Organizing Notes: For what it is worth - U.S. & Iran still talking

Monday, May 25, 2026

Iran’s MFA spokesman: • We do not collect tolls; one must be careful in the use of words. We are not seeking to collect tolls...the services that we’ll (Oman and Iran) provide [for the passage of ships], as well as the protection of the environment, require the collection of fees. • No nuclear talks at this stage. • The President of China announced a 4-point plan for security in the region, which was valuable to us. • Lebanon must be one of the elements in the MoU. • Negotiations have made progress, but the imminence of an agreement depends on the Americans. • Politics in the US has become somewhat chaotic. Facing contradictory views from their officials within hours disrupts the course of any negotiation. Trump’s posts are mainly for domestic media and politics.

US military aircraft, including drones and crewed surveillance planes, have spent more than 150 hours circling Cuba since February 4, as Trump ramps up pressure on the Communist government, according to flight-position data analyzed by the Wall Street Journal. More than 20 surveillance flights have been tracked, generally launching from a naval air station in Jacksonville, Florida. The flights come amid Trump's threat of a 'friendly takeover' of the country and the recent indictment of former Cuban President Raúl Castro.

Despite the current US occupation of Venezuela, some people in Caracas are still determined to express their outrage over what Trump and Rubio are doing to their nation as well as the threats to Cuba and other Latin American nations. Viva Cuba! Viva Venezuela!

New Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger (former CIA officer and a Democrat) vetoed bills to allow state workers to collectively bargain, to legalize marijuana, and to regulate prescription drug prices. The Democratic Party can't be counted on.

The US warned Japan that the delivery of 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles could be delayed for up to two years after US stockpiles were depleted during the Iran-Iraq War.
SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis Donovan visited the Venezuelan capital, Caracas. Will the Pentagon launch their attack on Cuba in part from Venezuela? That would be a humiliation for all of Latin America and indeed a warning of more to come. Let's hope and pray it does not happen. We need to get out on the streets before Cuba might be invaded rather than just after.

Wanna know why Basque, Spain police beat Gaza flotilla torture survivors? These are the same cops who've taken €1.6M in Israeli security contracts, trained by former Mossad agents, and equipped with Israeli surveillance tech. It's called 'Greater Isra-hell.'
Israel killed this child today in an airstrike on her family's tent in the southern Gaza Strip. Why?

Ukraine has been embroiled in a diplomatic crisis in West Africa since 2024. Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger jointly wrote to the UN Security Council in August of that year, demanding “appropriate measures” against Kiev for its “subversive actions,” which “constitute the involvement of foreign state sponsors in the expansion of terrorism in the region.” Since that time the Ukraine Nazi-infused military has also been training French-backed terrorists in use of offensive drone warfare. France long ripped off Mali of its gold, oil and lithium resources, giving little back in return. Since being kicked out of the region in recent years France has been trying to regain control of Mali. Thus Paris has secured the services of Kiev to assist in the terror operation. Kiev, losing US financial support for its war on Russia, is now selling its services to other NATO nations.

Kit Klarenberg: On May 13th, French outlet RTL published an explosive report, entirely unremarked upon by English language media. It exposed how Ukrainian military and intelligence units are covertly operating in Mali on France’s behalf, in coordination with both ethnic Tuareg rebels and Al Qaeda-linked forces determined to crush the country’s revolutionary government. Ukrainian militancy, long-encouraged by the CIA and MI6, has now decisively developed into an international mafia-like threat.
RT reports: Foreign journalists toured the site of the deadly Ukrainian drone attack on a college dorm in Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic. Ukraine targeted a teacher training school dormitory in the town of Starobelsk with several waves of UAVs on Friday, killing 21+ people, mostly teenage girls, and injuring 60 others. Russian Foreign Ministry arranged a trip to Starobelsk on Sunday for more than 50 foreign journalists from 19 countries: Austria, Brazil, UK, Hungary, Venezuela, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Qatar, China, Cuba, Lebanon, UAE, Pakistan, the US, Turkey, Finland, and France, spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. BBC and CNN rejected an invitation to visit the site of the attack, while Japan’s government explicitly banned Japanese reporters from making the trip.

Tucker Carlson: "Putin did not start this war." Tucker is exactly correct. This was not, "An unprovoked invasion." The truth is that in 2001, Putin asked the Bush Administration. "I would like to join NATO. I would like to join the defensive alliance that exists to keep me from moving West into Western Europe." Bush said No because NATO always planned a war on Russia. Putin says the current crisis in Ukraine is a direct result of years of aggressive NATO policies. Professor Jeffrey Sachs: "The Casus Belli of the Ukraine war is NATO enlargement, US directed coup, CIA operations all over Ukraine. Russia is not going to stop fighting as long as NATO enlargement is on the table. This is the basic reason why we are at war."

Yemen military: "American injustice continues even outside Islamic countries, as is happening in Cuba — blockade and oppression. Why all this oppression from America?"
Telegraph: The UK and France refused to spend 0.25% of NATO countries' GDP on Ukraine. Spain, Italy and Canada also blocked this idea during the discussions. Any proposals adopted by NATO require unanimous support from all the capitals of the participating countries. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is pushing the spending increase.

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic visits China and EU unelected leaders not happy about such frisky moves. Not supposed to leave the ranch without permission. President Xi emphasized that Serbia is the first European country to have built a community with a shared future in the new era with China, fully reflecting the special and high-level nature of bilateral relations. As ironclad friends, China supports Serbia in safeguarding its national interests and social stability, and in pursuing a successful development path suited to its own conditions.