Victor Davis Hanson: THE SIGNALS ARE ALL POINTING THE SAME DIRECTION
No U.S. analyst knows better how to cut through the fog of war than Stanford University Prof.
@VDHanson
.
In the clip below, Hanson, who’s studied how wars end for 50 years, says the tide has turned in America’s favor against Iran. Forget the rancid propaganda flowing from all quarters related to the Iran conflict and how it is going – Hanson says look at how everyone else is behaving.
The war is now in full swing, Israel is battling on several fronts and Trump is thinking about “winding it down”, but Iran’s cardboard muftis still won’t open the straight of Hormuz, and that impacts all shipping of oil.
Lebanon
Hezbollah has carried out dozens of attacks from Lebanon into Israel over the past few days. There is, at this moment, a great deal of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
Iran warns of hits on energy, water sites after Trump threat
Iran has warned of retaliatory attacks on regional infrastructure if US President Donald Trump follows through on his ultimatum over the Strait of Hormuz. Trump has said he will “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if it fails to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.
Israeli forces attack the Qasmiyeh Bridge, a key crossing linking Lebanon’s south to the rest of the country, in an escalation that President Joseph Aoun called a “prelude to ground invasion”.
A mourner holds a picture of Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei in Tehran [AFP]
Israel says new wave of missiles launched from Iran
The Israeli military says more missiles have been launched from Iran towards Israel’s territory.
In a statement, it said air defence systems are operating to intercept the attack.
Who is left running Iran?
Many of Tehran’s top leaders have been killed – from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to senior security figures – by the US and Israel.
President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu have framed the killings as victories in their war on Iran, but Tehran says its governance structure is built to withstand such blows.
Let’s bring you up to speed:
Iran’s military has warned of major retaliation if US President Donald Trump follows through on his threat to attack Iranian power plants, saying it would “completely close” the Strait of Hormuz and hit back at energy facilities in Israel and states hosting US bases
Israel carried out two attacks on southern Lebanon’s Qasmiyeh Bridge, which links Tyre with the rest of the country.
The bridge is now “essentially destroyed,” reports Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith from Beirut, while local electricity networks are also damaged.
Israel’s army chief said the country is ready for a “long campaign” against Hezbollah, which has claimed several attacks on Israeli military sites in recent hours.
Iran’s Health Ministry said 210 children have been killed in the US-Israeli war on Iran since February 28.
Since the start of the war, Iranian authorities have imposed a nationwide internet blackout. According to the monitoring group NetBlocks, Iranians are now entering their 23rd day without internet access.
“The measure adds to the wartime distress of millions of civilians who lack independent sources of information and alerts,” it added.
Iran has warned of retaliatory attacks on regional infrastructure if US President Donald Trump follows through on his ultimatum over the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump has said he will “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if it fails to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.
Iranian attack on the holy sites sacred to all three religions reveals the madness of the Iranian regime, which claims to be religious.
The Iranian “gift” for Eid al-Fitr: Missiles on Al-Aqsa. The Iranian attack on the holy sites sacred to all three religions reveals the madness of the Iranian regime, which claims to be religious. pic.twitter.com/UqHnFv5uF1
Israel’s military said it was not able to intercept missiles that hit the southern cities of Dimona and Arad, the largest near the centre in Israel’s sparsely populated Negev desert. It was the first time Iranian missiles had penetrated Israel’s air defence systems in the area around the nuclear site.
At least 180 people have been injured in two Iranian missile attacks on the Israeli cities Dimona and Arad, according to the country’s Health Ministry.
Hezbollah says it has targeted Israeli soldiers and military sites overnight and this morning in northern Israel’s Hanita and Avivim settlements as well as southern Lebanon’s Ras an-Naqoura.
The nuclear-powered British submarine HMS Anson has arrived in the Arabian Sea, according to a UK tabloid, amid US threats to escalate its military operations against Iran.
Yassamin Ansari, a Democratic lawmaker from Arizona, has called the US-Israeli war on Iran “reckless and illegal” while warning of its “catastrophic impacts”, including the deaths of American soldiers.
Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry says it has intercepted and destroyed a drone flying towards the eastern part of the country.
US President Donald Trump says he does not “want to do a ceasefire” with Iran. “You know you don’t do a ceasefire when you’re literally obliterating the other side,” Trump tells reporters.
