I love your fantastic journalism. I think you may have got the Shah’s story wrong as UK and USA support of Khomeini force the Shah of Iran out . The shah of Iran wrote his last book about what happened. Yes, his sister was very corrupt , but that’s true in any influential leaders, there is always bad apples! 80% of Iranian want change and take the Shah’s son who actually wants to follow Iranian democratic regime written in the constitution.
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, who ruled from 1941 to 1979, aimed to transform Iran into a modern, industrialized nation through his White Revolution, a series of reforms launched in 1963. These reforms included land redistribution, women’s suffrage, education expansion, and industrialization, which significantly improved living standards for many Iranians. By the 1970s, Iran boasted a growing middle class, improved infrastructure, and a robust economy driven by oil revenues. Literacy rates rose from 26% in 1960 to over 50% by 1979, and women gained unprecedented rights, including the ability to vote and hold public office.
The Shah’s foreign policy balanced relations with the West and the Soviet Union, securing Iran’s sovereignty during the Cold War. His regime invested heavily in healthcare, reducing infant mortality and increasing life expectancy. For many, including the user who lived through this era, the Shah’s Iran offered opportunities and freedoms unattainable under the current theocratic government.
Great blog, Trish. Daniel Davis Deep Dive is a good source of information about the US war on Iran, especially his interviews with Ted Postol, professor emeritus at MIT. In a recent interview Postol highlighted a recent Chinese paper on how use of heterogeneous concrete to protect nuclear enrichment facilities can deflect incoming missiles so that they do not penetrate nearly as far as claimed. Postol noted that contrary to the common belief that Communist China is completely dependent on Western know-how, it now is generating its own, to which we should be paying more attention than we do.
Nuclear energy is a terribly complex topic. Many people say they're "pro-nuke," but have not actually delved into its (many) complexities. The man who wrote this item about uranium enrichment (Dr. Gordon Edwards; he's now in his 80s) has been studying all matters nuclear all his adult life, & is recognized as a nuclear expert around the world. He wrote this item recently: 'Some comments on Iran and Uranium Enrichment – June 20 2025.' Online here: https://www.ccnr.org/GE_Iran_and_Uranium_Enrichment_2025.pdf You can find a ton more information about all aspects of nuclear energy (& war, & nuclear waste, & depleted uranium, etc. etc. etc.) on the site of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility. https://wp.ccnr.org/
The main "complexity" is not at all complicated. The only country to have used nuclear 'Weapons of Mass Destruction' on civilian populations, twice, is the United States of America. LOL... non?
Also this: Want the Middle East to 'settle down'? Then find a time machine and go back to 1948 and abort the creation of a certain religious ethno-state that desired to be no longer just a religion but also a nationality as well, displacing 750 thousand people of other tribes.
Then set your Way-Back-Machine to 1953 (the year I was born) to undo the covertly orchestrated coup d'état and overthrow of democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaeddgh (by the U.K and U.S.) in Iran for daring to nationalize their own oil industry.
Don't have a time machine? Then forget the middle east settling down any time soon.
i have so many mixed feelings about this... I know Bibi is out of control and i don't trust his reasons for anything, however, the absolute appalling treatment of women in Iran is horrible and if this conflict brings about getting the Islamists out, I have trouble disagreeing with it notwithstanding the disasters of other deep state regime changes in the ME and elsewhere. So I will watch and wait and be glad I do not have to make the decisions, knowing full well it is unlikely we will ever know how much of what we're told by either side is true.
No it isn't. It is no worse than the treatment of women throughout the world. Your exaggerration has another name and another purpose: 'warmongering'.
Besides, forgetting the gruesome Hilary showing women having their skirts hit by switches as an excuse for the invasion of Afghanistan - actually, it was about opium, and minerals - was it "worth it" in the end. Madeline Albright, Hilary Clinton, and you apparently approve of the millions of deaths in Afghanistan which achieved... nothing for women or anyone else.
Furthermore, Afghanistan was a relative paradise and more 'equitable' to women and others than the USA in the 1960's. but it drew too close to the socialist USSR and therefore had to be destroyed by the CIA
The shah family was not kicked out because of corruption.I do not know they were corrupted or not but most of leadership is corrupted and that fact rearly cause them being kicked out from the country.It was CIA operation,regime change.
"The Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was overthrown in 1979 during the Iranian Revolution due to a combination of political, social, economic, and cultural factors. Here’s a concise breakdown of the key reasons:
Authoritarian Rule and Political Repression: The Shah’s regime was increasingly autocratic, relying on a one-party system and the SAVAK (secret police) to suppress dissent. Political opposition, including communists, nationalists, and Islamists, faced imprisonment, torture, or exile, alienating large segments of the population."
