On COI #88, Connor Freeman returns to the show with updates on Afghanistan, Iran and Yemen.

As the Biden administration signals that it won’t meet the May 1 troop withdrawal deadline set out in the US-Taliban deal signed last year, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has offered an alternative “peace plan” to a recently unveiled US proposal, rejecting any interim government arrangement and calling for fast-tracked elections. The Taliban is reportedly considering the US plan, but has nonetheless vowed to retaliate should foreign forces remain in the country beyond May 1.

A senior Iranian official recently said Iran should boost its uranium enrichment to 60 percent to pressure Washington into dropping sanctions and reviving the 2015 nuclear deal. Biden is in no hurry to do either, even as his top Iran envoy admits the ongoing “maximum pressure” campaign has been a failure.

The US-backed Saudi coalition bombed a grain port in the town of al-Salif on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, part of a flurry of strikes carried out in recent days against the Houthis. The attack carried on a trend in the coalition’s bombing campaign, which throughout the war has targeted farms, factories, schools, hospitals, mosques, funeral processions and wedding parties. Despite the air raids, the Saudis have put forward a ceasefire proposal, but the Houthis have insisted any deal must include an immediate end to the Saudi naval blockade.