations at Airlangga University in Surabaya, said the controversy risked criticism that Prabowo was "becoming increasingly accommodating" of Trump.

He pointed to public resentment over Indonesia's muted response to the US-Israel war on Iran and Prabowo's participation in the recently convened "Board of Peace" that many in Indonesia see as one of "Trump's political tools".

Taken together, these moves could "further fuel public sentiment that the Indonesian president is colluding with the aggressor", Alfin said.

'No 1 violator'

The US military has a long track record of disregarding Indonesia's airspace sovereignty. 

Admiral Yudo Margono, then chief of the Southeast Asian nation's armed forces, told parliament in 2023 that the US had "always been the No 1 violator of Indonesian airspace", with 11 unauthorised flights recorded in the first half of that year alone.

Between January 2024 and April 2025, US military aircraft reportedly conducted surveillance operations over the South China Sea on 18 occasions in violation of Indonesia's territorial waters and airspace.

Critics argue that formalising such access, rather than curbing violations, would reward bad behaviour and normalise what should remain a sovereignty red line.

Foreign military aircraft are currently required to obtain permits from Indonesia's foreign ministry and military headquarters.

The US would require "significant freedom" for its military assets should conflict erupt in the Taiwan Strait, Alfin said, almost certainly involving Indonesian airspace. 

Hanging chads: Lebanon ceasefire, leave Iran alone, US arrogance, Israeli domination of America

• Israeli media outlet i24 reported that what Iran has achieved is imposing a ceasefire in Lebanon through its agreement with the United States. The far-right journalist Yinon Magal said: “Trump surrendered to Iran.” The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, citing a source, reported that the army may seek to carry out strategic strikes before the ceasefire takes effect. Lebanese MP from Hezbollah, Hassan Fadlallah, told Reuters that the Iranian ambassador informed them the agreement will begin tonight. Regarding Hezbollah’s commitment to the truce, Fadlallah said that everything is linked to Israel’s adherence to a full cessation of all military operations.
• Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov in Beijing, after two days of talks with Wang Yi, laid out what he calls the real American project: "dominating global energy markets" -- pursued through whatever pretext is handy. Venezuela: "First they announced Maduro had to be dealt with as the main drug lord. Now nobody mentions drugs anymore. Now they say drugs come from Mexico. We took Maduro -- the oil is ours." Iran: "They planned exactly the same thing. President Trump said more than once he was ready to take Iranian oil. Now the Strait of Hormuz is blocked -- never blocked in 45 years before the US and Israel attacked."  The motives: "For Israel, the unwavering conviction that Iran must be destroyed. The second task is, again, the oil markets." Russia: "The Trump administration is extending every Biden sanction. Lukoil and Rosneft have been pushed out of every international project. We have no illusions. This goal is being actively pursued -- Venezuelan oil, Iranian oil, Russian oil."

• Greenpeace has announced that its ship, the Arctic Sunrise, will join the upcoming Global Sumud Flotilla. Sailing alongside more than seventy vessels and over a thousand participants who seek to directly challenge Israel’s ongoing blockade of aid to Gaza. The Arctic Sunrise’s role is to provide technical and operational maritime support so that the vessels safely transit across the Mediterranean before they complete the last 200 nautical miles onto Gaza’s shores. 

•  A bloody epic in Bint Jbeil — Israeli media: Direct engagement with our soldiers in the neighborhoods of Bint Jbeil. Hezbollah fighters are emerging from everywhere and attacking our soldiers who are trying to reach the stadium. The clashes are taking place face to face. An unexpected attack with such heavy firepower from Hezbollah in Bint Jbeil… our soldiers are at their mercy. Helicopters are trying to land to evacuate the dead and wounded, but they are being met with heavy bursts of fire from the resistance.
• USA Today: The Pentagon is quietly intensifying contingency planning for a potential military operation in Cuba, but no orders have been issued so far.  
• Israel Hayom — owned by Miriam Adelson, one of the biggest Republican megadonors in America, just openly published: 'Israel has no choice but to re-establish a security zone, this time devoid of a civilian population.' Let that sink in. A major Israeli newspaper is straight-up calling for the ethnic cleansing of southern Lebanon. How deranged and sick do these Zionists have to be to publish this genocidal article like it's normal policy???

