President Trump announced Friday that the day prior he sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, seeking the reopening of new nuclear negotiations, while floating the potential that longtime sanctions could be dropped.

Tehran has responded by saying it never received a letter, and also by dismissing the possibility of opening new talks, after the US already years ago abandoned the Obama-brokered JCPOA nuclear deal. Lost in the mail?…

Trump recently told US media outlets, “Hopefully we can have a peace deal, I’m not speaking out of strength or weakness. I’m just saying I’d rather see a peace deal, than the other. But, the other, will solve the problem.”

However, Iran’s Permanent Representative to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani rejected the overture. “Trump says he has sent a letter to Iran. We have not received any such letter,” the representative stated.

And Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told AFP on Friday, “If America wants to return to a new nuclear agreement with Iran, naturally it should observe the conditions of a fair and just negotiation, and we have proven that we will not answer the language of pressure and threat but will respond to the language of respect and dignity as we did in the past.”

The Iranians also appear to be passing over in silence Trump’s not so veiled military threats. For example the president said in a Friday interview with Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo: “I’ve written them a letter saying I hope you negotiate, because if we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing for them.“

The other alternative is you have to do something because Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon,” he followed with, echoing his prior message warning that Tehran can either sign a deal or potentially get bombed.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has described that the Islamic Republic’s current stockpile of 60% enriched uranium – if enriched to 90% – would be enough to produce six nuclear bombs.

Trump has recently brought back ‘maximum pressure’ on Iran, and has even this week advanced the possibility of cracking down on sanctions-busting Iranian oil exports on the high seas, using naval intervention. Clearly this is part of the big stick package of actions meant to push Tehran to the table.

An earlier Fox News interview in February marked the point at which Trump first laid out that Iran has two choices. “Everybody thinks Israel with our help or our approval will go in and bomb the hell out of them,” Trump had said at the time while discussing potential Israeli military action against Tehran.

“I would prefer that not happen. I’d much rather see a deal with Iran where we can do a deal, supervise, check it, inspect it,” the president continued.

That’s when he made one of the more provocative and threatening comments: “There’s two ways to stopping them: With bombs or a written piece of paper,” he had previously said. But so far Tehran is viewing talks with the Trump admin as a dead end, and is clearly not moving toward the negotiating table.

Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,

A federal judge in Washington has refused to block staff from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing the Treasury Department’s systems that contain millions of Americans’ personal data.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly—who previously restricted DOGE’s work at the Treasury to two employees with read-only access—issued a decision on March 7 that rejects a request from the Alliance for Retired Americans and several employee unions to bar DOGE staff from the Treasury’s Fiscal Service system, which processes roughly 90 percent of federal payments.

In her ruling, Kollar-Kotelly determined that the plaintiffs had failed to establish that allowing DOGE employees access to the system would result in irreparable harm.

“If Plaintiffs could show that Defendants imminently planned to make their private information public or to share that information with individuals outside the federal government with no obligation to maintain its confidentiality, the Court would not hesitate to find a likelihood of irreparable harm,” the judge wrote.

She found no indication of any plans to misuse or improperly disclose sensitive data, and noted that the plaintiffs are free to return to court to seek emergency remedy if these circumstances change.

The decision also lifts Kollar-Kotelly’s earlier access restrictions, which had permitted two DOGE-affiliated individuals to view the Fiscal Service system on a read-only basis.

The Epoch Times has contacted counsel for the plaintiffs with a request for comment on the ruling.

DOGE staff remain barred from the Fiscal Service under a separate order issued by U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas in New York.

Vargas, responding to a lawsuit from 19 Democratic attorneys general, partially granted their request to block DOGE personnel from the Treasury’s payment system, citing concerns over insufficient vetting and training.

“Indeed, taking the time to adequately mitigate potential security concerns and properly onboard members to engage in this work outweighs the defendants’ immediate need to access and redevelop [the] Treasury system,” Vargas stated in her 64-page order. 

“Without addressing these issues, the potential consequences of a cybersecurity breach could be catastrophic.”

Vargas left open the possibility of lifting or modifying her order if the administration certifies that DOGE staff have undergone proper training and obtained necessary security clearances.