You are confused. The CIA got rid Mossadegh and installed the Shah who was in turn overthrown by the revolution in '79. Yes, the Pahlavi family was corrupt and looted the country before they were run out of town. As I said, I did cover this story and interviewed the Shah's twin sister in her Park Avenue apartment months after they fled.
You’re not wrong. However UK intelligence was in Tehran disguised as the British Postal Service in 1979. Those intelligence people were on that first flight to Paris along with embassy staff . Little known fact but from personal knowledge. However, as per Trish’s previous interview with the Shah’s sister - it was regime change . The Arab nations who laugh at our inability to unleash our resource power ( Canada should be the Dubai of the Americas) just bought trillions of USA weaponry which props up the USA economy. Iran as a “ threat” would undermine their very existence . No doubt they colluded with both the USA and Israel. Is the “ war” in Ukraine over ? Which flag this week? Elbows up? Down? Turnaround? And it’s only Monday .
I am at a loss. I see no good coming from all of this, other perhaps when this is over we can get rid of the ruling class who seem to be utterly incompetent. Thier primary skill seems to be in creating narratives, which are basically lies. Lies unfortunately that many believe.
Getting out of this requires embracing the "Truth" with no tribal affiliations. Truth means acknowledging the harms that have been done by Western Governments to other nations, such as throwing over the Elected Government of Iran in 1953 and replacing it with the Shaw (Our puppet) Acknowledging that other people have a right to determine thier own destiny's. That other people have the right to make thier own mistakes, not be subjected to our mistakes.
A good post, Trish! From what early reports I’ve heard the Fordow, Natanz and Istafan sites were all badly damaged by Operation Midnight’s Hammer. But it’s going to take some time for a full assessment of the damage by the U.S. government to be completed. Nonetheless, I applaud the United States bombing these facilities and am glad Israel is following up. Did Iran move out their materials beforehand? That still has yet to be determined. Even if they did, this mission was still a success for the United States and will set Iran back months if not years in all likelihood. All that being said, now is the time for peace as President Trump said. The United States and Israel have inflicted severe damage on Iran’s nuclear facilities. They have done all they can do. Iran at this point, will probably never have a nuclear weapon.
There should be NO full-scale war between Israel and Iran. This is also not the time for the Ayatollahs to fall. Israel may wish to get rid of them and that is understandable, but if they were to fall today you’d have Iraq 2.0. Who or what would replace them? A power vacuum would be created and we all know what that would mean-a bloody civil war that would destabilize the region even more. Now is NOT the time for regime change in Iran and it must be done by internal forces NOT external ones. Even Iranian dissidents are divided on if this is the moment to go and whether they trust Israel and Netanyahu or not. A popular uprising in Iran at this time is very unlikely to say the least.
You are astute to point out that fighting Iran in this sort of War of Attrition has costed Israel hundreds of billions of dollars. It is yet another reason that I think Israel will NOT ultimately wage a full on a war with Iran. They literally can’t afford it. I think what will probably happen is Iran and Israel will keep this skirmishing up for a few more weeks and that’ll be it. Israel needs to concentrate on defeating Hamas in Gaza and weakening Hezbollah and the Houthis. As to a U.S. invasion of Iran, I don’t see that happening. The American public and the Congress would never get on board with something like that.
Furthermore, it would mean the end of his presidency and the destruction of his legacy. His own base would turn on him and revolt and Democrats and establishment Republicans would draft articles of impeachment like a shot! It would be no different than Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, or Syria, wars that all partially or fully failed to accomplish their goals and led to our military getting bogged down in a quagmire. The United States Military is built to fight and win wars not nation-build.
In my humble opinion, it is the destruction of the middle east one country at a time example aka Lebanon, Iraq, Syria by the BIS thru their proxies Israel / US, to control all energy sources, finance, people, I could be wrong, will have to wait and see.
I humbly propose that not only could you NOT be wrong, but that you are quite right. Unfortunately there are enough stupid and frightened people out there to make this shit-show by the Carnys of the world worth staging. To cover up their evil crimes, the Anglo-Ziosphere have taken what used to be Anti-Semitism - a psy-op from its inception - and repurposed it into Anti-Islamism.
