FrameTheGlobe Profile picture
Researcher & writer. Analysing the past, decoding the present. History, current affairs, geopolitics, & Pakistan. Politically charged commentary. Contributor.
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Jan 22 10 tweets 3 min read
1/10 Did the UAE help crash Iran’s rial?

Allegations of UAE involvement in Iran’s currency crisis are circulating among regional diplomats. The speculation isn’t baseless, the Emirates has documented history targeting rivals’ economies, from Qatar’s riyal to Turkey’s lira. Image
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2/10 Iran’s rial crashed to record lows in December 2025, triggering bazaar strikes in Tehran that spread nationwide. The economic collapse stems from sanctions, war reconstruction costs, and failed policies, but questions about external acceleration persist. Image
Jan 13 16 tweets 8 min read
1/16 How the UAE Helped Build a Region That Worked for Israel, Not for Gaza

For years, the UAE presented its embrace of Israel as a brave leap into a modern Middle East, a story of innovation, investment and “peace” that played well in Western capitals and among global investors. Behind that presentation was a much harder reality: Abu Dhabi was steadily building a regional security environment where Israel’s military power could operate with fewer political costs from Arab capitals, and where the Palestinian question could be pushed out of the center of regional decision making.Image 2/16 Pakistan’s internal drama eventually sat right inside this regional script. Imran Khan was removed from office in April 2022 and, over the months that followed, pushed from political leader into criminal defendant and finally into prisoner. His trials were dressed in legal language, but his detention is illegal in the eyes of international law: in mid‑2024, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention formally declared that his imprisonment is arbitrary, violates Pakistan’s obligations and that he should be released immediately with a right to compensation.Image
Jan 12 25 tweets 17 min read
1/25 The Misunderstood History of the Pakistan-Turkey-Malaysia Alliance During Imran Khan’s Era (Featuring the UAE)

The Pakistan-Turkey-Malaysia alliance under Imran Khan is one of the most deliberately misrepresented episodes in recent Pakistani foreign policy. The dominant narrative claims Khan recklessly built an anti-Saudi bloc that damaged Pakistan’s vital Gulf relationships. This narrative is not just incomplete. It is fundamentally backwards. The real story involves UAE pushing Saudi Arabia away from Pakistan on Kashmir, Khan responding by building alternative partnerships for economic survival and diplomatic solidarity, and a sophisticated propaganda campaign inverting cause and effect to destroy an independent Pakistani foreign policy. Lets walk through what actually happened. 2/25 The story begins with Kashmir in 2019, not with some ideological vision from Imran Khan. In August 2019, India revoked Article 370 of its constitution, stripping Kashmir of its special autonomous status and imposing a brutal military lockdown affecting millions of Kashmiris. This was India’s most aggressive move on Kashmir in decades. Pakistan expected its traditional Muslim allies, particularly Saudi Arabia and the UAE, to stand in solidarity on this core existential issue that had defined Pakistani foreign policy for seventy years. What happened instead was a betrayal that would reshape Pakistan’s entire regional strategy and force Khan to seek new partnerships. But that betrayal has been systematically erased from the historical record by those who benefited from it.
Jan 11 16 tweets 5 min read
1/15 The Strategic Sabotage of the Khan-MBS Partnership by the UAE

The removal of a sitting Prime Minister is rarely just about domestic politics. In the case of Imran Khan, a sophisticated regional operation was executed to systematically destroy his personal rapport with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. This was a strategic move to ensure Pakistan remained dependent on middlemen rather than a sovereign partner. 2/15 Central to this narrative is Umar Farooq Zahoor. While presented to the public as a businessman, his background suggests a role as a high level strategic asset. For years, he operated at the highest levels of UAE corporate power as the Director of AMERI Group, the private office of Sheikh Ahmed Bin Dalmook Al Maktoum, a member of the Dubai ruling family.Image
Jan 11 25 tweets 7 min read
1/25 The Emirates Trap

Over 20 years, UAE money has moved from “brotherly support” to deep leverage over Pakistan’s ports, military business empire, banks, land, minerals, workers and foreign policy. Image
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2/25 Phase 1 (2005–2008) looked like normal FDI:

