Kragdar
@kragdar.bsky.social
Lawyer & observer of the Middle East / West Asia. فارسی بلدم; biraz Azərbaycanca.
Pinned
Does anyone have a blocklist for dog pfps
Reposted by Kragdar
MERIP has a long, storied history in independent media and Middle East Studies. When I took charge nearly two years ago, the org had made some shrewd decisions to try and wade through a challenging environment of the late-teens/early 2020s. We closed the DC office in 2017 and went virtual. 1/
I really can't emphasize enough that this is one of the most important periodicals/projects and it deserves far more support than it gets.
SUPPORT MERIP: We rely on the support of our readers to publish all of our content without paywalls. If you value independent research and analysis on the Middle East, please consider a donation today!
February 8, 2026 at 1:34 AM
MERIP has a long, storied history in independent media and Middle East Studies. When I took charge nearly two years ago, the org had made some shrewd decisions to try and wade through a challenging environment of the late-teens/early 2020s. We closed the DC office in 2017 and went virtual. 1/
From years of observation, my opinion of Cameron and his ilk is that the only real issue they have with the Islamic Republic is that they’re not the ones in charge of repression and killing.
We really are sleeping through a pre-Iraq-war moment. Here, the head of a newish pro-war group Iranan-American group, calls for the prosecution of anti-Trump, anti-war Iranians here and then in a new Iran. Diaspora politics can get stupid and ugly, but i hope this really clarifies the moment.
February 7, 2026 at 11:06 PM
From years of observation, my opinion of Cameron and his ilk is that the only real issue they have with the Islamic Republic is that they’re not the ones in charge of repression and killing.
Reposted by Kragdar
My latest: Without anti-authoritarianism, 'anti-imperialism' is just conservatism with left-wing aesthetics
www.hauntologies.net/p/iranian-pr...
www.hauntologies.net/p/iranian-pr...
Iranian protesters don't owe us an explanation
Without anti-authoritarianism, 'anti-imperialism' is just conservatism with left-wing aesthetics
www.hauntologies.net
February 7, 2026 at 4:01 PM
My latest: Without anti-authoritarianism, 'anti-imperialism' is just conservatism with left-wing aesthetics
www.hauntologies.net/p/iranian-pr...
www.hauntologies.net/p/iranian-pr...
Reposted by Kragdar
Most of the time whether implicitly or explicitly what is being said is that there was a ceasefire for Israeli Jews.
February 7, 2026 at 7:28 PM
Most of the time whether implicitly or explicitly what is being said is that there was a ceasefire for Israeli Jews.
Reposted by Kragdar
Yeah it is funny to see a bunch of people say there was a ceasefire on Oct 6th 2023 when a 21st century record number of Palestinians had already been killed by the army and the settlers in the oPt from January 1st 2023 to that day.
Similarly, it's depressing how many people (liberals mostly with Gaza and certain leftists with Ukraine) pretend to not realize occupation is not a meaningful peace.
The minute details are obviously significantly different but a core similarity between UKR and Palestine is that neither can actually reach a political solution because in each case their corresponding belligerent has an outwardly eliminiationist goal and has shown that it won't deviate from it.
February 7, 2026 at 7:27 PM
Yeah it is funny to see a bunch of people say there was a ceasefire on Oct 6th 2023 when a 21st century record number of Palestinians had already been killed by the army and the settlers in the oPt from January 1st 2023 to that day.
Reposted by Kragdar
www.theatlantic.com/internationa... a beautiful must read if you care about humanity and love movies
(Gift article)
Thank you Arash Azizi for writing this and @theatlantic.com for publishing it
(Gift article)
Thank you Arash Azizi for writing this and @theatlantic.com for publishing it
What Iran’s Dead Loved and Fought For
A young woman’s online diaries about cinema and literature have become her epitaph.
www.theatlantic.com
February 7, 2026 at 5:00 AM
www.theatlantic.com/internationa... a beautiful must read if you care about humanity and love movies
(Gift article)
Thank you Arash Azizi for writing this and @theatlantic.com for publishing it
(Gift article)
Thank you Arash Azizi for writing this and @theatlantic.com for publishing it
The Quran itself also states explicitly throughout that the Prophet’s message is a continuation of Moses’s. It’s part of the black letter doctrine of the faith. I guess John Podhoretz is just now learning about Islam.
February 7, 2026 at 12:31 AM
The Quran itself also states explicitly throughout that the Prophet’s message is a continuation of Moses’s. It’s part of the black letter doctrine of the faith. I guess John Podhoretz is just now learning about Islam.
