Iran's 'poker' gambit, Pakistan's mediation, and a US tanker deal with Qatar

Iranian spokesman Baqaei's card-game metaphor clashes with Khamenei's fatwa as Pakistan's army chief visits Tehran.

Iran's 'poker' gambit, Pakistan's mediation, and a US tanker deal with Qatar — Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei declared that Tehran has moved from a 'chess' strategy to also include 'poker' in negotiations with the US, a metaphor that immediately collides with a fatwa by Supreme Leader Khamenei banning card games, even without gambling.[^1] The comparison highlights a tension between the regime's diplomatic outreach and its clerical strictures, as Washington and Tehran remain locked in confrontation. Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, arrived in Tehran on Monday, August 24, in a visit that Walla frames as part of a US effort to find a channel to Tehran.[^2] The trip coincides with a US State Department approval of a potential $4.5 billion sale of four Boeing KC-46A aerial refueling aircraft to Qatar, a deal the Jerusalem Post notes was approved despite the Israeli defense establishment's strict embargo on defense exports to the Gulf state.[^3] The tanker transaction simultaneously hands Doha a long-range force-projection capability toward Israel that it previously did not possess.[^3] US President Donald Trump posted on social media that Iran is 'completely collapsing,' while Baqaei insisted that 'Iran did not start a war' and that the Iranian government and people should not blame themselves for the continuation of the current situation.[^1][^4] The dissonance between Trump's maximalist rhetoric and Iran's defensive posture leaves the diplomatic trajectory uncertain, especially as Pakistan's military chief shuttles between the two capitals. A day of violence and procedural chaos in Israeli crime — A Jerusalem Magistrate's Court judge ordered the release of a suspect in rape and death threats after police brought him to court two minutes late. The decision was later overturned on appeal, but the episode exposed a procedural fragility that can tip the balance between detention and freedom. [^1] Meanwhile, the body of Yanis Yeshuvyov, head of the Caucasian mafia shot dead at a gas station near Caesarea, was released for burial against police demands for an autopsy. The court ordered the release subject to additional tests that d