- 2005: Etisalat buys 26% of PTCL and takes over the telecom backbone.
- 2006: Dubai’s DP World comes in at Port Qasim.
- 2007–08: Emaar–DHA mega real estate projects and big UAE pledges roll in.
Dec 31, 2025 21 tweets 9 min read
1/21 UAE–Israel Nexus Over Pakistan

Pakistan’s gravest national security risks today are not only on its borders or in its skies, but buried in contracts, concession agreements, and equity deals signed in Abu Dhabi boardrooms. A dense, state linked capital network connecting the UAE and Israel is now embedded inside Pakistan’s ports, banking system, energy infrastructure, and mineral wealth, creating a quiet but powerful architecture of dependency that will shape Islamabad’s strategic options for decades. What appears, on the surface, as much needed foreign investment increasingly functions as a mechanism of structural leverage over the Pakistani state itself. 2/21 At the center of this landscape stand two Abu Dhabi giants: AD Ports Group and International Holding Company (IHC). Both are presented publicly as diversified commercial powerhouses, but their ownership, leadership, and mandates clearly situate them within the UAE’s national security ecosystem rather than a normal private marketplace. AD Ports is majority owned by ADQ, the Abu Dhabi holding company that operates as an arm of the ruling family, while IHC is chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, the UAE’s National Security Advisor, who simultaneously manages sovereign capital and strategic portfolios. When such entities acquire control over Pakistani facilities and institutions, the distinction between foreign investor and foreign power becomes largely academic.
Nov 2, 2025 14 tweets 3 min read
1/13 The UAE’s Anti-Islamist Cover Story Just Collapsed: What Leaked Sudan Documents Reveal

The RSF in Sudan brands itself as fighting Islamists. The UAE which positions itself as anti-Islamist arms them. Both use religious framing to justify what has been declared genocide. This narrative is precisely calibrated for Western liberal audiences who see “anti-Islamist” as progressive.Image
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2/13 The RSF systematically describes Sudan’s regular army as “operating under the terrorist Islamic Movement” in all official statements. Every massacre becomes a counterterrorism operation. Every ethnic cleansing gets rebranded as striking “Islamist extremists.”
Nov 2, 2025 16 tweets 4 min read
1/16 Dubai’s Gold Empire - How the UAE Built a Mercenary Network in Congo Under UN Cover

In 2005, Pakistani UN peacekeepers in Mongbwalu, eastern Congo, were meeting openly with militia commanders who’d massacred thousands. Gold worth millions moved through UN aircraft. Weapons collected during disarmament were returned to fighters. Powers far from Africa were building something.Image
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2/16 The gold from Mongbwalu had a destination: Dubai. Between 2012-2022, the UAE received 2,500 tonnes of smuggled African gold worth $115 billion. But the infrastructure was established years earlier, in places like Mongbwalu, where Pakistani troops wore blue helmets and facilitated networks that would feed Dubai’s refineries for decades.
Nov 1, 2025 21 tweets 12 min read
Imran Khan was bad for Pakistan until you read the fine print and look behind the curtain.

UAE’S SILENT CONQUEST🧵

1/21 In 2007, a US diplomat captured something extraordinary in a cable back to Washington. Mohamed bin Zayed, de facto ruler of the UAE, was speaking with unusual candor about democracy in the Muslim world. His words were chilling: “Muslims should never have free elections.” He named three countries that kept him awake at night, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. The reason? “If Egypt has free elections, they will elect the Muslim Brothers.” This wasn’t the musing of a worried observer. This was strategy from a man who runs one of the world’s wealthiest states. And Pakistan, nuclear-armed with 240+ million Muslims, was squarely in his sights.Image 2/21 Imran Khan came to power in 2018 and immediately became the embodiment of everything that 2007 cable warned against. He wasn’t subtle about it either. Muslim unity summits in Kuala Lumpur. Adamant refusal to normalise with Israel despite intense pressure from Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. Saying “absolutely not” to American requests for military bases. Staying neutral on Ukraine when the West demanded alignment. Speaking forcefully about Kashmir and Palestine when silence would have been more profitable. He represented Muslim self-determination not as theory but as lived policy. By April 2022, he was gone, removed through a no-confidence vote that had the army’s fingerprints all over it. Shahbaz Sharif took his place, a man whose family the Saudis had sheltered for seven years when they needed refuge. The obstacle had been removed.
Sep 29, 2025 24 tweets 7 min read
Trump’s 21 Point Muslim States Backed Gaza Plan

