— 🇵🇸/🇮🇱 NEW: Al-Qassam Brigades release the final message recorded by Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin before his death.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇷/🇷🇺 Iranian Foreign Ministry on summoning Russia's ambassador:

'Although we consider Russia a friendly nation and a strategic partner, the Islamic Republic of Iran has always outlined its own independent foreign policy, and does not compromise on this.

Russia's recent statements in support of the so-called Azerbaijani 'Zangezur' corridor project in Armenia's Syunik province is unacceptable to us, and is a clear violation of our red lines.

The changing of regional borders, especially along the borders of the Islamic Republic, will not be tolerated. Therefore, we summoned the Russian Ambassador in Iran, and demanded clarification of Russia's statements.'

@Middle_East_Spectator

— Fun fact, one Iranian Member of Parliament called for the suspension of all diplomatic ties with Russia due to this.

Unsurprisingly, the MP in question happens to have Armenian ancestry.

His proposal was immediately discarded.

— 🇮🇷/🇧🇭 BREAKING: The Emir of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al-Khalifah, has pardoned more than 450 political prisoners from its jails, as part of Bahrain's normalization of diplomatic ties with Iran

This is the second time this year that Bahrain's Emir pardons Iran-affiliated political prisoners, after pardoning 1,584 inmates in April this year.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇷/🇧🇭 WATCH: Bahraini citizens flooded the streets to celebrate the royal decree and the upcoming normalization with Iran

The citizens are singing chants in praise of Iran's first Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, an important figure to the country's 70% Shia population.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇷/🇧🇭 NOTE: Bahrain was officially Iran's 14th Province from 1957 until 1971

The grandfather of the current Emir, Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifah, who ruled Bahrain at that time, pledged allegiance to Iran in 1958, a year after Bahrain was officially declared an Iranian province.

Before 1957, Iran considered Bahrain as a part of Fars Province, despite exercising no effective control over the island, which was ruled mostly by the British, together with Qatar and the Trucial States (UAE) in what was known as the 'Persian Gulf Residency', a subdivision of the British Empire.

But, throughout the majority of Bahrain's history, it was a Persian island, and for this reason the country is still majority Shia until this day, and many Bahraini citizens have Iranian ancestry and pro-Iran political views.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— For those who don't already know, in 2011 Bahrain almost had a successful pro-Iranian revolution to overthrow the Emir

More than 300,000 protestors turned the capital Manama into total chaos, until 1,000 Saudi troops and 500 UAE troops entered Bahrain to crush the uprising.

@Middle_East_Spectator

Martyr President Ebrahim Raeesi laid the groundwork for Iran-Gulf normalization.

The importance of the new regional dynamic he created can never be underestimated.

— 🇵🇸/🇮🇱 NEW: IDF forces finally withdrew from Jenin in the West Bank after 10 days where they left 22 civilians dead, dozens more wounded and caused critical damage to both infrastructure and healthcare facilities.

This was the longest continuous fighting the IDF had to suffer in the West Bank since Operation "Defensive Shield", and it is known that they suffered heavy casualties.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇱/🇺🇸 NEW: In the West Bank, the IDF killed an American woman with a shot to the head

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇱 UPDATE: White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett: “We are deeply disturbed by the tragic death of an American citizen, Aysenur Egzi Eygi, today in the West Bank and our hearts go out to her family and loved ones. We have reached out to the Government of Israel to ask for more information and request an investigation into the incident.”

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇱 UPDATE: State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller: “We are urgently gathering more information about the circumstances of her death and will have more to say as we learn more. We have no higher priority than the safety and security of American citizens.”

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇵🇸/🇮🇱 NEW: Al-Qassam Brigades release the final message recorded by Israeli hostage Almog Sarosi before his death.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇱 NEW: Israeli Channel 13 reported that U.S. officials have warned Israel that 'aircraft carriers cannot remain in the region forever.'

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇱 NEW: Families of four dual citizens, Israeli-American hostages held by Hamas, have urged the White House to seriously consider a 'unilateral' deal that does not involve Israel, and this option is currently under discussion within the Biden administration.

The administration has also compiled a list of U.S. prisoners whose release might interest Hamas.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇨🇳 NEW: China has announced it will no longer allow foreign adoption of its children.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇺🇦/🇺🇸 NEW: Ukrainian President Zelensky says 'the number of air defense systems that have not yet been delivered is significant,' as Washington announces an additional $250 million in military aid.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇷 NEW: It has been revealed that Starlink nodes are being used across Iran on a large scale

It has been known for months that the US and other adversaries have attempted (apparently successfully) to smuggle Starlink equipment into Iran to sow internal discord by providing unobstructed internet access to dissident groups.

Another factor is Iran's severe internet censorship, which is some of the most strict in the entire world. Many Iranian politicians are now calling for the end of excessive filtering, arguing that it is indirectly and inadvertently pushing people into searching for external solutions to bypass censorship, like Starlink.

An Iranian political analyst says the following: 'We should prioritize decreasing the amount of internet censorship, even if we disagree with this in principle, because otherwise people will find external ways to bypass it, such as Starlink, which constitutes a national security issue.'

@Middle_East_Spectator