worse

For years, Iran’s leaders believed time was on their side.

After the United States withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Tehran effectively adopted what later came to be described as a “strategic patience” approach. Rather than immediately counter-escalating, Iran chose to endure economic pressure while waiting to see whether diplomacy could be revived.

The logic behind the strategy was simple: eventually, Washington would recognise that confrontation with Iran was against its own interests.

Today, that assumption lies shattered.

The collapse of diplomacy and the outbreak of war have forced Iran’s leadership to confront a painful reality: their belief that the US would ultimately act rationally may have been a profound miscalculation.

If Iran survives the current conflict, the lessons Iranian leaders draw from this moment may motivate them to pursue a nuclear deterrent.

The strategy of waiting

After the first Trump administration withdrew from the JCPOA and launched its “maximum pressure” campaign in 2018, Tehran initially avoided major counter-escalation. For nearly a year, it largely remained within the deal’s limits, hoping the other signatories, particularly Europeans, could preserve the agreement and deliver on the promised economic benefits despite US sanctions.

When that failed, Tehran began gradually increasing its nuclear activities by expanding enrichment and reducing compliance step by step while still avoiding a decisive break.

The pace accelerated after Iran’s conservative-dominated parliament passed a law mandating a significant increase in nuclear activities, in the wake of the assassination of top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. The shift was reinforced further by the 2021 election of conservative President Ebrahim Raisi.

The ultimate goal was to rebuild negotiating leverage, as Tehran believed that broader geopolitical and regional trends were gradually shifting in its favour. From its perspective, China’s rise, Russia’s growing assertiveness, and widening fractures within the Western alliance suggested that Washington’s ability to isolate Iran indefinitely might weaken over time.

At the same time, Iran pursued a strategy of reducing tensions with its neighbours, seeking improved relations with Gulf states that had previously supported the US “maximum pressure” campaign. By the early 2020s, many Gulf Cooperation Council countries had begun prioritising engagement and de-escalation with Iran, culminating in moves such as the 2023 Saudi-Iran rapprochement brokered by China.

Against this backdrop, even as tensions rose, Tehran continued to pursue diplomacy. Years of negotiations with the Biden administration aimed at restoring the JCPOA ultimately produced no agreement. Subsequent diplomatic efforts under Trump’s second presidency also collapsed.

Underlying this approach was a fundamental assumption: that the US ultimately preferred stability to war. Iranian officials believed Washington would eventually conclude that diplomacy, rather than endless pressure or a major war, was the most realistic and least costly path forward.

The joint US-Israeli assault on Iran has now exposed how deeply flawed that assumption was.

The return of deterrence

While Tehran based its strategy on mistaken beliefs about the rationality of US foreign policy, Washington, too, is misreading the situation.

For years, advocates of the maximum pressure campaign argued that sustained economic and military pressure would eventually fracture Iran internally. Some predicted that war would trigger widespread unrest and even the collapse of the regime.

So far, none of those predictions has materialised.

Despite the enormous strain on Iranian society, there have been no signs of regime disintegration. Instead, Iran’s political base — and in many cases broader segments of society — has rallied in the face of external attack.

Furthermore, Iran spent years reinforcing its deterrence capabilities. This involved expanding and diversifying its ballistic missile, cruise missile and drone programmes and developing multiple delivery systems designed to penetrate sophisticated air defences. Iranian planners also drew lessons from the direct exchanges with Israel in 2024 and the June 2025 war, improving targeting accuracy and coordination across different weapons systems.

The focus shifted towards preparing for a prolonged war of attrition: firing fewer but more precise strikes over time while attempting to degrade enemy radar and air defence systems.

We now see the results of this work. Iran has been able to inflict significant damage on its adversaries. Retaliatory attacks have killed seven Americans and 11 Israelis, placing a growing strain on US and Israeli missile defence systems, as interceptors are steadily depleted.

Iranian missile and drone strikes have hit targets across the region, including high-value military infrastructure such as radar installations. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent global energy markets into turmoil.