She also denied the plaintiffs’ request to impose broader restrictions preventing DOGE from creating processes to stop payments within the Treasury’s systems. Vargas argued that such measures would “far exceed” the scope of the earlier temporary restraining order and that the plaintiffs had not justified the need for such extensive relief against DOGE.

Trump administration officials have defended DOGE’s presence at the Treasury, arguing that DOGE is carrying out measures that will ultimately improve the efficiency of government operations.

Critics say that DOGE’s involvement raises security and oversight issues, particularly given its relatively new and undefined role in federal financial management.

President Donald Trump created DOGE on his first day in office, directing it to explore ways to eliminate wasteful government spending and streamline federal operations.

DOGE staffers have moved quickly and aggressively to audit and pursue reforms across federal agencies, with the advisory body recently reporting $105 billion in savings through canceled grants, asset sales, workforce reductions, and terminated contracts and leases.

A number of lawsuits have been filed to halt DOGE’s operations, leading to a mix of rulings.

The attacks on Tesla dealerships as protests against Elon Musk’s recent foray into politics look to accelerating.

Over the last few weeks, there have been countless reports of protests at Tesla showrooms and vandalism to Tesla vehicles and SuperChargers. Just yesterday, another lefitst was caught on video smashing up a Tesla vehicle. 

A leftist smashes up Tesla cars in downtown Seattle. The FBI needs to do something about this. pic.twitter.com/pM4O54DOUR

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) March 6, 2025

Meanwhile in Oregon last week, a Tesla store in Tigard, Oregon, was shot up on March 6, marking the third violent attack on the company in the state, following the federal charging of a trans extremist for firebombing and shooting another Tesla location in Salem.

Despite leftist and Antifa calls for violence against Tesla and Elon Musk, Governor Tina Kotek has remained silent, though she previously supported Antifa rioters in 2020.

New: Another @Tesla store was shot up in Oregon in now the third violent attack in the state. The Tesla location in Tigard, near Portland, had rounds fired into the vehicles and building on March 6.

Just days earlier, a trans extremist was federally charged for allegedly… pic.twitter.com/jOI0DN1ESn

— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) March 7, 2025

On X, Musk said Saturday morning that an investigation has linked five ActBlue-funded groups to Tesla protests, with ActBlue—backed by major donors like George Soros and Reid Hoffman—now under scrutiny for alleged illegal foreign donations, prompting the resignation of seven senior officials, including the associate general counsel.

An investigation has found 5 ActBlue-funded groups responsible for Tesla “protests”: Troublemakers, Disruption Project, Rise & Resist, Indivisible Project and Democratic Socialists of America.

ActBlue funders include George Soros, Reid Hoffman, Herbert Sandler, Patricia Bauman,…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 8, 2025

Recall, late last week we pointed out that vehicle owners are being forced to alter the appearance of their cars to try and distance themselves from Musk and the Tesla name.

The Daily News wrote that some owners are using stickers and logos from other brands or displaying messages like “Anti-Elon Tesla Club” to distance themselves from Musk.

Social media posts show altered Teslas resembling Audis, Mazdas, or Hondas, while an EV website reports a surge in sales of Musk-related decals. 

Additionally, there have been a number of reports of vandalism of Tesla property and protests outside of Tesla stores worldwide. 

For example, a woman suspected of attempted arson and repeated vandalism at a Northern Colorado Tesla dealership was arrested last Monday—the fourth such incident in recent weeks. Lucy Grace Nelson was taken into custody after allegedly returning with more incendiary devices and vandalism materials.

Prior incidents occurred on Jan. 29, Feb. 2, and Feb. 7, though details on the materials remain unknown, according to NBC. 

Molotov cocktails were allegedly thrown at vehicles, and “Nazi cars” was spray-painted on a Tesla dealership. Similar vandalism has occurred elsewhere, including a Cybertruck in California and a Tesla charger in Utah, both defaced with “Nazi” graffiti and swastikas, Yahoo! News added.

Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Los Angeles County filed a lawsuit on March 5 against Southern California Edison (SCE) and its parent company, Edison International, alleging the utility’s equipment caused the deadly Eaton Fire that cost the county hundreds of millions of dollars in response efforts and cleanup.