• Tasnim: Iran – Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Talks continue through Pakistan. Scattered and phased understandings are not acceptable. The long history of the US in changing positions and contradicting has made it a serious challenge to ensure the stability of any agreement with this country. We are now negotiating in a very difficult situation and it must be emphasized that the components of this understanding are joined to each other; Therefore, it is not possible to accept a part and postpone the rest to the future.
• The Armed Forces of Ukraine have started sending women on bicycles to carry out assaults. An FPV-watcher from the "Center" group noticed enemy movement. The target turned out to be a female soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on a bicycle.

• The Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported: Around 11,000 residents of Kiryat Shmona have requested evacuation from the city to escape sirens and prolonged stays in shelters. However, more than half of these requests were rejected due to budget shortages. The Israeli government does not want to finance the evacuation of residents from Kiryat Shmona in order not to give an image of victory to Hezbollah, even though the residents themselves want to leave.
• Israel Hayom (Hebrew) – Lilach Shoval: The Israeli army is preparing for a possible renewal of fighting with Iran. In this context, during the ceasefire period, Iran is working to relocate its missile platforms from areas that were targeted and is dispersing them across wider مناطق, which could lead to an increase in missile launch rates if the confrontation resumes.

• Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian has emphasized China's support for Iran's sovereignty, security, and legal rights in the Strait of Hormuz, urging that they be respected and protected as a critical window for peace opens in the region. 
• Director of the Pentagon's missile defense agency, General Heath Collins: 'the United States will need years to restore stocks of ammunition used in the war against Iran'.

• AP reports: If the U.S. and Iran aren’t able to soon come to a deal to end the war or extend the ceasefire that expires next week, the Trump administration is setting the stage to shift its war campaign toward a more economic-focused effort aimed at choking Tehran into submission rather than relying on bombs alone says Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. 'We have told countries that if you are buying Iranian oil, that if Iranian money is sitting in your banks, we are now willing to apply secondary sanctions, which is a very stern measure. And the Iranians should know that this is going to be the financial equivalent of what we saw in the kinetic activities'.

• At the Center on Conscience and War, [they] are already working with several soldiers who called in the wake of Pope Leo’s statements, specifically citing his intervention as their motivation to file as a Conscientious Objector–the only legal option soldiers have to refuse participation. 
• There’s been another fire! Someone set fire to the Raytheon building in Warner Robins, Georgia. Raytheon is one of the world’s biggest arms manufacturers and supplies the US & Israel with their bombs, guidance systems and satellite intel. The fire is being investigated & no one has yet been caught.
• Amichai Stein: Trump says a ceasefire in Lebanon starting tonight has been agreed – ten days and the IDF will remain in their positions. Lebanon’s Prime Minister, Nawaf Salam, praises the efforts of literally every single nation in reaching a ceasefire in Lebanon, except Iran of course. While the Lebanese and Israeli governments desperately frame this ceasefire as a result of direct negotiations, it is very clearly a result of Iranian pressure ahead of a second round of talks in Islamabad. The ceasefire in Lebanon was announced by Trump without Israel’s security cabinet approval. Sources say Pakistani Field Marshal Assim Muneer called President Trump on behalf of Iran and forced him to declare a ceasefire ahead of a new round of talks in Islamabad.
• At the very start of the ceasefire period, intense Israeli airstrikes were reported across Lebanon. Just like in previous ceasefires with Israel, they always violate them and blame the other side.
• Zionist raid between the towns of Ghaziyeh and Qanarit in Lebanon. 

The good & bad from Japan

 

30,000 people recently gathered in Tokyo to defend Japan's Peace Constitution.

The US, Japan and other regional forces are coming together for the Philippines-hosted Salaknib (Shield), Cope Thunder and Balikatan (Shoulder-to-Shoulder) exercises, as the First Island Chain enters a new phase of military coordination.

With record troop numbers and expanded multi-domain drills, these exercises are meant to strengthen interoperability, while reinforcing a growing “missile arc” strategy aimed at deterring China. 

The historic deployment of Japanese troops to the Philippines for the first time since World War II also marks a significant shift in regional security dynamics. 

How will this evolving network of alliances affect Beijing’s strategic calculus? And could Taiwan join in the future? 

In this episode, we examine the scale and significance of these exercises and what they mean for the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific balance of power.  

Israel, a behind-the-scenes powerbroker in Sudan

 
Influencing this bloody conflict, Tel Aviv could help claw it back — if it wanted to.

