⚠️ Update: At 180 hours, the total internet blackout in #Iran now exceeds the core duration of the 2019 shutdown, and there is still no partial or regional restoration.

in 2019, it was only after connectivity was restored that the scale of the brutal crackdown became known.

🇨🇳 JUST IN: China’s CBDC project mBridge has already pushed $55B in cross-border payments.

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🎸🇬🇧 Roger Waters, legendary bass player and co-founder of Pink Floyd, said he wouldn't rule out leaving the US to move to Venezuela or Iran, after defending Nicolás Maduro and the Iranian regime.

🇺🇸 🇮🇷 🇮🇱 JD Vance supported US strikes on Iran this week and reasoned that Trump had to enforce his own red line, per sources. It was a surprise role reversal for a politician who built his identity on opposing Middle East wars with a loose connection to core US interests

Other Trump advisers urged caution, including Steve Witkoff and Susie Wiles. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argued for waiting and letting economic sanctions on Iran work

⚡️ A key factor driving Trump’s reluctance was Israel’s reluctance. Israel was vulnerable due to the absence of major U.S. military assets, which Israel has relied on increasingly to shoot down retaliatory strikes from Iran

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/01/17/inside-trump-iran-decision-attack