1/24 The Trump administration’s 21-point plan for Gaza, backed by Muslim countries including Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, represents a profound betrayal. These nations are lending legitimacy to a framework designed to permanently erase Palestinian sovereignty while maintaining the appearance of humanitarian intervention. What follows is a systematic analysis of how this plan weaponises Muslim states as instruments of dispossession. 2/24 This proposal masquerades as a peace plan while constructing a blueprint for institutionalising Israeli control through international proxies. By securing backing from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, the architects have accomplished something significant: they have recruited the Muslim world to police the very people they claim to champion, transforming the language of liberation into the vocabulary of subjugation.
Sep 13, 2025 13 tweets 3 min read
1/13 History whispers its warnings to those willing to listen. Between 2007-2009, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa became a testament to how distant diplomatic choices return as local tragedies. As Pakistan again considers military action regarding Afghanistan, we must remember when our own soil bled from such decisions. 2/13 July 2007 marked the turning point. The siege of Lal Masjid in Islamabad sent shockwaves across the tribal belt. When state forces stormed the red-bricked compound, militant networks declared it an assault on faith itself. The mathematics of violence shifted overnight, suicide attacks surged from 10 in 2006 to 61 in 2007.
Sep 12, 2025 26 tweets 6 min read
China's Elite Capture Networks 🧵 Image 1/25 Research on China's international influence demonstrates systematic elite capture across developing nations through corruption networks and strategic dependencies. Analysis of China's engagement in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Cambodia, Pakistan, Kenya, Laos, and Djibouti reveals a calculated pattern where China targets corrupt elites, facilitates their enrichment, then leverages these relationships to secure strategic assets and political control.
Aug 22, 2025 26 tweets 4 min read
1/25 Pakistan has launched its most extensive lobbying campaign in Washington, deploying a sophisticated network of firms with deep Trump administration connections. 2/25 Pakistan is spending nearly $600,000 a month to boost its access to the White House, Congress, and US agencies, despite battling a prolonged economic crisis. Six lobbying and legal firms are driving this effort.
Jul 24, 2025 19 tweets 4 min read
Johnnie Moore Jr: The extremist evangelical weaponising Gaza’s starvation

A man who advocates ethnic cleansing while controlling Gaza’s only food supply. His appointment to lead the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is a grotesque perversion of humanitarian aid. [🧵] Image
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2/ Moore’s moral bankruptcy was evident. At Liberty University, leaked emails show him scheming to create fake positions to funnel money to a trustee facing child abuse allegations. When offered payment, he declined publicly but privately told Falwell: “I intend on putting it on your LU bill retroactively.”
Jun 24, 2025 27 tweets 4 min read
1/ The Punjab Government AGP Audit Files

An analysis of Punjab’s financial records since February 2024 reveals systematic irregularities totaling over Rs. 1 trillion, raising serious questions about fiscal controls under Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s administration. 2/ Audit findings for 2024 document Rs. 2.43 billion in procurement violations across education and healthcare sectors, a figure that represents just a fraction of broader financial lapses uncovered by provincial auditors.
Jun 20, 2025 30 tweets 4 min read
1/ Return of Pakistan’s Sugar Mafia

In 2020, PM Imran Khan made public a 347-page forensic investigation into Pakistan’s sugar industry, exposing massive corruption. Today, with sugar prices hitting Rs 200/kg, this thread explains what was achieved and what has been lost since. 2/ Background: Between late 2018 and 2019, sugar prices rose from Rs. 55 per kg to Rs. 71 per kg. This 30% increase prompted PM Imran Khan to order an unprecedented investigation into the sugar industry’s practices.
Jun 16, 2025 9 tweets 3 min read
1/9 Russia’s Chess Board On The Iran-Israel War

As Israeli strikes continue to target Iranian infrastructure and the Middle East edges closer to wider conflict, Moscow finds itself walking a diplomatic tightrope. Despite recent partnership agreements and years of cooperation, Russia’s approach to the Iran-Israel war displays the calculated pragmatism that defines Kremlin foreign policy. 2/9 Strategic Neutrality Over Alliance Obligations