Thus, Zionist 'Jews' can tweak their tits and foam at the mouth with impunity as they accuse one of 'Anti-Semitism' while, at the same time, they commit actual genocide against actual Semites (which they are not) throughout Gaza and the Middle East. It will be the turn of the Far East, sooner rather than later, according to their plans.
Too bad the Muslims have no access to the propaganda techniques - perfected by Edward Bernays and Sigmund Freud - to 'market' their just cause. All the air has been sucked out of that room by the endless repetition of fictitious 'histories' and their endless proliferation in mass media in the Collective West.
Or, it could be a sign of the superior cultural ethics of Islam that they will not stoop that low in manipulating their fellow humans. Iran refused to use chemical and biological weapons when Western-supplied weapons of that kind were used by Iraq against them. And the 'Evil Ayatollahs' [sic] would not approve the development of nuclear weapons which Iran could have had long ago.
The Killing Game (a very real Genocide in Gaza and the Middle East) can be played, as if behind closed doors, while new Spielbergian extravaganzas are spun out to reinforce the past ones, leaving the audience dazed, emotionally crippled and perceptionally retarded.
A people without a history is a ship of fools, villains and slaves. The replacement of history by ersatz celluloid and pixellated fictions has proven tragic for the West (starkly real for the victims in the ME) but hopefully, not for the rest of the planet and not for too much longer.
Thanks for the update Trish. As always, there are 3 sides to every story...somewhere in the middle lies the truth!
It's all so very tiring. I'm finding the best thing for my heart and mind is less and less screen time. I enjoyed some good Yahtzee and fresh air with my hubby yesterday afternoon on our deck, after loads of rain Friday and Saturday.
You have, perhaps unwittingly, just given the perfect precis to one of the hundred or so 'movies' worth watching - "Rashomon" dir. Akira Kurosawa - who populates that list with several of his brilliant, in spite of CIA control, films.
I love your fantastic journalism. I think you may have got the Shah’s story wrong as UK and USA support of Khomeini force the Shah of Iran out . The shah of Iran wrote his last book about what happened. Yes, his sister was very corrupt , but that’s true in any influential leaders, there is always bad apples! 80% of Iranian want change and take the Shah’s son who actually wants to follow Iranian democratic regime written in the constitution.
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, who ruled from 1941 to 1979, aimed to transform Iran into a modern, industrialized nation through his White Revolution, a series of reforms launched in 1963. These reforms included land redistribution, women’s suffrage, education expansion, and industrialization, which significantly improved living standards for many Iranians. By the 1970s, Iran boasted a growing middle class, improved infrastructure, and a robust economy driven by oil revenues. Literacy rates rose from 26% in 1960 to over 50% by 1979, and women gained unprecedented rights, including the ability to vote and hold public office.
The Shah’s foreign policy balanced relations with the West and the Soviet Union, securing Iran’s sovereignty during the Cold War. His regime invested heavily in healthcare, reducing infant mortality and increasing life expectancy. For many, including the user who lived through this era, the Shah’s Iran offered opportunities and freedoms unattainable under the current theocratic government.
Great blog, Trish. Daniel Davis Deep Dive is a good source of information about the US war on Iran, especially his interviews with Ted Postol, professor emeritus at MIT. In a recent interview Postol highlighted a recent Chinese paper on how use of heterogeneous concrete to protect nuclear enrichment facilities can deflect incoming missiles so that they do not penetrate nearly as far as claimed. Postol noted that contrary to the common belief that Communist China is completely dependent on Western know-how, it now is generating its own, to which we should be paying more attention than we do.
How do I block Bari Weiss?
Nuclear energy is a terribly complex topic. Many people say they're "pro-nuke," but have not actually delved into its (many) complexities. The man who wrote this item about uranium enrichment (Dr. Gordon Edwards; he's now in his 80s) has been studying all matters nuclear all his adult life, & is recognized as a nuclear expert around the world. He wrote this item recently: 'Some comments on Iran and Uranium Enrichment – June 20 2025.' Online here: https://www.ccnr.org/GE_Iran_and_Uranium_Enrichment_2025.pdf You can find a ton more information about all aspects of nuclear energy (& war, & nuclear waste, & depleted uranium, etc. etc. etc.) on the site of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility. https://wp.ccnr.org/
The main "complexity" is not at all complicated. The only country to have used nuclear 'Weapons of Mass Destruction' on civilian populations, twice, is the United States of America. LOL... non?
Hi Trish,
Great pod/update, thanks.
Also this: Want the Middle East to 'settle down'? Then find a time machine and go back to 1948 and abort the creation of a certain religious ethno-state that desired to be no longer just a religion but also a nationality as well, displacing 750 thousand people of other tribes.
