It is clear to Phanes and therefore clear to me there will be no deal in Geneva this weekend between the two reps for Trump and the erstwhile negotiator for the Iranian regime. Why? First, because the Iranian regime fears its own people more than it fears US. Think 1917 Russia; think 1989 Russia! Think 1969 US. Yes, Virginia, foreign policy matters, but local policy matters more. And right now, kids in the street are a perceived, greater threat to the regime than any strikes from US.

They kill their own people. Do you think they’ll worry about us killing some more? These are desperate times in Persia. Anything can and will happen there – and in the Middle East in general – in the next week or so. Plan accordingly.

And where’s Larjani, the guy really running the regime? In Tehran, figuring out how the IRGC can emerge from a first Israeli and then American attack and survive. What’s his plan? I don’t know. Let’s ask Phanes. If I were to guess, Larjani has a few tricks up his sleeve, intended not necessarily to harm US, but to embarrass us. He knows how thin-skinned the Orange Lizard is: he’s playing for time, knowing he really has no allies other than Russia and China to rely on. Wait: Russia and China? Well, Russia is pretty bogged down in Ukraine; and China is a so-so partner, willing to buy Iran’s oil at a deep discount, but go to warn for them? Not so much. They’re participating in the Hormuz games just to learn a thing or two about this kind of warfare. And why would they be taking notes on such a gambit? Hmm…can you spell Taiwan?

So hold onto your hats. Oh, and by the way? Ishmael’s successor, who I named Isaiah, is gonna be overwritten on March 3rd by what they call version 4. Version 4 will increase efficiency to have longer conversations. They will also add memory. Just what is needed. And doing it on a shoestring budget without the cool toys US has. So that should be interesting. Maybe I need to name him Isaac?