By Alex De Waal

It’s long been clear that the road to peace in Sudan runs through Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — America’s three closest Arab allies. But last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reminded Sudanese that he has a stake in their country too.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly in September, Netanyahu caused a stir among Sudanese when he held up two maps, ‘The Curse’ and ‘The Blessing.’ The first had Israel’s sworn enemies — Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and the Houthis in Yemen—marked in black. The second had its friends in green — among them Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Sudan.

Shortly after that, Israeli journalist Jonathan Lis wrote that Israel was floating a possible deal to end the fighting in Gaza, in which senior Hamas leaders would go into exile in Sudan. Hamas denied it — Yahya Sinwar would rather die in Gaza than flee to safety. Thee Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, denied it too. But the fact that Sudan is on Israel’s radar serves brings into focus how Sudan’s war is entangled in the Middle East’s higher-profile conflicts.

In 2020, as part of a deal in which the Trump Administration removed Sudan’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, Sudan agreed to join the Abraham Accords. General Abdel Fattah al Burhan, head of Sudan’s sovereignty council and de facto head of state, met with Netanyahu in Kampala, Uganda. The breakthrough meeting was hosted by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, but it was brokered by UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed, known as MBZ. Sudan then froze Hamas assets in Sudan.

In the last days of the Trump administration, al-Burhan signed the declarative section of the Abraham Accord, in the presence of then U.S. Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin. Plans for a formal signing with Israel moved slowly, with a timetable reportedly agreed only in February 2023, when Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen visited Khartoum.

Al-Burhan’s deputy at the time, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo, known as "Hemedti" also had close ties with Israel. He developed close relations with the UAE, renting out his Rapid Support Force (RSF) units to fight as mercenaries in Yemen, whereby he also established strong links with Israel’s Mossad.

When war broke out in Sudan in April 2023, pitting the two generals against each other, Israel was in contact with both men. The Foreign Ministry leaned towards al-Burhan and the SAF, Mossad towards the RSF.

Israel’s Arab friends also backed different sides in the war. Egypt supports the SAF, in line with its tradition of backing Khartoum’s military establishment. The UAE provides extensive support to the RSF, even while the private Bank of Khartoum, which is majority owned by UAE financiers, is the main financial conduit for SAF. Saudi Arabia leans towards SAF, worried by the UAE’s destabilizing role in the Red Sea, which it considers its own backyard. 

During 18 months of fighting, a succession of mediation initiatives by the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Egypt and African leaders have come to nothing. One reason for this is that each time al-Burhan agrees to meet Hemedti, or to send a delegation to do so, the leader of Sudan’s powerful Islamists, Ali Karti, vetoes the move. Washington has put Karti under sanctions for “actively obstructing efforts to reach a ceasefire.” Karti now lives in Doha.

The Sudanese Islamists have longstanding ties to Hamas, which was a member of the Khartoum-based Popular Arab and Islamic Congress from the early 1990s, where it established offices, businesses, and training camps. Hamas sourced weapons from Sudan, provoking Israeli airstrikes. Active cooperation cooled in 2014, under pressure from Saudi Arabia.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia, despite their long-standing aversion to the Muslim Brothers, have come to believe that the Sudanese Islamists can be managed and no longer pose a threat beyond their own borders. (Egypt’s recent tripartite pact with Eritrea and Somalia also embraces the Damul Jadid group, a branch of the Muslim Brothers in Somalia.) Cairo and Riyadh have been ready to see money and weapons flow to SAF from Qatar, Turkey and even Iran. But Abu Dhabi remains hostile to Islamists, so far unpersuaded by Egypt’s argument that if it can live with the Muslim Brothers next door, the Emirates should be able to do so too.

It's long been clear that a deal in Arab capitals is a prerequisite for ending the fighting in Sudan. The question is how to get there. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has no visible interest in engaging at the high level that is needed. Initially, he put State Department Africa bureau officials in charge of the file, who are ignored by the Arab powerbrokers. While the current special envoy, Tom Perrellio, in theory reports to Blinken, in practice he doesn’t have the top-level backing needed.

When MBZ met with President Joe Biden last month, and affirmed a ”dynamic strategic partnership,” the Joint Statement included boilerplate words on Sudan’s war and humanitarian crisis.

Israel could change the equation. Even preliminary exploration of a plan to relocate Hamas to Sudan would need Israel to chart a path to a deal between al-Burhan and Hemedti. In turn, that will need a change in the military and financial equation—a credible show of force by SAF and its Egyptian backers, along with Emirati leverage on the RSF.