The fire began on Jan. 7 and became the second-most destructive and fifth-deadliest wildfire in California history, according to the lawsuit.

It burned more than 14,000 acres, claimed approximately 9,400 structures, and damaged hundreds more. It ravaged the unincorporated town of Altadena, and destroyed county parks, a nature center, trails, and other community infrastructure, according to Los Angeles County.

At least 17 people lost their lives, while several firefighters were injured. The fire also damaged childcare facilities, a senior center, assisted living facilities, schools, churches, a Jewish synagogue, and a mosque. Tens of thousands of residents were displaced.

The plaintiffs in the case are the county, the Los Angeles Flood Control District, and the Los Angeles Consolidated Fire Protection District, also known as the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

The complaint states that witnesses, photos, and videos suggest the fire ignited at an SCE transmission line in Eaton Canyon, near Mount Markham and San Gabriel Peak in the San Gabriel Mountains, within the Angeles National Forest, sparking a fire in the surrounding vegetation. It states that the utility company failed to de-energize its electrical circuits to reduce wildfire risk during a red flag warning.

“The Eaton Fire was not the result of an ‘act of God’ or other force majeure. The Eaton Fire was ignited by sparks from high-voltage transmission lines, distribution lines, appurtenances, and other electrical equipment within EDISON’s utility infrastructure that ignited surrounding vegetation,” the lawsuit states.

SCE notified the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) of a fault on its transmission line around the time the fire erupted, according to a March 5 statement from the Office of Los Angeles County Counsel. On Feb. 6, SCE sent a letter to the CPUC acknowledging photographic evidence showing possible arcing and damage to the grounding equipment on two of the three idle conductors at the terminus of the idle Mesa-Sylmar transmission line, according to the office.

“EDISON had a duty to properly maintain and operate its electrical infrastructure, including any equipment that has been decommissioned, yet failed to do so,” the complaint reads. “Further, EDISON had a duty to ensure that flammable vegetation surrounding its infrastructure was maintained and had a duty to utilize public safety power shutoffs when weather conditions made it unsafe to keep its equipment energized and to otherwise ensure that its electrical equipment operated in a safe manner but failed to do so.”

County Counsel Dawyn R. Harrison filed the case. Harrison said the costs and losses that are sought include compensation for destroyed infrastructure, recreational areas, parks, road damage, cleanup and recovery efforts, flood and mudslide prevention, and workers’ compensation claims.

“We are committed to seeking justice for the Altadena community and the taxpayers of Los Angeles County,” she said in a statement.

The complaint states the county’s costs and damages from the Eaton Fire and its cleanup are still unclear, but it is estimated that the final total will amount to no less than hundreds of millions of dollars.

Brian Leventhal, a spokesperson for SCE, told The Epoch Times that the Eaton Fire remains under investigation and the company will continue with its longstanding commitment to transparency.

“Our hearts are with the communities affected by the wildfires in Southern California,” Leventhal said. “We are reviewing the lawsuit that was recently filed, and we’ll address it through the appropriate legal process. Our investigation is still in the early stages.”

The fuse has been burning slowly, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s risky August invasion of Russia’s Kursk region is about to blow up in his face in spectacular fashion — as thousands of Ukrainian soldiers are suddenly in imminent peril of being encircled, according to open source intelligence analysts. The crisis comes as Zelensky is under increasing US pressure to reach a negotiated end to the war — and a loss of captured Russian territory promises to make his already-deteriorated bargaining position even weaker. 

According to DeepStateMAP.live, an interactive map of the war run by Ukrainian military bloggers, their country’s forces in Kursk are nearly cleaved into two, with roughly three-quarters of Ukraine’s forces in Russia almost entirely surrounded on Friday. Their last connection between the two forces was a kilometer long and under 500 meters wide at its thinnest section. 

Black Bird Group military analyst Pasi Paroinen summed up the state of affairs for Reuters: 

“The situation (for Ukraine in Kursk) is very bad. Now there is not much left until Ukrainian forces will either be encircled or forced to withdraw. And withdrawal would mean running a dangerous gauntlet, where the forces would be constantly threatened by Russian drones and artillery.” 

