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Everything You Wanted To Know About Building A Cheap AI Setup (That Still Works) But Were Afraid To Ask

Zero Rss
2 months ago
Everything You Wanted To Know About Building A Cheap AI Setup (That Still Works) But Were Afraid To Ask

Authored by Christopher Penn via 'Almost Timely News' substack,

I’ve been putting together a new course for Trust Insights, AI for Writing (and Writers), which will be coming out August 25th, and during the process of creating that course, I realized I’ve never walked through setting up a discount agentic AI system.

For a while now, many of us who work in “corporate” have had access to what feels like unlimited amounts of AI (though that free ride is coming to an end at enterprise shops thanks to absurdly large bills). For the average person who doesn’t have the backing of a corporation, how could we tap into the power of agentic systems without tapping out our wallets?

This tracks back to a question from Leslie in the Analytics for Marketers Slack group:

“have you done a video or post with recommendations for a cheap second computer set up someone can use to build their separate AI machine?“

So this week, let’s get scrappy.

Warnings, Disclaimers, Disclosures

If you work at a company, please check with IT before installing software willy-nilly. As a former IT professional, we thank you.

Second, in this issue I’ll be talking about Chinese-made AI models like Qwen and DeepSeek. There is a HUGE difference between a Chinese model hosted by a company in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and a Chinese-made model hosted by a company outside the PRC.

It is manifestly unsafe to use any AI models hosted in the PRC for any kind of confidential information, period. Totally fine to use those models for things that are completely public, like research requests.

However, it is completely safe to use Chinese-made AI models on your own hardware, or in an infrastructure that’s trustworthy. There are many, many great inference providers that have things like Zero Data Retention (ZDR) hosting which are even safer to use than Big Tech models because the providers warrant that they don’t keep your data at all. (Most Big Tech providers have a “we hold onto your data for 30 days to prevent abuse” clause in their Terms of Service)

There is a lot of fear mongering about open weights models (including the Chinese ones) happening right now because Big Tech providers’ profits are on the line if these models continue to offer parity of capabilities at a fraction of the cost. Don’t believe the hype; open weights models are so safe that companies like HuggingFace have used them to do their own cybersecurity defenses.

Third, where I have commercial relationships, I’ll disclose them. I have an Amazon affiliate link in this week’s article, and obviously I work for my company, Trust Insights. I do not have a financial interest in the other companies mentioned as of the time of writing. (but I’m happy to, call me)

Part 1: The Model

We’ll begin our tour with what model to use. In general, you want models that are a blend of cost efficient with effective performance. One of my favorite sites for this is Artificial Analysis; there’s a nice little grid on their models page that shows cost versus intelligence. What we’re looking for in this grid is models that are at the top left corner - the vertical (y) axis is brains, where higher is better, and the horizontal (x) axis is cost, where to the left is lower.

The current winner here is DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731, which has a crazy low cost and lots of brains, on par with OpenAI’s newest model, GPT-5.6 Luna. On the far right is Claude Opus 5, which has about 15% more brains but 40x the cost. The worst quadrant to be in is the lower right - high cost, low brains.

For the purposes of building the cheapest agentic system, DeepSeek is going to be your daily driver model.

Now, it’s worth pointing out, as I have in my book Almost Timeless: 48 Foundation Principles of Generative AI that a daily driver may not be the smartest model, but in terms of day to day work, a model like DeepSeek v4 Flash is going to get the job done most of the time. Here’s a bit of retrospective, by the way, putting DeepSeek on the same scale as all of OpenAI’s major models over the years to see where it stacks up in terms of brains.

DeepSeek V4 Flash outcompetes all but the most recent releases of OpenAI’s models over the years; it is almost 50% smarter than last summer’s flagship model, GPT-5, and is only 17% less capable than OpenAI’s current flagship model.

Here’s the same chart from the Claude world:

DeepSeek V4 Flash is about on parity with Claude Opus 4.7 - which came out in April 2026, a scant FOUR MONTHS AGO.

Now, times change, tech changes, and what you should be doing is checking in on these kinds of charts over time to see which model is closest to that top left corner. This month, it’s DeepSeek V4 Flash. Next month, it might be completely different. It’s our responsibility to keep up with the charts and use the cheapest, best brains we can get a hold of.

Now that we know what model we’re aiming to use, we have to figure out where to use it.

