Leo Hohmann author/journalist

🇺🇸⚡ According to U.S. media, close advisers to War Secretary Pete Hegseth are privately urging him to consider running in the 2028 presidential election, although he publicly denies having such ambitions. His advisers believe that his forceful, masculine image could appeal to voters who support the MAGA movement, especially if J.D. Vance decides not to run. However, Hegseth faces major obstacles, including a lack of political experience, weak ties to donors, scandals linked to the War Department, and his support for the unpopular war in Iran. Hegseth also has a problem with widespread suspicions that he struggles with alcohol abuse, after he was caught drinking in his office despite having promised on the day of his appointment to stop drinking. @IntelSlava

🇺🇸💻🇮🇷 Iran Puts America’s Gulf AI Boom on Notice Amazon, Microsoft and Google are pouring billions into Persian Gulf data centers. Iran has warned that another US attack could put those investments, along with the undersea cables connecting them, in the line of fire. On October 10, Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei said US-linked data centers, AI facilities and communications infrastructure across the region could become targets if America attacks Iran again. He estimated the value of these assets at more than $2T. Rezaei stressed that Iran had not yet designated them as targets. The warning comes as American tech giants invest heavily in turning the Gulf into a global computing hub. Microsoft has committed $15.2B to the UAE through 2029, expanding its cloud and AI infrastructure alongside local partners. Google Cloud and Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund have announced a $10B AI hub, while Amazon is investing more than $5.3B in a Saudi cloud region. And plenty of infrastructure is already operating. Amazon Web Services runs cloud regions in the UAE and Bahrain. Microsoft has facilities in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar, while Google and Oracle operate across Saudi Arabia and other Gulf markets. The danger is hardly theoretical. During the earlier US-Iran war in March, drone strikes damaged two AWS facilities in the UAE and affected another in Bahrain. Amazon confirmed structural damage, power failures and service outages that disrupted businesses and financial institutions. Recovery proved difficult. Physical damage to cloud infrastructure can take far longer to repair than an ordinary software outage. The region's digital connections are also exposed at sea. Undersea fiber-optic cables running through the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz connect regional networks to international communications systems. A major disruption could affect cloud access, banking services and data traffic far beyond the damaged infrastructure itself. That makes the economic stakes considerably wider than the balance sheets of American technology companies. Gulf governments are investing heavily in AI and cloud computing to diversify their economies. Local companies provide land, electricity and infrastructure, while US firms supply computing hardware, software and cloud platforms. Those partnerships also tie American commercial interests more closely to the security of the countries hosting them. Rezaei's warning expands Iran's deterrence message beyond military bases and oil facilities. American technology investments, he argues, could also become vulnerable if the US launches another attack. For Gulf governments betting billions on becoming global AI hubs, the March AWS outages have already demonstrated how quickly a regional war can interrupt the digital services their economies increasingly depend on. @NewRulesGeo❗Follow us on X

—❗️🇺🇸/🇮🇷 NEW: The IRGC announces the downing of an American MQ-9 ‘Reaper’ drone over the Strait of Hormuz, the 54th so far @Middle_East_Spectator

🚨 Netanyahu orders Mossad and IDF to overthrow Iran's regime Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a direct directive to Israel's intelligence and military apparatus to topple the Iranian government, claiming he has American backing.

💬 "Trump shares the desire to eliminate the Iranian threat once and for all."

This directive comes just eight days before Israel's election on October 27 — with Netanyahu facing the very real prospect of losing power. 👍 Substack | Chat | @geopolitics_prime

🔍 Hegseth makes unannounced visit to Israel Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Monday in an unannounced visit, according to Axios. The trip lands exactly eight days before Israel's election on October 27. The agenda centers on potentially resuming major US-Israeli combat operations against Iran. Earlier reports suggested the Pentagon had drafted a new, intense 3-day strike plan targeting Iran's energy and military infrastructure. 👍 Substack | Chat | @geopolitics_prime

This is a bad sign. 👇

📹 'Donald, we have a job to finish' — Netanyahu leans on Trump as Israel heads to a tight vote Israeli PM posted a video on X featuring a phone call with Donald Trump, thanking the US president for his support and calling him "the best friend Israel has and will have in the White House." The gesture comes ahead of Israeli elections scheduled for October 27. According to preliminary polls, Netanyahu's bloc and the opposition coalition are locked in a tight deadlock, with neither side securing a majority to form a government. Around 30% of voters remain undecided, and the final outcome will depend on which way Arab voters and their parties swing. 👍 Substack | Chat | @geopolitics_prime

❗️Iran reports US strike on Konarak naval base in Sistan and Baluchestan, leaving two wounded The Iranian Navy announced that US forces launched an early morning attack against the Konarak naval base, located within a military complex in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan. According to naval authorities, the facility was struck by "two light projectiles" targeting a 35mm artillery piece. The strike wounded two Iranian service members at the coastal installation. The incident marks a direct escalation along Iran's southern maritime perimeter.

