Larry C. Johnson | There will be no more negotiations between the US and Iran until the US lifts its naval blockade and complies with the 10-points Iran delivered two weeks ago. | Well, that didn’t take too long. Friday’s false optimism about an imminent peace deal with Iran following Donald Trump’s claims that Iran had agreed to surrender to the US demands, fed wild swing to the positive side in the US stock market and crashed oil prices. Once again, it turns out that Trump was merely manipulating the financial and commodity markets and benefiting wealthy insiders.

■ Iran Says It Won’t Return to U.S. Talks as Ceasefire Nears End (Athens Times)
■ Trump renews threats to ‘knock out’ Iran’s power plants, bridges if final deal fails (The Cradle)
■ US conduct shows ‘bad faith’, lack of seriousness in diplomacy (Press TV)

The assistance comes as the South Asian nation faces pressure to repay $3.5 billion to the UAE | Saudi Arabia has pledged $3 billion in financial aid to Pakistan, the South Asian country’s finance minister has said. ● Pakistani Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb announced on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia has committed $3 billion in additional deposits, with disbursement expected in the coming week. He is currently in Washington attending the World Bank–IMF Spring Meetings 2026. ● Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will head to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for an official visit.

✅ Saudi Arabia Didn’t Bail Pakistan Out For Nothing This Time (Andrew Korybko)
■ Leaked Documents Reveal Details of the Secret Saudi Arabia–Pakistan Mutual Defense Pact (04/14/26)

Murtaza Hussain | The details of the Pakistan–Saudi Arabia defense agreement have never been made public or even reviewed by Pakistan’s parliament. They are being reported here for the first time based on an archive of classified documents about the pact obtained by Drop Site. | On Saturday, as Pakistan was in the middle of mediating hard-won ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran, Saudi Arabia made a sudden revelation that appeared to undermine Pakistan’s status as a neutral host. In a statement posted on X, the Saudi Ministry of Defense announced “the arrival of a military force from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan at King Abdulaziz Air Base in the Eastern Sector,” adding that the force would include a contingent of military aircraft and would improve “operational readiness between the armed forces of the two countries.” ■ Those deployments are the result of a defense pact signed last year between Riyadh and Islamabad that has now been activated amid an ongoing regional war and numerous Iranian attacks against military and energy targets in Saudi Arabia. ■ Ceasefire talks collapsed over the weekend in Pakistan, with the American delegation leaving without an agreement. But Pakistan is far from out of the picture; secret documents obtained by Drop Site News reveal the extent to which Pakistan is committed by treaty to potentially become a participant in the war it was attempting to mediate.

■ Saudi Arabia Urges US Back to Iran Talks as Other Oil Routes Face Risk (Sputnik)

■ Saudi Arabia pledges $3 billion in aid to Pakistan (RT)

Simplicius | As expected the Iran-US talks in Pakistan have led to a deadlock—or, in other words, failed. | 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. ■ First, it had come out that the US had been begging Pakistan to intervene and force Iran into talks for weeks. Then when Iran finally agreed, it had come out that the US was involved in the drafting of the Pakistani announcement which specifically stated that Lebanon was to be included in the ceasefire. But as soon as the ceasefire took effect, and Israel brazenly ignored the new restrictions, the US immediately changed its tune and claimed that the Iranian side had “misunderstood” the agreement, and that Lebanon was never part of the equation.

■ Trump Says US Military Will Stay Near Iran and Is Ready for ‘Next Conquest’ (Antiwar)
■ Iran’s FM Stresses Deep Distrust in US (Fars News)
■ Vance and Iranian officials arrive in Islamabad for high-stakes talks (RT)
■ LIVE UPDATES: US–Iran Peace Talks in Pakistan (Sputnik)
✅ Pentagon: Ceasefire with Iran is Just a Pause (Elena Panina

Elena Panina | Iran to America: First, fulfill our conditions, then negotiations | "Two of the measures mutually agreed upon by the parties remain to be implemented: a ceasefire in Lebanon and the unblocking of Iran's assets before the start of negotiations. These two issues must be fulfilled before the negotiations begin," stated Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

❖ It appears the Trump administration has failed to convince the Iranian authorities. While the White House could theoretically fulfill the first condition on its own, the second is in the hands of Israel, which is not inclined to compromise on Lebanon.

