Live Update From the Liveblog of Friday, August 21, 2026 By AFP Today, 2:22 pm Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says it is time to end the months-long Middle East war with the United States and Israel because Tehran is in a position of strength over Washington. “It is better that we bring the war to an end now, as we are in a position of power and dignity, and the whole world acknowledges our victory and emphasizes that America has attacked our schools, hospitals and infrastructure in violation of all regulations and is hated around the world,” he says in a meeting with doctors.

🚨💥 THE SECRET IS OUT! NOW ALL GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP REQUESTS WILL BE PUBLIC 👀🔥 This changes EVERYTHING! 💪 Elon Musk just announced that all requests for content removal or restriction sent by governments to X will now be visible to anyone, thanks to the platform's open-source algorithm 📱💻 🔍 What does this mean? If a government, institution, or influential person asks to delete, hide, or restrict a post, EVERYONE will find out. No more "behind closed doors" requests or opaque decisions 🚫🤫 💡 X, under Musk's direction, has become the world's most transparent social network in this regard: what was once invisible is now exposed to millions of users 🌍👏>> Credit for the text and photo to its author. https://x.com/httrejo/status/2089458374039548340?s=46&t=gT6uLhaVod8uwzT4p6povA

Hello to all, I invite everyone to please visit iranopasmigirim.com to learn more about the Take Back Iran campaign headed by the Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi.

I drafted this in a way that it can be publicly shared with anyone anywhere. This started as a personal project for me while I was investigating where/how the Trump/Pahlavi alliance converges. I also investigated the pros and cons of a public Trump endorsement and had AI draft it as a decision matrix. I'm just doing this to satisfy my own curiosity. Feedback is welcome! THE LION AND SUN CONVERGENCE How the Trump-Pahlavi Alignment Works — and What It's Building Toward A public briefing • August 11, 2026 What this memo explains A strategic convergence has formed between the Trump administration and the Iranian opposition led by Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last Shah. This memo explains what that convergence consists of, why it matters, and what it is building toward. It assumes no prior knowledge of Iranian politics or the ongoing conflict. Who is Reza Pahlavi? Reza Pahlavi is the son of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the monarch overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He has lived in exile since childhood and leads a movement calling for a secular, democratic Iran. His supporters refer to their movement as the Lion and Sun Revolution, after Iran's historic national emblem. In January 2026, mass uprisings across Iran chanting his name were met with regime violence that killed tens of thousands in days. Pahlavi has since published detailed transition plans covering military restructuring, economic recovery, and foreign policy. The signal: Rubio and Graham met with Pahlavi In recent months, Senator Marco Rubio — formerly Secretary of State and Senate Intelligence Committee chairman — and the late Senator Lindsey Graham, the Senate's most prominent Iran hawk, held meetings with Pahlavi. These were not courtesy calls. Senior national-security figures do not meet exiled opposition leaders without purpose. The meetings signal that Trump's foreign-policy network has selected Pahlavi as its preferred Iranian partner for a post-regime transition. Where the two visions align