Ukraine’s Kursk gambit, which surprised the world, was intended to stall Russia’s steady advances in eastern Ukraine, with hopes that Russia would be forced to engage in a major redeployment of forces to deal with the capture of Russian territory. Ukraine’s hold on the territory was also seen as a bargaining chip for Zelensky as the war now seems destined for a negotiated end. Not only does that chip appear to be vanishing, Putin could end up with a some new chips of its own — as Russia may soon have thousands more Ukrainian prisoners of war among its assets.  

In late February, Russia’s defense ministry said its forces had regained control of 64% of Kursk territory initially seized by Ukraine. Kiev’s cross-border offensive started in early August 2024 and has managed to control dozens of towns and villages and hundreds of square kilometers of territory. That accomplishment has reportedly been aided by thousands of North Korean soldiers, with reports that one to three thousand more were being sent in February. North Korea has denied its soldiers are fighting in the war.  

The New York Times reports that Russia is on the brink of a major victory in Kursk thanks to the coordinated work of North Korean troops and Russian drone units, advancing with the aid of intense Russian artillery and air bombardment. Ukrainian soldiers report an overwhelming concentration of new, fiber-optic drones that are controlled by an ultrathin cable rather than radio signals that are vulnerable to electronic jamming.

(6/7) DEMOLISHING SWEDISH-MADE TANKS

This is how a fiber-optic drone destroyed a rare modification of the German Leopard tank in the Kursk region. It’s known as the Strv-122A, produced in Sweden pic.twitter.com/E08Mnnvogz

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) March 3, 2025

In addition to overtaking defensive positions, Russian drones are also being used to prey on the one road that serves to supply Ukrainian forces.

You can’t just leave Kursk region like that.

An FPV drone operator from the “VT-40” unit of the “Rubicon” center destroys a Finnish XA-180 APC of the Kiev forces while it was crossing the state border on the Sudzha-Yunakivka highway.

Geolocation: Lost Armour pic.twitter.com/k06A8CPqGD

— MD (@distant_earth83) March 6, 2025

That road is positively littered with destroyed vehicles: 

“Road of Death” for Ukraine out of Kursk

The highway from Sumy to Sudzha is the last road for Ukrainains out of Kursk. Their foothold has now shrunk to 20% of its original size

The route is under complete fire control of the Russian Army. As predicted, it’s a catastrophe. pic.twitter.com/2lEEStmE4i

— Chay Bowes (@BowesChay) March 7, 2025

Some of the bleakest assessments of Ukraine’s Kursk position are coming from Ukraine’s own officers. “It’s true; we can’t stop them,” a Ukrainian commander tells the Times. “They just sweep us away, advancing in groups of 50 North Koreans while we have only six men on our positions.”

While the situation is sadly desperate for conscripted Ukrainian soldiers ordered into Russia pursuant to Zelensky’s gamble, some creative types can’t resist lampooning Ukraine’s desperate situation: 

Kursk memes depicting the grim situation for the Ukrainian military. pic.twitter.com/o0wfT1zFGh

— Geopoliticalfocus (@Geopoliticaleco) March 7, 2025

All joking aside…Can we finally end this hopeless war, and stop sacrificing Ukrainians and Russians on NATO’s altar? 

*  *  *

Grow your own food with HEIRLOOM SEEDS (39 varieties – 4,500 seeds) from ZH Store!  Free shipping in the USA.

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

For years, the mantra on the left was “reimagining” everything from policing to free speech to defense. 

Reimagining often was a synonym for defunding or limiting the subject matter. Now, Georgetown Law Professor Sherally Munshi and others are attacking border enforcement as “ethically indefensible.” Munshi calls it “defamiliarizing” the whole concept of borders, which she and others in higher education now find morally reprehensible.

Munshi’s talk, “Unsettling the Border,” is an example of how radical many law faculties have become. She is by no means a standout in such theories. While schools have purged their ranks of conservative, libertarian, and dissenting faculty, there is no limit to faculty writing on the far left.

Munshi insists that “there is nothing natural or inevitable about the United States’ contemporary borders.” 

She mocked the whole notion of “the so-called border crisis.” 

Millions of unvetted people just walking over the border is not a crisis… at least not for the country. It is failure in ourselves; “a crisis of imagination.”  

