Jan R. Steinholt

Rød skribent, EU-motstander, faglig engasjert m.m.

[Amnesty International USA @amnestyusa]

FREE DR. HUSSAM ABU SAFIYA
FREE DR. HUSSAM ABU SAFIYA
FREE DR. HUSSAM ABU SAFIYA
FREE DR. HUSSAM ABU SAFIYA
FREE DR. HUSSAM ABU SAFIYA

[Save the Children UK @savechildrenuk]

Israel's recently-passed death penalty law contains no clear exemptions for children, and the Government of Israel has not clarified whether children would be excluded from its scope.

Adding a discriminatory and irreversible death penalty to a system already known for abuse would be a brazen assault on the rights of Palestinian children.

Save the Children strongly opposes the death penalty bill and calls for its immediate withdrawal.

The UK Government has said it opposes the new law, but has failed to take tangible action to pressure the Israeli Government to withdraw it.

We refuse to accept a world where Palestinian children - or any children around the world - could be sentenced to death.

#StopTheWarOnChildren

[Amnesty International @amnesty]

By putting the EU-Israel trade deal before human life, the EU puts profit before people. Italy and Germany continue to block the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

But change is vital. One million people in Europe, 75 NGOs, 400 diplomats and officials, Belgium, Ireland, Slovenia and Spain are calling for the suspension of the EU-Israel trade agreement.

Sign our petition: https://t.co/FFkyDMUSOF

Demand @giorgiameloni and @bundeskanzler show integrity and stop greenlighting Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and unlawful occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and apartheid over all Palestinians.

Humanity must win.

[Reuters @Reuters]

Dozens of American veterans and military family members were detained after they started protesting the Iran war inside a congressional office building in Washington DC

[United Nations Geneva @UNGeneva]

A new analysis published by @UN_Women today shows that more than 38,000 women and girls were killed in #Gaza between October 2023 and December 2025.

That is an average of at least 47 women and girls killed per day.

https://t.co/6S7FGcG8Vz

[Pedro Sánchez @sanchezcastejon]

Justo hoy, Netanyahu lanza su ataque más duro contra el Líbano desde que empezó la ofensiva.

Su desprecio por la vida y el derecho internacional es intolerable.

Toca hablar claro:

- Líbano debe formar parte del alto al fuego.

- La comunidad internacional debe condenar esta nueva violación del derecho internacional.

- La Unión Europea debe suspender su Acuerdo de Asociación con Israel.

- Y no debe haber impunidad ante estos actos criminales.

[Al Jazeera Breaking News @AJENews]

BREAKING: Pope Leo condemns Trump’s warning that “a whole civilization will die tonight,” calling threats against Iran’s population “unacceptable” and urging people worldwide to press their political leaders to end the expanding regional war.

[sarah @sahouraxo]

In Tehran today, Iranian Christians gathered for Easter at Saint Sarkis Cathedral.

Iran has one of the oldest continuous Christian communities in the world — over 2,000 years old.

These are the people that Trump wants to bomb “back to Stone Age.”

[UNRWA @UNRWA]

“The attacks against UNRWA are not about neutrality or operationality. Rather, they seek to undermine the Agency to weaken Palestinians' rights within Final Status issues in the Israel-Palestine conflict,” says UNRWA Commissioner-General @UNLazzarini in his final letter to the United Nations General Assembly.

While #UNRWAworks in #Gaza and across the region under rising challenges, appropriate action must be taken to support the Agency and impunity must end.

Full letter:
https://t.co/4c9VfYDl6J

[UN Special Procedures @UN_SPExperts]

In Gaza, #WestBank & East Jerusalem, Palestinians are subjected to a continuum of suffering - @FranceskAlbs denounces torture of Palestinians, says it extends beyond Israeli prison walls. “There is no refuge. No safe place to exist.” @UN_HRC #HRC61
https://t.co/9IBBWMCF9C

[Jan R. Steinholt @JRSteinholt]

Europa har i det minste én statsminister med prinsipper og ryggrad.

[euronews @euronews]

"We are against this war because it's illegal, there's no reason behind it and is causing a lot of damage," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says about the US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

[Jan R. Steinholt @JRSteinholt]

@MasudGh You are a total disgrace to the people of both 🇳🇴 and 🇮🇷, not even mentioning the brutal US-Israeli military onslaught and mass killings of Iranians. There is a name for people of your sort. And it’s not a compliment.

[Amnesty UK @AmnestyUK]

Ever heard of Palantir?

Here's why it matters:

Palantir is a US software company.

It specialises in data products, used widely by governments for surveillance, intelligence and military purposes.