The already difficult task of US Vice President J.D. Vance, head of the US negotiating team, is becoming even more difficult. The Iranian delegation is not yet planning to move to Islamabad without fulfilling its previously agreed-upon obligations.

Incidentally, Ghalibaf's position paints a somewhat different picture of the transition to a ceasefire. It turns out the Americans made all sorts of promises to the Iranians just to persuade them to agree to a ceasefire. And then, as usual, they reneged on their commitments. But it didn't work out that way. The Strait of Hormuz remains closed to ships from states unfriendly to Iran. And that was the main condition of Trump's ultimatum.

❖ True, American bases in the Middle East, US allies in the region, and Israel are not under attack. Moreover, Tel Aviv has been given the opportunity to put an end to Hezbollah and expand its territory at the expense of southern Lebanon.

We'll see what the further diplomatic tug-of-war between Iran and the US leads to. (Translation + Copyread)

■ Tehran has rejected a US ceasefire proposal, offering a 10‑clause plan that calls for a permanent end to the war (RT)
■ Every "Deal" is Dead. The Deadlines are Set. Iran told the world to Go Fuck Itself (Hal Turner)

✅ The Iranians responded to Trump’s ceasefire proposals with 10 conditions (Alexander Dugin) | Translation | The Iranians responded to Trump’s ceasefire proposals with 10 conditions. These boil down to roughly the same crude offer that Trump himself made to them. The Iranians are telling the U.S. to get out of the Middle East and stay out of their way. As for the Israelis, they are being told to get out of Palestine as quickly as possible. And not to get in their way either. That’s the kind of ceasefire we’re talking about. The Iranians are demonstrating realism, sobriety, and a clear understanding of the nature of the force they are dealing with.

Moon of Alabama | The U.S., and Donald Trump, are the big losers in this. The unrestricted support for Israel is coming at an ever increasing price. The Gulf countries are - slowly, slowly - moving away from it. | China, which is allied with Pakistan, will be happy about the deal. So will be Iran.. [But] India will be concerned about the deal. A lot of the oil it purchases is coming from Saudi Arabia. With a Saudi-Pakistani alliance in place any conflict with Pakistan will likely cause it additional difficulties with the purchase of energy.

Moon of Alabama | Despite plenty of attempts to do better, the Trump administration had so far failed to achieve any foreign policy victory. | The ceasefire in Gaza which Trump imposed in January was soon sabotaged by the radicals in Netanyahoo's cabinet. The negotiations about peace in Ukraine are stuck around a yet be agreed upon ceasefire which does not solve the root problem. The war on Yemen, on Israel's behalf, was lost militarily. Iran, despite threats, has not moved on inch from its insistence on nuclear sovereignty. The tariff rage waged against China and everyone else is threatening to derail the U.S. economy. All this makes today's win a special moment.

Pakistan has launched a large-scale military operation in response to India's strikes, Geo News reported, citing security sources. | According to the report, multiple strategic targets across India are being engaged as part of the operation. It said that in the operation's initial phase, a BrahMos missile storage facility in the city of Beas in the Indian state of Punjab was destroyed. Earlier, the channel reported citing Pakistani Armed Forces spokesman Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry that India fired missiles at three Pakistani air bases. Reuters earlier reported that four explosions were heard in the Indian city of Amritsar in the state of Punjab.

■ Timeline: How nuclear neighbors India and Pakistan moved a step closer to war (ABC News)
■ India-Pakistan Live: Pakistan launches military operation against India (Al Jazeera)
■ India Fires Missiles at Three Pakistani Air Bases (Sputnik)

In addition, passenger aircraft flying in Pakistani airspace are being rerouted to land at Karachi Airport, Geo TV reported | Pakistan's Air Defense Corps downed two French-made Rafale fighter jets of the Indian Air Force, SAMAA TV reported, citing sources in the Islamic republic's security services. ● In addition, passenger aircraft flying in Pakistani airspace are being rerouted to land at Karachi Airport, Geo TV reported, referencing a statement from Pakistan's civil aviation authority. Flights from Islamabad, Lahore, Sialkot, and several other cities are en route to Karachi. ● Earlier, the Indian army stated that the Pakistani side had opened artillery fire along the Line of Control. Reports of exchanges of fire in various sectors of the border are coming in.