Apart from the immense cost of war, the US decision to launch the attack on Iran may have another unintended consequence: a radical shift in Iranian strategy.

For decades, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei maintained a longstanding religious prohibition on nuclear weapons. His assassination on the first day of the war may now motivate the new civilian and military leadership of the country to rethink its nuclear strategy.

There may now be fewer ideological reservations about pursuing nuclear weapons. The logic is simple: if diplomacy cannot deliver sanctions relief or permanently remove the threat of war, nuclear deterrence may appear to be the only viable alternative.

Iran’s actions in this conflict suggest that many leaders now see patience and diplomacy as strategic mistakes. These include the unprecedented scale of Iranian missile and drone attacks across the region, the targeting of US partners and critical infrastructure, and political decisions at home that signal a harder line, most notably the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei as supreme leader.

The choice of Khamenei’s son breaks a longstanding taboo in a system founded on the rejection of hereditary rule and reflects a leadership increasingly prepared to abandon previous restraints.

If a more zero-sum logic of deterrence takes hold across the region, replacing dialogue as the organising principle of security, the Middle East may enter a far more dangerous era in which nuclear weapons are viewed as the ultimate form of deterrence and nuclear proliferation can no longer be stopped.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

WAYNE Rooney boozed until the early hours with two women at a Manchester hotel on Saturday during a pre-Brit Awards bash.

At one point, the former Manchester United and England striker struggled to keep his trousers up in the bar at a posh hotel.

Pictures and video obtained by The Sun show the dad of four, married to Coleen, relaxing in the Manchester venue in the early hours of Saturday.

It was full of celebrities ahead of Saturday night’s Brits ceremony in the city.

One surprised onlooker told The Sun: “People who noticed Wayne were saying, ‘What would Coleen think?’. She was nowhere to be seen.”

They added: “Wayne appeared to have been drinking. He seemed to have had a few.”

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It comes after he revealed last year that he had curbed his boozing after hitting the bottle too hard in his football career, and said he would be dead if it was not for the support of Coleen.

Rooney had been at the city centre hotel with pop star Calum Scott before he appeared to catch the attention of the two women. One was with her boyfriend.

The group also included a male pal of Rooney.

Witnesses said he looked “worse for wear” at 1.30am when he came out of a ­toilet and fumbled with his trousers.

One told The Sun: “Wayne couldn’t seem to get his trousers done up.

“At one moment, they almost dropped to the floor but he managed to save them.”

He then “kept pulling his trousers up, but then they’d fall down again”.

Rooney went on to spend almost two hours chatting to the two mystery ladies and knocking back drinks.

An onlooker said: “He seemed like he was ­having a laugh and joking around with the women.”

Rooney and one of the women eventually left the establishment, before getting into separate cars just after 3.25am.

One witness said: “He later left alone. He stood outside where there were quite a few people gathered and got into a car.

“Around eight minutes later, a taxi came and picked the woman up.

“People in the queue recognised it was him and were saying he didn’t seem to be in a great place.”

Wayne had been at a party with stars including I’m A Celebrity’s Shona McGarty and rapper Aitch prior to spending time with the women.

Shona shared a photograph of her posing with Wayne inside the bash on Instagram and wrote: “Just a little pre Brits party.”

The former EastEnders actress appeared in ITV’s I’m A Celeb jungle show with Wayne’s wife Coleen in 2024.

Rooney, now a BBC pundit on Match of the Day, has had a string of incidents involving other women over the years.

He admitted using sex workers before he married childhood ­sweetheart Coleen, who is mother to their four sons Kai, 16, Klay, 12, Kit, ten, and Cass, eight.

It was also reported that Wayne even had a threesome with two sex workers while Coleen was pregnant with Kai.

In 2017, he was arrested for drink-driving, with office worker Laura Simpson in the car, following a night out in Cheshire.

Rooney was hit with a driving ban.

Last September, he emotionally revealed that Coleen, 39, was helping him cut down on booze.

Rooney said: “I honestly believe if she weren’t there I’d be dead.