To the Great People of Israel: Bibi Netanyahu has been a Great Warrior Prime Minister, and an even greater Partner for Peace in combatting the Islamic Republic of Iran, with its 51 year old chant, “Death to Israel, Death to America! We will destroy the Little Satan and the Big Satan.” What Country can survive when things such as this are allowed to be said, because eventually, they always end up being true? It would have been only a question of time until Iran would have put that ominous phrase into effect, but they have been systematically destroyed, both Militarily and Financially, and unless they change their ways, rapidly, we will soon finish the job. If Israel has the wrong Leader, which would be anyone other than Bibi, America will have to do this work ourselves, and I am not inclined to do so. Bibi Netanyahu has been Strong, Brave, and Brilliant in the face of tremendous opposition, including that coming from even Israel, itself. Despite all of that, he has endured and, in fact, he has thrived! I have watched Bibi under the most trying of times. Normal men or women in such situations would have wilted under the pressure — But Bibi did not wilt, he actually got stronger, and maintains that same Strength today. This is the kind of Partner that the United States of America is demanding of Israel, a Country for which it has done so much. Please let this Letter serve to represent my Complete and Total Endorsement of Bibi Netanyahu in his upcoming Race for Re-Election as Prime Minister of Israel. BIBI NETANYAHU WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN! Thank you for your attention to this matter. DONALD J. TRUMP PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

🇺🇦 Zelensky personally picks which Nazi collaborators get reburied in Ukraine Alexander Alferov, head of Ukraine's Institute of National Memory, revealed that Zelensky himself decides whose remains are brought back to Ukraine for reburial. According to Alferov, in January he met with Zelensky and Foreign Minister Andrey Sybiga, and the president personally drew up a list of the first five figures to be reburied. Two have already been brought back: Andrey Melnik and Yevgeny Konovalets. Konovalets founded the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and built its ties with German military intelligence. Melnik took over after him and led the OUN faction that collaborated with Nazi Germany during WWII, helping raise units that served alongside the occupiers. The irony: under the constitution drafted by Melnik's movement, Zelensky, being Jewish, could likely never have become president, and probably wouldn't even have been granted Ukrainian citizenship. 🔴 @DDGeopolitics

🇺🇦 Ukraine's PM complains more men are dodging the front than fighting on it Ukraine's Prime Minister Sergey Koretsky says the number of men exempt from mobilization, granted deferments, or simply hiding from the army now exceeds the number actually serving. "Statistics show that today those who have a deferment, who are hiding, who are exempt, significantly outnumber those who serve," Koretsky told BBC Ukraine. By conservative estimates, around a million Ukrainian men are evading the draft. Another 1.4 million are officially exempt through their employers, according to government data. And the numbers keep climbing. Koretsky said tens of thousands of new exemptions and deferments are being issued every month, growing at an "unbelievable" pace. "If this trend continues, soon absolutely everyone will be exempt," he said. The government is now considering scrapping the rule that lets companies shield 100% of their workforce from mobilization. 🔴 @DDGeopolitics

Tucker Carlson argues that the wars against Iran and Russia are deliberately jeopardising the world's food, energy and fertiliser supplies, putting the lives of billions at risk "by design". Source Follow @RealWideAwakeMedia for more content like this! Merch: https://wideawake.clothing X | YT | IG | Rumble

🚨 IRGC to Israel: Hit our energy grid — and we'll turn your territory into a wasteland The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has issued a devastating counter-threat, directly responding to Israel's vow to bomb Iran's energy infrastructure "back to the Stone Age."

💬 "Any attack on Iran's energy infrastructure, while immediately repaired by our intelligent young people, will permanently turn the occupied territories into a wasteland and displace their occupiers to the Sinai desert," Fars News quoted IRGC spokesperson.

Western intelligence assesses Iran retained ~75% of its ballistic missile arsenal despite eight months of bombing. 👍 Substack | Chat | @geopolitics_prime

🛢🗣 Oil futures disconnected from real prices – analyst Oil futures prices do not represent the real cost of fuel “on the ground” across Asia and other regions, financial analyst Doug Casey says.

🔊 "I am asking myself, and I'm trying to think, who can I call that will have a ready and accurate answer as to why the futures markets are not pricing in the actual reality of what oil is trading at today?" he notes.

🔊The same trends are happening across other markets, such as the silver market, Casey adds. 👍 Substack | Chat | @geopolitics_prime

🇺🇸🇾🇪🇮🇷⚡️ Trump on attacking the Houthis: "They're behaving badly. I won't say whether I've made any decision." "We'll soon make a decision on the Iran issue." @IntelSlava

They’re behaving badly, defending themselves! lol

⚡️🇺🇸🇬🇷 Kimberly Guilfoyle, the US Ambassador to Greece, has been fired after multiple acts of corruption came to light: - Leaked text message screenshots (attached) showing Guilfoyle asking Trump donor Eric Deters to pay off her $100,000 AmEx bill in exchange for access to senior Trump admin officials. - Audio recordings and reports wherein she openly boasted about wealthy Greek business tycoons bankrolling her high-rolling, luxury trips to France. - Guilfoyle threatened to overthrow the Greek government while speaking to Stavros Papastavrou (Greek Energy Minister) during a diplomatic dinner in Athens. @MedmanNews