—❗️🇺🇸/🇮🇷 BREAKING: Iran has issued an ultimatum to the United States; return to serious diplomacy and remove the naval blockade, or face an expansion of the war

The deadline, which is said to be several weeks at most, has been communicated to the United States through Pakistan and Qatar, according to Reuters.

@Middle_East_Spectator

Raytheon secures massive multi-
billion dollar contract to scale Tomahawk missile production for US Navy

Defense contractor Raytheon has been awarded a sweeping $22.9 billion multi year agreement to significantly accelerate the manufacture of Tomahawk cruise missiles for the US Navy.

Secured under the defense establishment's Arsenal of Freedom program, the initiative is designed to push annual output past 1,000 units while expanding supply chain collaboration with hundreds of small and medium sized suppliers nationwide.

Raytheon leadership highlighted that heavy investments in workforce technology and infrastructure have already tripled delivery rates during the first half of the year compared to 2025.

According to Naval Today, company executives emphasized that the long range cruise missile remains a cornerstone of naval strike capabilities, allowing operators to target positions across hundreds of miles without exposing personnel to direct combat risks...

@americanmajority

CENTCOM commander praises crew of USS Abraham Lincoln, recognizes challenges of lengthy deployments amidst mental health concerns

"My time aboard USS Abraham Lincoln yesterday was awe inspiring. I wish Every American could see the crew in action. You would beam with absolute pride when witnessing their camaraderie, teamwork and resilience," he said in a Sunday statement posted to social media.

"Here's an important fact: Of the US Navy's 11 active aircraft carriers, the Lincoln currently has among the lowest number of cases related to mental health," he continued...

"Awe inspiring." Wow, must have been pretty cool then. Seriously, running this channel is slowly making me into an anarchist. What a terrible waste of people's lives. Both literally and figuratively.

@americanmajority

60 day window established under US Iran MoU expires without final peace agreement or resolution

Signed two months ago to establish a negotiating timeframe for a final peace agreement, the MOU concludes without an accord in sight. Speaking to Fox News' Trey Yingst, President Donald Trump responded by putting direct pressure on Iran to end the conflict. "They should put up the white flag of surrender," he said.

Trump said he felt "no hurry" and lacked a fixed timeline, relying on the US naval blockade - and upcoming Treasury sanctions noted by Yingst - to apply economic pressure. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei dismissed the deadline entirely, telling the Tasnim News Agency that the 60 day window applied solely to nuclear talks, not the broader MOU. "We did not start any negotiations at all, and the US violated the understanding from the very beginning; therefore, the 60 day issue is not relevant," he said, per the news outlet...

@americanmajority

Israel bombs Syrian military base as US praises Damascus's "de-escalatory" policy toward Tel Aviv

Israel launched a new wave of strikes on Syria on 18 August, despite no threat being posed to it by the extremist led authorities in Damascus, which fought against Tel Aviv's adversaries for years.

The new Israeli strikes hit the Abu al Duhur Military Base in the countryside of the northern city of Idlib on Tuesday. Syria's Foreign Ministry released a statement condemning the attack. It described Israel's strikes as "an unjustified act of aggression and a dangerous escalation threatening regional security and stability..."

@americanmajority

Man charged with attack on Central Synagogue in NYC, quickly labeled as part of anti Israel "incitement," was obsessed with becoming Jewish

Israeli Consul General in New York Ofir Akunis wasted no time attempting to exploit an attack at Manhattan's Central Synagogue, rushing to claim the attack was the "direct result" of Mayor Zohran Mamdani's supposedly anti Israel "incitement..."

...An article published by The Forward exposed Montes not as an anti Israel agitator, but as a pro Israel Republican with a history of severe mental instability. Family members told reporters that Montes was "mentally traumatized" by an unfulfilled desire to convert to Judaism...

Hey Rabbi, whatcha doin'?

@americanmajority

Ian Lustick, co-author of the new book "Israel's Lobby," says "there is no such thing as a Jewish Lobby."

He laments that viewing Israel (the Jewish state) as "the collective Jew" is "helping fuel anti-Semitism."

How Iran has staved off economic collapse despite the US Israeli war

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has promised "unprecedented" squeeze on Tehran. Why hasn't this worked already?

