Gregg Carlstrom
@glcarlstrom.bsky.social
Middle East correspondent at The Economist.
That goes for Gulf states too. There's been some baffling commentary in recent months (e.g. here in @ForeignAffairs) about how they no longer perceive Iran as a major threat. It confuses a tactical rapprochement with a genuine warming of relations. www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/new-b...
June 13, 2025 at 5:52 AM
That goes for Gulf states too. There's been some baffling commentary in recent months (e.g. here in @ForeignAffairs) about how they no longer perceive Iran as a major threat. It confuses a tactical rapprochement with a genuine warming of relations. www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/new-b...
The US embassy in Israel today instructed staff and their families not to travel outside greater Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Be'er Sheva. It issued similar restrictions in April and October last year after the Iranian ballistic-missile attacks on Israel
June 12, 2025 at 9:06 AM
The US embassy in Israel today instructed staff and their families not to travel outside greater Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Be'er Sheva. It issued similar restrictions in April and October last year after the Iranian ballistic-missile attacks on Israel
Well, this explains that Tucker Carlson tweet denouncing Levin last week (and the claim is indeed untrue: it conflates enriching some weapons-grade uranium with building a nuclear weapon)
June 11, 2025 at 4:35 AM
Well, this explains that Tucker Carlson tweet denouncing Levin last week (and the claim is indeed untrue: it conflates enriching some weapons-grade uranium with building a nuclear weapon)
The idea that Russia might "be helpful" on Iran talks has been floated for months. There's not much evidence it's actually happening. But it's useful for Putin to keep the idea alive in Trump's mind
June 4, 2025 at 7:30 PM
The idea that Russia might "be helpful" on Iran talks has been floated for months. There's not much evidence it's actually happening. But it's useful for Putin to keep the idea alive in Trump's mind
This sounds as if someone got really creative and proposed building the enrichment facility on the Tunbs or Abu Musa, where theoretically both Iran and the UAE could claim it was on their soil www.nytimes.com/2025/06/03/u...
June 4, 2025 at 7:48 AM
This sounds as if someone got really creative and proposed building the enrichment facility on the Tunbs or Abu Musa, where theoretically both Iran and the UAE could claim it was on their soil www.nytimes.com/2025/06/03/u...
So an obscure court blocked most of Trump's tariffs, but he can use a different authority to reinstate limited tariffs for five months and start laying the groundwork for open-ended ones on big trading partners. Great news for businesses, who famously love chaos and uncertainty
May 29, 2025 at 11:44 AM
So an obscure court blocked most of Trump's tariffs, but he can use a different authority to reinstate limited tariffs for five months and start laying the groundwork for open-ended ones on big trading partners. Great news for businesses, who famously love chaos and uncertainty
For all of Witkoff's optimism yesterday, the sticking points here are basically the same as always. Hamas wants a permanent ceasefire in Gaza; Israel does not. Hamas wants to keep hostages as leverage until the end of the deal; Israel wants them out immediately.
May 29, 2025 at 5:51 AM
For all of Witkoff's optimism yesterday, the sticking points here are basically the same as always. Hamas wants a permanent ceasefire in Gaza; Israel does not. Hamas wants to keep hostages as leverage until the end of the deal; Israel wants them out immediately.
"The movement of air munitions and the completion of an air exercise" sounds like... business as usual? And you don't need to intercept Israeli communications to know they're "considering such a move". They say it in public!
May 21, 2025 at 6:45 AM
"The movement of air munitions and the completion of an air exercise" sounds like... business as usual? And you don't need to intercept Israeli communications to know they're "considering such a move". They say it in public!
More details about the "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation", the dodgy group meant to take over aid distribution. It claims to have raised $100m, but won't name its donors; and one of the prominent humanitarian figures listed as a "board member" says he is not, in fact, on the board.
May 21, 2025 at 5:38 AM
More details about the "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation", the dodgy group meant to take over aid distribution. It claims to have raised $100m, but won't name its donors; and one of the prominent humanitarian figures listed as a "board member" says he is not, in fact, on the board.
This matter-of-fact @cnn.com interview with the head of the new Gaza "aid mechanism" tells you a lot about how shambolic the effort is. He doesn't know when or how many aid trucks Israel will allow into Gaza; he admits that for at least 90 days the mechanism can't feed everyone.
May 17, 2025 at 6:20 AM
This matter-of-fact @cnn.com interview with the head of the new Gaza "aid mechanism" tells you a lot about how shambolic the effort is. He doesn't know when or how many aid trucks Israel will allow into Gaza; he admits that for at least 90 days the mechanism can't feed everyone.
This sounds like Rubio is trying to slow-walk sanctions relief for Syria, even though Trump clearly said he wants them all lifted. Congress doesn't have to wait for the White House to ask, though. It can (and should) repeal the Caesar Act immediately
May 16, 2025 at 4:42 AM
This sounds like Rubio is trying to slow-walk sanctions relief for Syria, even though Trump clearly said he wants them all lifted. Congress doesn't have to wait for the White House to ask, though. It can (and should) repeal the Caesar Act immediately
Thing is, though, just two months earlier, Trump okayed an open-ended bombing campaign in Yemen and allowed Netanyahu to abandon the ceasefire in Gaza. The version of Trump who came to the Gulf this week had some sensible ideas. There's no telling how long that version will last.
May 15, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Thing is, though, just two months earlier, Trump okayed an open-ended bombing campaign in Yemen and allowed Netanyahu to abandon the ceasefire in Gaza. The version of Trump who came to the Gulf this week had some sensible ideas. There's no telling how long that version will last.