Part 2: The Host

Just like web hosting companies host websites, model hosting companies - called inference providers - host models. There are so, so many of these out there, and they compete mainly on two things, speed and price. Some providers charge a premium but generate results (tokens per second) at ridiculous speeds, like Cerebras. Others offer a wide variety of models at slower speeds but are cheap (like DeepInfra).

Choosing a provider is straightforward: because you’ve decided the model already, it’s a question of pricing and availability. In Google AI Mode, modify this prompt to suit your needs:

Help me create a list of inference providers that match these criteria. First and most important, they MUST offer this exact model: {model}. This is immutable and non-negotiable; a provider that does not offer this model does not make the list. Second, identify the pricing for this model in three categories: cost per input tokens, cost per output tokens, cost per cached tokens. If a provider does not offer pricing for this model for cached tokens, disqualify them. Third, the provider MUST be a zero data retention (ZDR) inference provider. If ZDR pricing is additional, compute it as part of the token costs. ZDR capability is mandatory; if a provider does not offer ZDR, disqualify them. Fourth, if available, obtain the tokens per second for this model for each provider. Return your results as an ordered list in ascending order by lowest cost per tokens for each provider for our chosen model.

You might want to add specific additional needs like SOC 2 compliance, GDPR compliance, etc. To the prompt based on your needs, so customize it any way you like.

With any model you choose, be sure you capture the full model name; DeepSeek v4 Flash for example has an antecedent that lacks the 0731 suffix. Our exact model that we want is DeepSeek v4 Flash 0731.

When I stick this into Google, DeepInfra, Fireworks AI, and OpenCode Zen show up as good options. Which one you choose will be based on how much you prioritize speed versus cost. If you told me to pick one and only one, I’ve been a customer of DeepInfra for a couple of years now and have no complaints at all, BUT there is also a case to be made for OpenCode Zen. More on that in a minute.

What I like, for Leslie’s specific use case, is that pay as you go providers mean that you’re not paying if you’re not using the AI AND there’s a strong economic incentive for you to use AI as little as possible and be as efficient in its use as possible. One of the problems with token plans (which include things like Claude Pro/Max, etc.) is that if you haven’t hit your weekly/monthly limits, you’re wasting money - and thus you’re more likely to use AI frivolously. With pay as you go, you only pay for what you use.

Part 3: The Hardware

For a second computer setup that’s cheap, we have to think about how computers work. The graphical user interface we’re all used to on Windows or Mac or even desktop Linux, as well as on our phones and tablets, is an INCREDIBLY inefficient waste of compute resources. It takes enormous amounts of memory and processing power to draw and maintain the interface compared to pure text-based interfaces.

Now, the crusty old GenX computer nerd in me says that everyone should know how to use a text-based interface (often called a command line or command prompt or terminal), but that’s not realistic. However, there is one user that LOVES text-based interfaces.

Yup, you guessed it. That’s AI. AI is far, far more efficient at typing than it is using a mouse, so for our second computer as Leslie asked about, we’re going to aim for a super cheap box that can run a terminal, store things, and run an AI harness. At a price point of roughly USD 500, you won’t be running AI models directly on this hardware (hence why we searched for hosting providers in Part 2), but you’ll have a decent machine with good storage.

On the shopping venue of your choice, look for what are called gaming mini-PCs. These typically will have AMD Ryzen chips, a small hard drive (typically 256 GB or 512 GB SSD), and between 16 GB and 32 GB of RAM. The cardinal rule of computing is that you want as much RAM/memory as money can buy; a slightly slower processor with more RAM is better than a fast processor with not enough RAM. RAM is like highway lanes; a Bugatti stuck in traffic on a single lane dirt road will not go as fast as a Prius on an 8 lane highway with no traffic jam.

Google AI Mode is handy here as well. Modify this prompt to suit your needs, especially if there are some companies you would prefer not to do business with:

Help me create a list of vendors that offer gaming mini PCs for sale that ship to my location: {locale}. My criteria are that the machine cost less than {amount} inclusive of shipping and that it have a minimum of 16 GB of RAM and 500 GB of disk space, ideally with an SSD. 32 GB of RAM is preferred, and more disk space is always preferred. The system MUST be able to run Ubuntu Linux 26.06 in headless mode. The CPU can be any make or model that offers a base clock speed of 3 GHz; AMD, Intel, or other vendors are fine as long as they are fully supported on Ubuntu. Ethernet and Wifi are mandatory. USB-C, Bluetooth, and HDMI are preferred. eGPU support is preferred. The following vendors and resellers are preferred: {preferred list}. The following vendors and resellers are forbidden: {banned list} The use case for this device will be to run OpenCode and Ubuntu Linux, plus apps like PostgreSQL, Docker, SQLite, Apache2, and similar server-like systems for a single person. Arrange your results in ascending order by price as an ordered list.