“I’ve made mistakes in the past which are well documented and whatever but I’m a little bit ­different at times and she keeps me on that path and she’s done it for 20-odd years.

“I wanted to go out and enjoy my time with my friends and have a night out. It got to a point where I went too far.

“That was a moment in my life where I was struggling massively with alcohol.

“I didn’t think I could turn to anyone. I didn’t really want to because I didn’t want to put that burden on anyone.”

Rooney, who is Man United’s all-time leading goalscorer, added of his wife: “She’s managed me because I needed managing.”

Speaking in 2023, Coleen admitted their relationship has at times been “hard”.

But she went on: “There’s always been love there so why give up on it?

“If the love’s still there, why not see if you can work it out?

“People haven’t seen that because we’ve done that behind closed doors and it’s been a battle at times, it’s been hard.

“People only see what’s in the Press, they don’t know what goes on in our life.”

She added: “It was out there, we’ve dealt with it, and we’re moving on.”

Yesterday, Coleen opened up about their marriage again in another interview.

Asked if her husband would think she was bossy, Coleen replied: “He would probably say that, but I would say he needs ­telling sometimes.”

She added: “You have your ups and downs, you have things that happen in life.

“But I think being together from a young age, we know each other inside and out.

“We’re a team. I wouldn’t say we’ve changed.

“I would say things around us have changed.”

IT was supposed to be the glittering triumph of Lacey M’ ‘s very short, but highly lucrative career. 

A lavish, red-carpet bash at Boxpark Liverpool, complete with DJ sets, special guests, and endless designer makeup, all to celebrate the young beauty influencer’s 12th birthday. 

But less than a month later, the glitter has well and truly settled, and the reality of internet fame has come crashing down. 

Lacey M – the self-described “Queen of Chaos” who gained 1.7 million followers since launching in 2024 – has been unceremoniously banned from TikTok.

Now, a bitter war of words has erupted online. The internet finds itself divided between loyal super-fans who believe a talented young girl’s dreams are being crushed, and deeply concerned critics who fear this is a textbook case of child exploitation in the digital age.

And if you thought a permanent ban would be the end of the drama, think again. 

Within days of her original account vanishing from the platform, lo and behold a brand-new profile – @Laceym.xandmum – popped up. 

Billed as a “joint account” and stamped “PARENT MANAGED,” Lacey is back on our screens, this time flanked by her mother, Laura, and her auntie, Natalie.

But behind the scenes, tech bosses are seething. For TikTok insiders have pulled no punches regarding the controversial comeback, warning that the family is walking on very thin ice.

One source told me: “TikTok bosses are really not happy with the way the Lacey M drama played out.”

“They take a very dim view of people trying to break their rules, particularly when the company is being scrutinised amid concerns about child safety.

“They are keeping a really close eye on this new account with Lacey and her mum Laura, and also her aunty Natalie. They are pushing their luck and TikTok are ready to step in and shut them down if they keep abusing the system. Enough is enough.”

The stark warning highlights a massive headache for social media giants as they wrestle with the dilemma of how to police the murky world of child influencers. 

TikTok’s terms of service are clear. They strictly dictate that users must be at least 13 years old to hold an account. 

Also amid politicians calling for the age to be lifted to 16, TikTok confirmed that they are launching new technology “to help us better detect people who may not be old enough to use our app.” 

‘Boiling point’

Yet, loopholes involving “parent-run” accounts have long been exploited by ambitious families eager to cash in on their children’s viral appeal.

And cash in, they have. Lacey M is not just a kid making lip-sync videos in her bedroom. She is a bonafide brand ambassador. 

She is closely tied to the wildly successful UK cosmetics giant P. Louise, run by businesswoman Paige Williams – who herself boasts 4.3 million TikTok followers on her personal and business account. 

She signed up Lacey to be an “official P.Louise Bestie”, and now the youngster even boasts her own custom makeup bundles including a Lacey In A Sticky Situation with my Bestie Box. 

The pack sells for £55 and features customisable drink cups alongside high-end cosmetics. 

