Internationalize the Solution for Gaza and Iran

How much was Iran's nuclear program set back if at all?

Hello Hello Mega Orderers:

I just had a piece come out in the Boston Globe’s Ideas section, with the tiny ambition of proposing a comprehensive peace plan for the Middle East and a path from disorder to order in our mad mad mad mad world. I apologize in advance that the piece is firewalled and it would be improper to share it fully here, but if you join the Paid substack at the end of today’s message I am able to share quite a bit more there than just the intro, ending and link below:

Hed: The US and its allies — not Israel — should handle Iran and Gaza

Dek: Now is time for something better than a ceasefire in the Middle East: lasting peace.

Jason Pack is the host of the Disorder Podcast and an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.

President Trump's Iranian gamble may have paid off, at the very least he claims to have brought about a ceasefire between Iran and Israel-- and will scream at both sides till they honor it. But establishing a lasting and real peace in the region will take unity and coordination among the United States and its European and Gulf Arab allies. Only consistent American messaging and firm pressure can dissuade Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to be content with his victory against Iran’s nuclear program and end his delusional focus on regime change.

It is not mere Trumpian bluster to claim that the US strike has reconfigured the balance of power in the Middle East. It is now possible for an American-European-Gulf-Israeli alliance to defeat the Iranian-led “Axis of Resistance,” which includes Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

The wars in Gaza and Iran are conceptually linked. Iran funded, trained, and inspired Hamas, thereby enabling it to carry out the terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023. Permanently defanging Iran could end the cycles of conflict that have convulsed the region after those attacks. With a profoundly weakened Iran, Trump now has a chance to show whether he is an actual peacemaker or merely enjoys the plaudits of playing one on social media….

Now is the moment to head off a Middle Eastern cataclysm by forestalling genuine, rather than merely symbolic, Iranian retaliation. The last 20 years have shown that endless regime change wars don't work.

Call for a peace conference, require that Israel end the War in Gaza and relinquish its post-War administration and reconstruction to a Gulf Arab coalition. Gazans would receive new homes, educational opportunities, and a path to elections and sovereignty. Israel would receive ironclad security guarantees and assurances that the entire Western world would support it in denuclearizing Iran or destroying its terrorist proxies in the future.

I hate to say it, but Trump was partially right to strike Iran. Now, it is time for something better than a ceasefire.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/06/25/opinion/ceasefire-middle-east-lasting-peace/

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Next, I was interviewed by Sarah Hooper

of METRO… for an article:

Experts reveal real risk of WW3 — and what’s at stake for anywhere that gets dragged in

This is an interesting overview of the various different equities

https://metro.co.uk/2025/06/24/experts-reveal-real-risk-ww3-stake-anywhere-gets-dragged-23494206/

Jason Pack, host of The Disorder Podcast and Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, pointed out that no Middle Eastern conflict has escalated into a world war. And there have been many.

‘Two world wars have started in Europe,’ he said.

‘Arab-Israeli wars historically end when superpowers bring them to an end. Both the Suez War and the 1967 War were brought to an end by America.’

Mr Pack described the current situation in the Middle East as this: ‘If you and I are opponents for 46 years and all we want to do is destroy each other, and then we agree to a ceasefire without undoing the underlying cause, it’s like you and your wife saying that you want to get a divorce, and then the mediator says: ‘Great, just put this aside for a week.’

‘You might be able to put it aside for a week, but if you haven’t solved the underlying issue. There is an opportunity now for a peace negotiation, but we haven’t seen that materialise.’

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Next you may wonder how the Ayatollah is spending the cease fire now that he has more time on his hands?

The answer is he and all the Mujtahids and Hujjat al-Islams are practicing their missile command skills before the next round kicks off. They have installed a new underground arcade in Qum for breaks in Fiqh classes.

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Sadly it does seem that a next round will be likely as very little was military accomplished by the recent bunker busting… many who advocated for it thought Trump and the US would stick with it a bit more…

Here is what the NYT says:

Strike Set Back Iran’s Nuclear Program by Only a Few Months, U.S. Report Says

Preliminary classified findings indicate that the attack sealed off the entrances to two facilities but did not collapse their underground buildings….

The initial damage assessment suggests that President Trump’s claim that Iran’s nuclear facilities were “obliterated” was overstated. Congress had been set to be briefed on the strike on Tuesday, and lawmakers were expected to ask about the findings, but the session was postponed. Senators are now set be briefed on Thursday, and House members on Friday.

Since the strikes, Mr. Trump has complained to advisers repeatedly about news reports that have questioned how much damage was done, said people with knowledge of the comments. He has also closely watched the public statements of other officials when they are asked about the damage to the nuclear facilities, they said.

Read the whole article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/24/us/politics/iran-nuclear-sites.html

And now a YouTube clip for good measure please subscribe if you can:

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And as mentioned the extra content for Paid subscribers below. I thank you in advance for being a Mega-Orderer… :