That's awesome.

Rashti jan,

Hilarious Picts, bud!

"The blind man has grand plans for his junks"

کوره برا دودولش برنامه داره
مهدی تاج رئیس فدراسیون فوتبال در نشست خبری امروز خود در خصوص پاداش‌ها و آپشن های قرارداد کی روش هم گفت: اگر کی‌روش تیم ما را از این مرحله بالا ببرد، ۱۲ درصد از پاداش ایران در فیفا را می‌گیرد. یعنی ۸۸ درصد برای ما است و ۱۲ درصد برای او. دقیقاً نمی‌دانم پاداش صعود از مرحله اول چقدر است اما تا ۳۰ میلیون دلار برای تیم قهرمان بالا می‌رود. اگر برای بازیکنان هم پاداشی در نظر گرفتیم طبق روال قبل به کی‌روش دو برابر پاداش می‌دهیم. قرارداد او آپشن دیگری ندارد.

Suspicious bind: Iran’s relationship with Russia

Decision-makers in Tehran are developing the Iran-Russia relationship in significant ways, but they seem careful not to fully turn away from the West and towards Moscow

Iranian leaders remain deeply suspicious of Russia – a sentiment rooted in a history of betrayal. Against this backdrop, Iran’s political elites divide into two main groups in their views of Russia.

One group favours strong ties with Russia as expedient to the survival of the Iranian regime and as a counterbalance to the US military presence near Iran’s borders. The Trump administration’s 2018 decision to withdraw the US from the nuclear deal and its policy of maximum pressure on Iran increased support for those advocating an alliance with Russia. This group includes Khamenei, his confidants such as foreign policy adviser Ali-Akbar Velayati and Majlis Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, top commanders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), clerics who lead Friday prayers, and executives at conglomerates with close ties to the state. They share the Kremlin’s concerns about the threat from the West (including NATO expansion) and seek stronger bilateral cooperation to shield Iran from Western sanctions and military strikes.

The second group, known as the ‘pragmatists’, comprises moderate and conservative politicians who see Russia as an important neighbour but reject efforts to strengthen strategic ties with the country. They believe that it is valuable for Iran to keep its options open with the West and to avoid excessive dependence on Moscow. The members of this group include former foreign minister Javad Zarif, former president Hassan Rouhani, and Ali Shamkhani, who currently serves as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. All three call for de-escalation with the West. Moderate former IRGC commander Hossein Alaei, another member of the group, has vigorously challenged Russia’s attitude towards Iran in not only the war in Syria but also the energy sector, UN Security Council votes, and arms deals. In April 2021, Zarif criticised Moscow for stonewalling in nuclear talks with Tehran in 2014 and 2015, attempting to sabotage the JCPOA, and exploiting Iranian land forces in Syria. In March 2022, when Iran and the US seemed to be on the verge of finalising a plan to restore the JCPOA, the Kremlin disrupted the process by suggesting that Ukraine-linked Western sanctions on Russia would damage the prospects of achieving this. Shamkhani implicitly expressed dismay with Moscow by saying that “40 years of experience has taught our people that relying on Western or Eastern powers will neither guarantee our rights nor our security.”

Given their distrust of both Russia and the West, Iranian decision-makers have long viewed their country as a desperate lonely strategic actor.