Early this morning a British-educated Iranian colleague I've known for 20 years messaged me on Facebook. I won't mention his name.

He's no friend of the Iranian regime, but not a staunch enemy of it either (rare among Iranian expatriates), which is one reason why I found him to be a fruitful research collaborator back in the day and have found his insights invaluable over the years.

But something seems to have changed. Here is the transcript (my colleague's messages in red) , with annotations:

Hey Gertrude
Last night we bitch slapped you
Happy New Year!

Can you dial back the "we" bit a little, buddy?

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^{Originally published under the title, "Israel Doesn't Owe Trump Much for Finally Moving the Embassy to Jerusalem."}

Ever since Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital last December, Israelis have been told to brace themselves for a hefty quid pro quo under his long-awaited peace plan. "You won one point, and you'll give up some points later on in the negotiation," the president told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a joint news conference in January. Last month, he explained that Israel will pay "a higher price" because the U.S. moved its embassy to West Jerusalem on his watch — and that the Palestinians will "get something very good, because it's their turn next."

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^{Originally published under the title "Who Screwed up the North Korea Summit? Hint: It Wasn't Bolton's Fault."}

In the wake of the collapse of a planned June 12 summit between President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un last week, commentators have rushed to point the finger at National Security Advisor John Bolton.

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Whenever dozens of government officials, journalists, and policy analysts recycle the same one-liner in responding to a news event, you can bet they're full of it. In the wake of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's unveiling of documents proving unmistakably that Iran has been lying for years about its nuclear program, proponents of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) are falling over themselves to make the same quip – that the new revelations, far from calling into (further) question the wisdom of the so-called Iran nuclear deal, prove its necessity.

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We'll probably never know exactly why Syrian President Bashar Assad ordered Saturday's chemical weapons attack on the encircled rebel-held city of Douma with pro-regime forces on the eve of complete military victory.

But this much is certain: Russian President Vladimir Putin is the big loser.

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