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Good evening, In the wee hours of Thursday, the IndiGo flight 6E 9487 carrying the first group of 110 Indian students from Iran landed at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. Their arrival was part of the Indian government's Operation Sindhu to evacuate Indian nationals from Iran, amid concerns over escalating tensions. The operation followed a Tuesday advisory issued by the Indian Embassy, urging Indian nationals in Tehran, Iran’s capital, to leave the city. A day earlier, the Indian embassy facilitated the evacuation of 110 stranded students from northern Iran, who crossed the border into Armenia. Iranian embassy officials say that some Indian students had sustained injuries in the strikes, and that the Iranian foreign ministry was in communication with the Indian mission in Tehran. As evacuation efforts continue, individual cases keep emerging, such as that of Ghaziabad’s Rizwan Haider, who is currently pursuing his MBBS degree in Iran. According to his family, Haider has been incommunicado since Tuesday evening and narrowly escaped a missile attack. On that note, let’s dive in 👇🏽
📝 The Debrief The US's possible intervention in the Israel-Iran conflict is fraying Donald Trump’s MAGA coalition As the Israel-Iran conflict enters its seventh day, US President Donald Trump is now faced with a split-second decision to make: to join hostilities or stay in the background and support Israel. Whichever path he chooses, Trump’s decision could have serious ramifications domestically, barely six months into his second term. In his own words, Trump said, “I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I am going to do,” underscoring what seems to be one of the most consequential foreign policy decisions he might end up taking. Poisoned chalice: On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump has approved “attack plans for Iran” but was “holding off on giving the final order to see if Tehran would abandon its nuclear program.” This dilemma is not inspiring confidence in Tel Aviv, where Trump’s Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, is uncertain about the future trajectory of his “mission”, reliant on American involvement, particularly its support in dismantling the underground Fordow enrichment facility. Closing in: While the US has made some assertive moves, including relocating refuelling aircraft and fighter jets to strategic sites in Europe and the Middle East, it has yet to initiate any offensive actions, merely assisting Israel in a defensive capacity by intercepting Iranian projectiles. Multiple American warships are currently deployed in defensive roles, while another is en route to the region to ensure security for US troops and bases in the area. Civil war: As he contemplates American involvement, Trump’s decade-long Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, which also serves as his core support base, is gradually cleaving over his next move. The consensus within the US right-wing (not conservatives) seems to be against the US joining the conflict, given that Trump has carefully crafted his image as an anti-war pacifist who prioritises America. Some of the movement’s most prominent figures, allies such as Steve Bannon, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, and journalist Tucker Carlson (whom Trump called “kooky”), have been critical of US involvement, with Bannon even stating that a US strike on Iran would “tear apart” the US. However, some of Trump’s old-school Republican (read: conservative) allies, such as Senator Lindsay Graham, support a proposed strike on Iran. Cracks: However, there is also a semblance of difference within the Trump administration, even as some of its members publicly appear to rally behind their boss. Interestingly, the US Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, told lawmakers in March that Iran’s “enriched uranium stockpile is at its highest levels, and is unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons.” Trump dismissed Gabbard’s testimony, saying, “I don’t care what she said.” His Vice President, JD Vance, attempted to walk the tightrope, stating, “People are right to be worried about foreign entanglement after the last 25 years of idiotic foreign policy,” while adding that Trump “has earned some trust on this issue.”
✍️ From our newsroom
The superhost: I am a sucker for reading tour diaries, and with the Indian team in England, it doesn’t get better than is. Nostalgia, anecdotes, and some characters coming to life. My colleague Sandeep Dwivedi met one such person, Suleman ‘Solly’ Adam. In 1952, a seven-year-old Solly walked across the Thar desert with his family, forced out of Gujarat after Partition. “I truly believe that difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations,” he says, recalling the journey that took him from Simlat to Karachi to Leeds. In England, Solly went from wiping oil off machines to owning petrol pumps and supermarkets, all while hosting over 400 cricketers, including Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar, at his Yorkshire home. “I was not an agent, I was someone who wanted to help cricketers.” It was Solly who brokered the deal that made Tendulkar Yorkshire’s first overseas player in 1992. His house was their refuge, his businesses their source of income. Gavaskar once called to ask if the wives of players could stay at his home. Solly didn’t hesitate. Now 80, he still runs a sports shop, and still lights up when friends like Gavaskar or Tendulkar are in town.
🔎 Need to know
Watch out, SpaceX: Japanese car manufacturer Honda successfully landed its experimental reusable rocket at its facility in Hokkaido, Japan. The small rocket, with a dry weight of 900 kg and a wet weight of 1,312 kg, reached an altitude of 300 metres and had a flight duration of 56.6 seconds.
Pressing pause: Air India is reducing its international flights on wide-body aircraft by 15% until at least mid-July “due to a combination of factors” including enhanced safety inspections. Going south: Microsoft is reportedly prepared to walk away from discussions with its investee, OpenAI, over the future of their relationship. The two sides are currently locked in talks over Microsoft’s future stake in OpenAI, following its conversion from a non-profit to a public benefit corporation.
🎙️Expresso Playlist! In today’s Playlist, I recommend this excellent episode of the BBC’s The Documentary Podcast on Chile, home to some of the world’s largest copper mines, and how it is preparing for a time when reserves begin to dwindle.
✋🏽 One last thing I’ll leave you with this very timely New Yorker essay on what’s happening to reading (and writing, and editing) in the AI era. “Text may get treated as a transitional medium, a temporary resting place for ideas. A piece of writing, which today is often seen as an end point, a culmination, a finished unit of effort, may, for better or worse, be experienced as a stepping stone for something else.” That’s all from me today. Thank you so much for reading this edition. If you enjoy the Evening Expresso, tell your friends to subscribe to the newsletter. You can do so by signing up for the Morning Expresso. Additionally, you can reach me via email for tips, feedback, or simply to say hello! 😀 Until tomorrow, Venkat Ananth |
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