Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf is best known to be the cheerleader for “death to America, death to Israel” in Iran
President Donald Trump said on Monday that his administration is negotiating with Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, who he said was part of “a new, and more reasonable, regime.”
Trump said he expected to “find out in about a week” whether Ghalibaf is a suitable partner for extended negotiations.
Ghalibaf has rejected ceasefire terms, declaring Iran would continue fighting “until the enemy truly regrets its aggression.”
An Iranian official has told Al Jazeera Arabic that no ship can sail through the Strait of Hormuz without an agreement with Iran and a thorough review of its documents.
“No ship carrying cargo for a hostile country has crossed the Strait of Hormuz so far, and none will cross it in the future,” the official added.
Iranian state media says a US-Israeli attack has targeted a petrochemical plant in Tabriz, while Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says the United States is plotting a ground attack despite publicly engaging in diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the war.
UNIFIL says a peacekeeper has been killed in an attack on a southern Lebanon position.
Correction:
NO, Speaker Ghalibaf has not been eliminated, at least not yet.
That doesn’t mean he’s got an extra lease on life.
The US or the IDF may take him out at any time of their choosing.
Iran’s Ghalibaf warns country’s enemies will regret aggression against Iran
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warns that the nation’s enemies are presenting their “desires” as news while simultaneously issuing threats against the country.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has declared that the United States is “winning” in the fight against Iran, but he declined to provide a timeline as to when the war would end, stressing that decision lies with President Donald Trump.
“We will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated,” Hegseth said.
“We do so on our timeline and at our choosing. For example, today will be yet again, our most intense day of strikes inside Iran – the most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes.”
Pentagon readies ‘for weeks of US ground operations’ in Iran
The plans, which fall short of a full invasion, could involve raids by special operations and conventional infantry troops, The Washington Post reported.
The Pentagon is preparing for weeks of limited ground operations in Iran, potentially including raids on Kharg Island and coastal sites near the Strait of Hormuz, according to United States officials quoted by The Washington Post newspaper.
The plans, which fall short of a full invasion, could involve raids by special operations and conventional infantry troops, the Post reported on Saturday, exposing US personnel to Iranian drones and missiles, ground fire, and improvised explosives.
Whether President Donald Trump would approve any of those plans remains uncertain, according to the report.
“It’s the job of the Pentagon to make preparations in order to give the Commander in Chief maximum optionality. It does not mean the president has made a decision,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, responding to questions over the Post report.
Update:
Iran’s Araghchi tells Saudi Arabia: ‘Time to eject US forces’
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says his country respects Saudi Arabia and considers it a brotherly nation, emphasising that regional operations are directed solely at “enemy aggressors”.
The Arabs don’t trust the Shia rafida, for good reason.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has lowered the minimum age to 12 for participation in war-related activities. No, it’s not that boys and girls will be sent off to fight. Instead, children as young as 12 will now be used to help man checkpoints, to go on patrols (presumably to watch out for saboteurs, or for signs of discontent and defeatism among the population), and to help with logistics. The Iranian state needs all the help it can get — even from its children. More on this sign of desperation can be found here: “Iran Lowers Minimum Age for War Roles to 12, Sparking Outcry Over Child Soldier Use,” by Ailin Vilches Arguello, Algemeiner, March 26, 2026:
The Iranian regime has lowered the minimum age for participation in war-related activities to just 12 years old, a move that will likely fuel the concerns of human rights groups, which have condemned Iran’s treatment of children.
In a televised interview with state media, Rahim Nadali, a cultural with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Tehran, announced that the new initiative “For Iran” is recruiting participants to assist with patrols, checkpoints, and logistics.
“Since children are increasingly volunteering to take part, we have lowered the minimum age to 12,” Nadali said, urging young children to join the war effort if they wish.
Trump told NATO “never forget” — then spent the week proving it. The G7 funeral.
Lloyd’s of London replaced. The “Strait of Trump.” @BarbaraMBoyd breaks down the systematic dismantling of the British financial empire. pic.twitter.com/B0tCswq1DK
Iran has agreed to allow 20 Pakistani-flagged ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz unharmed, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar announced Saturday.