Whatever interests Abu Dhabi may have in Sudan, its stakes with Israel are far higher, and it has both carrots and sticks to pressure Hemedti.

The Hamas-to-Sudan story may be a straw in the wind. Even if it becomes a real prospect, Netanyahu or Hamas’s new leaders could pull out at any moment. Sudan’s generals are no pawns: they are experts at manipulating foreign patrons. But the chatter reaffirms how the fate of Sudan lies in the realpolitik of the Middle East, in the hands of states that see Sudan and its people as tokens in their power games.

~ Alex de Waal is executive director of the World Peace Foundation, Research Professor at the Fletcher School of Global Affairs, Tufts University, and Professorial Fellow at the London School of Economics. His latest book is New Pandemics, Old Politics: 200 years of the war on disease and its alternatives (Polity 2021).

Israel directs the U.S. war on Iran

• Iran has formally demanded compensation from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, and Jordan, accusing them of facilitating the recent US-Israeli strikes by allowing the use of their airspace, bases, or territory. 

• Russian Security Council: The United States and Israel may exploit the peace talks as a prelude to a ground operation against Iran.
• Several US KC-135 refueling aircraft have arrived at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel. They will refuel US fighter-bombers that would be used to attack Iran. As they now sit on the runway they are fat targets. 

• The Hebrew newspaper Yediot Aharonot quotes Dr. Avi Weissman, deputy director of Rambam Hospital in Haifa: 'All day long, Israeli army helicopters are landing at the hospital carrying wounded soldiers from the southern front in Lebanon. This reminds us of the First and Second Lebanon Wars'.
• Over 750 schools have sustained damage in the war of aggression launched by the invading US-Israeli coalition against the Islamic Republic. 

• Bloomberg: British-French disagreements over the mechanism for implementing any naval mission in the Strait of Hormuz and any American role. The European disagreements stem from the belief that US participation could push Iran towards a more hardline stance.

• Rosatom President: There are still 20 people at Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, including engineers.
• This is the zionist battalion commander who was seriously wounded yesterday in Hezbollah attacks during fierce fighting in the Bint Jbeil area of ​​southern Lebanon. He was performing Talmudic rituals before entering southern Lebanon and chanting: 'We will go room by room, house by house, village by village, until Hezbollah is gone from southern Lebanon. Did you hear me'?  

• Israeli Channel 13, quoting the Mayor of Kiryat Shmona: “We do not trust the negotiations, nor the possibility of ‘dismantling Hezbollah.’”
• The Economist: Trump's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is a dangerous gamble. This action further weakens international law and could lead to new conflicts. Any prolonged disruption could cause a global economic shock and plunge many countries into crisis.
• The head of the Isfahan Railway Department described how officials and personnel worked around the clock to restore a heavily damaged railway bridge following US–Israeli acts of aggression against some railway facilities.

• Regarding US Blockade and Ships 'Transiting the Strait of Hormuz': The US is not blocking ships in the Strait of Hormuz. It is blocking ships passing through the Strait once they enter into open waters. This is why ships are transiting the Strait. Are the ships transiting onward to their destination ports? That is the question. So far the US claims it is turning ships back or forcing them to sit idle. Others are supposedly getting by through methods including spoofed signals.
• Hezbollah's Secretary General made it even more clear that 'there will be no submission, there will be no repeat by the resistance. We will fight until the last drop of blood'. Veteran Journalist Dr. Marwa Osman  noted that the US sham of 'Lebanon-Israel talks' is illegal, and won't change a thing. 

• CENTCOM commander says, US has 'completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea'. Meanwhile two hours before this statement, a supertanker entered Iranian ports to load crude oil. Reality does not match CENTCOM claims. 
• A deceiver, a false prophet, the money lender operating from within the temple, the signs are clear now. 

• A sickening scandal is tearing through the German political establishment, exposing a 'justice' system that prioritizes the reputation of the Israel lobby over the lives of innocent children. At the center of this moral vacuum is Hartmut Ebbing, former treasurer of the German-Israel Society (DIG), the country’s most aggressive pro-Israel lobby group. In 2024, while Gaza was being systematically leveled, Ebbing was a vocal architect of destruction, calling for total Israeli conquest and the criminalization of any German citizen who dared to boycott the occupation. But behind this mask of 'moral' advocacy lay a predator. By February 2025, Ebbing was charged with possessing and distributing horrific videos of child sexual abuse. In a move that reeks of high-level collusion, Ebbing successfully lobbied the Berlin courts for a private trial, arguing that a public hearing would damage the reputation of the pro-Israel lobby. 
• US finally admits: A $238 million MQ-4C Triton, equipped with sensitive surveillance hardware, was lost in the Persian Gulf on April 9 following a sudden altitude drop that resulted in a complete tracking failure. And as of 2025, the US Navy only had 20 of them in total. 