Russia maintains that its partnership with Iran, despite the comprehensive strategic agreement signed in January 2025, contains no mutual defense clauses similar to NATO’s Article 5. Moscow has repeatedly emphasised that it bears no legal obligation to militarily defend Tehran and lacks the practical capability given its ongoing commitments in Ukraine. The relationship, while deepened through shared sanctions experience, remains fundamentally transactional rather than ideological, a partnership of convenience rather than conviction.
Jun 15, 2025 6 tweets 3 min read
1/6 Iran Israel China perspective through the lens of China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, and Beijing Institute for International Strategic Studies

The escalating Israel-Iran confrontation throughout 2024 reveals a sophisticated American containment strategy designed to systematically dismantle China’s energy security and regional influence without direct military confrontation with Beijing. 2/6 Current intelligence confirms Iran supplies approximately 1.4 million barrels per day to China through an elaborate sanctions-evasion network. Chinese entities purchase roughly 90% of Iran’s oil exports, representing over $20 billion annually in disguised transactions through ship-to-ship transfers off Malaysia’s coast. This trade constitutes roughly 10% of China’s total crude imports and represents critical diversification from our energy portfolio.

Israel’s systematic targeting of Iranian military leadership, including Revolutionary Guard commanders and nuclear scientists, serves dual purposes: degrading Iran’s retaliatory capabilities while demonstrating to Beijing the vulnerability of Chinese energy partnerships to American proxy operations.
Jun 9, 2025 25 tweets 4 min read
1/ How Pakistan became Moscow's secret pipeline for banned microchips. Despite sweeping sanctions, sophisticated networks funnel US and European integrated circuits to Russian missile factories through Pakistani trading houses, with devastating consequences for Ukraine. 2/ The evidence trail begins in December 2023 when US Treasury exposed a four-country procurement ring spanning China, Russia, Pakistan and Hong Kong. At its center: Chinese broker Hu Xiaoxun and Pakistani arms dealers Syed Asadullah and Nur Khabib Shakh, coordinating shipments of semiconductor micro-chip manufacturing equipment to Russian defense firms.
Jun 8, 2025 15 tweets 3 min read
1/ Who is Maulana Fazlur Rahman Part 1 of 2: has built a political career spanning over three decades while accumulating wealth far beyond his known sources of income. His corruption allegations reveal systematic exploitation of public office for personal enrichment. 2/ The “Maulana Diesel” nickname originated during Benazir Bhutto’s second government (1993-1996) when Rahman served as Minister of Petroleum. Allegations claim he took advantage of his position and smuggled diesel to Afghanistan, earning substantial profits during Pakistan’s diesel crisis by selling at higher rates.
May 29, 2025 9 tweets 4 min read
1/ At Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas on May 28, 2025, Pakistan unveiled an ambitious Strategic Bitcoin Reserve initiative. Led by Bilal Bin Saqib, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Blockchain, the plan aims to allocate 2,000 MW of surplus electricity to Bitcoin mining and AI data centers. The government targets $1 billion in foreign direct investment by 2026 while creating high-tech employment opportunities.

Pakistan’s unregulated crypto landscape thus far, 27 million crypto wallets and 40 million active users. However, the initiative faces obstacles: prohibitively high electricity costs, chronic grid instability, and deep-rooted governance issues that threaten the plan’s viability. Success will depend on the Pakistan Crypto Council’s (PCC) ability to navigate these structural challenges. 2/ Pakistan’s energy sector presents both opportunity and challenge. The country maintains 10-15 GW of surplus capacity due to overbuilt infrastructure, with major coal plants like Sahiwal and Port Qasim operating at just 15% capacity. Redirecting 2,000 MW to Bitcoin mining could reduce the government’s $2 billion annual burden in capacity payments to independent power producers.

Yet significant barriers remain. Pakistan’s electricity tariffs of $0.15-0.20/kWh rank among the region’s highest, while transmission losses consume 17% of generated power. Grid outages plague 60% of rural areas, creating reliability concerns for energy-intensive mining operations that require consistent power supply. These infrastructure deficiencies pose serious questions about the sector’s readiness for large-scale crypto mining.