For a child to be the face of a brand that also sells items with risqué names like “Bad B*tch Energy” lip kits, certainly raises some ethical questions. 

The backlash reached a boiling point following Lacey’s recent birthday extravaganza – tickets for the party cost £38, and organisers reportedly raked in £54,000 after thousands attended.

For a child to be the face of a brand that also sells items with risqué names like “Bad B*tch Energy” lip kits, certainly raises some ethical questions

Critics accused P. Louise of inappropriately sponsoring a child’s party – something she denies – and turning a young girl’s birthday into a corporate branding exercise.

Taking to Instagram, the beauty mogul was forced to address the scandal and defended her relationship with the young influencer and slammed the “assumptions” made by online trolls.

She wrote: “This is exactly what’s wrong with the internet, assumptions being made instead of truth being checked.

‘Cash cow’

“So let me be clear: I never took a penny from Lacey’s party, and I did not sponsor the event. What I did do was gift goody bags to a little girl who has shown nothing but loyalty, love, and passion for my brand over the years. She’s someone who dreams big.

“Someone who supports every launch, never misses a moment, always pays in full, and proudly shares my brand because she genuinely believes in it.”

The makeup boss went on to argue that ambition should not be gatekept by age. Then baffled fans by saying it was an issue of female empowerment rather than child safety.

She said: “That kind of dedication deserves to be celebrated, not questioned.”

“Dreams don’t come with an age limit. There is no expiration date on hope, ambition, or becoming the person you’ve always imagined. Whether you’re young or grown, you deserve encouragement, support, and people who believe in you.” 

“Supporting dreams will always matter to me. And once again, it’s disappointing to see women in business judged by a different standard, measured with a different ruler simply for showing kindness, generosity, and heart. We rise by lifting others. Always.”

She’s 12 years of age and she’s making money for her parents, for her auntie and her mom. And P. Louise is using her as a cash cow

User

While many applauded P Louise for her fiery stance, many accused her of ignoring the core issue for child safety and exploitation. 

One wrote: “I think it’s absolutely amazing that Lacey’s got banned because she shouldn’t be on here.”

“She’s 12 years of age and she’s making money for her parents, for her auntie and her mom. And P. Louise is using her as a cash cow.”

Another chimed in: “She’s twelve. Twelve year olds cannot sign contracts, fully understand brand exploitation, consent to any legal or long term digital footprint.”

“So why are we acting like she’s a 25 year old influencer who has lost her livelihood?

“She’s a child. And if she’s devastated. I do feel for her because that emotion will be real. But the responsibility, that sits squarely with the adults, parents, guardians, managers.”

And the hurt of the ban was not just felt by Lacey, but also her very large, young fanbase. One teenager named Riley, who attended Lacey’s birthday party, started a petition to get her reinstated. 

He said: “Let’s get her account back, cause honestly, she actually worked so hard for them. She’s got 1.7 million followers at the age she is. She built such, like, a community and such, like, a massive following, and we can’t let her account stay banned.” 

Others rallied to “show their support” by inundating P Louise website with orders for Lacey’s make-up bundles. 

The controversy surrounding Lacey M taps into a growing, global anxiety about ‘sharenting’ and the monetisation of children. 

I think it’s absolutely amazing that Lacey’s got banned because she shouldn’t be on here

User

Experts point out there are no limits on how many hours a child can spend filming content, no psychological support for dealing with online trolls, and crucially, no legal framework in the UK to ensure that children actually see a penny of the revenue their faces generate.

Critics point out that while Mum Laura and Auntie Natalie are officially “managing” the new @Laceym.xandmum account, it is ultimately Lacey’s face, Lacey’s personality, and Lacey’s childhood that is being sold to the masses. 

For now, Lacey and her mum are continuing to post on their new joint account, which has amassed 50,000 followers in a week, while trying to stay one step ahead of the moderators. 

But with insiders saying TikTok are “ready to step in and shut them down,” the clock is ticking.