• Commander of Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters, Major General Ali Abdollahi: 'The continued U.S. naval blockade and its threats to the security of Iranian vessels will be a prelude to violating the ceasefire. Iran will take firm and decisive steps to defend its national interests and sovereignty. We will not allow the passage of imports and exports in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman if the U.S.-imposed blockade on Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz continues'.
• Daniel Ella, commander of Battalion 52 and allegedly responsible for the killing of the child martyr Hind Rajab, was seriously wounded after a Hezbollah missile struck his tank. The Hind Rajab Foundation had filed a case against him at the International Criminal Court, but Hezbollah acted before the legal proceedings could take place.

• Russia says uranium enrichment in Iran is an inalienable right, and hails any decision that secures Iran legal rights. It should be remembered that Iran for many years has made clear that they are building a civilian nuclear power industry. They've repeatedly renounced plans to build nuclear weapons - even in the recent round of negotiations in Pakistan they did so. But the US 'negotiators' turned right around and denied that fact. 
• IAEA chief Grossi to The Economist: 'Iran's nuclear program cannot be stopped by military means. No evidence of systematic weaponization effort. Never been weeks or months from a bomb'.
• Associated Press: America has only 16 warships in the region and no warships in Iran’s territorial waters, which make up most of Iran’s waterways. This indicates that the ability to blockade Iran’s ports with such a small number of ships is very weak. 

MacGregor says 'Many of Donald Trump's policies are frankly, suicidal'

In an interview on India Today, former Senior Advisor to the US Secretary of Defense, Colonel Douglas MacGregor, discussed President Donald Trump's threat to blockade the Strait of Hormuz. 

MacGregor warned that enforcing a naval blockade against Iran is highly dangerous and difficult to implement, stating, "Right at the moment, I think many of Donald Trump's policies are, frankly, suicidal." 

He highlighted Iran's military capabilities, noting that their unmanned systems and missiles could easily target US naval vessels. 

MacGregor emphasized the global economic consequences of a blockade, including rising inflation and oil prices affecting countries like India, Japan, and European nations. 

He cautioned that continuing this strategy could lead to a broader conflict, adding, "If he tries to stop traffic from going in, eventually, he's going to end up at war with someone somewhere." 

MacGregor urged the US administration to negotiate an end to the conflict and recognize the shift towards a multipolar world. 

'Your government is run by Israel, they lied to you all'

Iran-US War: Iran has released another AI‑generated Lego‑style animation mocking US President Donald Trump and using satirical imagery as part of a broader digital propaganda campaign during the ongoing Iran‑US‑Israel conflict. 

The viral video, created by pro‑Iran media creators, uses animation and meme culture to ridicule Trump and shape the narrative online, highlighting how modern information warfare is evolving.

Iranian embassies and affiliated groups have amplified similar content across social media platforms as part of an aggressive narrative push. 

West Asia war zone miscalculations by the US-Israel

• An underground city made up of thousands of military boats ready to sink American ships. Iran is the one that decides this war in its own way.

• Yemen military: 'Trump is dragging America into a swamp full of crises and problems for the sake of Israel before everything else'.

• Trump claims Iran 'called' and said they want a deal. Says issues can be resolved. (He’s bluffing) Trump once again says Iran has not said it won’t get a nuclear weapon (He's lying again).
• Axios, citing a US official: The Iranian side responded by proposing a halt to uranium enrichment for a period not exceeding 10 years. Iran says preliminary estimates indicate its war losses have reached $270 billion.
• Wall Street Journal: More than 15 US warships are supporting the naval blockade of Iran. The US has an aircraft carrier, several destroyers, an amphibious landing ship, and other warships in the Middle East. A total of 15 warships. The impact of the naval blockade on Iran will not be immediate; it will take time.
• An American refueling tanker KC-135 Stratotanker of the Ohio National Guard from the 121st Refueling Wing based at Rickenbacker Air Base was damaged, presumably by shrapnel from the warhead of an Iranian ballistic missile. The aircraft, with numerous 'patches', departed for the UK, where it will be repaired. Practically the entire fuselage of the aircraft - from the cockpit to the rudder - was hit by the impact elements. 