■ ‘Pakistan will now respond’ (TRT World)
■ India strikes, Pakistan retaliates: What do we know so far? (TRT World)
■ India strikes ‘terrorist targets’ in Pakistan (RT)
■ India Conducts 'Operation Sindoor' in Pakistan (Sputnik)

Pakistan claims India planning to attack within 36 hours as tension between nuclear-armed neighbors soars | A week after 26 people were killed in a terrorist attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir, concern was mounting over a possible military clash between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan. Pakistan's government claimed late Tuesday night that it had "credible intelligence" that India was planning to take military action within hours in retaliation for the April 22 terrorist attack, which Indian officials blame on Pakistani-backed militants.

💬 "Pakistan has credible intelligence that India intends carrying out military action against Pakistan in the next 24-36 hours on the pretext of concocted and baseless allegations of involvement in the Pahalgam incident," Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said at a midnight news conference.

The remarks came hours after Indian media reported that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given the country's armed forces "complete operational freedom to decide on the mode, targets and timing of our response to the terror attack."

■ Pakistan claims 'credible intelligence' India is planning an imminent military strike (BBC)

India [has] closed all the flow gates at four (4) separate Dams along the Indus River, that feed fresh water into Pakistan. | Yesterday, in response to a terrorist attack in Kashmir which killed 26 India (Hindu) Tourists, India blamed Pakistan and took aggressive actions against Pakistan. Among the actions taken by India was "suspension" of the Indus River Water Treaty, which has been in-place since 1960. The Indus River flows from the Himalaya Mountains southwestward through northern India. It then crosses into Pakistan and flows due south through all of Pakistan, emptying into the Arabian Sea. The River provides Pakistan with fresh water for its people.

■ Pakistan did ‘dirty work’ for the West in supporting terrorists (RT)
■ India urges its citizens in Pakistan to return home (Al Jazeera)
■ India and Pakistan ramp up tit-for-tat spat (Associated Press)
✅ The Pahalgam Terrorist Attack (Andrew Korybko)

Proper conditions will be created for the migrant laborers from the South Asian country, the Belarusian president has said | Belarus will soon accept up to 150,000 migrant workers from Pakistan, the Eastern European country’s president, Alexander Lukashenko, has said. Lukashenko made the announcement after a meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Minsk on Friday. ● The Belarusian leader said that Sharif and him had agreed that “in the near future [Pakistani] specialists in various fields will be sent [to Belarus]; the fields of our choosing. The leadership of Pakistan will help us select such people.”

A proposal forwarded by Russia’s foreign ministry for signing of a strategic partnership agreement with Iran was approved by the president of the Russian Federation. | Vladimir Putin expressed his approval through a decree that was issued on Wednesday. The decree stated that signing of such an agreement would be “expedient,” without specifying the timing of its expected conclusion. The development came a day after Russia’s Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu visited the Iranian capital Tehran, meeting with senior Iranian officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian. Meeting with the chief executive, Shoigu emphasized that Putin had asked him to convey the message to the Iranian officials that Russia’s position on cooperation with Iran on regional issues had not changed.

■ Russian-Pakistani Relations Are Surprisingly Taking On Strategic Dimensions (Andrew Korybko's Newsletter)

Muslims in Iran and many other countries are celebrating Eid al-Fitr at the conclusion of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, after the new moon of the lunar month of Shawwal was sighted the previous night. | Naqareh drums were played at the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS), the eighth Shia Imam, in Iran's northeastern city of Mashhad on Wednesday morning, and Muslim worshippers who had fasted for a month took part in Eid prayers there and across the country early in the morning of the occasion of the festive event, which marks the end of Ramadan – the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. ● In the capital, Tehran, people gathered at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla (Congregational Prayers Site) to perform Eid al-Fitr prayers. Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei led the prayers.