Accordingly, she is calling for reimagining or defamiliarizing borders:

“Our task, as I put it, is to unsettle the border, to defamiliarize, disenchant, and recontextualize it by critically evaluating the historical processes, the legal developments, the discursive formations that naturalize and legitimate the border.”

It is, of course, racist to want to have secure borders:

“Rather than redress the fact that the international border regime is practically unsustainable [and] ethically indefensible, majorities in the whitest and wealthiest nations are embracing an increasingly authoritarian form of nationalism and exclusion.”

Borders, according to Professor Munshi, are just a construct “within the American imaginary, the southern border divides white from indigenous, purity from heterogeneity, civilization from savagery, settler from Indian.”

Of course, this reimagining of borders will have to extend back a tad further than the American founders. The concept of the nation-state with sovereign borders was recognized in documents like the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. It was credited with maintaining a Westphalian peace with nations able to maintain their own territory and governing systems. That, in turn, allowed nation-states to form international bodies and further stabilize global relations.

I have heard other faculty present papers along these same lines, dismissing the very concept of border enforcement as racist, privileged, or archaic. It is far more rare to hear conservatives on campuses arguing for border enforcement and deportations. It is even less common to find such advocates on both faculties.

In my book “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” I discuss the intolerance in higher education and surveys showing that many departments no longer have a single Republican as faculties replicate their own views and values.

The problem is not that there are radicals teaching at law schools, but that most faculties seem to run only from the left to the far left.

Perhaps it is time to . . . wait for it . . . reimagine or defamiliarize law school faculty appointments.

Poland as well as Baltic nations have expressed approval of Wednesday’s ultra-provocative words by French President Emmanuel Macron which floated the idea of using France’s nuclear deterrent to protect the European continent from Russian threats.

Macron said he is opening a “strategic debate” on possibly extending France’s nuclear umbrella to all of Europe – a role currently played by US nukes stationed in NATO countries. He claimed in the televised address that unless Putin is defeated in Ukraine, he will threaten other European countries with invasion. 

Throughout the more than three-year long Ukraine war the tiny Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have been outsized in their hawkish anti-Moscow rhetoric.

France remains the only nuclear power in the European Union, and it possesses some 290 nuclear warheads – according to media estimates – which is why Russian leaders quickly slammed the Macron comments as “extremely confrontational”. 

The Kremlin further interpreted the jingoistic words as expressing Macron’s intent to continue the war, coming the same week that Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio for the first time dubbed the conflict a “proxy war”. 

Rather than urge caution or telling Macron to tone down the unnecessary nuclear rhetoric, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency, declared that “we must seriously consider this proposal.”

He did caution that “as always, the details matter, but France’s willingness in this regard is very significant” – but clearly this is a leader in a NATO ‘eastern flank’ country, right on Russia’s doorstep, encouraging more nuclear expansion.

Lithuania too decided to take the opportunity to signal escalation. Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda praised Macron’s proposal as a “very interesting idea.”

“We have high expectations because a nuclear umbrella would serve as really very serious deterrence towards Russia,” Nausėda said.

Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa chimed in too, characterize it as “an opportunity to discuss” such a major security measure among other European allies. Naturally, there was no mention of WW3 or nuclear Armaggedon.

This week has seen a number of European states come out against peace, fearing what they see as a ‘bad’ Trump deal in the works with Moscow. Danish PM Mette Frederiksen actually declared earlier this week, “Peace in Ukraine is more dangerous than the ongoing war.”

The US President has meanwhile offered more words explaining why he thinks Putin is ready for peace…

Trump:

I think Putin is gonna be more generous than he has to be because he wants to end the war. pic.twitter.com/iZpYPwJWl4

— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 7, 2025

But again, Macron and his European allies don’t see it that way. The French leader went so far in his Wednesday speech to say, “France has to recognize its special status – we have the most efficient, effective army in Europe,” affirming that France has nuclear weapons to provide to the broader Western alliance if called upon.

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix news,

The Italian government has been ordered to compensate a group of migrants who were prevented from disembarking from the Diciotti ship in August 2018, following the directive of then-Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.

The decision was handed down by the Court of Cassation on Friday, which ruled that the government is liable for damages caused by the deprivation of freedom suffered by the migrants. The court referred the case back to the lower court to determine the amount of compensation.

