Rustam Seerat

Ph.D. in International Relations. Following is my Medium account.

#StopHazaraGenocide

[Rustam Seerat @RustamSeerat]

There Is a Crisis of Empathy in Afghanistan https://t.co/OineAZnMmk via @thewire_in

This piece of mine is still relevant. #StopHazaraGenocide

[اطلاعات روز | Etilaatroz @Etilaatroz]

به‌دلیل محرومیت هزاره‌ها از برنامه‌های توسعه‌ای دولت و نهادهای بین‌المللی، در هزاره‌جات سنت بومی و اجتماع‌محور از توسعه شکل گرفته است؛ مدلی که بدون رشد اقتصادی کلان و بدون اتکای گسترده به دولت، بر سرمایه‌ی اجتماعی و همکاری جمعی هزاره‌ها تکیه دارد. این سنت در فرهنگ هزاره‌ها ریشه‌ای دیرینه دارد. سرک کابل-ورس توسط خود مردم هزاره در دوران ظاهرشاه ساخته شد (جعفر رسولی، ۴ حوت ۱۴۰۴). جعفر رسولی می‌افزاید که مردم هزاره از دهه‌ها قبل در کارهای عام‌المنفعه از قبیل سرک‌سازی آشار (حشر) می‌کردند و در کارهای فردی از قبیل شخم زدن زمین باهم پولغو (کمک متقابل) می‌کردند.

بیشتر بخوانید: https://t.co/uURuP6g0oZ

[Jabin T Jacob 鄭嘉賓 @jabinjacobt]

the second report in the @CSEP_Org series again co-edited with @ConstantinoX
https://t.co/H4dKLOFqRM
with fantastic contributions by @eramash @anandpkrishnan @RustamSeerat @AmaraThiha @RSaimum @BhagyaS13 @akhanal @DoctorDev and others 9/n

[Centre for Himalayan Studies, Shiv Nadar IoE @Himalayas_SNU]

#REPLUG

🇨🇳’s political, economic & military support to 🇮🇷 has come into focus in the ongoing conflict across Persian Gulf.

The cultural-religious relationship b/w both countries also warrants attention.

Commentary authored by @RustamSeerat. https://t.co/f9FZjLaDBa

[Rustam Seerat @RustamSeerat]

@elonmusk And what is the point of this digital garbage?

[Rustam Seerat @RustamSeerat]

@PyroKrono @ShitpostRock2 Herati dialect of Farsi.

[Rustam Seerat @RustamSeerat]

@RedEyedITguy @Telegraph The description doesn’t match the content @Telegraph

[Rustam Seerat @RustamSeerat]

Pple who put 'Judeo-Christian' values against Islam, couldn't be more historically or linguistically ignorant. F u actually look @ d core religious concepts, Judaism and Islam r twin faiths. Just look at these 11 cognate terms—same concepts, same Semitic roots, same legal logic.

[Rustam Seerat @RustamSeerat]

Arming Kurdish groups will only rally nationalist Iranians behind the Iranian current government.

[Rustam Seerat @RustamSeerat]

If Iran emerges from this war still standing, capitalist hubs such as Dubai, Sharjah, Qatar, and Kuwait will no longer be a paradise for investors; capital will flee. The threat of future Iranian attacks will persist, and investors will no longer feel secure.

[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."

[Rustam Seerat @RustamSeerat]

…and the theocracy would endure for many years.

Paradoxically, his death—contrary to expectations—could remove this very challenge facing the religious establishment.

[Rustam Seerat @RustamSeerat]

The aging of Khamenei and the question of his succession had created a major structural challenge for Iran’s religious government. If he has been killed and a younger successor is able to bring the theocratic system through this war intact, he would fill Khamenei’s place,…

[Rustam Seerat @RustamSeerat]

طالبان کی چین اور امریکہ کے درمیان توازن کی حکمت عملی
https://t.co/HgSFdR3zO4

[GC Afghanistan @gcafghanistan]

For our January session, we (re)welcome @RustamSeerat to the @gchumanrights. 8 January 2026, 15:00-16:30 CET. Register here: https://t.co/gJFHjDYQZU

[Homira @TheHomira]

A really important and under-discussed piece by @RustamSeerat on Iran–China relations looking beyond oil & geopolitics to examine clerical outreach, language & soft power.

This is a must read if you’re interested in Asia: https://t.co/O9cqkv5yOE

[Rustam Seerat @RustamSeerat]

@TheHomira Thank you Dr Saib.

[Centre for Himalayan Studies, Shiv Nadar IoE @Himalayas_SNU]

📢New Commentary

.@RustamSeerat unpacks the less explored cultural-religious frame in China-Iran relationship. He argues that this relationship is driven by clerics, online missionaries & digital religious entrepreneurs. https://t.co/Daorg9Ypcx

[Centre for Himalayan Studies, Shiv Nadar IoE @Himalayas_SNU]

#TranslationsatCHS

Punjabi translation of @RustamSeerat’s Commentary on how the Taliban regime in #Afghanistan is walking a tightrope between the US & China. https://t.co/5Hn3HFToXC

[Rustam Seerat @RustamSeerat]

@DalrympleWill @amitavakumar i would translate takht to throne.