■ Palestinians commemorate Eid al-Fitr amid oppression, genocide (Al Mayadeen)

Mike Whitney | Recent developments suggest that Israel’s full-scale ground offensive in Rafah could take place at any time. [...] Once the ground forces are deployed, the Palestinians will be forced to flee to the Egyptian border where they will seek refuge from the Israeli onslaught. | [...] The expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza is not aimed at quashing terrorism but at changing the demographic makeup of the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. The fact is that one cannot preserve a Jewish-majority state without a clear Jewish majority. By annexing the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank, Israel will dramatically increase the number of Arabs within its borders putting that core principle at risk. [...] Clearly, what Israel wants is a Palestine without the Palestinians, and in the last six months they have done everything in their power to achieve just that. Now that the goal is within their grasp, they will do anything –even jeopardize relations with their most important ally– to reach their objective. [...] Everything from the clearing of land in the Sinai desert to the issuance of humongous loans to Egypt, to the secret meetings of Intel chiefs in Doha (CIA, Mossad, Egypt’s General Intelligence) to the blustery pronouncements of Israeli officials, to the frenetic leapfrogging of Anthony Blinken from Jedda to Jerusalem to Doha to Cairo and back again, suggests that we are about to begin the final phase of Israel’s malignant ethnic cleansing operation.

Palestinians, forcibly evacuated from Al-Shifa Hospital after the Israeli army's attacks, said the people left behind in the hospital were killed or detained by Israeli forces. | The Israeli army, which has been continuing its attacks on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, raided the Al-Shifa Hospital, located in the north of Gaza and the largest health center in the region, on March 18. Israeli forces continued the siege of the hospital, which they had previously attacked on the grounds that it was the "command center of Hamas."

Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said it is the sovereign decision of Pakistani government to move forward on Pakistan and Iran gas pipeline project. | She expressed these words while responding to the queries of the media persons regarding yesterday’s US congressional hearing, at her weekly news briefing in Islamabad today. She made it clear that at this point, there is no room for any discussion or waiver from any third party for the construction of the pipeline inside Pakistan’s territory. She said Pakistan has also conveyed to the US authorities the importance of this project for its energy security.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan army, said in a statement that 12 people, including 10 security forces and law enforcement agencies personnel, were killed and 39 others were injured in these attacks that took place mostly in the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwest Balochistan provinces. | "With the deployment of 137,000 army personnel and civil armed forces at approximately 6,000 selected most sensitive polling stations and over 7,800 quick response force teams, a safe and secure environment for the public was ensured," said the ISPR. During various operations, five terrorists were also killed, it added.

Prosecutors have argued that the politician mishandled a classified cable sent to Islamabad by the country’s ambassador to the US | A Pakistani court has sentenced former prime minister Imran Khan to ten years behind bars. He has been charged with leaking state secrets, according to the spokesman for the politician’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI). ● The charges relate to the so-called cipher, a classified cable sent to Islamabad by the Pakistani ambassador to Washington in 2022, shortly after the start of the Ukraine conflict. The document allegedly suggested that the US wanted to remove Khan over his neutrality regarding the hostilities. ● The ex-Pakistani PM called the cipher case on Tuesday “false,” adding that it “is being completed in violation of constitutional requirements and legal regulations.” “This is not a trial but a fixed match outcome of which was predetermined,” he added.court has sentenced former prime minister Imran Khan to ten years behind bars. He has been charged with leaking state secrets, according to the spokesman for the politician’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI).

Islamabad has accused Tehran of ignoring “serious concerns” over militants operating from its territory | Pakistan has said it launched a series of airstrikes on “terrorist hideouts” in southern Iran, claiming the “precision” operation neutralized several militants. The attack comes after Tehran acknowledged its own raids on another terrorist group based in Pakistan. ● Meanwhile, Iranian officials, cited by local media, said that explosions in the Sistan-o-Balochistan province had killed seven non-Iranian nationals, including three women and four children. Tehran has also demanded an “immediate explanation” from Pakistan about the strikes, Iranian broadcaster Press TV reported, citing an unnamed informed source.

■ Iran condemns Pakistan’s border attack, summons Pakistani chargé d'affaires (PressTV)
■ Pakistan Launches Strikes on Iran's Saravan Region, Sistan, Balochistan Provinces - Reports (Sputnik News)
■ Pakistan attacks ‘terrorist hideouts’ in Iran (Al Jazeera)(Video)
■ India reacts to escalation between Iran and Pakistan (RT.com)

The Creech 14 | May 10, 2009 ("CreechAFB") | The armed drones, MQ-1 Predators and MQ-9 Reapers: Sanitized Remote-Control Death. | In 2009 President Barack Obama dramatically escalated the CIA’s secret air war in Pakistan and the U.S. military occupation of Afghanistan. Relying heavily on unmanned drones for surveillance and air strikes, armed drones and drone-assisted gunships have raised death and destruction to a new level. Soaring civilian casualties demand a public discussion of the legality and morality of drone warfare. ● A drone is a remote-control spy plane that can also launch bombs to kill people. Variously called an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), Unmanned Air System (UAS) or Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA), today the focus is on the Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV). As drone technology races toward robotic weaponry, the UCAV is the lethal multi-mission drone of future warfare.

