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Neil MacFarquhar

@nmacfarquhar.bsky.social
3.2K followers 178 following 233 posts

New York Times correspondent and author covering Russia, the Middle East and sometimes homegrown extremism.

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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
www.bam.org/film/2026/co... Funny, poignant movie, really the best of all that is Egyptian. Highly recommend.
bam.org
The Stories
An Egyptian-Austrian love story unfolds against 1970s upheaval.
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
A way to share the Gulf without going to war over it www.nytimes.com/2026/07/19/w...
nytimes.com
A Modest Proposal for the Strait Dispute: A Shared Pact Among Gulf States (Gift Article)
A London-based research group has invoked a now-defunct European pact on coal and steel to suggest forming a coalition of countries that would share control of the Strait of Hormuz.
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Trump using his “king” instinct s to try to squelch a free press. www.nytimes.com/video/inside...
nytimes.com
Video: Our Top Editor on Subpoenas of Times Journalists
The Trump administration issued subpoenas to reporters who wrote about security concerns involving the new Air Force One. Joe Kahn, the executive editor of The New York Times, responds to what he call...
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Think my favorite Sam Neill role was Reilly Ace of Spies, much of it set in pre-revolutionary Russia. Great spy yarn even if you do not happen to love matters Russian. Series available to stream on You Tube among other places. www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
youtube.com
Reilly Ace of Spies - YouTube
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Calls in Iran for Trump’s head grow louder. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/12/w...
nytimes.com
Hard-Liners in Iran Want to Keep Fighting America (Gift Article)
With much of their leadership killed in the war, Iran’s conservatives have sought to fill the void and intensify the fight against the United States.
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Iran determined to hang on to its newfound leverage over the Strait of Hormuz. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/09/w...
nytimes.com
Tanker Attacks Risk Overplaying Iran’s Hand and Reigniting a War
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
As usual, the proposition is more about Trump and his quest for a Nobel Prize than the reality on the ground. One indication of just how clueless? He called Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman the “president of Saudi Arabia.”
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Apparently no clue how Israeli onslaught on Gaza, the West Bank, Iran and Lebanon is perceived by the public in those countries. No clue that the countries that have signed are too rich, too distant or too oppressive to care about what Israel does. Also no demands by Trump on Israel itself.
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Trump, already flailing in ending the war against Iran with anything to show for it, decided this would be the ideal moment to try to strong arm major states in the region including Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan to join the Abraham Accords normalizing ties with Israel.
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
The past record of the members of the hardline alliance making decisions in Iran suggests they are unlikely to capitulate in the ways President Trump seeks. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/21/w...
nytimes.com
Military Fraternity Running Iran Has Long History of Hard-Line Positions
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Reposted by Neil MacFarquhar
Kevin Rothrock @kevinrothrock.me · 09/05/2026
Yevgeny Prigozhin the war hero: Wagner Group veterans marched with his portrait during today's Immortal Regiment procession on St. Petersburg's Nevsky Prospekt. This is the guy who led a mutiny in 2023 and was very clearly killed by the Kremlin in a plane bombing. t.me/paperpaper_r...
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
Caspian Sea provides means for Russia & Iran to avoid US blockade, sanctions www.nytimes.com/2026/05/09/w...
nytimes.com
Long Overlooked, Caspian Sea Provides Strategic Trade Route for Iran
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
Satellite images indicate that Iranian drones caused $1 billion in damage to US Mideast bases. www.nytimes.com/video/world/...
nytimes.com
Video: Iranian Propaganda vs. U.S. Talking Points: How We Determined the Real Damage to U.S. Military Bases
Amid the barrage of messages and misinformation swirling online and on Capitol Hill, about what damage U.S. military sites incurred during the conflict with Iran, a Times analysis of satellite imagery...