Nearly six months after the US and Israel launched an operation to overthrow the Iranian government, it's fair to say their assault hasn't exactly gone according to plan. Still, the ensuing war has followed a clear, predictable logic.

After decades of sanctions failed to persuade Iranians to overthrow the regime, Israel and the US resorted to war; after that failed too, they turned to a naval blockade. Each escalation has had an impact, adding to the misery of life in Iran, but so far each has missed its ultimate target: forcing a surrender...

@americanmajority

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇷 Iran’s Parliament Speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf:

‘The Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the U.S. naval blockade is lifted, our frozen assets are released, oil sanctions are removed, threats and military operations on all fronts end, and all terms of the Memorandum of Understanding are fulfilled.’

@Middle_East_Spectator

The never ending myth of a looming Ukrainian "breakthrough"

For years, hawks have used rosy analysis of Kyiv's military momentum to make the case against real negotiations.

...But detailed analyses of the actual battle lines showed that, when the 40 day clock expired earlier this month, little had actually changed on the ground. In fact, Russia had made some minor territorial advances, while Ukraine's severe manpower, demographic and economic crises continued to deepen.

Worse, the drone attacks have elicited the most severe Russian retaliation yet. Moscow has markedly stepped up its strikes on Ukraine, including one of the largest ballistic missile attacks of the entire war, at the precise time the United States and Europe are running low on interceptors to defend it. With Russia now attacking Ukraine's port facilities and commercial vessels in the Black Sea, the country is being starved of billions of dollars of revenue, and its GDP could drop by as much as 1.5%...

@americanmajority

Stop gaslighting, USS Lincoln families didn't sign up for this

Do not mistake what's happening on the aircraft carrier for petty complaints, what we're seeing is an urgent warning for a country that relies on an all volunteer force.

...We know that behind every sailor and Marine we read about on that ship, there is an entire family unit thousands of miles away wrestling with fear, exhaustion, confusion, anger, and loneliness every day that ship remains in harm's way. From the spouses who suddenly became the only parent in their home, to the parents waiting anxiously for a phone call, to the children whose birthday parties and baseball games have an empty chair at them this year...

What DID they sign up for, I wonder?

@americanmajority

Kanye Putin meeting "possible" - Russian lawmaker

The US rapper reportedly hopes to meet the president when he travels to Russia for two concerts in St. Petersburg.

...On Tuesday, Svetlana Zhurova, the first deputy chair of the State Duma's International Affairs Committee, told Lenta RU that Putin has previously met prominent foreign celebrities, but noted that a meeting with West would depend on several practical factors. "Hypothetically, such a possibility exists," Zhurova said.

Anna Subcheva, head of local concert organizer SAY Agency, previously told RIA Novosti that it is the rapper's "long standing dream" to meet Putin, for whom he has "expressed great admiration for several years..."

@americanmajority

Explosion rocks Finnish plant near Russian border

An explosion occurred at a Stora Enso processing plant in Imatra, Finland, a few kilometers from the Russian border, Finnish broadcaster Yle reported. The plant's fire chief Toni Jaako suggested the blast might have been caused by a technical malfunction...

...The company said production at the plant had been suspended "to assess the damage and carry out the necessary repairs."

Oh no! That's where all my karjalanpiirakka comes from! And where will I now buy saaristolaisleipä?! Oh, the humanity!

@americanmajority

Israel spent over $140bn over three years to finance genocide of Palestinians in Gaza

The genocide of Palestinians in Gaza is the longest and most expensive military campaign in Israel's history, costing an estimated $142 billion so far and set to approach roughly $169 billion, Haaretz reported on 16 August.

Tel Aviv's genocide has driven Israel's national debt up by some $130 billion, with the state set to spend around $500 billion on the military over the coming decade, according to Haaretz.

Israeli War Ministry Director General Amir Baram, who took office in March 2025, set out that trajectory in a strategy paper preparing the army for what he called an intense decade ahead.

The commitment was made without Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu identifying where the money would come from, Haaretz noted, with US aid of $3.8 billion a year expected to shrink and then end entirely in the coming years...

@americanmajority

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇷 NEW: The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier was not resupplied because Secretary of War Pete Hegseth lied to Trump about the U.S. Navy’s 5th HQ in Bahrain being completely destroyed by Iranian strikes – MS NOW (MSNBC)

@Middle_East_Spectator