Updates: Iran War and the ‘Perspectives’ Podcast

Note on the Iran War, and announcement that ‘Perspectives’ now has a podcast that you can follow on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, Audible, etc.

US Army’s Debacle in the Iranian Desert

Trump’s Gamble. On Easter Weekend, 4–5 April, US Special Forces suffered a debacle near the nuclear site in Isfahan. Trump’s social media meltdown was because the plan to seize Iran’s enriched uranium failed. The “pilot rescue” story is false. Read the essay at my website.

A Sunni Community Thrives in Shia Iran

Shivan Mahendrarajah’s book, The Sufi Saint of Jam: History, Religion, and Politics of a Sunni Shrine in Shi‘i Iran (Cambridge University Press, 2021) explores the history, religion, politics, and architecture of Ahmad-i-Jam’s shrine, located in eastern Iran. Sunni shrine and community have thrived for over 900 years. This is of particular relevance given prevailing assumptions about Iran’s alleged sectarian and intolerant Shi‘i theocracy.

US Surrender at Versailles

On 17 June 2026, Trump signed the US-Iran MOU at Versailles, France, saying, “this was not easy.” The symbolism of signing an “unconditional surrender” at Versailles was evidently lost on the illiterates at the White House. Israelis, to complete the World War I parallel, supplied the anti-Versailles slogan of Nazism by describing the agreement as a “stab in the back.”