■ Another war crime in Afghanistan: US massacres nine children in air strike (03/05/11)

Moon of Alabama | The U.S. government under Joe Biden had developed plans to ethnically cleanse Gaza by moving all of its 2.3 million people into Egypt. The NSC spokesperson had confirmed that plan (US 'actively working' to establish safe corridor for Gaza civilians: White House ) This all was based on a plan originally developed by radical Zionist within the government of Israel: Leaked: Israeli plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza

■ New Document Leak on Plan to Expel Gaza Population (Joe Lauria)

Washington took issue with the PM’s neutral stance on Russia’s military operation in Ukraine | “People here and in Europe are quite concerned about why Pakistan is taking such an aggressively neutral position” on Ukraine, US Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu warns his Pakistani counterpart in the cable, blaming the PM alone for the offending policy. ● While Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan attempts to correct the American, pointing out that Pakistan’s position on Ukraine is shared across the government, Lu counters that it is the PM’s behavior that is the problem, but that “if the no-confidence vote against the Prime Minister succeeds, all will be forgiven in Washington.” “Otherwise, I think it will be tough going ahead,” he threatens, adding that Europe will follow the US’ lead in the “isolation of the prime minister.”

Torrential rains and raging floods have swept away entire villages. Train carrying 394 tons of aid leaves from Ankara: Turkiye's second "Kindness Train" set off for Pakistan with aid for the victims of catastrophic floods which have submerged one-third of the South Asian country. ● The train, which left the capital Ankara on Thursday, is carrying 394 tons of disaster relief materials. ● This shipment is being coordinated by the state-run Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD). ● The sendoff ceremony was attended by AFAD President Yunus Sezer and Pakistan's Ambassador to Ankara Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi. ● Nearly 1,200 people have lost their lives, while more than a million houses have been destroyed or damaged since mid-June, according to Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority.

Watch | Horrifying images and videos from Pakistan's 'monsoon on steroids' (08/30/22)

To assist the tens of millions of people devastated by the unrelenting "monsoon on steroids" that have drowned a third of the country and killed more than 1,100 people, aid activities have been stepped up throughout the inundated nation of Pakistan. ● In an emergency appeal on Tuesday, the UN has requested $160 million to assist Pakistan in dealing with floods that have killed more than 1,100 people, affected 33 million people, and devastated homes, businesses, infrastructure, and agriculture. ● Hundreds of thousands of women, children, and men, according to Pakistan's foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, were living outside without access to food, clean water, shelter, or even the most basic medical treatment.

- 1350 people killed
- 50M people displaced
- 900K livestock deaths
- 1M houses washed away
- 40+ reservoirs breached
- 220+ bridges collapsed
- 90% cropped damaged
- $10B loss to economy
- 1/3 country underwater

As the Israeli aggression on the besieged Gaza Strip continues, Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk expressed his full support for Tel Aviv, Israeli media reported on Sunday. 💬 “As a Ukrainian whose country is under a very brutal attack by its neighbor, I feel great sympathy towards the Israeli public,” Korniychuk said in a statement. “Attacks on women and children are reprehensible,” Korniychuk added. “Terrorism and malicious attacks against civilians are the daily reality of Israelis and Ukrainians and this appalling threat must be stopped immediately.”

Gaza Update: death toll in Israeli aggression reaches 43 Palestinians – many children
Gaza this Evening: Israeli Aggression and Palestinian Resistance (PHOTOS)
31 martyrs, including 6 children, in Israeli continued aggression on the Gaza Strip (08/08/22)

At least eight people have been killed and three others wounded in the latest assassination drone strike carried out by the US forces in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nangarhar. ● Afghan border police spokesman, Edris Mohmand, identified the victims as Taliban militants, adding that the aerial assault took place in the Lal Pur district of the province on Sunday morning. The Taliban have made no comments on the incident yet. The US-led foreign forces in Afghanistan have recently increased their air raids against civilian areas. The United States carries out targeted killings through drone strikes in Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Somalia.