I spotted some random Chinese computer on Amazon that was selling for USD 499 with 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD (affiliate link!) that has a name that resembles what happens if you stuff Scrabble tiles in your mouth and then spit them out on the table. It’s got a 2023 chip in it, the AMD Ryzen 7730U, which is plenty fast for what we’re doing.

Why these specs? You want the extra RAM and disk space so you can run multiple local applications together on the same box. For example, if you want to run Hermes Agent, chances are you’ll want it in something like a Docker container, and the RAM/disk space will REALLY help with that. Likewise, if you want to roll your own local apps, you’ll probably be running a server that has a database, maybe even a local webserver, and more memory and disk space will really help there.

And technically, though it’s a miserable experience, a mini PC like this CAN do local inference with small models. Using something like llama.cpp, koboldcpp, or Unsloth Studio, you COULD theoretically serve up a small model like Gemma 4 E4B and get a modest little AI server running that can do basic things like summarization.

Once you get your hardware, you’ll want to erase the operating system on it and install a version of Linux. Linux is the best choice for this kind of computer because it can run using very few system resources. I’d suggest Ubuntu Linux in LTS flavor - LTS stands for Long Term Support, and the Ubuntu Foundation warrants that a version of Ubuntu will be supported for 10 years from the launch date. The current version is 26.04 LTS, Resolute Raccoon.

One thing that’s nice about Ubuntu Linux is that you can start it up with a GUI for configuration and all the comforts of modern computing, and then once everything is all square, you can shut down the GUI to free up resources, running it in text-based interface alone.

Part 4: The Harness

AI models by themselves are smart but are prone to things like hallucinations. Model hosts can add some guardrails and some tuning, but the real magic happens when you put a good model in a great harness. Think of the model like the engine of a car. An engine isn’t much good by itself, and a car without an engine is a lawn ornament, doubly so if it’s on cinderblocks.

But a good engine in a great car? That’s where, quite literally, the rubber meets the road. And as with cars, sometimes you can do with a good engine but not a great one if the rest of the car is nice. Unless you’re driving NASCAR or Formula 1, a Prius doesn’t need a V8 engine.

Harnesses are the interfaces to AI. When you use ChatGPT on the web, OpenAI has put a harness around its models, and what you experience as ChatGPT is their tuned harness. The same is true for Gemini, for Claude, etc. - and different harnesses do different things. Claude Code, for example, has hundreds of words of specific language built into its system prompts to behave a certain way, plus a slew of deterministic rules that silently reject bad outputs from the Claude models before you ever see them as a user.

For our purposes, because we’re trying to build a scrappy AI setup, we want a harness that’s free and supports multiple providers. For that, there’s no better harness than OpenCode. OpenCode is Free Open Source Software, and it comes in 2 flavors, a command line version and a GUI version. What’s really nice about it is that the GUI version is built on top of the command line version, so you don’t have to do anything differently and you can configure it in GUI mode, then use it later in command line mode with no changes at all.

OpenCode also supports all the modern skills and plugins that other AI systems use, so if you see a cool skill that someone’s showing off in Claude Code, for example, you can install that same skill in OpenCode.

OpenCode also offers 2 paid coding plans to go with it, OpenCode Zen which is pay as you go, and OpenCode Go, which is a subscription plan. There are some free models in OpenCode Zen but those DO collect your data and are not zero data retention. Remember in the world of AI that if you’re not paying, you and your data are the product being sold to someone else.

If you want the convenience of not having to manage your AI hosting separate from your AI harness, OpenCode Zen is a great choice. If you want the lowest possible costs, then use OpenCode with DeepInfra.

Part 5: Wrapping Up, the Process in a Nutshell

So in a nutshell, here is the order of operations to get up and running - and you can put this list (or this entire newsletter, really) into your favorite chat-based AI tool to walk you through this process.

