🇮🇷⚔️🇮🇱🇺🇸 An Iranian senior security official in Tehran told Fars that Iran has instructed its various operational units that, should another round of large-scale war occur, including a wave of assassinations targeting officials and the killing of civilians, Iran will consider political targets associated with the US and other participants in the war, as well as their infrastructure, legitimate targets.

A senior security official in Tehran stated: Iran assumes that the U.S. and Israel will attack, and considers U.S. diplomatic gestures to be lacking credibility. This perception has intensified, especially after Rubio's speech in Athens, which gave a historical and cultural justification to the U.S.'s conflict with Iran.

Iranian leaders and political and intellectual elites have reached an unprecedented consensus that U.S. policy in the Middle East is dictated by Tel Aviv, and that Israel will not allow the U.S. to pursue any diplomatic solution, because for Trump, Israel comes first.

Iran already sees itself at war with the U.S., and considers the U.S.'s economic, naval, and air restrictions to be a continuation of military aggression that began on March 1st. Consequently, there is significant pressure from various segments of the population for decisive action to break the siege, based on the principle of self-defense.

🔗 https://t.me/farsna/469911

🇹🇷🇸🇴❌🇸🇴 — The Turkish Air Force struck positions belonging to the pro-Laftagareen Darwish force across the Bay district of the Southwest state of Somalia, killing 5 combatants.

Ongoing reports also claim Somalian federal forces deployed heavy reinforcements in the city of Baidoa in preparation for an upcoming new offensive by pro-Laftagareen forces against the city.

🇸🇴📝 — TABZ WIKI: The Somalian constitutional crisis.

Aside from the ongoing war against the Al-Qaeda-linked group Al Shabaab, the Somalian federal state is facing another crisis opposing it against its federal subject.

The constitutional crisis, as it is called, started in 2024 following an attempt by Somalian president Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud and the parliament to strengthen the federal government authority over the semi-autonomous region of Somalia by pushing for constitutional reform.

The planned reform was opposed by the regional state of Puntland and his president, Said Abdullahi Deni, and the crisis escalated further following an attempt by the federal government to stop Puntland and Ethiopia cooperation, prompting Puntland to sever ties with the federal government and become de facto independent.

The crisis then spread toward the state of Jubaland following a failed attempt by the federal government to stop the reelection of regional president Ahmed Madobe, resulting in a military clash.

As a result, in 2025 the Somali Future Council (SFC) was formed by the two rebellious regional states as political coalitions against the federal state, which would then receive the Southwestern state of Somalia under regional president Laftagareen as a new member in 2026, triggering a federal intervention against Laftagareen and ousting him from power.

📝 TDLR: The current conflict is between two visions for Somalia, one with the federal government as the central authority and one with regional actors maintaining their political and military authority, with SFC members actively trying to push federal forces out of their respective regions.

🇺🇸🇮🇱🇮🇷⚡️ — NEW: The U.S. and Israel have developed detailed plans for renewed strikes against Iran following the November 3 midterm elections, according to NYT.

The proposed operation could involve an intensive three-day campaign targeting Iran's nuclear facilities, missile and drone arsenal, and potentially energy infrastructure.

Potential targets include Iran's deeply buried Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility.

Some officials believe another offensive could cripple Iran's economy and force concessions on its nuclear program and control of the Strait of Hormuz, although negotiations have so far made little progress.

🇩🇪 Germany plans to force social media platforms to fill at least 20% of algorithmic recommendations with "diversity positive" government-regulator-approved media content.

Public broadcasters like ARD and ZDF would qualify automatically. Private outlets would need "State approval"

🔗 Martin Sellner

🇮🇷⚔️🌐 Iran threatens US data centres and global internet cables if war resumes

Iran's security council secretary, Major General Rezaei, said cables, data centres and AI facilities in the region could be targeted if war resumes, according to a Persian-language state media on October 22.

He said the US holds valuable assets in the region and that Iran would have a broader plan if fighting restarts. He said the enemy's AI facilities are among its targets.

Rezaei's latest threats widen the likely theatre from tankers and energy sites to the cables and computing capacity that link the Gulf to global networks, which sources close to the Tehran government have had on the cards since February's flare-up between the US and Iran, according to previous IntelliNews reporting.