Salvini had been investigated by the Palermo Court for alleged kidnapping in connection with the prolonged detention of migrants aboard the Italian coast guard vessel. The case was transferred to Catania for territorial jurisdiction, where prosecutors dismissed the charges. However, the Court of Ministers overruled this decision and sought Senate authorization to prosecute Salvini, which was ultimately thrown out in December last year.

The judges in their ruling emphasized that the refusal to allow migrants to disembark for 10 days could not be considered a political act beyond judicial review. Instead, they classified it as an administrative action subject to legal scrutiny under both national and international law.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni criticized the ruling, arguing that it established a “highly questionable principle of compensation” by presuming damage without concrete proof. She expressed frustration that taxpayer money would be used to compensate individuals who had attempted to enter Italy illegally. Meloni stated that such decisions alienate citizens from institutions, particularly when government resources are already limited.

“As a result of this decision, the government will have to compensate — with the money of honest Italian citizens who pay taxes — people who have attempted to enter Italy illegally, that is, by violating the law of the Italian state,” Meloni said in a post on X.

“I don’t think these are the decisions that citizens bring together the institutions, and I confess that having to spend money for this, when we do not have enough resources to do everything that would be right to do, is very frustrating,” she added.

Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani also opposed the ruling, stating that it undermines the government’s duty to defend national borders. He warned that if all irregular migrants sought similar compensation, it could significantly impact state finances.

Andrea Crippa, deputy secretary of Salvini’s co-governing Lega party, described the decision as “stunning” and insisted that Salvini had committed no crime. Crippa further suggested that left-wing judges should be held accountable instead of the general public.

The Diciotti ship was carrying 190 migrants rescued at sea. Under Salvini’s leadership in the Conte I government, the Italian interior ministry initially refused to grant immediate permission to disembark. However, 29 minors were ultimately allowed to land, followed by another 17 individuals for health reasons. Four women were also given permission but chose to remain on board.

The government eventually allowed the remaining migrants to disembark only after securing agreements for their redistribution across other European countries and Vatican-owned facilities. The decision aligned with the government’s hardline approach to curbing irregular migration and pressuring other EU nations to share the burden of the ongoing migrant crisis on Italy’s southern border.

The Italian judiciary and the current conservative government have long been at war over court rulings in relation to illegal immigration, with Salvini previously accusing certain judges of obstructing law enforcement.

Following his acquittal late last year, the Lega leader and deputy prime minister declared that Italy is “not a safe country anymore” due to what he referred to as “Communist judges” failing to implement the law.

“But we are not giving up!” he declared.

Read more here…

Via Middle East Eye

The UK has lifted sanctions on 24 Syrian entities, including the central bank, in a landmark move that could be a turning point for Syria’s devastated economy. Britain has become the first country to unfreeze all assets of the Central Bank of Syria.

The state airline and state-owned oil companies are amongst other previously sanctioned entities removed from the sanctions list on Thursday afternoon. “This approach underscores our commitment to help the people of Syria rebuild their country and economy, including through support for a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition process,” a UK government spokesperson said.  “We will continue to judge Syria’s interim authorities by their actions, not their words.”

The new Syrian government inherited a daunting economic crisis from Bashar al-Assad’s government, which was toppled in December.

Government corruption, devastating conflict and crippling international sanctions all contributed to wrecking Syria’s economy under Assad. According to the UN, nine out of 10 Syrians live in poverty.

On December 17, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa [al-Qaeda name: Abu Mohammad al-Jolani] urged Britain and other countries to lift all the sanctions that had been imposed on the country under Assad.

“They should lift all restrictions which were imposed on the flogger and the victim. The flogger is gone now. This issue is not up for negotiation,” he said.

‘Desperately needs a boost’

The UK’s major policy shift could bring new opportunities for Syria, if other nations follow suit. Western countries lifting sanctions could help stabilise the Syrian economy and facilitate foreign investment. 

The Syrian government is led by the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which remains a proscribed terrorist organization in the UK, as well as in the US. Western countries have lifted some sanctions, but have made sanctions relief contingent on political reforms.

