Category: Middle East

Trump: ‘Severe consequences’ if Iran keeps blocking Hormuz Strait

Latest updates:

WSJ: President Trump Shares Clip of U.S. ‘Bunker Buster Bombs’ Hitting Iranian Ammuniti

TEHRAN — Iran fired missiles across the Middle East on Tuesday as its capital was hit by fresh explosions, after US President Donald Trump threatened the country’s key oil export hub, power stations and desalination plants.

Desperate Iran Sprays Missiles Across Middle East as Trump Threatens Oil Hub

TRUMP HAS BEEN PLANNING TO TAKE IRAN OIL FOR 40 YEARS!…

Netanyahu: War ’Beyond the halfway point’

Trump: ‘New’ Iran Regime in Place and Talking

US-Israeli strikes in Isfahan province hit ‘military sites’

  • Fars news agency is reporting that US-Israeli attacks on Isfahan province in Iran targeted some “military sites”.
  • Firefighters extinguish a blaze on Kuwait’s Al-Salmi oil tanker at the Dubai port following an attack on the fully loaded ship.

Trump wants to invade Iran to seize oil, calls US objectors ‘stupid people’

‘Severe consequences’ if Iran keeps blocking Hormuz Strait, warns Rubio

U.S. BOMBERS HEADING TO MIDDLE EAST REFUSED PERMISSION TO LAND AT ITALIAN AIRBASE

Hegseth: Talks with Iran ‘Very Real’ and ‘Gaining Strength’

 
  • US Secretary of State Marco Rubio tells Al Jazeera in an exclusive interview that US President Donald Trump prefers diplomacy as a way to end the conflict with Iran, and direct talks with Tehran are ongoing through intermediaries.
  • Trump earlier threatened to target Iran’s civilian energy infrastructure, including power plants, oil wells, and Kharg Island, if Tehran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Rubio says Strait of Hormuz to reopen ‘one way or another’ amid Iran war

Spain closes airspace to US planes involved in war on Iran

WHITE HOUSE TELLS SPAIN: U.S. MILITARY ‘DOES NOT NEED YOUR HELP’

The announcement comes after Madrid refused to let Washington use jointly operated military bases for the US-Israel war on Iran.

US President Donald Trump threatened to cut trade with Madrid after the Spanish government denied the US use of the Rota and Moron military bases in southern Spain, forcing 15 US aircraft to relocate.

Spain has also been a vocal critic of Israel’s  war on Gaza. In October, its parliament approved the enshrinement in law of a total arms embargo on Israel, permanently banning the sale of weapons, dual-use technology and military equipment.

Some action in Judea & Samaria:

This is from Al Jazeera, so the language is about “settlers” & “occupied”.

  • Israeli forces stormed schools run by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, in the Shuafat refugee camp, northeast of occupied East Jerusalem.
  • Israeli forces arrested a 24-year-old student during a raid on his home in Kafr al-Dik, west of Salfit.
  • Dozens of Israeli settlers set up mobile homes on Palestinian-owned land in the village of Birin, southeast of Hebron, to expand the illegal outpost of Mitzpe Ziv.
  • The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound remains closed after it was shut to Muslim worshippers in late February. Israeli authorities extended the state of emergency until mid-April.
  • The Israeli parliament approved the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners accused of killing Israelis.

For more on what has happened in Palestinian territory this week, here is a recap.

Iran: Speaker Ghalibaf Still Alive; Hegseth vows ‘most intense day’ of US strikes against Iran…

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.”

Trump: ‘New’ Iran Regime in Place and Talking, but U.S. Will Blow up Its Power Infrastr

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.

They prefer the Americans, as we can see.

Continue reading Iran: Speaker Ghalibaf Still Alive; Hegseth vows ‘most intense day’ of US strikes against Iran…

‘My favourite thing is to take the oil in Iran’: Trump indicates possibility of seizing Kharg Island

President Donald Trump said he wants to take control of oil in Iran and suggested the possibility of seizing Kharg Island, a key Iranian oil export hub, amid the ongoing US military buildup in the Middle East.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Trump said he preferred to take control of Iranian oil, comparing the strategy to the US plan in Venezuela, where it aims to control the oil industry indefinitely following the capture of Nicolás Maduro.

Related video: Trump addresses Strait of Hormuz: ‘We could close that up so fast’ (Daily Mail)

More below the fold.

Five drones shot down in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry says it has shot down five drones in the past few hours.

Kuwait says 5 drones shot down

The Kuwait National Guard says it has downed five drones, Kuwait News Agency has reported.

Israeli military intercepts 5 rockets targeting Haifa

  • United States President Donald Trump says in an interview he wants to “take the oil in Iran” as Tehran accusesWashington plotting a ground attack despite publicly pushing for a negotiated deal.
  • Kuwait says an Indian worker has been killed in an Iranian attack on a power and desalination plant, as Gulf states report intercepting drones and missiles.