Rezaei said the Strait of Hormuz is under Iranian control and that Iran manages it. He said Iran has targeted an average of five vessels a night over the past two or three months, which he called smugglers' vessels and linked to the commander of US Central Command and to UAE military forces. The claims are unverified.

He said the main issue in Hormuz is security. Iran could charge for security, insurance, and environmental costs, he said, though managing the strait matters far beyond revenue.

"Everyone must understand that action against Iran has a cost. If diplomacy can create that understanding, we prefer diplomacy. But if the war continues, Iran has the tools to continue to be held accountable," he said, local Khabaronline reported him as saying.

In an interview with Western blog Drop Site, he said anyone acting against Iran should know it carries a cost.

Iran prefers diplomacy if it can establish that understanding, but has the tools to keep responding if the war continues.

He said Iran did not use its full capabilities in earlier phases, raising them in line with the intensity of the war, and is ready for the next stage.

Rezaei said the war has shifted relations in Iran's favour. Gulf states are quickly redefining their ties with Tehran, he said, having concluded that the US military cannot defend even its own bases, which they had expected it to do for them.

The US has reinstated a blockade on Iranian shipping and says it has diverted 70 ships. Oman has kept to a line of Swiss neutrality as the conflict has escalated.

If the current situation continues, Rezaei said, energy markets will not calm for the next three years.

IRGC navy said on October 22 that four vessels it described as violators were hit simultaneously while transferring oil ship to ship in the northern Persian Gulf, and that they are burning. It added three more vessels struck mines west of the Strait of Hormuz on the night of October 21 and were stopped.

🔗 https://www.intellinews.com/iran-threatens-us-data-centres-and-global-internet-cables-if-war-resumes-478032/

🇪🇺🕊🇷🇺 European officials are discussing the possibility of appointing a representative who would directly negotiate with Putin on resolving the Ukrainian conflict, according to Politico.

"President Putin does not view the European Union as an authoritative organization," said Czech President Petr Pavel. "He does not want to talk to Ursula von der Leyen, he does not talk to Kaja Kallas. He has stopped communicating with other European leaders, including Emmanuel Macron." "The main problem is to decide who should take on this 'dangerous task'," the publication notes.

The Brussels community will have to accept that a deal with Putin and Trump will not be dictated by EU protocols, Politico observes. "We cannot allow two or three people to speak on behalf of the EU. The choice of who will represent the EU will be based on what will bring the greatest benefit, not on personal power struggles or narcissistic preferences," said one senior diplomat to the publication on condition of anonymity.

Who will become the negotiator for the EU, if anyone, is still unclear. However, those who are definitely not seen in this role are von der Leyen and Kallas, according to the article. Most of the diplomats interviewed by Politico mentioned the President of Finland, Alexander Stubb, and the President of the European Council, António Costa.

🔗 https://www.politico.eu/article/talking-to-vladimir-putin-europe-seeks-a-negotiator-in-chief-for-ukraine/

🇮🇷🇦🇫 Iran forcibly deports over 492,000 Afghans in 2026, UNHCR says

Iran has forcibly deported more than 492,000 Afghans since the start of 2026, the UN refugee agency said, Pajhwok Afghan News says.

The deportations are part of the wider departure from Iran of an estimated 581,600 Afghans who left Iran since the start of the year. That means 85% of this year's returnees were expelled rather than leaving by choice. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the influx was straining housing, basic services and job prospects in Afghanistan and adding to the burden on the communities receiving them. The flow follows 2025, when more than 1.9mn Afghans left Iran, roughly 1,261,600 of them through forced removal.

The agency's latest report, released on October 8, showed that 475,400 people crossed back into Afghanistan after February 28. Of these, 398,100 had been deported.

Since the 12 Day War in June 2025, Iran has deported close to 2 million Afghan migrants after it was revealed many were recruited by the Mossad to carry out acts of sabotage against the Iranian state, assembling drones from which they struck targets from within Iran itself which was revealed to have caused most of the damage in that conflict.

The crackdown on Afghan communities in Iran after the 12 Day War pretty much destroyed Mossad's spy network in the country hence why Israel needed to enlist the U.S. for the 40-Day War in 2026.

🔗 https://www.intellinews.com/iran-forcibly-deports-over-492-000-afghans-in-2026-unhcr-says-474956/

🇨🇦🇹🇷 Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney will meet President Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey ​on Thursday, in the first bilateral visit by a Canadian leader, as he seeks to expand trade ties and reduce reliance on the ‌United States.

