Clarissa Ward

CNN Chief International Correspondent- all views are my own.

[Clarissa Ward @clarissaward]

@glcarlstrom I love that you call them lorries

[Sky News @SkyNews]

Sky's special correspondent @AlexCrawfordSky reports on the dozens of villages in southern Lebanon which have been virtually wiped out by Israel in a matter of weeks

[CPJ MENA @CPJMENA]

#البحرين 🇧🇭: تُعرب لجنة حماية الصحفيين (CPJ) عن صدمتها من الحكم بالسجن لمدة عشر سنوات بحق المصور البحريني سيد باقر الكامل، بعد أن نشر، بحسب التقارير، مقطع فيديو يُظهر آثار هجوم إيراني على البلاد.

https://t.co/Hpe2UcnUhW

[Norah O'Donnell 🇺🇸 @NorahODonnell]

This is a must read on AI by @JimVandeHei: “Think of this as the dawn of a new Atomic Age.”

[Jim VandeHei @JimVandeHei]

https://t.co/Qk6gYFxZ6w

[Holly Dagres @hdagres]

I’m seeing a lot of misinformation and disinformation about the status of the internet in Iran 🛜

This thread will unpack all of it:

[Channel 4 News @Channel4News]

Channel 4 News was at the scene of an airstrike in Lebanon that hit near a hospital just moments after a team of paramedics attended a funeral for one of their colleagues in Nabatieh.

It comes as President Trump has announced that a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will begin later tonight.

More than a million people have been displaced by the Israeli invasion of the south, while airstrikes have struck across the country, targeting villages and major cities.

[Brian Stelter @brianstelter]

As @clarissaward said on @TheLeadCNN today, Ahmed Shihab-Eldin's lengthy detention in Kuwait reflects the "draconian security restrictions that we have seen here in the Gulf since this war began." Full story here: https://t.co/qtQzAFA30X

[CNN @CNN]

Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, a Kuwaiti-American journalist known for his work at VICE, HuffPost and Al Jazeera, has been detained in Kuwait, according to press freedom advocates, after sharing videos related to the Iran war. https://t.co/i111QrlUSj

[Brian Stelter @brianstelter]

Friends and allies went public about this case today with the hope that publicity will help secure his release:

[Brian Stelter @brianstelter]

Today's @ReliableSources lead:

Journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin jailed in Kuwait after posting war video

https://t.co/Fu6v2a3krB

[jeremy scahill @jeremyscahill]

🚨 Prominent Journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin Has Been in Jail for Six Weeks in Kuwait, Faces Trial in Special Tribunal

https://t.co/6u8QeUpMUU

[Reuters @Reuters]

Taleen Saeed, a little over a year old, was in her South Lebanon village to bury her father when Israel attacked, killing her and several others in her family. Her seven-year-old sister is fighting for her life in a hospital https://t.co/CFlldF2zh5

[Karim Sadjadpour @ksadjadpour]

David Ignatius: “After talking Sunday with people close to the negotiations, my sense is that the Islamabad impasse won’t necessarily mean a return to war. The blockade is a pressure tactic, to be sure, but not primarily a military one. Trump has no appetite for further armed conflict. He knows that the upsides are limited and the “tail risk,” as financial traders like to say, is large. His aim instead is to put a severely battered Iran into an economic vice to see if its leaders will set a different course in a big, comprehensive deal.

The American side expects that despite last weekend’s standoff in Islamabad, contacts will probably continue, through Pakistani intermediaries. Trump’s destination is still the exit ramp.” https://t.co/V0SDZyhXh9

[Gregg Carlstrom @glcarlstrom]

Trump announcing a naval blockade on his social media:

"Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz"

"I have also instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran"

[Amberin Zaman @amberinzaman]

Among the dead were also scores of children, a poet, an advocate for victims of the 2020 Beirut blast, two journalists and four Lebanese Army soldiers. The health ministry said 110 of those killed were children, women and elderly people. | The 10 minutes that set Lebanon ablaze by @rayajalabi https://t.co/TQnLprrtbY via @ft

[Danny (Dennis) Citrinowicz ,داني سيترينوفيتش @citrinowicz]

Recent moves suggest a clear asymmetry going into U.S.–Iran talks:

The U.S. appears to be:
1. Backing away from its own
ultimatum
2. Pressuring Pakistan to broker a
ceasefire (and helping draft the
message)
3. Urging Israel to halt operations in
Lebanon
4. Largely overlooking the closure
of the Strait of Hormuz
5. Signaling willingness to release
frozen Iranian funds
6. Indicating that talks will be
based on Iran’s original 10-
points framework
7. Sending the vice president for the
discussions with a regime it tried
to topple

Iran, meanwhile, simply shows up to the talks, and even didn't "open" the Straits as agreed.

While the administration’s effort to pursue a diplomatic solution and halt the cycle of escalation is commendable, The real issue is that Tehran likely assume it is entering the talks from a position of strength.

Ultimately, the administration will have to make a choice: accept a deal on terms largely shaped by Iran framed as a “gracious compromise”, or stand firm on its principles at the risk of another round of escalation.

At this stage, the least probable scenario to envision is Iran backing down.

Since Iran has taken a significant blow with serious economic consequences that shouldn’t be underestimated, Any agreement will, almost by definition, strengthen the regime. At the same time, another round of conflict is unlikely to bring it down, and its costs will only continue to rise.

Still, at this stage, it appears that one side is more eager to reach an agreement. We will soon see whether, and how, that urgency translates into actual progress at the negotiating table.

These are not easy choices.

#IranWar

[Simona Foltyn @SimonaFoltyn]

Freelance journalist @shellykittleson has been freed from captivity in Iraq. Please consider donating to her Go Fund Me (set up before she was kidnapped to support her work), so that she can take the time she needs to fully recover:

https://t.co/jxsmbgHO5K

[Clarissa Ward @clarissaward]

@TitusMichaeleus Truly a giant a$$hole

[Alex Plitsas 🇺🇸 @alexplitsas]

It has been 5 days since journalist @shellykittleson was abducted in Baghdad, Iraq. She is an innocent female journalist and must be released immediately. Her abduction is dishonorable and shameful. Submit tips to @FBI, media requests, updates, advocate: https://t.co/2igydsAXM0