- Be honest, and your input will determine future posts to some extent

- The people have spoken.

- 🇮🇷/🇸🇪 BREAKING: Sweden has again allowed for a Quran-burning, this time in front of the Iranian embassy in Stockholm

@Middle_East_Spectator

- 🚨🇺🇸/🇮🇶 BREAKING: Experts say the US military might be preparing for an official withdrawal from Iraq and possibly Syria

With an election coming up in the United States, Biden might be wanting to use the withdrawal of US forces from the Middle East as a temporary momentum boost for his 2024 campaign.

Observers say the extra troops that were flown into Iraq and Syria are there to maintain security and help with logistics in case of an eventual withdrawal.

@Middle_East_Spectator

- NOTE: This is of course impossible to confirm, but many observers have pointed out that there is no other good reason for the increase in troops

At the same time, the Iranian and Shiite resistance factions have agreed not to target US forces during the next few weeks.

These things lead people to speculate that something major might happen soon. In the case of a withdrawal, it makes sense for Iran to agree not to intervene, to let it happen as safely as possible.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇷🇺/🇰🇵 Reportedly, Russia is using North Korean ammunitions in the war against Ukraine

The above artillery shell reads:

"Long live the workers party of Korea!"

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇸🇪 A quick rant about Sweden and the Quran burnings

First of all, let me begin by saying this unequivocally: I am a Muslim, and as a Muslim I fundamentally oppose the burning of any Holy Book of the Abrahamic religions, be it Islam, Christianity or even Judaism.

However, people who call Sweden a terrorist regime, or an Islamophobic country etc. have not understood the situation properly in my opinion.

We need to understand it is not Sweden who is burning the Quran, but a few extremist individuals who do so under the protection of Swedish 'freedom of speech' laws.

Do I agree with these laws? The answer is simple: No.

In my opinion, insulting a religion and over one billion of its adherents is not freedom of speech, but blasphemy & inciting violence.

However, we should keep in mind that Sweden is a secular Western nation, in which liberalism and democracy are the two main values. Therefore, we cannot blame them for allowing such incidents under the pretext of freedom of speech.

Some people might disagree, but we cannot legitimately call Sweden an 'Islamophobic' regime, because they are at least consistent; last month, they also approved a request to burn the Jewish Holy book, the Torah.

From a secular Western perspective, there is no real issue with allowing Quran burnings, as long as the burning of other books is similarly allowed under the same equal circumstances.

If they had allowed the burning of the Quran, but not the burning of the Bible for example, only then it would have been Islamophobic.

People need to understand that Sweden is acting from a liberal secular perspective, not from an Islamic one, and according to that logic, there is nothing inherently wrong with the situation, as long as all cases are treated equally.

I do not condone such a secular liberal society, in fact I vehemently oppose it; however, we must understand these actions from their own ideology.

All I'm trying to say is that we as Muslims cannot judge a secular Western nation for not having the same morals as we do.

@Middle_East_Spectator

- Inb4 people say "Omg! Admin agrees with Qur'an burnings!"

Try to use your brain cells while reading this piece, and see what I'm really trying to say.

— 🇸🇦⚽️ BREAKING: Saudi Arabia wants to reward the winner of the Saudi Pro League with qualification to the UEFA Champions League

The idea would be to formulate a request to UEFA for a "wild card" team to participate in the Champions League, which will be played by 36 teams from 2024/25.

Critics have ridiculed the idea, stating that apparently "money can change geography", refering to the fact that the UEFA is only open to European nations.

If sucessful, qualification of Saudi teams like Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr could mean a return of players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema to the Champions League.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇷/🇸🇦 BREAKING: The Iranian Foreign Minister has met with Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman in Jeddah

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇷/🇸🇦 JUST IN: Today, the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran officially opened in Riyadh, the Capital of Saudi Arabia

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇷/🇸🇦 Iranian Foreign Minister, Amir Abdollahian: I spoke with Bin Salman for one and a half hours, and we had an open and fruitful discussion based on mutual respect

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇷/🇮🇱 The Jerusalem Post: Overthrowing the Iranian regime is difficult, because approximately 70% of Iranians support the regime, according to the INSS

@Middle_East_Spectator

— According to some local sources, the US military has taken control of Baghdad International Airport

So far, these sources have been met with skepticism, so take it with a grain of salt. But we are seeing the reports more and more.

I'm posting this so you can keep an eye on it in case it turns out to be true.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇷/🇺🇸 Iran Military Aerospace Command: We detected F-35s operating in the Persian Gulf

@Middle_East_Spectator