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
In keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed, Iran relies on the threat from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps navy, a separate force that was damaged but -- despite Pentagon claims that Iran has no navy -- not destroyed in the American and Israeli attacks on Iran. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/w...
nytimes.com
Why Iran’s ‘Mosquito Fleet’ Remains a Potent Threat in the Strait of Hormuz
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
If Hormuz was Chinatown (#AIArt)
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
Geopolitical Noir: If Hormuz was Chinatown (#AIArt)
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Whole lot of wishful thinking in Trump's social media posts about resolving the Iran conflict, not to mention his serial telephone interviews with reporters who never seem to question what he is spouting . www.nytimes.com/2026/04/17/u...
nytimes.com
Optimism Rises for Iran Talks, but Hard Work Awaits
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
As Trump zizagged over war aims, Iran stuck to demanding no future attacks, war reparations and nuclear enrichment. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/11/w...
nytimes.com
Iran Has Been Consistent in War. Will It Be Consistent in Peace Talks?
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
...Nicaragua." Arming the mujahideen in Afghanistan gave rise to Obama bin Laden and eventually the current brutal Islamist rule of the Taliban, while Nicaragua today suffers under the harsh authoritarian control of the Sandinistas. History, anyone?
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Over on Fox tonight, the rosy "czar can do no wrong" ethos prevails. "Iran will surrender its enriched uranium." Says who? "Iran will open the Strait of Hormuz." Under supervision of its military, unlike before. "They should arm the people like Reagan succeeded in doing in Afghanistan and...
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
One pillar of the post World War II order has been that the might of the U.S. Navy guarantees the right of free passage for shipping globally. If Trump cedes control of the Strait of Hormuz to Iran, he will be abandoning that principle.
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Not to mention that Trump has lifted the embargo on Iranian oil to try to dilute price increases caused by the war, generating billions of dollars in revenue for the Islamic Republic.
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
In his speech,Trump repeated that former President Obama handed Iran $1.7 billion in cash. It was unfrozen Iranian assets. Trump also trashed the nuclear deal that Obama negotiated and that he ripped up. But Obama got 97% of Iran’s nuclear stockpile out of the country, something Trump has yet to do.
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Life of an Iranian insider: Worry about the assassination of so many leaders and coloring with his kids www.nytimes.com/2026/03/20/w...
nytimes.com
A Diary of War From an Unlikely Author: the Son of Iran’s President
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Attempts to build “a new Middle East” often take a deadly detour into unanticipated consequences. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/u...
nytimes.com
For U.S., Unmet Expectations in Iran Fit a Familiar Pattern in the Region
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Iran has proven to be a briar patch for previous U.S. presidents www.nytimes.com/2026/03/15/w...
nytimes.com
Iran and the United States: A Long History of Antagonism
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Lots of Americans are seeing a completely different version of the war via the White House video accounts: www.wsj.com/video/series...
wsj.com
Inside the White House’s Meme Strategy to Sell the Iran War
The Journal analyzed over 100 video posts shared by the White House on TikTok and X since the beginning of the war. The pop-culture-filled strategy is drawing lots of views, and backlash.
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
New Supreme Leader Inherits Sprawling, Secretive Office That Dominates Iran www.nytimes.com/2026/03/10/w...
nytimes.com
New Supreme Leader Inherits Sprawling, Secretive Office That Dominates Iran
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
A Beirut Hotel Sheltering the Displaced Comes Under Fire www.nytimes.com/video/world/...
nytimes.com
Video: A Beirut Hotel Sheltering the Displaced Comes Under Fire
A Christian hotel owner opened her doors to Shia Muslims fleeing Israel’s bombardment of the southern outskirts of Beirut. Then a missile struck the hotel, killing her 34-year-old receptionist.
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Trump surrounds himself with a lot of ..... himself. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
All the President’s Portraits
President Trump’s image — in paint and pixels, on posters and sculptures — is ubiquitous inside the White House, and beyond.
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
The Supreme Leader is the ultimate symbol of that revolution. If they eliminated the office, it would undermine their core reason for being.