Concern about a plague is growing in the Canary Islands, with officials on alert in the sunny Spanish holiday hotspots of Lanzarote, Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura

The threat of a plague is growing in four Spanish holiday hotspots.

Lanzarote, Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura have seen clouds of locusts descend in recent days. While the short-horned grasshopper breed is not harmful to people, it could pose a threat to agriculture, including vineyards, if the situation escalates into a plague, as happened 20 years ago.

Videos have been posted on social networks showing hundreds of locusts flying around the countryside. The insects have arrived from the western Sahara due to recent wet but warm weather. The locusts have hit several parts of Lanzarote, including the popular tourist locations of Arrecife, Costa Teguise, Famara, Uga and Tahíche.

There have also been swarms on the other Canary Islands, including in the north of Tenerife. Twenty years ago, a plague of this insect affected Lanzarote, wreaking havoc on crops and people’s daily lives. At that time, the number of locusts was so large that teams of firefighters were called in to eliminate them.

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The locust is an insect that, over the centuries, has arrived from the African continent with the winds from the east, along with the suspended dust of the Sahara Desert.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), it is the most destructive migratory pest in the world and, in response to environmental stimuli, it can form dense and highly mobile swarms.

They have the capacity to destroy crops by ingesting their weight in food each day. A swarm of one square kilometre can contain up to 80 million adults and has the capacity to consume the same amount of food per day as 35,000 people.

Lanzarote’s government has already mobilised its environmental services, which will be vigilant for the next 48 hours. Leaders are confident the swarms will not escalate into a plague.

“The next two days are going to be key. If they are adult specimens that have arrived exhausted, they will die and nothing will happen. If we see copulations, that would mean that they are reproducing. We would have to see it between this afternoon and tomorrow,” said the head of the Environment of the Cabildo, Francisco Fabelo.

“We already experienced this in 2004, and at the end of the eighties, there was another similar episode. On both occasions, it was very striking, with specimens all over the roads, but they did not cause damage inside.”

The Canary Islands experienced one of the most serious episodes of desert locust in October 1958, when large swarms from Africa devastated crops on the islands and, especially, in the south of Tenerife, in municipalities such as Arico, Fasnia, Granadilla de Abona and the Güímar Valley.

Tomato and potato plantations suffered significant damage and the plague forced the mobilisation of planes from the Ministry of Agriculture to fumigate from the air, while residents and farmers tried to combat the insects from the ground with rudimentary methods such as bonfires, noise or poisoned baits.

A similar episode had already occurred in 1954, when another swarm devastated more than 10,000 hectares of crops on the islands. Agricultural leaders on the islands say they do not fear another repeat and have stressed the islands have the means to combat the problem.

Met Office names Glenshiel Forest the UK’s wettest place below 200m with 3,778mm of rain a year – but the Scottish beauty spot offers red deer, historic battlefields and breathtaking mountain views

Britain’s wettest location also happens to be one of its most stunning destinations.

It has been a truly miserable winter. Cornwall and County Down recorded their wettest January on record, while Northern Ireland saw its wettest January is 149 years. Across the UK, 26 stations set new monthly records for highest January rainfall. Daily records also fell. Plymouth recorded its wettest January day in 104 years. And February has been no better so far. As of February 9, southern England had seen 72% of its monthly average.

In the midst of such sogginess, the prospect of venturing towards a region notorious for precipitation might not sound particularly appealing. However, in my view, the nation’s rainfall champion deserves a visit regardless of the season.

My initial trip to Glenshiel Forest in Ross and Cromarty, Scotland, occurred when I was four years old, during a family getaway to the neighbouring village of Glenelg. Those familiar with Scotland’s western coastline throughout the year will recognise how weather systems shift with astonishing speed compared to elsewhere in Britain.

Sunshine and azure skies can transform into torrential downpours within moments, sending everyone scrambling for waterproofs.

Glenshiel Forest takes this phenomenon to extraordinary heights. Rainfall batters the foliage and trees lining the nine-mile glen with remarkable intensity, only to abruptly cease as clouds disperse above the surrounding peaks, before resuming their assault once more.