Saudi Prince MbS reveals that President Obama gave Iran $150 billion, and the IRGC didn’t even build a single street with that money. Instead, they made missiles and drones. And they used the funds Obama provided them to finance and arm terrorists like Hamas, Ansar Allah, and Hezbollah.

With these funds, Iran offers safe harbor to the leaders of Al Qaeda, including one of Osama Bin Laden’s sons who was indoctrinated into jihadism. Obama is by far the worst man to ever set foot in the Oval Office. The neoliberals like Hillary Clinton, Victoria Nuland, Samantha Power, etc. who ran his administration did so deliberately in order to keep the region destabilized and to use Iran as a buffer to prevent the Gulf states and Israel from amassing too much prosperity.

The Arab Spring in turn was their way of creating a refugee crisis that would plunge Europe into financial and social turmoil, the effects of which are plain to see today as they struggle with irreversible demographic change. Chaos is a ladder, and peace is bad for the Democrats. It was the their way of keeping the Middle East down so they could retain the unipolar world order under the neoliberal agenda. The neoliberals did the same with Ukraine, and they tried to do it with Kazakhstan, Belarus, Georgia, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland. And they did so through USAID. Evil, evil stuff. Continue reading ‘My favourite thing is to take the oil in Iran’: Trump indicates possibility of seizing Kharg Island

Iran: Regime Change Already Happened

There’s almost no one left to eliminate.

But the mullah’s propaganda machine is running hot:

The US issues a new warning, demanding Iran accept defeat or face more brutal attacks, as Tehran rejects talks and vows to continue defending the country. Follow our LIVE coverage: aje.news/cx3sxw

The War Is Going Better than You Think; Israeli Ambassador Sounds Red Alert Siren at UN; Iran Does Not Accept A Ceasefire; Hezbollah chief rejects Israel talks as ‘surrender’

From Ian: WSJ Editorial:
More Evidence that U.S. Was Right to Act before Iranian Missile Threat Grew
 
The rulers in Iran are hoping to move the war to a theatre more favourable to their side: the negotiating table. But one of Iran’s nonstarter demands is an unconstrained missile program – days after the regime fired at the American and British military base at Diego Garcia… read full story

But the mullah’s are winning, right?

 
The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council, is a regional, intergovernmental, political, and economic union and military alliance comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The council’s main headquarters is located in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
  • GCC Secretary-General al-Budaiwi says that Iran’s actions, including the attacks and closing the Strait of Hormuz, has “overcome all red lines”.
  • US threatens Iran to accept defeat or be “hit harder” than ever before, as Tehran rejects talks and pledges to continue retaliating.
  • US-Israeli strikes on Iran continue as Iranian missiles target central and northern Israel.
  • Israeli forces pound Lebanon as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is expanding what he calls a “buffer zone” in southern Lebanon.
  • At least two people killed and three injured from falling debris in Abu Dhabi. Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia intercept Iranian missiles and drones.
  • Visit our live tracker for the latest casualty figures from across the region.

Iran: Regime Propaganda & the Reality on the Ground is Very Different

CNN Just Admitted the Real Reason Iran’s Mullahs Are Scared to Escalate
 
Even CNN can’t hide the truth anymore.
 
In a rare moment of clarity on mainstream television, Bloomberg Editor-at-Large Bobby Ghosh told Anderson Cooper exactly why Iran’s regime is desperate to avoid real war with the United States.
 
“They’re fighting for their existence,” Ghosh said. “They know that if they lose this war, their biggest problem will not be American bombs from the air. Their biggest problem will be their own citizens, who will be hanging them from lampposts in Tehran.”
 
He continued: “They’ve done so much damage to their own country and their own people for so long that there’s a lot of resentment built up there. They can’t afford to show any weakness.”
 
That’s it. The mullahs aren’t holding back out of strength or clever strategy.
 
They’re terrified of their own people. After decades of brutal repression, stolen elections, crushed protests, and economic ruin, the Iranian street is a powder keg.
One major defeat and the regime knows the payback will be swift and final.
This is the dirty little secret the foreign policy blob never wants to say out loud: the greatest threat to the ayatollahs isn’t America. It’s the Iranian people finally rising up and settling scores.
 
The regime has spent years building a police state precisely to prevent exactly that outcome. Now even CNN is forced to admit the obvious: weakness invites the noose.
 
The mullahs aren’t strategic masterminds. They’re cornered thugs who know their own citizens hate them more than we ever could. And that fear is the only thing keeping them from going all-in.

Iran announces arrests, says US and Israel suffering ‘defeats’

Hundreds have been arrested as Iran cracks down on ‘traitors’ following killing of Larijani, Soleimani.