  1. Choose a model.

  2. Choose a hosting provider.

  3. Choose a hardware box of some kind.

  4. Install Linux on that box.

  5. Install OpenCode on that box.

  6. Connect OpenCode to your hosting provider.

With those six big steps, you’re ready to go! I would suggest also installing and configuring tmux on your new box, because that gives you the ability to remote control it very easily, and if you want to get FANCY, install Tailscale on it as well, to create a VPN of your computers together so you can access your new AI box from anywhere in the world. That’s probably best for another time, though your AI of choice can walk you through that pretty easily.

The key to remember here is that this machine is a self-contained little server. Once you have OpenCode installed on it and connected to your model of choice, one of the first tasks you can do is put it to work securing itself. Using your favorite deep research tools, ask for a best practices guide to securing your little computer and optimizing it for AI usage, especially with the most popular command line tools that will help AI save tokens and usage. Because you’re using a provider like DeepInfra, every request you make costs you a tiny bit of money, and the more you can reduce that, the more you save.

If you deploy this system as written, you’ll spend about USD 500 on the hardware, and probably USD 5 to 10 per month in AI inference costs for moderate usage, which I define as a major coding project per week, something where your AI is working with sustained effort for about 2 hours a day. Models like DeepSeek V4 and similarly capable models are incredibly capable and dirt cheap to use.

It’s worth pointing out that if you have a working computer today, you could skip the hardware purchase and install OpenCode on your computer as is, eliminating the hardware cost. For folks on limited incomes, this is a great way to get access to high end AI without high end subscriptions, like job seekers without stable income.

Enjoy running your own little AI operations center!

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 06:30
Tyler Durden

Russia's Only Anti-War Party Banned From Parliamentary Elections Over 'Foreign Funding'

Zero Rss
2 months ago
Russia's Only Anti-War Party Banned From Parliamentary Elections Over 'Foreign Funding'

It's been no secret that Russian authorities have increasingly cracked down on public speech which opposes the war in Ukraine, or as the Kremlin calls it - the special military operation. Any speech deemed 'unpatriotic' has also come under a legal microscope of late.

Currently, Yabloko (Apple) is the only officially registered Russian political party which openly oppose the war, calling "for peace and freedom". But the party has just suffered a huge setback, having been banned by the nation's top court from running candidates in upcoming parliamentary elections.

EPA

Russia's Supreme Court on Monday "upheld a suit brought by a pro-Kremlin nationalist party, stripping voters opposed to the four-and-a-half-year war in Ukraine of their last option on the ballot," France24 reports.

"The claims seeking to annul the registration of the federal list of candidates for the State Duma of the ninth convocation, nominated by the Yabloko political party, were granted," the ruling by judge Vyacheslav Kirillov indicated.

Some one hundred mostly young supporters of Yabloko demonstrated outside the courthouse chanting "Shame! Shame!" following the ruling. Yabloko leader Nikolay Rybakov has affirmed that the party is planning to appeal the decision.

The rationale for the ban is that the anti-war party is accused of receiving foreign funds; however, it has countered by saying rival political parties have also received such funding:

According to data from Russia’s Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring), the Yabloko party had received funding from abroad, a Central Election Commission (CEC) representative said. The representative spoke during a court hearing on a lawsuit the Rodina party filed seeking to remove Yabloko from the State Duma election.

On Aug. 7, Rosfinmonitoring gave the commission a document stating that individuals on Yabloko’s federal candidate list had received foreign funding, the CEC representative said.

Several dozen of the party’s counterparties had also received this funding, according to Rosfinmonitoring.

Anti-Kremlin regional outlet Meduza has published the following from Yabloko party concerning its legal hot water situation:

Yabloko has attributed the foreign funding data to the sale of foreign shares, which the law requires candidates to sell off ahead of elections, the Telegram channel Varlamov News reports. Yabloko lawyer Gadzhi Aliev said the funds did not come to the party itself from foreign individuals, but from Russian citizens who had received money from foreign sources.

Russia has long been fearful over foreign entities making inroads into Russian society, a concern which stretches to well before the war started.

The future of Russia’s only registered party opposing the war in Ukraine hangs in the balance. Moscow’s Supreme Court is hearing a bid to remove Yabloko from September’s parliamentary elections, drawing hundreds of the party’s supporters to the courthouse. pic.twitter.com/yJGoHod0nv

— TVP World (@TVPWorld_com) August 10, 2026

It also worries that US and European intelligence could seek to manipulate parliamentary elections. In America, Democrats had starting long ago charged Moscow with interfering in US elections, which produced years of 'Russiagate' hanging over President Trump - yet with nothing close to a smoking gun.