Not Just ‘Damaged’ but Obliterated: Images of US AWACS Jet At Saudi Airbase
Images have emerged revealing that the Wall Street Journal’s initial report that the half-billion-dollar aircraft was merely “damaged” was an enormous understatement. Rather, a large portion of the fuselage has been obliterated, along with the distinctive 30-foot-diameter, 6-foot-thick rotating radar dome that’s mounted atop AWACS aircraft. We took a closer look at the photo set here.
The images of the destroyed E-3 Sentry were first posted on the Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page:
Not just ‘damaged’ but obliterated: images show destroyed US AWACS jet at Saudi Airbase.
“The loss of this E-3 is incredibly problematic, given how crucial these battle managers are to everything from airspace deconfliction, aircraft deconfliction, targeting, and providing other lethal effects that the entire force needs for the battle space,” Heather Penney, a former F-16 pilot and director of studies and research at AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, told Air & Space Forces Magazine. If this has been carefully kept under wraps until now, what else is the White House and Pentagon not telling the public?
UAE Slams Iran with Billions in Frozen Assets and Boots Iranian Residents
The United Arab Emirates is hitting Iran where it hurts most. In a sharp escalation amid ongoing regional conflict, the UAE has moved to freeze billions in Iranian-linked assets held in the Gulf and begun canceling residency permits for Iranians, including coveted Golden Visas.
IDF CONFIRMS KILLING JOURNALIST ALI SHOEIB: ‘served as terrorist in Hezbollah under guise of journalist for Al-Manar network’
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar veteran journalist Ali Shoeib and pro-Hezbollah Al-Mayadeen reporter Fatima Fatouni were killed in an airstrike in southern Lebanon. The IDF said Shoeib was an intelligence operative for the elite Radwan force, who operated under the guise of a journalist. pic.twitter.com/NCJ1lhASEh
— Ariel Oseran أريئل أوسيران (@ariel_oseran) March 28, 2026
The IDF confirms targeting and eliminating AliShoeib, a Hezbollah terrorist masquerading as a journalist. Shoeib, in addition to being a member of Hezbollah’s Radwan Force, was a long-time correspondent for Al-Manar, a Hezbollah-owned and operated propaganda outlet.
Two other journalists working for the Hezbollah-aligned Al-Mayadeen television station were also killed. — World media predictably framed the development simply as Israel “killing journalists,” marking yet another double standard considering the deliberate targeting of ISIS media operatives by Western coalition forces.
Ali Shoeib, Al-Manar’s house correspondent, is without a doubt the journalist Abu Ali Express wrote many times about him over the years. Many times he noted that there is great value in eliminating Shoeib (the last time was just two weeks ago ) – in terms of his media influence and the psychological warfare he waged against Israel for Hezbollah, Shoeib was worth more than a thousand Hezbollah military operatives. In the attached photo, he is holding one of the cameras that were dismantled several years ago from an IDF outpost on the border with Lebanon. Many times he confronted IDF soldiers and officers at point-blank range. The world is definitely better off without him.
The New York Times reported on Israel’s killing of Al-Manar correspondent Ali Shoeib in an airstrike near the southern Lebanese town of Jezzine. The strike also killed Fatima Ftouni and her brother Mohammed Ftouni, journalists for the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen channel. The Times dutifully secured the standard quote:
Legal experts and human rights groups say that expressions of support for an armed group such as Hezbollah do not make someone a legitimate target under the laws of war, unless they actively participate in hostilities.
“Just reporting on the advancement of Israeli troops or engaging in propaganda does not make someone a military target,” said Ramzi Kaiss, the Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch.
American mainstream media and Europe’s left manipulate statistics to support claims that illegal aliens and migrants do not increase crime and that they benefit the economy. The data tell a different story. Immigrants are disproportionately represented in arrests, convictions, prison populations, and on welfare rolls across EU countries.