Carney and Erdogan are expected to sign a declaration deepening cooperation in four areas including defence and energy, a person briefed on the matter said. A Turkish diplomatic source said the bilateral ties will be upgraded to a "strategic partnership."

Carney is on a global trade blitz that he hopes will help buffer Canada from a trade war with the ​US, where President Donald Trump has applied sweeping tariffs and questioned the neighbouring country's sovereignty.

Although trade between Canada and Turkey is tiny – Turkey accounted for less than 0.3% of Canada’s total merchandise trade or C$4.34 billion ($3.09 billion) – bilateral trade has risen by nearly 50% in ​the past five years.

In the last year, Canada has signed more than 20 trade deals as part of Carney’s ‌push to ⁠double non-US exports in the next decade. He flew to Beijing in January to reset fractured relations with China, striking a deal that slashed tariffs on electric vehicles and canola.

Despite criticism that China is a security risk, given Canadian authorities previously found China had interfered in at least two federal elections, Carney has described China as a “more predictable” trading partner than the US.

However, Canada still sends nearly 70% of exports to the US.

🔗 https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canadas-carney-visits-turkey-push-ease-us-trade-dependence-2026-10-22/

🇷🇺🌾🇺🇸 Russia is ready to help America not only with diesel

While preparing to send the first tanker with Russian diesel in the United States – this is expected the other day – Russia is establishing new contracts with America for the supply of its fertilizers. There are no problems with their sale to Russia. But American farmers suffer from both the price of diesel and the lack of fertilizers. Russia is ready to help on all fronts.

Russia is ready to supply fertilizers in large quantities to the American market, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, who on Wednesday at the Constantine Palace in St. Pererburg held a meeting with US President Steve Witkoff.

“As far as farmers are concerned, I know President Trump even mentioned it in our phone conversations. We could supply fertilizers in large quantities to the American market,” Putin said.

It is not about the resumption of deliveries, but about expansion. Because Russian fertilizers and so are delivered in the United States.

According to the US customs, from January to May 2026, the United States imported fertilizers from Russia for a record amount of more than $ 1 billion for this period. This is almost one third more than in the same period last year, when imports amounted to 806.4 million dollars. According to the results of the first five months, Russia came to the second place among the largest fertilizer suppliers to the States. The first place in this list is Canada ($1.8 billion), the third is Saudi Arabia ($318.3 million).

What volumes of fertilizers Russia can put in the United States now, it is difficult to say exactly, as the transaction has not yet been executed and the volume is not named. However, the Russian Association of Fertilizer Producers (RAPU) allowed an increase in total exports of Russian fertilizers in 2026 from 45 million to 46 million tons, i.e. about 1 million tons, but it is an increase for all buyers, not a reserve for the United States, says Vladimir Chernov, analyst at Freedom Global.

“Some of the additional American purchases can be provided by the growth of output, and part by the redirection of parties from less profitable directions, including Europe.

Where does Russia supply its fertilizers and in what volumes? According to RAPU, in 2025, Russia exported 45 million tons of fertilizers, taking a share of 19% in the global market. Brazil purchased 11.1 million tons, or about a quarter of Russian exports, India 6 million tons, about 13%. In general, the BRICS countries accounted for 22.8 million tons, i.e. just over half of the supply. Our fertilizers are valuable, so they are bought by Western countries - the United States and the EU countries, says Chernov.

But for the United States, the fertilizer deficit was a real problem in 2026, which created risks for the country's sowing campaign and food security. Donald Trump even had to suspend duties on phosphate fertilizers.

Here there was a set of reasons. First, a large part of the world's supply of nitrogen fertilizers and raw materials for them, in particular sulphur, passed through the Strait of Hormuz. And the overlap of the strait has led to a huge deficit and rising sulphur prices, as well as a shortage of fertilizers themselves. Secondly, the United States just imports half of the necessary volume of nitrogen fertilizers from Saudi Arabia and Russia. Third, China stopped exporting its fertilizers until the end of August, and this has reduced supply on the world market.

As a result, fertilizer prices grew by one third this year, which allows our companies to earn without increasing volumes. If it is still possible to increase deliveries to the United States without confusing prices, it will be a good super-profit for our business and the Russian state budget.

🔗 https://vz.ru/economy/2026/10/22/1466067.html