Reposted by Kragdar
Bluesky is getting absolutely roasted on Twitter for their treatment of Palestinians which is really ruining their snarky meme campaign to get people over here and couldn’t happen to a worse company
February 6, 2026 at 5:52 PM
Bluesky is getting absolutely roasted on Twitter for their treatment of Palestinians which is really ruining their snarky meme campaign to get people over here and couldn’t happen to a worse company
Also Joe, Kamala and their staff knew this the entire time. As in, they knew from October 2023 that what they were doing was not popular. A WH press staffer told me in fall 2023 that they personally believed Netanyahu was genocidal.
I cannot begin to express how happy I am that everyone, including the people I hate viscerally, now agree with me specifically
February 6, 2026 at 5:41 PM
Also Joe, Kamala and their staff knew this the entire time. As in, they knew from October 2023 that what they were doing was not popular. A WH press staffer told me in fall 2023 that they personally believed Netanyahu was genocidal.
“It would not be too cynical to think that the US doesn’t really care about the Iranian people. It is just using the moment of the regime’s weakness to extract the concessions for its own and Israel’s security that it has long sought.”
The US and Iran conclude the first day of talks to avoid a war neither of them really wants, but both of them are heading toward open.substack.com/pub/borzou/p...
Iran, US Head Toward War They Don’t Want
First round of talks in Oman are over, with neither side willing to give ground.
open.substack.com
February 6, 2026 at 4:53 PM
“It would not be too cynical to think that the US doesn’t really care about the Iranian people. It is just using the moment of the regime’s weakness to extract the concessions for its own and Israel’s security that it has long sought.”
Does anyone have a blocklist for dog pfps
February 6, 2026 at 5:37 AM
Does anyone have a blocklist for dog pfps
Reposted by Kragdar
the voters of a rich suburban district outside New York City just voted for a Sanders/AOC-endorsed labor organizer who wants to abolish ICE
February 6, 2026 at 3:52 AM
the voters of a rich suburban district outside New York City just voted for a Sanders/AOC-endorsed labor organizer who wants to abolish ICE
Reposted by Kragdar
Italian man investigated over claims he paid to shoot people during 1990s siege of Sarajevo
Italian man investigated over claims he paid to shoot people during 1990s siege of Sarajevo
Former truck driver, now 80, said to have been one of many ‘sniper tourists’ who paid Bosnian Serb soldiers to be allowed fire on city
An elderly Italian man is under investigation as part of an investigation by prosecutors in Milan into individuals who allegedly paid members of the Bosnian Serb army for trips to Sarajevo so they could kill citizens during the four-year siege of the city in the 1990s.
The 80-year-old is being investigated on charges of aggravated murder, a source close to the case told the Guardian. The man, a former truck driver from the northern Italian region of Veneto, is the first suspect to be placed under investigation since the inquiry began in November. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
February 5, 2026 at 4:38 PM
Italian man investigated over claims he paid to shoot people during 1990s siege of Sarajevo
Reposted by Kragdar
Imagine if by 2030 35 million American citizens lived in Venezuela by 2030 and 80% of our military was stationed there and also the Secretary of the Treasury and deputy defense minister lived in Caracas.
February 5, 2026 at 6:48 PM
Imagine if by 2030 35 million American citizens lived in Venezuela by 2030 and 80% of our military was stationed there and also the Secretary of the Treasury and deputy defense minister lived in Caracas.
Reposted by Kragdar
Now if that's what the Iranian people want then who am I to judge them? Their starvation would end & their oppression would stop. I guess any history lessons from the Iraq war will have to be learned the hard way by other nations because some situations must be lived through in order to be believed.
February 5, 2026 at 12:05 AM
Now if that's what the Iranian people want then who am I to judge them? Their starvation would end & their oppression would stop. I guess any history lessons from the Iraq war will have to be learned the hard way by other nations because some situations must be lived through in order to be believed.
Reposted by Kragdar
I am sure that the Iranian people, totally devastated by the West-imposed sanctions and brutally oppressed by their regime, would want to get rid of the regime at any price. This is 100% understandable and having been there myself I cannot possibly blame them.
February 5, 2026 at 12:05 AM
I am sure that the Iranian people, totally devastated by the West-imposed sanctions and brutally oppressed by their regime, would want to get rid of the regime at any price. This is 100% understandable and having been there myself I cannot possibly blame them.
Reposted by Kragdar
I wish Americans would constantly be exposed to people who don’t even speak English debating and analyzing how best to intervene in their country and turn their homes to glass. Ideally they are discussing this in Spanish or Chinese. Would really help us grow as a culture I think.
January 27, 2026 at 4:35 PM
I wish Americans would constantly be exposed to people who don’t even speak English debating and analyzing how best to intervene in their country and turn their homes to glass. Ideally they are discussing this in Spanish or Chinese. Would really help us grow as a culture I think.