Trump calls NATO allies “cowards” over lack of support for his war on Iran, brands the Western military alliance “a paper tiger” without the US.
UK officials have not given details of the attempted strikes that were unsuccessful. It’s unclear how close the missiles came to the base, 4,000km (2,500 miles) from Iran in the Indian Ocean.
IRGC Cowards Flee to Afghanistan as Iran’s Regime Crumbles
Masked Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members—once feared enforcers of the mullahs’ brutal rule—are now caught on video crossing into Afghanistan with passports in hand, desperate to escape the fallout from devastating US-Israeli strikes.
Al Arabiya footage shows these IRGC rats abandoning their posts, some reportedly shaving beards to avoid recognition after the Supreme Leader’s death and relentless attacks shredded their command structure.
These are the same thugs who terrorized civilians for decades. Now, with top commanders eliminated, missile forces crippled, and desertions mounting, they run like cowards when real pressure arrives.
Over three million Iranians displaced, borders chaotic, and the regime’s grip slipping fast—proof the theocracy is finally cracking under decisive force.
The IRGC only knows bravery against unarmed protesters. Against determined enemies, they vanish.
The end of this oppressive era can’t come soon enough.
John Bolton ADMITS that by European leaders failing to support the U.S. in Iran — especially those who said “this is not our war” — it INVITES President Trump to say:
“Ukraine is not our war.”
BOLTON: “I will say I think the Europeans make a mistake by responding to that kind… pic.twitter.com/lalz89GLHD
President Trump has never been afraid to say what career politicians won’t: America has been getting ripped off by foreign freeloaders for decades, especially when it comes to prescription drugs. While U.S. patients and taxpayers foot the bill for the world’s most advanced medicines, wealthy nations have been freeloading off our innovation.
Last year, Trump took a major step toward fixing that imbalance by forcing the United Kingdom to come to the table and pay more for breakthrough treatments. Past presidents could only dream of a win that big. Now, it’s time to do the same with Japan. Continue reading “Ukraine is not our war!”
I’m here with Israel’s Defense Minister, our Chief of Staff, the head of the Mossad, the Chief of Air Force, our senior commanders. In the past 24 hours, we knocked out two of the terrorist chieftains, the top terrorist chieftains of this tyranny.
Iran launches more attacks on Israel in retaliation for the killings of its security chief, Ali Larijani, and Basij force commander Gholamreza Soleimani. At least two people are killed.
Afew days ago I watched Sky News with amazement as they showed Iranian propaganda images of Ali Larijani walking down the street in Iran on Al Quds Day. They kept commenting how it showed Iranian strength that he was able to walk so freely without fear of assassination, among his people.
Billions $$$$$ abroad while Iranians bleed at home.
Mojtaba Khamenei is the 56-year-old son of Ayatollah Khamenei, the late unlamented leader of Iran who recently proved, as tyrants often do, that “nothing in his life became him like the leaving it.” Daddy’s little boy even in his mid-50s, Mojtaba is has just been named to succeed his father.
Mojtaba has one thing in common with his late father: he loves money, and all the things that money can buy. Reports from Western intelligence services estimate Ayatollah Khamenei’s net worth was $95 billion. Some estimates go even higher. How much of this money will end up in Mojtaba’s clammy grasp is unknown, but even before his father’s death Mojtaba was said to have a net worth of $3 billion.
He has gold and diamonds worth $300 million, and has reportedly distributed $2 billion across foreign bank accounts in the UAE, Syria, Venezuela, and several African states. He also has extensive land holdings near Mashhad in eastern Iran. Finally, he has a property empire in London, Dubai, and on the continent of Europe. Just two of his apartments in Kensington are worth 50 million euros.
France’s special envoy for Lebanon said it would be unreasonable to expect the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah while under Israeli bombardment, adding that only negotiations can resolve the crisis.
Wave of Israeli air attacks launched as ground offensive widens in south where Hezbollah are fighting Israeli forces.
Firefighters are seen at the site of an Israeli air strike in Beirut’s Bashoura neighbourhood on March 18, 2026. Lebanon said Israel struck central Beirut early March 18
Several central neighbourhoods in Beirut have been attacked in a series of Israeli strikes.