Regarding the brutal war in Eastern Europe, common Russian families have continued to struggle and suffer quietly because of the conflict as more and more young men are killed in the fighting. On the other side of it, Ukrainian families are also suffering immensely - and tragically there seems no end in sight as peace talks have proven illusive. 

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 05:45
Tyler Durden

Trump Finally Responds To Iran's Demands, Counters US Is Owed "Compensation," Stops Short Of New Threats

Zero Rss
2 months ago
Trump Finally Responds To Iran's Demands, Counters US Is Owed "Compensation," Stops Short Of New Threats Summary
  • Trump demands Iran compensate the US and families of fallen soldiers, but issues no new military threats.
  • US again pivots to economic warfare: Trump says Washington is "low-keying it" and betting Iran's economic weakness will force concessions.
  • Iran digs in on Hormuz: Tehran says the Strait will not return to pre-war conditions without major concessions.
  • Hardliners gain influence: Former IRGC commander Mohsen Rezaei is set to take Iran's top security post.
  • Deal remains elusive: Tehran appears intent on prolonging talks and extracting maximum concessions from Washington.
//--> //--> //--> Strait of Hormuz traffic returns to normal by August 31?
Yes 4% · No 96%
View full market & trade on Polymarket

*  *  *

Trump Belatedly Responds to Iranian Demands

President Trump on Monday has very belatedly responded to the Iranians after they issued new demands over the weekend, or conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, after declaring a ban on all US and Israeli-linked vessels.

Noting that the Iranians are now asking for war compensation, Trump is seeking to turn it around and now demands compensation from Iran "for all of the people that they have killed and gravely wounded with their roadside bombs and many conflicts, for which they are famous...". He also asserted that American families of fallen soldiers should be paid.

Trump proclaims the strait as actually "open" right now:

🚨 REPORTER: When will the Strait of Hormuz open?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: It's open NOW! The only one that has control of the Strait is the US Navy. Our blockade is a STEEL WALL. We let people in who we want to let in. They're coming in and going out. It's ACTUALLY open now. We do not… pic.twitter.com/qBuvzLwkQN

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 10, 2026

Interestingly and tellingly, unlike many prior Truth Social posts related to Iran, Trump did not issue any new threats or ultimatums saying what he will 'do' to the country if it doesn't comply. This perhaps reveals he's out of answers or new strategy, and doesn't wish to escalate militarily. The statement comes on the heels of the president telling Axios on Sunday that the US is now "low-keying" it and primarily turning back to prolonged economic warfare to strangle the Iranian economy.

And he added something further within a short time after the initial post...

Trump "Low-Keying It" As Iran Doubles Down on Demands

After President Trump said Sunday that the US is now "low-keying it" with Iran and only "semi-negotiating" following a top Iranian security official having laid out multiple stringent conditions for the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, oil is edging higher on Monday.

"We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money," Trump told Axios reporter Barak Ravid in comments we analyzed earlier, signaling his return to an economic warfare focus. President Trump has fewer and fewer options and is being squeezed, with any opportunity to declare 'victory' and make swift exit more elusive than ever, given Washington would have to make huge compromises, including lifting sanctions and paying war compensation to Tehran.

"The Supreme National Security Council will not retreat from these demands, whether in war or in negotiations," the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr has said, in effect doubling down, according to Iran’s Mehr news agency.

NurPhoto via AP Hardline IRGC Commander Moved to Top Security Chief Spot

But speaking of Zolghadr, its been widely reported that a 'hardline' former IRGC commander will take his place. The NY Times explains:

Iran is replacing its top national security adviser with a longtime military commander whose appointment could represent a further consolidation of power by the country’s old-guard security establishment.

Mohsen Rezaei, who led Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, will be the new secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, a spokesman for Iran’s president wrote on social media on Sunday. He had been serving as an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.

Mr. Rezaei is replacing Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who stepped into the role when the council’s previous secretary, Ali Larijani, was killed in an Israeli strike during the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran earlier this year.

This is yet another likely sign that Tehran sees itself in the driver's seat, will not back off its demands and conditions for reopening Hormuz, and plans to make an exit from the conflict for Washington as painful as possible, extracting as much as it can while smelling weakness.

