Nauman Akbar

Founder, Executive Leader, Strategy, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Technologist, Father. (Retweets are not endorsements.)

[Nauman Akbar @naumanakb]

@mrubin1971 Criticize policies if needed. Debate decisions openly. But dehumanizing an entire nation of 240+ million people does not strengthen discourse. It weakens it.

[Nauman Akbar @naumanakb]

@mrubin1971 Nations are not built on transactional loyalty alone. States pursue interests, alliances shift, administrations change, and power centers recalibrate constantly. That is true for every country, including the United States.

[Nauman Akbar @naumanakb]

@mrubin1971 Reducing Pakistan and its people to insults and street-level analogies is not analysis. It is emotional rhetoric dressed as geopolitical commentary.

[Nauman Akbar @naumanakb]

@ays5a Air defense activity on drones.

[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."

[Pakistan Strategic Forum @ForumStrategic]

Pakistan Strategic Forum on the behalf of whole nation offers sincere deep condolences to the Indian Air Force & to the family of the pilot of the Indian Air Force HAL LCA Tejas that crashed today at the Dubai Air Show 2025.

Unfortunately the IAF pilot wasn't able to eject & hasn't survived the crash.

Our rivalry belongs to the skies ONLY, & as per the teachings of Quran & Sunnah we do not celebrate any unfortunate incident.

Over to the skies & beyond, RIP BRAVE HEART 🦅 🇮🇳

[Nauman Akbar @naumanakb]

@Tiju0Prakash Dropping resumes.

[Nauman Akbar @naumanakb]

@MaryamNSharif bringing your kind attention to a security matter. We’ll be highly greatly if appropriate measures are taken. We’ve seen better days. Best regards. @ccpolahore @GovtofPunjabPK @OfficialDPRPP

[Soloinsight Inc. @Soloinsight_Inc]

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[Nauman Akbar @naumanakb]

It’s been a remarkable year 2023 with @Soloinsight_Inc, filled with resilience, passion, team pursuits, meeting timelines and celebrating house achievements, among other exciting things. Here we are in 2024!

[Soloinsight Inc. @Soloinsight_Inc]

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[Amanda Goetz @AmandaMGoetz]

Yesterday a video went viral on TikTok when a woman shared the inside of her car after it caught on fire

Including her Stanley cup - still in tact and with ice in it!!!

The president of Stanley stitched the video in < 24 hours offering to replace her cup…..and her car.

This company will now get likely 1B earned media impressions and positive brand awareness + knowledge of the quality of their product through this one quick response and 30 second video.

1. Listen to your social team
2. Moved fast
3. Care about your audience

Great marketing move, Stanley!!!

[South Asia Index @SouthAsiaIndex]

Asia Cup:— Is Shaheen Shah Afridi the greatest fast bowler in the world right now ?

[Sultan AlNeyadi @Astro_Alneyadi]

شام بخیر #پاکستان
🇵🇰
Happy Independence Day to all Pakistanis, especially those living in the UAE. As one of the largest expat communities in my country, we have lived together for years and learned a lot about your rich culture. Here's your capital, Islamabad, from space.

[Jawad Ahmad @jawadahmadone]

دوستی۔ نیا ورژن DOSTI-New version

پاکستان زندہ باد۔ انسانیت پائندہ باد
Long live Pakistan, Long live humanity

[Murtaza Ali Shah @MurtazaViews]

Private security guards beat up a parking attendant for doing his job in Defence Lahore

[Nadia Jamil @NJLahori]

I want to share my heart with you.

I’ve been working for the children of Pakistan since I was 17. Im 50 years old today. I’ve buried kids as small as 6 months, I’ve held babies whose mothers tried to cut their heads off and bury them, and they survived. I’ve seen kids brought in off the streets shaking with ice and heroin addiction. I’ve seen thousands of kids broken limbed, wounded, raped, because they were tiny labourers in homes. My own sim was a bonded slave at a brick kiln at the the age of 4. Today he is nearly an engineer. Shukar Alhamdolillah.

If your family falls into poverty, will you send your 10 year old to work in some strangers home? Depriving your child of the right to learn and more importantly the right to be safe. No. You will not. So why insult the average poor parent of Pakistan.? They work! They work in fields! In factories! In homes. Single mothers. Widows. Sweat all day and educate their children. I SALUTE THEM!
So remember those parents who send their children into forced Labour, exposing them to injury, are parents that need the support of the state. And the State of Punjab IS PROVIDING THAT SUPPORT.

We have 9 working shelters and 25 in the making. ALL of them have hostels, schools, health care, mental health care and career counselling for the children. Work is happening. We all wish there was more, but it’s amazing work and we need to support it and encourage it.

These bureaus should be all over Pakistan! They support children who need support and make sure kids are not being used by parents. Parents also need to learn two things, first being family planning and the second is, they cannot have children with the sole intent to send them off to work. Because you will
Be surprised, that is what many many people see children, even their own children as…. A way of making money. Do not encourage or support that culture. My second foster boys own biological mother turned down a house, money, all bills paid, because she makes so much off her surviving kids begging. She burned my boys legs and you give. He is still getting speech therapy.

The bureau also has its own court system to prosecute criminal parents. I have seen kids whose mothers flushed them down the toilet, abandoned them on trash heaps, or left the rented house, leaving the crying children behind, because the new husband didn’t want them. All these kids are my kids. They Are the bureaus kids, are @SarahAhmad_CPWB kids. But most of all they are Pakistans kids. And each and every one of us is Pakistan.

I ask you to help us in this cause. And trust in our work. Trust in me when I say child domestic labour is evil. Trust me when i say we can and should fight for a Pakistan where EVERY child is in school.

That day is coming. InshaAllah.

In the meantime please I BEG OF YOU, pray for Rizwana.

And pray that awful evil woman, does not escape justice!
I have not been able to sleep a wink knowing she is roaming the earth free to attempt to murder another child with barbaric torture, while this child is fighting for every breath with a broken body and an even more broken spirit.

Please pray she survives. I then pledge to making sure she thrives.
InshaAllah

[Nauman Akbar @naumanakb]

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[Soloinsight Inc. @Soloinsight_Inc]

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[Nauman Akbar @naumanakb]

Do you remember when you joined Twitter? I do! #MyTwitterAnniversary