In January 2024, Palantir signed a contract with the Israeli military to use its technology in support of “war-related missions.”

Palantir has a deep relationship with US law enforcement. It supplies ICE with tools that can be used to surveil and target migrants in the US.

Now, that same company is working at the heart of our NHS.

Palantir has already received £330 million of our money for its contract with our NHS England.

Healthworkers and patients have been ringing the alarm for years: this is not right.

What’s happening in Gaza is an ongoing genocide.

We shouldn’t have a company linked to human rights abuses have anything to do with our precious NHS.

Learn more: https://t.co/BuCL9bM5GN

[Jewish Voice @jewishvoicelive]

Israel is not a Jewish state

Jews are not a nationality

Judaism is an ancient religious collective.

Zionism can never represent the Jews.

The current Zionist state of Israel is not a safe haven for Jews, but a country hostile to Jews.

We pray for the eradication of the depraved, genocidal Israel.

[Al Jazeera English @AJEnglish]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has found evidence Israel used white phosphorus in residential areas of southern Lebanon earlier this month, in violation of international humanitarian law https://t.co/JRddH2Do1t

[Jan R. Steinholt @JRSteinholt]

USAs gjentatte brudd på FN-charteret og NATO-pakten må få konsekvenser for Norges forhold til alliansen og de bilaterale avtalene med USA.

https://t.co/D6Z1lFRDJR

[UN Special Procedures @UN_SPExperts]

UN experts concerned by #Israel altering Jerusalem’s demographic composition, religious character & legal status. These acts constitute the ethnic cleansing of #Palestine, by whatever means, whatever the cost and whatever crimes it takes.
https://t.co/SN99xi5S4o

[Jan R. Steinholt @JRSteinholt]

Det finnes i det minste én fornuftig og ansvarlig statsminister i Europa.

[Pedro Sánchez @sanchezcastejon]

The world, Europe, and Spain have faced this critical moment before. In 2003, a few irresponsible leaders dragged us into an illegal war in the Middle East that brought nothing but insecurity and pain.

Our response then must be our response now:

NO to violations of international law.

NO to the illusion that we can solve the world’s problems with bombs.

NO to repeating the mistakes of the past.

NO TO WAR.
https://t.co/KpRjBfwY4B

[United Nations Geneva @UNGeneva]

The UN education agency @UNESCO says that the bombing of a primary school during the US and Israeli military attacks on #Iran on Saturday constitutes a grave violation of humanitarian law.

https://t.co/fkXfJck0UM

[Jan R. Steinholt @JRSteinholt]

This one is a must read.

[Peter Girnus 🦅 @gothburz]

I am a diplomatic aide in the Sultanate of Oman's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

My job is logistics. When two countries that cannot speak to each other need to speak to each other, I book the rooms. I prepare the briefing materials. I make sure the water glasses are the right distance apart. You would be surprised how much of diplomacy is water glasses. Too close and it feels informal. Too far and it feels like a tribunal. I have a chart.

We had a very good month.

Since January, Oman has been mediating indirect talks between the United States and Iran on Iran's nuclear program. The talks were held in Muscat and in Geneva. The Americans would sit in one room. The Iranians would sit in another room. I would walk between them. My Fitbit says I averaged fourteen thousand steps on negotiation days. The hallway between the two rooms at the Royal Opera House conference center is forty-seven meters. I walked it two hundred and twelve times in February. This is good for my cardiovascular health. It was less good for my knees. Both are in the service of peace.

By mid-February, we had something.

Iran agreed to zero stockpiling of enriched uranium. Not reduced stockpiling. Zero. They agreed to down-blend existing stockpiles to the lowest possible level. They agreed to convert them into irreversible fuel. They agreed to full IAEA verification with potential US inspector access. They agreed, in the Foreign Minister's phrase, to "never, ever" possess nuclear material for a bomb. I have worked in diplomacy for seven years. I have never seen a country agree to this many things this quickly. I made a spreadsheet of the concessions. It had fourteen rows. I color-coded it. Green for confirmed. Yellow for pending. By February 21 the spreadsheet was entirely green. I printed it. It is on my desk in Muscat. It is still green.

That phrase took eleven days. "Never, ever." The Iranians initially offered "not seek to." The Americans wanted "will not under any circumstances." We landed on "never, ever" at 2:14 AM on a Tuesday in Muscat. I typed the final version myself. I used Times New Roman because Geneva prefers it. The document was fourteen pages. I was proud of every comma.

Here is what they said, in the order they said it.