In February the European Union partially removed restrictions on the central bank and suspended sanctions on the energy and transport sectors. The US waived a ban on transactions with the Syrian government, facilitating humanitarian aid – but has kept sanctions in place.

As long as US sanctions remain, the material impact of Britain’s move will be limited. But the policy could be a turning point in encouraging other European nations to lift more sanctions.

It is certainly a bold decision from the Labor government, which will be seen to be designing its own Middle East policy, distinct from that of the US.

It comes just days after Turkey’s Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz met Britain’s Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer to discuss Syria’s future, including sanctions and economic development.

Chris Doyle, chair of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, said: “This is a belated if very welcome step by the UK. The Syrian economy desperately needs a boost and removing or easing sanctions is one of the key measures than can assist in this process.”

He added: “Getting Syrians back to productive work, running their businesses, and getting out of a situation of being aid dependent is all part of ensuring a successful transition away from decades of Assad regime rule.”

Watch: HTS militants drop ‘barrel bombs’ on civilians long the Syrian coast amid an ongoing ethno-religions cleansing campaign targeting Alawites (and the MSM remains silent)…

I’d never imagined we’d be on the side dropping the barrel bombs,
we who labelled Assad “the barrel bomb regime”

This is too much to stomach. pic.twitter.com/7dxtgSDv0G

— Rami Jarrah (@RamiJarrah) March 7, 2025

The developments come as the HTS-led government carried out helicopter strikes on Thursday on the former Assad stronghold of Latakia, after fighters loyal to an elite Assad unit killed security personnel.

Video purporting to show impact…

Barrel bombs dropped on Syrian coast cities by the Jolani regime

These tactics are what made Assad a “monster,” but Jolani has friends in Washington pic.twitter.com/RTsrUx8yS1

— COMBATE |🇵🇷 (@upholdreality) March 7, 2025

In the last few weeks, the government has launched extensive campaigns seeking to root out Assad loyalists from his former bastions. It is under further pressure in the southwest, where Israel has occupied a UN-buffer zone and now commands the high ground looking over Damascus.

Israel has also sought to portray itself as a protector of Syria’s Druze community, an ethno-religious minority, in a bid to deepen its foothold in Syria.

Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened military action to “defend” a suburb three kilometres southeast of Damascus that is home to many Druze.

American aerospace firm Maxar Technologies announce Friday it has disabled the ability of the Ukrainian government to access its satellite imagery, in conformity to President Trump’s announced suspension of intelligence sharing with Kiev.

“Each customer makes their own decisions on how they use and share that data,” Maxar described of its US government contracts. The contract in question which is impacted by the intelligence-sharing suspension is GEGD (the Global Enhanced GEOINT Delivery program).

The GEGD program provides access to commercial satellite imagery collected by the United States for partner nations and allies. Ukraine has apparently been blocked from further participation for the time being.

“The US government has decided to temporarily suspend Ukrainian accounts in GEGD,” the Maxar statement said, referring reporters to the US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency for any further questions.

“We take our contractual commitments very seriously, and there is no change to other Maxar customer programs,” Maxar explained.

The CIA had on Wednesday confirmed blockage of all intelligence-sharing with Ukraine. President Trump on Friday linked any further sharing on Ukraine’s willingness to enter peace negotiations with Moscow.

“Ukraine has to get on the ball and get a job done,” Trump said, adding that the US is “trying to help” get peace negotiations moving.

But he admitted to reporters at the White House that it’s currently more difficult for Washington to deal with Ukraine than with Russia, which has “all the cards” in the war. Watch:

President Trump on Putin and the war in Ukraine:

“I think we’re doing very well with Russia. But right now they’re bombing the hell out of Ukraine. I’m finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine.” pic.twitter.com/NqjhLvrvEW

— The American Conservative (@amconmag) March 7, 2025

In a fresh report in Le Monde Ukrainian military expert Ievhen Dyky has described that “The total ban on intelligence sharing is effective, both directly from the US to [Ukraine], but it is also a ban on NATO allies transferring data received from the US to us.” He specified that the ban “applies to all forms of intelligence.”

Reportedly the ability of the Ukrainians to receive targeting information for strikes inside Russia has been taken away as well. There was likely no chance of Moscow coming to the negotiating table so long as this ultra-provocative program was in place.