Ali Nikzad, Iran’s deputy speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, has emphasized that the Strait of Hormuz is not going to return to its pre-war condition, addressing the body on Monday.

He said, "The Islamic Republic of Iran tried to inform the aggressor and deluded enemy of the fact that the Strait of Hormuz is not going to return to the pre-war conditions during the days of the war."

WSJ: the feared oil crunch may not have been avoided, just delayed. The likely reason is that the world had more "hidden" oil inventories than analysts realized. But those stockpiles are finite. If Hormuz remains disrupted, prices could rise sharply once they're exhausted. pic.twitter.com/lKRvLnoiZG

— Sina Toossi (@SinaToossi) August 7, 2026

"Unfortunately, they tried to pretend not to know, but the passage of time is the greatest teacher for deluded people, and today the American-Zionist enemy, with a strong fist of armed forces, has practically realized that the opening of the Strait of Hormuz has no military solution and must submit to the new order in the region," Nikzad stated.

Return to Focus on Economic War

He went on to admit that a focus on reducing the country's economic challenges is at this moment the highest priority. This is where the US hopes to regain some leverage, with the aforementioned Axios interview including the following declarations by Trump:

  • He stressed that Iran "is in very bad shape" economically and has no money to pay its troops. The U.S. naval blockade has exacerbated the Iranian regime's economic crisis, Trump said.
  • At the same time, Trump said that with oil down to slightly over $75 a barrel, U.S. consumers are feeling less pain from the war.
  • "It will work out. It always works out. It's like a chess game," Trump said of the back-and-forth with Iran.

However, the assumption that the Islamic Republic is ever on the verge of economic panic and collapse is the same talking point that existed at the very start of Operation Epic Fury - and there's as yet been no snowball. Instead in some ways the population and leadership may have 'toughened' and adapted amid wartime conditions.

"Iran is not overplaying. It’s just playing its hand."

Johns Hopkins scholar Vali Nasr tells host Tom Switzer that Washington’s fixation on Tehran “overplaying its hand” reflects disbelief at how dramatically the balance of power has shifted.

“Iran is not overplaying. It’s just playing its hand,” he said.

Iran sees a narrow window… pic.twitter.com/7sL9ryc5Jw

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) August 10, 2026 Three Scenarios of Iran's Strategy

Trita Parsi, who is co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and co-founded the National Iranian-American Council (NIAC), lays out three scenarios on Iran's potential strategy.

"The NYT reports that Iran has effectively rejected a deal on the Strait and presented a list of very hard-line demands in order for an agreement to be reached," he wrote over the weekend. "My understanding of what has transpired differs somewhat. I see three possible interpretations, some of which overlap with the NYT's reporting"...

1. There are divisions within the Iranian system in which hardline elements want to prolong the talks and have the current blockade inflict more damage on Trump and the global economy. Their narrative is that Iran agreed to the MOU too quickly, which contributed to the MOU's deterioration later. Tehran should have held out longer then, and it should also do so now, essentially. A variation of this explanation is what the USG is advancing: The lack of agreement is because of divisions in Iran.

2. Rather than a division, it may also be that a united system is seeking to prolong the talks to pressure the US. As such, a narrative of divisions in Iran may be seen as helpful, as it diverts from an arguably more problematic reality: The more flexible elements within the Iranian system also agree that talks should be prolonged.

3. The Iranian narrative, however, is that new elements were added to the talks at the last minute by the US and that Iran's on-the-surface hardened position is a reaction to what Tehran says is an attempt by the US to move the goalposts. Whether this is true or not, Tehran has tended to react in this manner (escalation) when it believes the US has shifted its position or added additional demands at the last minute. This is, however, not a denial of Zolghadr's list of demands.

Parsi concludes: "That list is an accurate reflection of Iran's broader goals, but ultimately, they won't be its demands for the immediate deal on the Strait. If the truth is closer to the third explanation, then a deal may still be within reach in the short term."

Majid Shakeri, Qalibaf's advisor: Trump will not reach an agreement with us. We are going along with him until his term ends.