February 24: "We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity." — The Foreign Minister, private briefing to Gulf Cooperation Council ambassadors. I prepared the slide deck. Slide 14 was the implementation timeline. Slide 15 was the signing ceremony logistics. I had reserved the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Room XX. It seats four hundred. We discussed pen brands for the signing. The Iranians preferred Montblanc. The Americans had no preference. I ordered twelve Montblanc Meisterstucks at six hundred and thirty dollars each. They arrive on Tuesday.

February 27, 8:30 AM EST: "The deal is within our reach." — The Foreign Minister, CBS Face the Nation. He sat across from Margaret Brennan. He said broad political terms could be agreed "tomorrow" with ninety days for technical implementation in Vienna. He said, and I wrote this line for the briefing card he carried in his breast pocket: "If we just allow diplomacy the space it needs." He praised the American envoys by name. Steve Witkoff. Jared Kushner. He said both had been constructive.

I watched from the Four Seasons Georgetown. The minibar had cashews. I ate the cashews. They were nineteen dollars. The most expensive cashew I have ever eaten. But it was a good morning and we were within our reach.

February 27, 2:00 PM EST: Meeting with Vice President Vance, Washington. The Foreign Minister presented our progress. Zero stockpiling. Full verification. Irreversible conversion. "Never, ever." The Vice President used the word "encouraging." His aide took notes on an iPad. The aide did not make eye contact for the last nine minutes of the meeting. I noticed this. Noticing things is the only part of my job that is not water glasses.

February 27, 4:00 PM EST: "Not happy with the pace." — President Trump, to reporters.

Not happy with the pace.

We had achieved zero stockpiling. Full IAEA verification. Irreversible fuel conversion. Inspector access. And the phrase "never, ever," which took eleven days and cost me two hundred and twelve trips down a forty-seven-meter hallway.

Every American president since Carter has failed to get Iran to agree to this. Forty-five years.

Not happy with the pace.

February 27, 9:47 PM EST: The Foreign Minister's flight departs Dulles for Muscat. I am in the seat behind him. He is reviewing Slide 14 on his laptop. The implementation timeline. Vienna technical sessions. The signing ceremony. The pens.

I fall asleep over the Atlantic. I dream about water glasses.

February 28, 6:00 AM GST: I wake up to push notifications.

February 28: "The United States has begun major combat operations in Iran." — President Trump.

Operation Epic Fury. Coordinated airstrikes. The United States and Israel. Tehran. Isfahan. Qom. Karaj. Kermanshah. Nuclear facilities. IRGC bases. Sites near the Supreme Leader's office. Israel called their half Operation Roaring Lion. Someone in both governments spent time choosing these names. Epic Fury. Roaring Lion. I spent eleven days on "never, ever." They spent it on branding. The President said Iran had "rejected American calls to halt its nuclear weapons production."

Rejected.

Iran had agreed to zero stockpiling. Iran had agreed to full verification. Iran had agreed to "never, ever." Iran had agreed to everything in a fourteen-page document that I typed in Times New Roman.

The President said they rejected it.

I do not know which document the President was reading. I know which one I typed.

February 28, 18:45 UTC: Iran internet connectivity: four percent. — NetBlocks, confirmed by Cloudflare. Ninety-six percent of a country went dark. You cannot negotiate with a country at four percent connectivity. You cannot negotiate with a country that is being struck. You cannot negotiate. This is not a political opinion. This is a logistics assessment.

February 28: The governor of Minab reported forty girls killed at an elementary school.

I do not have logistics for that. There is no slide for that. The water glass chart does not cover that.

February 28: Lockheed Martin: up. Northrop Grumman: up. RTX: up. Dow futures: down six hundred and twenty-two points. Gold: five thousand two hundred and ninety-six dollars. An analyst at AInvest published a note titled "Iran Strikes: Tactical Plays." The note recommended positions in oil, defense stocks, and gold.

The most expensive cashew I have ever eaten was nineteen dollars. The most expensive pen I have ever ordered was six hundred and thirty dollars. The math suggests I have been working in the wrong industry. Defense stocks do not require water glasses. Defense stocks do not require eleven days. Defense stocks require one morning.

February 28: Israel closed its airspace and its schools. Iran launched retaliatory missiles toward US bases in the Gulf. The Supreme Leader promised a "crushing response." Israel's defense minister declared a permanent state of emergency. Everyone is using words I recognize in an order I do not. I recognize "permanent." I recognize "emergency." I do not recognize them next to each other. In diplomacy, nothing is permanent and everything is an emergency. In war it is the reverse.

February 28: The Foreign Minister has not made a public statement.

The briefing card is still in his breast pocket. It still says "within our reach."