Then set your Way-Back-Machine to 1953 (the year I was born) to undo the covertly orchestrated coup d'état and overthrow of democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaeddgh (by the U.K and U.S.) in Iran for daring to nationalize their own oil industry.
Don't have a time machine? Then forget the middle east settling down any time soon.
i have so many mixed feelings about this... I know Bibi is out of control and i don't trust his reasons for anything, however, the absolute appalling treatment of women in Iran is horrible and if this conflict brings about getting the Islamists out, I have trouble disagreeing with it notwithstanding the disasters of other deep state regime changes in the ME and elsewhere. So I will watch and wait and be glad I do not have to make the decisions, knowing full well it is unlikely we will ever know how much of what we're told by either side is true.
No it isn't. It is no worse than the treatment of women throughout the world. Your exaggerration has another name and another purpose: 'warmongering'.
Besides, forgetting the gruesome Hilary showing women having their skirts hit by switches as an excuse for the invasion of Afghanistan - actually, it was about opium, and minerals - was it "worth it" in the end. Madeline Albright, Hilary Clinton, and you apparently approve of the millions of deaths in Afghanistan which achieved... nothing for women or anyone else.
Furthermore, Afghanistan was a relative paradise and more 'equitable' to women and others than the USA in the 1960's. but it drew too close to the socialist USSR and therefore had to be destroyed by the CIA
yes i'm sure women are murdered in Toronto for showing their hair...
and I'm not talking about Afghanistan, and I did say there have been horrible outcomes from the neocons... read much?
Actually... "Thou hast said". Thank you for that confirmation. Sleep more.
I see you’ve turned into a bug, buzz off.
The shah family was not kicked out because of corruption.I do not know they were corrupted or not but most of leadership is corrupted and that fact rearly cause them being kicked out from the country.It was CIA operation,regime change.
"The Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was overthrown in 1979 during the Iranian Revolution due to a combination of political, social, economic, and cultural factors. Here’s a concise breakdown of the key reasons:
Authoritarian Rule and Political Repression: The Shah’s regime was increasingly autocratic, relying on a one-party system and the SAVAK (secret police) to suppress dissent. Political opposition, including communists, nationalists, and Islamists, faced imprisonment, torture, or exile, alienating large segments of the population."
You are confused. The CIA got rid Mossadegh and installed the Shah who was in turn overthrown by the revolution in '79. Yes, the Pahlavi family was corrupt and looted the country before they were run out of town. As I said, I did cover this story and interviewed the Shah's twin sister in her Park Avenue apartment months after they fled.
You’re not wrong. However UK intelligence was in Tehran disguised as the British Postal Service in 1979. Those intelligence people were on that first flight to Paris along with embassy staff . Little known fact but from personal knowledge. However, as per Trish’s previous interview with the Shah’s sister - it was regime change . The Arab nations who laugh at our inability to unleash our resource power ( Canada should be the Dubai of the Americas) just bought trillions of USA weaponry which props up the USA economy. Iran as a “ threat” would undermine their very existence . No doubt they colluded with both the USA and Israel. Is the “ war” in Ukraine over ? Which flag this week? Elbows up? Down? Turnaround? And it’s only Monday .
You are very knowledgeable!
Thank you for your comment
I am at a loss. I see no good coming from all of this, other perhaps when this is over we can get rid of the ruling class who seem to be utterly incompetent. Thier primary skill seems to be in creating narratives, which are basically lies. Lies unfortunately that many believe.
Getting out of this requires embracing the "Truth" with no tribal affiliations. Truth means acknowledging the harms that have been done by Western Governments to other nations, such as throwing over the Elected Government of Iran in 1953 and replacing it with the Shaw (Our puppet) Acknowledging that other people have a right to determine thier own destiny's. That other people have the right to make thier own mistakes, not be subjected to our mistakes.
Great post. That's what it boils down to, I think.
We may not like them, but that doesn't give western govts the right to militarily attack them.
We learned this basic moral code in kindergarten, ffs.
A good post, Trish! From what early reports I’ve heard the Fordow, Natanz and Istafan sites were all badly damaged by Operation Midnight’s Hammer. But it’s going to take some time for a full assessment of the damage by the U.S. government to be completed. Nonetheless, I applaud the United States bombing these facilities and am glad Israel is following up. Did Iran move out their materials beforehand? That still has yet to be determined. Even if they did, this mission was still a success for the United States and will set Iran back months if not years in all likelihood. All that being said, now is the time for peace as President Trump said. The United States and Israel have inflicted severe damage on Iran’s nuclear facilities. They have done all they can do. Iran at this point, will probably never have a nuclear weapon.