Okay I know I’ve repudiated standpoint theory in the past but I am temporarily imposing a cordon sanitaire on myself because too many non-Iranians are too stupid or racist to converse intelligently right now, regardless of viewpoint.
February 5, 2026 at 12:05 AM
Okay I know I’ve repudiated standpoint theory in the past but I am temporarily imposing a cordon sanitaire on myself because too many non-Iranians are too stupid or racist to converse intelligently right now, regardless of viewpoint.
Reposted by Kragdar
من قشنگ اون روزای عراق قبل از جنگ رو یادمه تلوزیون نشون میداد مردم با فرقون پول میبرند نون بخرند. آمریکا هم حمله کرد ما شاهین شهر بودیم حتی شیرینی دادن خوزستانی هم یادمه. و بقیه اش رو هم همه میدونیم.
اگر ناراحت نشید من از تکرار اون روزا برای ایران خیلی میترسم
اگر ناراحت نشید من از تکرار اون روزا برای ایران خیلی میترسم
February 4, 2026 at 7:38 PM
من قشنگ اون روزای عراق قبل از جنگ رو یادمه تلوزیون نشون میداد مردم با فرقون پول میبرند نون بخرند. آمریکا هم حمله کرد ما شاهین شهر بودیم حتی شیرینی دادن خوزستانی هم یادمه. و بقیه اش رو هم همه میدونیم.
اگر ناراحت نشید من از تکرار اون روزا برای ایران خیلی میترسم
اگر ناراحت نشید من از تکرار اون روزا برای ایران خیلی میترسم
Reposted by Kragdar
SHUT UP!!!!!
SERIOUSLY, SHUT THE FUCK UP!
SERIOUSLY, SHUT THE FUCK UP!
Why is ICE over there I wonder?
February 4, 2026 at 9:54 PM
SHUT UP!!!!!
SERIOUSLY, SHUT THE FUCK UP!
SERIOUSLY, SHUT THE FUCK UP!
Some Iranians know these racist Europeans don’t give a single fuck about what happens to Iran. They just think the stakes are such that they can do some kind of controlled demolition, and enjoy the fruits later.
Oh I’m so glad a self-described “Nordic European“ on here is so concerned about freedom for Iranians that they’re arguing an “internal rebellion” in Iran is a good thing because it would result in fewer weapons transfers to Russia in Ukraine.
Thank you very much for your concern!
Thank you very much for your concern!
February 4, 2026 at 10:36 PM
Some Iranians know these racist Europeans don’t give a single fuck about what happens to Iran. They just think the stakes are such that they can do some kind of controlled demolition, and enjoy the fruits later.
Oh I’m so glad a self-described “Nordic European“ on here is so concerned about freedom for Iranians that they’re arguing an “internal rebellion” in Iran is a good thing because it would result in fewer weapons transfers to Russia in Ukraine.
Thank you very much for your concern!
Thank you very much for your concern!
February 4, 2026 at 10:33 PM
Oh I’m so glad a self-described “Nordic European“ on here is so concerned about freedom for Iranians that they’re arguing an “internal rebellion” in Iran is a good thing because it would result in fewer weapons transfers to Russia in Ukraine.
Thank you very much for your concern!
Thank you very much for your concern!
Reposted by Kragdar
خوشحالند دیگه
تصور بر اینکه آمریکا توان جنگ طولانی رو نداره میاد ۳ سوت آخوند رو میزنه و میره.
بعدشم پهلوی میاد انتخابات دموکراتیک و عادلانه برقرار میکنه ایران گلستان میشه
تصور بر اینکه آمریکا توان جنگ طولانی رو نداره میاد ۳ سوت آخوند رو میزنه و میره.
بعدشم پهلوی میاد انتخابات دموکراتیک و عادلانه برقرار میکنه ایران گلستان میشه
February 4, 2026 at 6:42 PM
خوشحالند دیگه
تصور بر اینکه آمریکا توان جنگ طولانی رو نداره میاد ۳ سوت آخوند رو میزنه و میره.
بعدشم پهلوی میاد انتخابات دموکراتیک و عادلانه برقرار میکنه ایران گلستان میشه
تصور بر اینکه آمریکا توان جنگ طولانی رو نداره میاد ۳ سوت آخوند رو میزنه و میره.
بعدشم پهلوی میاد انتخابات دموکراتیک و عادلانه برقرار میکنه ایران گلستان میشه
Poetic how the Epstein files basically prove the theories of Iran’s authorities at precisely the time they are least competent and most discredited.
February 4, 2026 at 6:32 PM
Poetic how the Epstein files basically prove the theories of Iran’s authorities at precisely the time they are least competent and most discredited.