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
There is a common misperception that at some point the Revolutionary Guards might shove aside the Supreme Leader to rule Iran directly. This ignores the fact that the Guards were created to protect the Islamic revolution, as this article details.
nytimes.com
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards: The Spine of a Militarized State
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Plus the FDR line is not to be missed
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
www.cnn.com/2026/03/04/t...
cnn.com
Former MI6 chief: Iran war ‘unnecessary,’ risks spiraling out of control | CNN
John Sawers, former Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service, speaks with Christiane Amanpour about Trump’s war on Iran, and the potential consequences.
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
A voice of reason and intelligent analysis amid the unhinged clamor surrounding the Iran war, CNN source of interview
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Speaker Johnson: "We are not at war right now." Sounds rather like President Putin calling his invasion of Ukraine "a special military operation" and sending Russians who call it -- rightfully -- a war to prison for up to 15 years.
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Arabic spokesman for the Israeli military, Avichay Adraee, issues a statement warning the residents of more than 40 villages across southern Lebanon and in the Bekaa valley to evacuate for their own safety. (First strikes in Beirut suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, came without warning.)
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
The Israeli enemy cannot continue its aggression, which has persisted for fifteen months, without receiving a deterrent response aimed at stopping this aggression and forcing a withdrawal from the occupied Lebanese territories.
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
The leadership of the Resistance has consistently affirmed that the continuation of Israeli aggression and the assassination of our leaders, our youth, and our people grants us the right to defend ourselves and to respond at the appropriate time and place.
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
and in defense of Lebanon and its people, and within the framework of responding to the repeated Israeli aggressions, the Islamic Resistance targeted…the Mishmar HaCarmel missile defense site south of the occupied city of Haifa, with a barrage of precision rockets and a swarm of drones.
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
In retaliation for the pure blood of the Guardian of the Muslims, His Eminence Grand Ayatollah Imam Sayyed Ali al-Husseini al-Khamenei (may his noble secret be sanctified), which was unjustly and treacherously shed at the hands of the criminal Zionist enemy….
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Hezbollah claims responsibility for missile attack on military target near Haifa as response to Khamenei assassination. Israel now striking across Lebanon. (Hezbollah refers to itself as “the Resistance.”)
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Reposted by Neil MacFarquhar
The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 27/02/2026
Last year was the deadliest on record for journalists. For the third year in a row, Israel killed more journalists and media workers than any other country amid the war in Gaza, according to a report released by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
washingtonpost.com
Journalists slain at record level in 2025, majority by Israel, watchdog says
An increasing number of journalists were killed by drones, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. The IDF said it “strongly rejects” the group’s findings.
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Americans Fed Up With a Balky Health Care System, School Shooters and Chaotic Politics are Leaving the US in Record Numbers for Europe, Mexico and elsewhere
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Iran mess underscores chaotic White House approach and dubious past claims about country’s nuclear program.
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
New questions raised about why Epstein files released did not include three FBI memos about an investigation related to Trump. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/u...
nytimes.com
Epstein Files Are Missing Records About Woman Who Made Claim Against Trump
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
Once upon a time, when I worked in dictatorships like Syria, we used to laugh at the propensity to plaster the dear leaders face on every government building…
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
This had been among the most interesting institutions in Moscow, where there was plenty of competition. But murdering your own citizens is not the Russian exceptionalism that Putin wants known. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/w...
nytimes.com
Russia Takes the Gulag Out of the Gulag History Museum in Moscow
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
When I lived in Moscow, there was this small, terrifically compelling Gulag museum that focused on the ordinary victims of Stalin’s terror. Naturally Putin’s Kremlin eventually shuttered it, and it wiil reportedly now reopen as a museum to victims of Nazism. Manipulating history…
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Neil MacFarquhar @nmacfarquhar.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
In a Russian village of 250 people, 39 of 67 men went to war in Ukraine and at least 19 are dead or missing. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/w...
nytimes.com
A Russian ‘Village of Military Valor’ Waits for Its Reward
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