— 🇺🇸/🇷🇺 NEW: Recently declassified NSA documents show interaction between Russian President Vladimir Putin and American President George Bush

In the early 2000s, Putin warned Bush that pushing for Ukraine's NATO membership would lead to 'long-term confrontation'.

Bush simply replies: 'Why?'

@Middle_East_Spectator

—❗️🇮🇷/🎅 BREAKING: Santa Claus has violated Iranian airspace

After it was confirmed that no Zionists were on board the sleigh, the IRGC Air Defense Forces HQ allowed it to continue on its way.

@Middle_East_Spectator

—❗️🇺🇸/🇮🇷/🇻🇪 NEW: The Venezuelan-Iranian oil tanker 'BELLA-1', which has been chased by the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard for 3 days now, has still not been seized

The vessel refuses to be boarded and continues to sail. The U.S. Coast Guard reportedly lacks specialized forces to conduct a landing maneuver on the ship. – Reuters

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇸🇾/🇯🇴 NEW: The Royal Jordanian Air Force announces it carried out airstrikes against factories and warehouses belonging to weapons and drugs smuggling gangs in Syria

@Middle_East_Spectator

—❗️🇺🇸/🇻🇪 NEW: The White House has ordered U.S. forces in the Caribbean to focus exclusively on enforcing the blockade of sanctioned Venezuelan oil for at least the next two months, a U.S. official says

Military options remain on the table for Venezuela, but President Trump's priority is economic pressure, enforcing sanctions first to achieve its desired outcome. – Reuters

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇷/🇷🇺 Interesting trannoscript from a newly declassified NSA document:

In the early 2000s, Putin tells Bush that 'there is no doubt' Iran wants to obtain a nuclear weapon.

He also says he told 'his people' (i.e. the Russians) not to tell Iran about 'such things' (nuclear know-how).

Remember, Iran-Russia ties in the early 2000s were much less close than they are now. But this again confirms that Iran's nuclear program is almost entirely domestic (since the beginning), and that Russian support is often exaggerated in the media.

In fact, North Korea helped Iran more with nuclear technology than any other country ever did, including Russia.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇷🇺/🇮🇷 Vladimir Putin on Iran, early 2000s: 'They're quite nuts. They may be crazy in their ideology, but they're intellectuals. They are educated in university, come from an academic environment — including Ahmadinejad, his entourage, the Speaker of Parliament. They are not primitive people, it was quite a surprise to me.'

@Middle_East_Spectator

They said it was 3,000 last week, now it's 1,000 — what happened?

Ah we used 2,000 missiles to take down Santa. Makes sense, my apologies.

— 🇮🇱 NEW: Israel is ranked in last place in Ipsos' Nation Brands Index (NBI) for a second year in a row

The 2025 Nation Brands Index showed Israel falling 6.1%, the steepest single-year drop in the index’s history.

In the category measuring human sentiment, including 'trust, empathy, and goodwill' toward citizens, Israel ranked last. Among the majority of Gen-Z respondents, Israel was seen as an illegitimate state.

@Middle_East_Spectator

—❗️🇮🇱/🇮🇷/🇱🇧 NEW: The IDF claims it eliminated a member of the IRGC Quds Force in Ansariyeh, southern Lebanon today

According to the official IDF statement, they eliminated 'Hussein Mahmoud Marshad Al-Jawhari', a member of IRGC-QF Unit 840.

However, his name is Arabic, not Iranian; the person killed was likely a Lebanese member of Hezbollah who was tasked with being a liaison officer in contact with the Quds Force.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇱/🇮🇷 NEW: Hebrew media reports that charges have been filed against 40-year-old Israeli settler Vadim Kupriyanov for filming the home of former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on behalf of Iranian agents

He was a maintenance worker at the Kirya, the Israeli Ministry of Defense Headquarters in Tel Aviv.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇷🇺/🇮🇷 NEW: Russian IL-76TD cargo plane landed in Isfahan, Iran, and then returned to Chelyabinsk

@Middle_East_Spectator