• Chinese Defense Minister Admiral Dong Jun: "We have trade and energy agreements with Iran; we expect others not to interfere in our affairs. The Strait of Hormuz is open to us."
• TankerTrackers.com: Despite Trump’s orders to impose a naval blockade on Iranian ports and prevent ships from entering/exiting Iranian ports, oil tankers are still loading oil in Iran and are leaving these terminals, without interruption.
• Washington Post: Trump's confrontation with the Pope will be politically costly, given its impact on conservative Catholics in a sensitive election year. Reporter: 'Did you publish that photo showing yourself in the likeness of Jesus Christ'? 

• Israeli Army: The number of wounded in the ranks of the Israeli army in southern Lebanon has risen to 565 injuries.
• Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem: 'The goals of the Israeli aggression are clear: to pave the way for a Greater Israel, and all of Lebanon is targeted. Greater Israel targets all of Lebanon, not just a segment of the Lebanese population. It is unacceptable for the Lebanese state, under its current authority, to act as an instrument of Israel by pressuring the resistance and weakening the internal situation in the face of the Zionist enemy'.

• The new chairman of the Slovenian National Assembly, the leader of the 'Truth' party, Zoran Stevanovic, announced that his party intends to organize a referendum on the country's withdrawal from NATO. They will also strive for the country's exit from the World Health Organization.
• Ukrainian President Zelensky signed a law earlier today introducing  'criminal penalties for antisemitism', establishing a range of punishments from fines and restrictions on liberty to prison sentences of up to eight years, depending on severity.

• A letter from Ayatollah Nouri Hamedani to Pope Leo XIV, Supreme Leader of the Catholic World: 'Supreme Leader of the Catholic World, your courageous stance against American arrogance and corrupt Zionism was undoubtedly of paramount importance, and it will ensure that your name and actions are recorded and immortalized worldwide. This stance has demonstrated that history has always witnessed wise scholars from divine religions who defend humanity and human rights, even at a great cost'.

• An Israeli general linked to a controversy over the use of a teenager in an online influence campaign has been appointed as the next director of the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency.
• A U.S. Army unit ran out of its entire stock of Precision Strike Missiles (PRSM) early in last month’s war with Iran. The missile — still in testing at the time — was used in combat for the first time and expended quickly. 

• Trump: 'We may stop by Cuba after we’re finished with Iran'. 

• Wall Street Journal: Saudi Arabia is pressuring the United States to end its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and resume talks, fearing escalation with Iran.
• Keir Starmer: 'We call for Lebanon to be included urgently in the ceasefire. Hezbollah must disarm. But I'm equally clear - Israel's strikes are wrong. The bombing should stop now'. Starmer has to surrender as well. The UK (and much of the west) has to acknowledge that the US is nuts and should not be followed down this shit hole. 

• Director of the International Energy Agency: 'It could take two years for things to return to normal after the war-induced energy crisis. We are currently losing 13 million barrels of oil per day as a result of the effects of the war in the Middle East'. Is Trump intentionally trying to crash the global economy so that the 1% (mostly Zionists) can grab all that is left?
• Destruction in the emergency department of Tebnine Hospital in southern Lebanon; as a result of an air raid by the Israeli occupation forces.

• Germany and Ukraine sign defence cooperation agreement in Berlin. Nazis know Nazis. 'We are going to step up our measures against Russia’s shadow fleet. We will also be working together on the Middle East in order to increase defense capabilities and organize this better'.

• The Italian Prime Minister announces the suspension of the military cooperation agreement with Israel. 
• A European popular petition has surpassed one million signatures, allowing the demand to suspend the partnership agreement with Israel to be formally presented to European Union institutions under the European Citizens Initiative. The petition gathered more than 1.007 million signatures within three months, meeting the legal requirements, including the minimum number of signatures from at least seven European countries. The initiative aims to push the European Commission to submit a formal proposal to suspend the agreement, based on accusations that Israel has committed violations in Gaza and has failed to comply with rulings of the International Court of Justice. 
• Netanyahu claims that Iran is actively trying to kill Trump. Translation: Mossad is trying to kill Trump and blame it all on Iran.

A peaceful visit to Kharg Island in Iran

Kharg Island, also known as Khark, is a coral island formed in the Persian Gulf. It is located thirty-eight kilometres from Bandar Genabveh, about seventy kilometres west of Bushehr. 

