Ian Butlin

Irish born. Dad of three, Son of two and Husband of one. And a dog called Clyde.

[Leena-Palestine @Leena53022916]

*BRILLIANT*
The French made a short film about what could happen after all immigrants would follow the ‘_white, angry old man’s_’ advice to go back where they came from.*

[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."

[Ian Butlin @ianbutlin]

@Keir_Starmer When does firing missiles alleviate any situation? Iran has supposedly been on the verse for twenty years so why the need to bomb now?? Because Israel says so???

[Ian Butlin @ianbutlin]

@TonyTown67 @DavidGray Totally agree. Pity a few inconsiderate idiots can ruin it for the rest of us.

[Ian Butlin @ianbutlin]

Tickets are now available for Spring Concert: "Wings of a Dove" at CHRIST CHURCH, Skipton, Skipton. Well worth a visit. https://t.co/a5RAL7nsux

[Ian Butlin @ianbutlin]

@Glencore 0

[Ian Butlin @ianbutlin]

@LBC @BenKentish Who cares??

[Ian Butlin @ianbutlin]

@Betfair @OptaAnalyst Stop experimenting. Play players in their right positions. Put a young striker up front. Stick a proverbial rocket up their backsides.

[Ian Butlin @ianbutlin]

@Baddiel What happens in 2031? That's a bit ominous.

[Ian Butlin @ianbutlin]

@MJMcKean Why isn't she fighting to be President and not two senile geriatrics?? What a better place the US would be.

[Ian Butlin @ianbutlin]

@Ashvir_Sangha Interesting that it doesn't mention anywhere that he is standing as a Conservative candidate. The only reference is the logo at the bottom of his website. Is it because he is worried it will hamper his chances? Or because he is embarrassed about it?

[Ian Butlin @ianbutlin]

@Graham__Coull @PatByrned Whatever you like cos they can't answer back!🤣

[Ian Butlin @ianbutlin]

@UKLabour https://t.co/NHbHVDOS3S

[Led By Donkeys @ByDonkeys]

Rishi Sunak. This is who he is

(Thanks to @gavinesler for narration)

[Edwin Hayward @edwinhayward]

Rishi Sunak's Big D-Day Snub - A Definitive Thread...

Rishi Sunak skipped out on the main D-Day commemorations yesterday to rush home and record an ITN interview that won't even air until Wednesday next week.

1/8

[Ian Butlin @ianbutlin]

@mrjamesob Compare and contrast with Rishi Sunak when he tries to empathise with normal people by saying "I know what you're going through".

[The Spectator @spectator]

'There are serious issues at stake in this general election, and the Tories have just released nonsense figures with fake attribution and given it to newspapers who took it on trust. I’m really not sure that this will help their chances very much.'

✍️ Fraser Nelson

[Ian Butlin @ianbutlin]

@StokeyyG2 Self belief
Weight of expectation

[Ian Butlin @ianbutlin]

Maybe they should play every game at the bigger stadium when the big clubs join in? So the small clubs get more revenue. https://t.co/9K6gNxjw6g

[ruya @myruyabank]

We at ruya believe that transparency is key when it comes to Islamic Banking. ​​
​​
As part of our Islamic Banking Glossary, scroll to take a look at some of the key terms we use 👉​​

#ruya #DigitalBanking #SustainableBanking #EthicalBanking #IslamicBanking #IslamicBank