Due to their intensity and frequency, the Met Office has designated Glenshiel Forest as Britain’s dampest location below 200m elevation, recording 3,778mm of precipitation annually. This dwarfs London’s approximately 500ml yearly average, making Glenshiel Forest roughly seven times wetter. It’s also roughly four times wetter than the UK as a whole.

But don’t let that deter you from pulling on your wellies, slipping into some galoshes and paying a visit to the Scottish forest. The area has been largely untouched by human activity, giving it a wonderfully remote and pristine feel. Red deer roam freely among native tree species such as common alder, downy birch, sessile oak and rowan.

History buffs will be captivated by the area’s rich past. “There’s a powerful sense of history in Glen Shiel, with steep mountains rushing upwards from an historic battlefield where British government forces and an alliance of Jacobite and Spanish troops fought in 1719,” notes the Woodland Trust.

“You can also access a mountain path to the Five Sisters of Kintail ‘ a classic ridgewalk with three Munros (mountains over 3000 feet / 914 metres).”

For 15 years, I spent my Easter holidays in the nearby village of Glenelg, which is most easily reached by traversing the stunning 339m tall Ratagan Pass – the only route into the sea-loch side settlement for several months of the year when the iconic Glenelg-Skye turntable ferry isn’t in operation.

The vista from the summit of the Ratagan, gazing down upon Glenshiel’s drenched woodlands in one direction and Glenelg in the other, is utterly unforgettable once witnessed. Few thrills can match cresting the hill after navigating the treacherously narrow, serpentine roads and beholding the village’s whitewashed cottages dotted along a loch’s shore, its waters remarkably azure, set against the backdrop of Skye’s mountains and the landscape beyond.

Perhaps the only thing that surpasses it – and another reason my family kept making pilgrimages to this remote corner of Britain year after year until the bungalow we considered our holiday retreat eventually crumbled into complete disrepair – is the panorama from the Glenelg Inn’s garden. Should you ever venture to the area, savour a pint from the local brewery whilst seated at the Inn’s picnic tables, taking in the spectacular scenery – at least until the heavens open.

For those who’d rather not brave the elements and venture into the sodden outdoors, Sykes Cottages has numerous properties available that are perfect for settling in and shutting out the dreary world beyond.

One particularly appealing option is Silver Birch Lodge, a six-person cottage that can be yours for less than £100 a night. Travel a little further north and you’ll get to the spacious Old Distillery Lodge, which sits in the stunning Caingorns National Park.

As rainy as parts of Scotland can be, they pale in comparison to the world’s soggiest area. Mawsynram is a town unlike any other. Nestled amidst the lush green forests of the Khasi Hills in the far east of India above Bangladesh, it is a beautiful area but an absolutely soaking one. Mawsynram receives about 11,873 mm of rainfall annually, which is close to 11 times more than the 1,109mm that falls on famously sodden Glasgow.

Jyotiprasad Oza is a lifelong resident of the town who makes a living leading groups of curious holidaymakers around with TourHQ. People come from far and wide to experience what life is like in the rainiest place on Earth, with visitors regularly making the trip from the US and UK.

“We get about 10,000 tourists a year. During rainy time people like to visit because it’s very heavy rainfall, especially June to September,” Jyotiprasad told the Mirror just as the rain clouds – somewhat predictably – began to open above him.

The rain in Mawsynram is not like the rain in most places. When it starts sometimes it doesn’t stop for days on end. Often residents will dash inside when the heavens open, only to find that there has been no let up for a week straight. And it isn’t just the duration that makes it stand apart.

In one single June day last decade 1,003mm of rain fell on the town – twice as much as London receives in a single year. The impacts on Mawsynram of such intense rainfall can be quite devastating.

“During the time of heavy rainfall, it is impossible to go outside. We can’t do our daily walk. We are not supposed to go outside during the rainy time. Sometimes children can’t go to school during the rain. It is quite dangerous,” Jyotiprasad explained.