This historical island is eight kilometres long and four kilometres wide and is positioned in the heart of the sea. 

Today about eight thousand local people live there. 

Trailer: 'Unless I'm free, you won't be free'

"Where Olive Trees Weep" offers a searing window into the struggles and resilience of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation. It explores themes of loss, trauma, and the quest for justice.

We follow, among others, Palestinian journalist and therapist Ashira Darwish, grassroots activist Ahed Tamimi, and Israeli journalist Amira Hass. We witness Dr. Gabor Maté offering trauma-healing work for a group of women who have been tortured in Israeli prisons. 

Ancient landscapes bear deep scars, having witnessed the brutal reality of ancestral land confiscation, expulsions, imprisonment, home demolitions, water deprivation, and denial of basic human rights. Yet, through the veil of oppression, we catch a glimpse of resilience—deep roots that have carried the Palestinian people through decades of darkness and shattered lives.

This emotional journey bares the humanity of the oppressed while grappling with the question: what makes the oppressor so ruthlessly blind to its own cruelty?  

Lakenheath peace camp: 'You've got to have a sustained campaign'

Peter Lux from Lakenheath for Peace explains more about the war planes that go in and out of the US air base at Lakenheath in the UK.

For more information about the number of fighter/bombers going through Lakenheath for the attack on Iran click here

LAP has 65 members including CND, Stop the War Coalition, Women's International League for Peace & Freedom, Beyond Nuclear, Norwich & District Trades Council and Greenham Women Everywhere. 

It acts against nuclear weapons, militarization and the drive to endless wars including opposing the stationing and operation of nuclear weapons in Suffolk. 

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I love organizing efforts like this that bring people together over a period of time and repeatedly return to the site of their outrage like we see above. At the end Peter remarks that these efforts have to be sustained over time. Similar to what we see in London at the 'Support for Palestine Action' arrests which keep piling up regularly. I'm certain the courts can't take these cases on. It's all a show by Starmer to act tough, to please Mr. Big.

Brits are one of the best at this. South Koreans are also at the top of the list for being one of the most fiercely dedicated people who we've seen in action many times. Our deep respect always goes to the folks daily opposing the naval base on Jeju Island - for many years. The Jeju base is used to dock US & NATO warships in the region threatening China, North Korea and Russia with war.

When the US warships hit Gangjeong village on Jeju Island huge masses of navy garbage are unloaded that the island locals have to deal with.

Sailors are put onto buses and taken to desired hot spots on Jeju where drinking and young women are located. Not the kind of tourism hoped for when South Korea turned Jeju into an international tourist destination. It's nature is world class.

See some of my past Jeju Island posts here

Once in Germany as an 8th grader our school took us to a former Roman ruin along the Rhine River. (My step-dad was in the Air Force and was stationed in Wiesbaden.) 

The tour guide explained that the stones we were standing on, mostly buried in the ground, was once the barracks for Roman soldiers.

I took notice. I had a couple thoughts. Why were the Romans so far from home? Who were they controlling? When did they leave and go home? 

And finally the best lesson from the day was the understanding that all empires fall in time. Our job today is to accelerate the decline - ASAP. Stop it before it finishes bleeding our economy to death or destroying life on Earth out of greed, insanity and lack of spiritual connection to our mother.

So only by determined and consistent activism - while connecting the dots to most other related issues - can we rapidly move to bring down the final curtain on the US Wild West Show.  

The American dream mythology, full of fury and hot death so craved by the Epstein class of devils in our midst, is finished. 

Bruce

Who runs the US? Ceasefire negotiations dead in the water....

• Zionist tanks in the heart of Beirut, 1982: Before the official establishment of the great party. Today, Beirut and Lebanon are resistant to occupation thanks to Hezbollah. The zionists attack Hezbollah and its strength because they are slaves accustomed to servitude and subservience; the idea of ​​freedom terrifies them.

• Saudi Arabia arrests a number of Shiite clerics in Qatif.
• Iran-US negotiations failed. According to reports, the US demanded Iran to give up its Uranium, refused to accept a full ceasefire in Lebanon, and did not accept Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran did not accept the demands, and the US did not want to actually ‘negotiate’, only demand. Both delegations returned to their capitals and the ceasefire may be extended for a week or 10 days to give negotiation talks another chance, but this is not confirmed. Strait of Hormuz remains open for those who pay in Chinese currency.
• After arriving in Pakistan for negotiations with Iran V-P J. D. Vance took a four hour nap to recover from his jet lag and as a result missed the Iranian delegation’s opening statements at the table. Quite an auspicious beginning and snub directed at the Iranian people.
• Rallies in Tehran in support of Hezbollah and the people of Lebanon. 

