Dear Hammad Azhar bhai, you are the only economy expert from PTI at the moment who can answer questions about PTI’s economic policy. So I had a clip of PTI’s chairman FBR. Can you tell me why did Shah Mahmood take 45 MNAs to FBR office and Nasrullah Dreshak threaten him?

Very interesting piece from eminent historian of the Middle East Eugene Rogan: Lessons from history for the modern Middle East on.ft.com/3UJZeK7

جانئیے کہ کیسے نگراں حکومت نے ملک میں وافر مقدار میں گندم موجود ہونے کے باوجود لاکھوں ٹن گندم درآمد کرنے کی اجازت دے کر کسانوں کو بے حال کیا۔۔۔زبانی کلامی نہیں دستاویزات کے روشنی میں جانئیے کہ کب کیا ہوا اور ذمہ دار کون؟ ⁦Shahbaz Rana⁩ ⁦Kamran Yousaf

NEW: What's known as Khamenei's nuclear fatwa—rejecting WMDs—has long been questioned.

Amid concern of #Israeli attack, IRGC has hinted at possible shift in 'nuclear doctrine'. Rare Amwaj.media inside look from Qom (Iran's Vatican) on the nuclear fatwa: amwaj.media/article/inside…

As always, Arash Azizi آرش عزیزی making salient points re: #Iran 's foreign policy and the triumph of ideology under Khamenei and IRGC.

Question is, given the obvious failures, whether anything changes following the SL's death. theatlantic.com/international/…

“Ending the occupation is the quickest way for Israel to gain not just diplomatic agreements with Middle East’s authoritarians but genuine peace with the region’s population.”

🖊️ Arash Azizi آرش عزیزی
newstatesman.com/international-…

U.S. media and policymakers have reduced Iraq “to a one-dimensional relationship with Iran,” writes Hamzeh Hadad | حمزة حداد in Democracy in Exile. In fact, “Iraq is not without its own leverage and authority over Iran,” as evidenced by their complex religious ties. dawnmena.org/demystifying-t…

BREAKING: This brilliant speech yesterday by a Columbia professor on the cowardice of the university administration in calling in police to arrest students will be cited throughout history -– and will inspire generations of students for decades to come.

Columbia still on…

Where to begin? 1. I wrote the 1st profile of this group on Hizballah Cavalcade back in the day-Bahraini militants became an obsession. Followed them ever since. 2. Does group actually have said capability?Not really. 3. Is it closely linked with Iraq's Kata'ib Hizballah? You bet

All those who participated in, amplified, celebrated or otherwise approved of this politics of witch hunting, today owe an apology to their victims.

My piece in Dawn today about the end of the LNG case.
dawn.com/news/1830916

Iran’s footprint in South Asia isn’t as deep as China’s or Russia’s, but that may be changing. And two recent geopolitical events could further bolster Tehran’s prospects in the region.
This week’s South Asia Brief for ⁦Foreign Policy⁩: foreignpolicy.com/2024/05/01/ira…

The high levels of insecurity in the MENA in recent times “reinforce Russia’s message to Arab governments and societies that the United States is an irresponsible and ineffective guarantor of stability in this part of the world”, writes Giorgio Cafiero. stimson.org/2024/russia-be…

Read Washington Institute’s Michael Knights CTC at West Point article “Assessing the Houthi War Effort Since October 2023,” referencing insights from Navanti Group’s Basha باشا on #Yemen #Houthis reserve training and mobilization.
ctc.westpoint.edu/assessing-the-…

سپریم کورٹ سے سیاسی مسائل کے حل کی طلب nawaiwaqt.com.pk/02-May-2024/17…

13 years ago, Osama Bin Ladin was killed. The fact that there will likely be little to no mention in the U.S. media today, illustrates how far al-Qaeda has fallen in relevancy to day-to-day life of Americans.

'Is the Islamic Republic a rational and potentially pragmatic actor, like most other nation-states, or is it an ideologically motivated actor, bent on pursuing mayhem in support of its goals?' Arash Azizi آرش عزیزی writes: theatlantic.com/international/…

'Until yesterday, Republicans were the harshest critics of lack of free speech on campus. Now they want to stamp it out. Hypocrisy is too mild a word to capture such a switch'. Me on why adults, not students, are America's problem. ft.com/content/198902…

'The government can’t silence speakers because of their beliefs, even—and perhaps especially—if those beliefs are unpopular or cause offense.' theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

Just finished the best 45 minute conversation on the US, Iran, and Israel with former Israeli Mossad analyst Sima Shine and Carnegie's own Karim Sadjadpour. Tune in here. carnegieendowment.org/2024/05/01/isr…

NEW: 21 months after pledging his “final retirement” from Iraqi politics, Muqtada Al-Sadr is rebranding the Sadrist Movement as the National Shiite Movement.

Full story on Amwaj.media 👇

amwaj.media/media-monitor/… #Iraq 🇮🇶