مجيد شاكري، مستشار قاليباف: ترامب لن يتوصل إلى اتفاق معنا.
نحن نسايره إلى أن تنتهي ولايته pic.twitter.com/UNvghab4Ih

— Mohamad Ahwaze (@MohamadAhwaze) August 10, 2026 Weekend & Overnight Developments
  • Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi said Iran and the US are not engaged in talks, and Tehran will not allow them to start as long as Washington breaches the interim deal signed in June.
  • Iran said it is very close to a deal with Oman regarding a new maritime transit route in the Strait of Hormuz, but it renewed a list of demands for the US to agree to before the waterway could open. It was separately reported that Iran warned it will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz unless the US meets a series of conditions, including paying compensation for war damage, according to FT.
  • Iran’s Supreme National Security Council issued six demands to the US, including total force withdrawal, end to proxy warfare, financial reparations, sanctions and asset relief, lifting the blockade and cessation of rhetoric.
  • The wait for the Iran-Oman deal regarding the Strait of Hormuz dragged on, with Iran warning the US that any pact wouldn’t lead to an immediate reopening of the key waterway.
  • UKMTO reported that a vessel near Oman was struck by an unknown projectile, which caused a fire on board but has been extinguished.
  • Saudi Arabia put out a fire at its Jazan plant early on Sunday, while Yemen’s Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack on the refinery.
  • It was separately reported that Houthis resumed attacking Yemen’s Mocha port using ballistic missiles and drones, with the attacks aimed at Saudi troop concentrations and weapon depots in the region.
  • Israel again targeted Alia Al-Tahir Hill in the Al-Nabatiyeh a governorate in southern Lebanon with artillery fire, according to IRNA
  • Israeli PM Netanyahu said Israel does not accept a US-backed 15-point plan for Gaza, under which Hamas would disarm in exchange for a phased Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, according to FT.
  • US official said the White House is not bothered by Israeli PM Netanyahu's statement on Gaza plan and sees it as part of election season in Israel, according to Axios
  • The Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee on Sunday approved the general outlines of a bill to manage the Strait of Hormuz, according to ISNA.
Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 05:33
Tyler Durden

'How Can We Help You Kill More Russians?' German Reporter To Zelensky At Belgrade Meeting

Zero Rss
2 months ago
'How Can We Help You Kill More Russians?' German Reporter To Zelensky At Belgrade Meeting

It has never been a secret that much of the Western mainstream media "journalist and pundit class" are in reality warmongers and armchair interventionists and chickenhawks - or also activists and advocates operating under the guise of "objective reporting".

One German journalist was surprisingly open with his lust for blood at a press conference in Belgrade on Saturday. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung correspondent Michael Martens posed a surprisingly blunt question to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky,  and with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic looking on at the other podium. The journalist wanted to know how Europeans could concretely assist in "killing more Russians". Watch:

🇩🇪🇷🇺 German journalist who asked Zelensky how Europeans can "help kill more Russians" turns out to be the grandson of a high-ranking Nazi

Michael Martens's grandfather was a senior Wehrmacht command officer

He is now facing backlash, with a petition calling for his firing https://t.co/wDoGfUmBWd pic.twitter.com/xL6gUPC0dr

— The Other Side Media (@TheOtherSideRu) August 10, 2026

"Can you tell us Europeans what can we concretely do to help you to kill more Russians?" Martens asked.

He quickly checked himself, adding that he means "more Russian soldiers, of course." President Vucic is seen with a look of shock on his face as the question is being asked, raising his eyebrows in apparent disbelief.

Zelensky had responded to the question with the usual calls for more money, and more weapons, and to hit Moscow harder with Western sanctions. 

Vucic's answer was very diplomatic but also somewhat of a rebuke to the question, expressing his desire to see all killing come to and end:

"We did not discuss military cooperation today," the Serbian president said. "What happens when the war ends is another matter. And speaking about killing, I hope all killing will end."

The clip has gone viral in Europe, and has been highlighted in Russian and Ukrainian media - but has been curiously absent from Western mainstream press.

The Serbian leader's look says it all...

"Tell us, Europeans, what can we concretely do to help you kill more Russians?"

That was the question a German journalist asked Zelensky at a press conference in Belgrade

Vucic's face said it all pic.twitter.com/Y7dlMK9FxV

— The Other Side Media (@TheOtherSideRu) August 8, 2026

Amid the controversy, the outlet that Martens writes for, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, issued a statement expressing "regret" while still seeming to defend the exchange, only saying that its reporter's statement was "worded ambiguously".

Sadly, none of this is completely surprising - and the longer the Ukraine war drags on, the more bloodthirsty that "journalists" and pundits and some politicians are likely to become. Or rather, the masks are off and such sentiment is much more out in the open.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 04:15
Tyler Durden

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