An Iranian woman walks across posters depicting images of US President Donald Trump (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as she takes part in the al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day rally, a commemoration in support of the Palestinian people, on the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, in Tehran on March 13, 2026 [AFP]

Iranian authorities have announced hundreds more arrests across the country, as well as operations to counter what they describe as “traitors” aligned with the interests of the United States and Israel.

The Ministry of Intelligence said in a statement that 111 “pro-monarchy cells” in 26 of Iran’s 31 provinces were stopped overnight into Wednesday from launching acts opposing the country’s theocratic establishment that toppled a US-backed monarchy in a 1979 Islamic revolution.

Iranians have for millennia celebrated the eve of the last Wednesday of the year with a fire festival called Chaharshanbe Suri, which welcomes Nowruz, the Persian New Year. But authorities urged pro-establishment backers this year to take to the streets and retain control while security forces arrest any dissidents, amid the US-Israel war on Iran.

The ministry claimed that a number of weapons were also discovered from arrested individuals, and renewed its call on the public to report any suspicious activity.

As Iran imposes a total internet shutdown on more than 92 million people for a third week, the ministry said 21 people were arrested specifically for sending videos to “terrorist” media outlets outside the country. It said two shipments containing 350 Starlink satellite internet terminals were confiscated while being smuggled into Iran.

The state-run Fars news agency said some of the dozens arrested in the city of Karaj near Tehran had “burned images of and insulted the martyred supreme leader”, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the start of the war on February 28. Khamenei’s son Mojtaba Khamenei has since been picked as Iran’s new supreme leader.

Iran Lost the Arab Street, Israel keeps hitting strategic targets deep inside Iran

Israel’s U.S. Ambassador: Cracks in Tehran’s Regime Widen

Iran Lost the Arab Street

  • US President Donald Trump announced that discussions are ongoing with Iran to “determine whether a broader agreement can be reached”, saying that “this time, Iran means business; they want to settle. They want peace”.
  • Tehran denied that talks with the US are taking place, with Iran’s parliamentary speaker saying such claims are “fake news” and being “used to manipulate financial and oil markets”.

‘False flag attack’: Iran denies claims it fired missiles at Diego Garcia

Esmaeil Baghaei denies the long-range missile attack on the base, which could change the war’s calculus for US allies.

Iran has denied targeting a joint military base of the United States and the United Kingdom on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia with missiles, dismissing the claim as an “Israeli false flag” attack.

 

Lebanon’s Aoun warns Israeli attack on bridge ‘prelude to ground invasion’

Israeli army chief says the operation against Hezbollah ‘has only begun’ and would be ‘prolonged’.

 

Did Iran launch missiles at US-UK base on Diego Garcia? 

The UK condemns what it says was an Iranian attack on the airbase in the Indian Ocean, but Tehran denies its role.

 

Trump: ‘We Have Major Points of Agreement’- Iran Threatens U.S. Again

Trump sez there are talks, Top Dogs of the remaining regime deny it….

The cardboard ayatollah is nowhere to be found:

Reports: Iran’s Cardboard Ayatollah ‘Isolated and Not Responding to Messages’

Trump Tells Reporters Talks with Iran Have Been ‘Very Strong’: ‘We Have Major Points of Agree

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.

Hanson’s Key Points: Continue reading Trump: ‘We Have Major Points of Agreement’- Iran Threatens U.S. Again

Trump halts US attacks on Iran’s energy sites for five days

Trump Says ‘Good and Productive’ Talks with Iran Delivers Pause in Military Strikes

Markets have reversed earlier moves after Donald Trump said the US and Iran had had “very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East”.

  • Donald Trump says the US and Iran have held “very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East” over the past two days, resulting in his decision to halt all US strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure for five days.
  • Earlier, Iran’s National Defence Council says any attempt to attack the Iranian coast or islands will cause “all communication lines in the Persian Gulf to be mined” as a deadline imposed by US President Donald Trump for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz expires today.

How did we get here?

Trump’s message saying the US and Iran had “productive conversations” and that military strikes against Iranian power plants were delayed for a five-day period comes after days of tension.

The message comes at the end of a 48-hour deadline that Trump had imposed on Iran to allow the safe passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on its power plants, in what would have been a major escalation.

In response to Trump’s threat, Iranian political and military officials warned that they would strike energy and oil facilities across the region and in Israel, and that they would completely shut down the waterway through which a fifth of global oil passes.

Trump claims US held ‘very good and productive’ talks with Iran on ending war

The US president says his administration has held “very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East” with Iran over the past two days.

“Based on the tenor and tone of these in depth, detailed, and constructive conversations, witch will continue throughout the week, I have instructed the department of war to postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five day period, subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions,” he said in all caps on his Truth Social page.

TRUMP GIVES IRAN 48 HOUR ULTIMATUM…

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.

TRUMP: ‘Open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours or we will blow up your power plants’…

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.