It was an unusual speech for an American president—and even for Trump. There was nothing about democracy or human rights. He barely mentioned Israel or terrorism. He denounced interventionism. It was a realistic message at a moment when the region seems ripe for a change.
May 15, 2025 at 12:41 PM
It was an unusual speech for an American president—and even for Trump. There was nothing about democracy or human rights. He barely mentioned Israel or terrorism. He denounced interventionism. It was a realistic message at a moment when the region seems ripe for a change.
Top Iranian official says Iran is willing to sign the same agreement Iran signed a decade ago
May 15, 2025 at 5:16 AM
Top Iranian official says Iran is willing to sign the same agreement Iran signed a decade ago
Official photo from the Trump-Sharaa meeting. Imagine going back in time to 2010 and trying to explain this to someone. Surreal
May 14, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Official photo from the Trump-Sharaa meeting. Imagine going back in time to 2010 and trying to explain this to someone. Surreal
The discussion around hunger in Gaza too often gets reduced to this macabre math problem about whether there's theoretically enough pasta and canned tuna floating around to meet some caloric threshold. And that's just not how people experience hunger in the real world
May 14, 2025 at 6:06 AM
The discussion around hunger in Gaza too often gets reduced to this macabre math problem about whether there's theoretically enough pasta and canned tuna floating around to meet some caloric threshold. And that's just not how people experience hunger in the real world
Or this one: CENTCOM wanted eight to ten months (!) of strikes against the Houthis, followed by "targeted assassinations modeled on Israel's recent operation against Hezbollah". Which sounds compelling on paper but is actually kind of hard to do in practice!
May 13, 2025 at 5:43 AM
Or this one: CENTCOM wanted eight to ten months (!) of strikes against the Houthis, followed by "targeted assassinations modeled on Israel's recent operation against Hezbollah". Which sounds compelling on paper but is actually kind of hard to do in practice!
Some striking moments in this @nytimes piece about why Trump abandoned the aerial campaign against the Houthis, particularly this one, in which the Pentagon apparently cited "number of bombs dropped" as a metric for success in Yemen
May 13, 2025 at 5:43 AM
Some striking moments in this @nytimes piece about why Trump abandoned the aerial campaign against the Houthis, particularly this one, in which the Pentagon apparently cited "number of bombs dropped" as a metric for success in Yemen
Netanyahu trying frantically to spin things, claiming that Edan Alexander's release is due to his "vigorous policy" in Gaza. But it's the opposite: Alexander will be freed from 19 months of captivity because Trump finally realized Netanyahu's policy is going nowhere. 🧵
May 12, 2025 at 5:21 AM
Netanyahu trying frantically to spin things, claiming that Edan Alexander's release is due to his "vigorous policy" in Gaza. But it's the opposite: Alexander will be freed from 19 months of captivity because Trump finally realized Netanyahu's policy is going nowhere. 🧵
Later in the interview, though, he says the administration's position is basically the neocon one: "An enrichment program can never exist in the state of Iran ever again. That's our red line. No enrichment." If that is indeed a red line, very hard to see how they'll make a deal.
May 10, 2025 at 6:36 AM
Later in the interview, though, he says the administration's position is basically the neocon one: "An enrichment program can never exist in the state of Iran ever again. That's our red line. No enrichment." If that is indeed a red line, very hard to see how they'll make a deal.
Once again Steve Witkoff offers some mixed messages for different audiences, this time in an interview with Breitbart. On the one hand he denounces the "neocon element" pushing for war with Iran, which sounds as if the administration will be pragmatic in pursuing a deal.
May 10, 2025 at 6:36 AM
Once again Steve Witkoff offers some mixed messages for different audiences, this time in an interview with Breitbart. On the one hand he denounces the "neocon element" pushing for war with Iran, which sounds as if the administration will be pragmatic in pursuing a deal.
One of our @economist.com covers this week looks at Saudi Arabia's surprising transformation. There's been rapid social change, and the kingdom is playing a far more constructive role on foreign policy. Can it transform its economy too? The prospects for that look murkier.
May 9, 2025 at 1:11 PM
One of our @economist.com covers this week looks at Saudi Arabia's surprising transformation. There's been rapid social change, and the kingdom is playing a far more constructive role on foreign policy. Can it transform its economy too? The prospects for that look murkier.
The new "aid mechanism" being set up for Gaza will initially have the capacity to serve 1.2m people, which is... rather less than the population of Gaza www.axios.com/2025/05/08/g...
May 9, 2025 at 6:21 AM
The new "aid mechanism" being set up for Gaza will initially have the capacity to serve 1.2m people, which is... rather less than the population of Gaza www.axios.com/2025/05/08/g...
So bonkers, in fact, that whoever is floating this idea for Gaza is literally comparing it to the CPA in Iraq, an entity which two decades later remains a byword for waste, corruption and incompetence
May 7, 2025 at 2:13 PM
So bonkers, in fact, that whoever is floating this idea for Gaza is literally comparing it to the CPA in Iraq, an entity which two decades later remains a byword for waste, corruption and incompetence
To prevent Hamas from diverting aid, we have designed a system in which hundreds of thousands of people will lug 20kg boxes of food around a chaotic war zone and then store them in makeshift tents. Surely none of it will be stolen. Foolproof plan www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
May 5, 2025 at 6:51 PM
To prevent Hamas from diverting aid, we have designed a system in which hundreds of thousands of people will lug 20kg boxes of food around a chaotic war zone and then store them in makeshift tents. Surely none of it will be stolen. Foolproof plan www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...