Several central neighbourhoods in Beirut have been attacked in a series of Israeli strikes. Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr has been at the scene of one attack that flattened a multi-storey residential building.
For years, Beirut’s southern suburb has been spoken about as though it were a world apart: A Hezbollah bastion, a target, a warning, or a battlefield. But in Arabic, the word “dahiyeh” simply means “the suburb”.
Dahiyeh – in size nearly as big as municipal Beirut – has been shaped by migration and displacement in the past 50 years. While many moved there in search of work or housing, most of the others were pushed there by wars, political unrest, evictions and a general sense of being neglected by the Lebanese state.
This is Al Jazeera BS. Lebanon has been invaded & occupied by Islamic forces, namely Hezbollah, which ruined Lebanon in a bloody civil war.
The number of vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz has nearly doubled in recent days, a maritime intelligence company says.
The effective halt of traffic through the waterway has sent oil prices surging above $100 per barrel, an increase of more than 40 percent compared with before the start of the war.
Qatar has no reason to worry about goods shortages or disruptions to supply chains despite heightened regional tensions, the country’s customs chief tells Al Jazeera.
Hamas issued a statement today urging the Islamic Republic of Iran to halt its retaliatory strikes on other Gulf countries. Meanwhile, the IRGC issued a new threat to strike “economic centers and banks” linked to the United States and Israel.
BREAKING: Israel has claimed it has killed Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani and Basij force commander Gholamreza Soleimani. Iran has not commented on, nor confirmed these claims. pic.twitter.com/GEHEaitulz
“Islam is largely alien to American history—it certainly didn’t come into the United States on the Mayflower,” freshman Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Tex.) observed last month. Gill continued: “It’s something that we deliberately imported as a matter of immigration policy into our country.”
Who voted for this? Who did this? And how did this happen? And make no mistake: Islamic immigration and the insidious Islamization of American society, more generally, is happening.
Hamas issued a statement today urging the Islamic Republic of Iran to halt its retaliatory strikes on other Gulf countries. Meanwhile, the IRGC issued a new threat to strike “economic centers and banks” linked to the United States and Israel.
In other news, the California state legislature has introduced a bill that would designate the Muslim holidays of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as state-recognized holidays.
The radical left media, CNN, MS NOW, ABC, CBS, NBC, and their print partners like The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Washington Post and others have spent the entire Iran crisis acting as Iranian propagandists rather than American journalists.
Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions – also known as the fake news – have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up.
The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they… https://t.co/7bBgnsbalw
Upon the overnight major US attack on Iran’s key oil hub of Kharg island, here’s what Iran’s military is threatening to do by way of response and escalation – which was also entirely predictable:
“If Iran’s oil, economic, or energy infrastructure is attacked, we will immediately destroy energy and economic infrastructure across the region belonging to companies with American shareholders or ties to the U.S.” –IRGC spox
Iran’s strategy in the current conflict is increasingly focused on economic and asymmetric pressure points rather than purely military targets. By leveraging low-cost drone swarms, missile strikes, and regional proxy networks, Tehran appears to be testing the resilience of U.S.… https://t.co/zVTkkwK500pic.twitter.com/2CCOwaxXts
Either Hezbollah ‘is finished or it establishes a new equation involving Israel’s complete withdrawal from Lebanon,’ source in group says; group surprised Beirut when entering war
This photograph taken during a media tour organized by Hezbollah shows a man installing a flag of Hezbollah on the balcony of a damaged building at Nabi Chit town after an Israeli military operation in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, on March 7, 2026. (Photo by FADEL itani / AFP)
Explosions also tear through Petah Tikva, Bnei Brak and Haifa, destroying buildings and shattering lives
The scene where a ballistic missile fired from Iran hit and caused damage in Tel Aviv, June 16, 2025. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)
The scene where a ballistic missile fired from Iran hit and caused damage in Tel Aviv, June 16, 2025. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)
Buildings three blocks away from the site of an overnight Iranian missile impact in Tel Aviv showed signs of damage, including cracked windows, on Monday.
Closer to the impact site, businesses and apartments were largely bombed out. A 15-story high-rise overlooking the impact site over a parking lot was left entirely windowless.
Despite the paucity of safe rooms in the area, only four people were hurt in the attack and treated for light to moderate injuries, Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital said. Continue reading Iranian Missiles Hit Tel Aviv