In Germany, foreigners represent roughly 17% of the population but accounted for 41.8% of all criminal suspects in 2024 and approximately 39% of all convictions in 2023, a new high. In France, foreigners make up about 7.8% of the population by citizenship, yet account for 17% of all criminal suspects, more than twice their population share, rising to 40% of suspects for vehicle theft, 38% for burglary, and 31% for unarmed robbery.
In Italy, foreigners are approximately 8.9% of the population but are implicated in 28% of murders and attempted murders, 33% of assaults, and 41% of rapes, and make up 31% of the prison population as of mid-2022. In Spain, foreigners represent 13% to 14% of the population, account for 28% of criminal convictions, and make up 31% of the national prison population, rising to 49% in Catalonia. Belgium presents the most extreme disparity: foreigners are 13% of the population but constitute 43% of the prison population, with roughly 30% of those foreign inmates holding no valid residence permit.
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says the United States was plotting a ground attack despite publicly engaging in diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the war.
Foreign ministers from Pakistan, Turkiye, Egypt and Saudi Arabia meet in Islamabad, looking to de-escalate the US-Israel war on Iran.
Israel announces it will “intensify and expand” strikes amid new wave of Iranian attacks on Gulf sites…
Yemen’s Houthis enter Iran conflict, launch attack against Israel
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have entered the Middle East conflict, launching their first attack against Israel since the start of the war. Join SkyNews.com.au for rolling news and political coverage.
“…we are on a track for a peasant revolt. A conservative uprising in which the ruled seek to punish their rulers for violating their obligations under the social contract, and for changing the rules of the game against their wishes…”
It is an open question whether there will be a Europe in 50 years’ time, a European Parliament conference on civil war heard this week.
Many government officials already perceive the horrific implications of Europe’s nation states losing their self-belief and descending into polar factionalism, with the continued existence of Europe or its constituent parts in question, but understand that speaking of it openly remains career suicide, a conference at the European Parliament has heard.
It is “a possibility that is quite close” that the British people will pass into history “like the Canaanites or the Arcadians”, and it is an open question whether there will be a Europe in 50 years’ time, a European Parliament conference heard from a panel of expert speakers.
Continued below the fold.
Previous blog entries:
Nobody has the balls to talk about the fact that the three people that have destroyed Europe are 3 women. And not three men.
Post Menopausal, Childless Women.
The elderly live too long and they pose a risk to the global economy. We must do something urgent.– Lagarde
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have confirmed their first attack on Israel since the United States-Israeli war on Iran began. The ballistic missile attack that was intercepted by Israel targeted Israeli military sites located in the south of the occupied West Bank, the group says.
US President Donald Trump has said he is “very disappointed” with NATO’s response to the war on Iran. Speaking at a business conference, Trump said: “I’ve always said NATO is a paper tiger. And I always said we help NATO, but they’ll never help us.”
Remarks carried by the semi-official Tasnim news agency:
“We had previously warned that the aggressive American army had fled and hidden outside its bases due to the powerful invasion of the armed forces and the destruction of its bases in the region.”
“Trump and the leaders of the American military must realise that the region will turn into a graveyard for American soldiers and they will have no choice but to surrender.”
“Swiss philosopher” and Muslim Brotherhood heir Tariq Ramadan is back in the news: it seems that he has been given a more significant punishment than the one he received previously for a different rape (or rapes). This time a French court has sentenced him to eighteen years in durance vile.
One of his accusers in the current proceeding is a former Salafista named Henda Ayari, whose case has been covered herepreviously.
News broke that Tariq Ramadan has been convicted in Paris in absentia for three rapes, and sentenced to 18 years. He is currently in Geneva.
The translated article:
Rape trial: 18 years in prison requested for Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan
The preacher, who never appeared at his trial, is accused of raping three women. The criminal court has issued an arrest warrant for him.
A prison sentence of 18 years was requested Tuesday in the rape trial of the Swiss Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan, in the Paris Departmental Criminal Court, which tried him in absentia and behind closed doors for the rapes of three women, a judicial source indicated.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office also asked for an arrest warrant for the accused, who has not appeared before French justice since the beginning of his trial, as well as a permanent ban from French territory once his sentence is served.