There should be NO full-scale war between Israel and Iran. This is also not the time for the Ayatollahs to fall. Israel may wish to get rid of them and that is understandable, but if they were to fall today you’d have Iraq 2.0. Who or what would replace them? A power vacuum would be created and we all know what that would mean-a bloody civil war that would destabilize the region even more. Now is NOT the time for regime change in Iran and it must be done by internal forces NOT external ones. Even Iranian dissidents are divided on if this is the moment to go and whether they trust Israel and Netanyahu or not. A popular uprising in Iran at this time is very unlikely to say the least.
You are astute to point out that fighting Iran in this sort of War of Attrition has costed Israel hundreds of billions of dollars. It is yet another reason that I think Israel will NOT ultimately wage a full on a war with Iran. They literally can’t afford it. I think what will probably happen is Iran and Israel will keep this skirmishing up for a few more weeks and that’ll be it. Israel needs to concentrate on defeating Hamas in Gaza and weakening Hezbollah and the Houthis. As to a U.S. invasion of Iran, I don’t see that happening. The American public and the Congress would never get on board with something like that.
Furthermore, it would mean the end of his presidency and the destruction of his legacy. His own base would turn on him and revolt and Democrats and establishment Republicans would draft articles of impeachment like a shot! It would be no different than Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, or Syria, wars that all partially or fully failed to accomplish their goals and led to our military getting bogged down in a quagmire. The United States Military is built to fight and win wars not nation-build.
MIGA means "make ISRAEL great again" not Iran. Trump knows this.
Using MIGA in that tweet was a subtle insult to his base, whom he betrayed yet again. At this point, Trump is indistinguishable from the neocons.
In my humble opinion, it is the destruction of the middle east one country at a time example aka Lebanon, Iraq, Syria by the BIS thru their proxies Israel / US, to control all energy sources, finance, people, I could be wrong, will have to wait and see.
I humbly propose that not only could you NOT be wrong, but that you are quite right. Unfortunately there are enough stupid and frightened people out there to make this shit-show by the Carnys of the world worth staging. To cover up their evil crimes, the Anglo-Ziosphere have taken what used to be Anti-Semitism - a psy-op from its inception - and repurposed it into Anti-Islamism.
Thus, Zionist 'Jews' can tweak their tits and foam at the mouth with impunity as they accuse one of 'Anti-Semitism' while, at the same time, they commit actual genocide against actual Semites (which they are not) throughout Gaza and the Middle East. It will be the turn of the Far East, sooner rather than later, according to their plans.
Too bad the Muslims have no access to the propaganda techniques - perfected by Edward Bernays and Sigmund Freud - to 'market' their just cause. All the air has been sucked out of that room by the endless repetition of fictitious 'histories' and their endless proliferation in mass media in the Collective West.
Or, it could be a sign of the superior cultural ethics of Islam that they will not stoop that low in manipulating their fellow humans. Iran refused to use chemical and biological weapons when Western-supplied weapons of that kind were used by Iraq against them. And the 'Evil Ayatollahs' [sic] would not approve the development of nuclear weapons which Iran could have had long ago.
The Killing Game (a very real Genocide in Gaza and the Middle East) can be played, as if behind closed doors, while new Spielbergian extravaganzas are spun out to reinforce the past ones, leaving the audience dazed, emotionally crippled and perceptionally retarded.
A people without a history is a ship of fools, villains and slaves. The replacement of history by ersatz celluloid and pixellated fictions has proven tragic for the West (starkly real for the victims in the ME) but hopefully, not for the rest of the planet and not for too much longer.
from Celia Farber: https://open.substack.com/pub/celiafarber/p/deja-vu-ordinary-americans-in-bars?r=15eyho&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Thanks for the update Trish. As always, there are 3 sides to every story...somewhere in the middle lies the truth!
It's all so very tiring. I'm finding the best thing for my heart and mind is less and less screen time. I enjoyed some good Yahtzee and fresh air with my hubby yesterday afternoon on our deck, after loads of rain Friday and Saturday.
You have, perhaps unwittingly, just given the perfect precis to one of the hundred or so 'movies' worth watching - "Rashomon" dir. Akira Kurosawa - who populates that list with several of his brilliant, in spite of CIA control, films.
Couldn’t play the video but read the sub and am following. Too many opinions to figure out what has taken place other than US involvement.