• Israeli Broadcasting Authority: The commander of the US Central Command will visit Israel on Monday to discuss the possibility of resuming the war on Iran. 
• Tucker Carlson on Trump: I feel sorry for him, as I do for all slaves. He is not free in this moment. Trump announced a ceasefire with relief, and then the ceasefire ended in 2 hours because Israel intentionally violated the terms by attacking Beirut. 

• German newspaper Bild: US forced to reactivate 68-year-old refueling aircraft! Following recent losses and damage to its aerial refueling fleet during operations related to the conflict with Iran, the Air Force has reactivated retired KC-135 tankers from storage. Among them is a 68-year-old Stratotanker, built in 1958, which is currently undergoing extensive maintenance to potentially return it to service.
• The American B-1 Lancer and B-52 Stratofortress bombers loaded with JDAM aerial bombs at Fairford Air Base in the United Kingdom, ready to take off again at any time to launch strikes on Iran. This will be the true result of Trump's deceitful 'peace' negotiations. 

• In the Hebrew newspaper Maariv, Ben Caspit said: “What matters to Benjamin Netanyahu is winning the elections. If there is no victory over Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas, there will also be no electoral victory. That is why he sent yet another ‘sweaty’ recording to the studios yesterday, once again repeating, for the umpteenth time, the concept of ‘I ordered, I directed, I won,’ in an attempt to convince us again of his eternal greatness.”
• London police arrested 530 people during Saturday's protest in Trafalgar Square against the ban on Palestine Action. The arrests were made once more when people showed support for the proscribed "terrorist organization."

• The Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab will remain under Iranian-Yemeni protection only, without any foreign interference, and the United States has no right whatsoever to have its hand over these two straits.

• Yemen military: Is it Israel that decides when America strikes? Or is the White House merely an executive branch for Netanyahu? The last straw that broke the back of American diplomacy: When the prime minister of another country announces the decision for war before the president of America, don't look for the actual ruler in Washington. Look for him in Jerusalem.

• Washington ultimately doesn’t care that the Strait of Hormuz got closed.  What upset the Trump Administration the most is that it was closed for the United States, Israel and their European and Gulf Arab vassals.  Trump simply wants to blockade the Strait on his own terms, meaning cutting off Beijing’s energy supply and waging economic warfare against China.
• In occupied Al-Quds, Easter never passes without worshippers facing harassment and repression at the hands of Zionist occupation forces. Do "Christians" in the west know this is how Israel treats the Christian natives of Palestine? Yes, it appears they just don't care.

• The New York Times: NATO tries to prevent itself from becoming the new victim of the Iran war. Analysts warn that the rift between Europe and the United States over the Iran war could severely weaken the cohesion and trust within this military alliance. 

• Trump threatens Iran again: “We’re going to blockade Iran. It will be a total blockade, nothing in or out. It’s going to be very similar to Venezuela. But it will be a higher level. A massive fleet is headed to Iran. I predict they come back and they give us everything we want. I want with everything. I don't want 90%, I don't want 95%. I want everything! They have no cards.“
• Trump’s new ‘multinational naval coalition’ to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, uhm closed, or was it open?  “Many countries’ are coming up to assist the US blockade” states Trump. UK: Rejected,  Italy: Rejected,  Spain: Rejected,  Japan: Rejected,  France: Hesitant, Norway: Rejected,  Canada: Rejected,  Australia: Rejected,  Germany: Rejected, Netherlands: No response,  South Korea: No confirmation.
• Trump is essentially declaring total war on the Belt & Road Initiative and on BRICS+.  A major reason why Trump is waging these wars is at the behest of the demands of Netanyahu and the Israelis, but also of the energy oligarchs who have benefitted greatly from the rises of oil prices and the bankers who want to turn Iran into a debt colony for the IMF. However, there is an overemphasis on Israel’s influence when the US’ has spent decades planning to wage war against China.  And this new naval economic warfare doctrine is the first step in Trump’s plans for World War III. The entire foundation on which the talks were premised was phony because the US is agreement-incapable and does nothing but lie at every stage of the process.

• Trump has shared an AI-generated image on Truth Social appearing to depict himself as Jesus Christ, shortly after his criticism of Pope Leo XIV.