Trump says Iran ‘begging’ for deal to end war as Tehran issues new demands

Trump says US, Israel wiped out navy and air force, as Iran lawmakers plan to collect tolls for transiting ships.

By Al Jazeera Staff

Published On 26 Mar 202626 Mar 2026

Tehran has formally responded to Washington’s 15-point plan to end the US-Israel war on Iran, asserting its “natural and legal right” over the Strait of Hormuz, as US President Donald Trump claimed it was “begging to make a deal”.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated Tasnim news agency cited an “informed source” as saying that Iran had sent its official response to a US proposal to end the nearly monthlong war on Wednesday night and was awaiting a response.

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The Tasnim report published Thursday appeared to contradict Trump’s claim, laying out conditions that signalled a continued hardening of Tehran’s position.

These included an end to “aggressive acts of assassination” that have decapitated Iran’s leadership, from late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to security chief Ali Larijani, “compensation and war reparations”, and an end to hostilities from “all resistance groups that took part in this battle throughout the region”.

Signs of indirect Iranian engagement came as US special envoy Steve Witkoff claimed on Thursday that Tehran was seeking an “off-ramp”.

Speaking during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Witkoff said there were “signs” Iran had realised there was no alternative to negotiation.

“We will see where things lead, and if we can convince Iran that this is the inflection point with no good alternatives for them other than more death and destruction,” Witkoff told reporters.

He confirmed Pakistan had been acting as a mediator, adding that the US had “multiple reach outs from the region and others who want to play a role in ending this conflict, peacefully” and pinning blame on Iran for “stalling talks”.

Trump issues new ultimatum to Iran: Talk now or there will be ‘NO TURNING BACK’

Trump issues new ultimatum to Iran: Talk now or there will be ‘NO TURNING BACK’



US President Donald Trump dances his way off stage during the National Republican Congressional Committee’s annual fundraising Presidential Dinner at Union Station in Washington, DC on March 25, 2026. — AFP pic

Thursday, 26 Mar 2026 8:06 PM MYT


TEHRAN, March 26 — US President Donald Trump warned Iran Thursday to engage in talks to end the Middle East war “before it is too late”, after Tehran publicly spurned US overtures to resolve the nearly four-week conflict.


Trump’s warning came as Israel said it had killed the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ navy, calling him “directly responsible” for throttling the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane since the war’s outbreak.


Hopes for a negotiated end to the US-Israeli war with Iran, which has engulfed much of the region, rose after Washington was said to have put a peace plan to Tehran, only for the Islamic republic to deny the sides were speaking.

But Pakistan’s top diplomat confirmed Thursday Islamabad was indeed facilitating “US-Iran indirect talks” by relaying messages – and that a 15-point American plan was being “deliberated upon” by Tehran.


“They better get serious soon, before it is too late, because once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won’t be pretty!” Trump warned on social media, saying Iran had been “militarily obliterated, with zero chance of a comeback”.


Iran’s top diplomat flatly denied Wednesday “negotiations” were engaged with Trump’s administration – but did concede messages were being exchanged through “friendly countries”.

“At present, our policy is the continuation of resistance”, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on state TV.


Islamabad has been touted as a go-between given its longstanding ties with both neighbouring Iran and the United States, as well as its network of regional contacts.

Posting on X, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said “brotherly countries” Turkey, Egypt and others, were also supporting the process – while the Gulf Cooperation Council said it wanted to be involved in any talks.


Conflict spreads east

Under near-daily bombardment since February 28, Iran was hit by a new wave of Israeli strikes on Thursday – one of which Israel said had killed the Guards’ navy commander, Alireza Tangsiri, and several senior officers.

Defence Minister Israel Katz called Tangsiri “directly responsible for the terrorist operation of mining and blocking the Strait of Hormuz to shipping.”

Elsewhere, the Israeli army was conducting what it called “wide-scale” strikes targeting Iranian infrastructure.

Local media reported attacks in the central cities of Isfahan and Shiraz, in Bandar Abbas in the south and Tabriz in the northwest – but also Mashhad and Birjand, towards the Afghan border in an area largely spared until now.

Iran, in turn, kept up retaliatory attacks on Israel, where medics said six people were lightly wounded by missile attacks.

Fresh violence also flared in the Gulf, with two people killed by debris from an Iranian ballistic missile intercepted near Abu Dhabi, while Saudi Arabia said it shot down at least 18 drones, and Kuwait reported a new missile and drone attack.

Iran has targeted Gulf nations it accuses of serving as launchpads for US strikes, including hits on energy sites and other civilian infrastructure that threaten lasting damage to the global economy.

World Trade Organization chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala warned Thursday the global trading system was experiencing the “worst disruptions in the past 80 years.”

“We cannot deny the scale of the problems confronting the world today,” she told the WTO’s ministerial conference.

Rival conditions

Crude prices have fallen since last week, abut the divergent messages on talks saw oil prices rise and equities mixed Thursday.

Trump has accused Tehran officials of covering up ongoing talks for fear of becoming assassination targets, following the killing of supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

The White House has declined to identify the “top person” it is speaking with in Iran – beyond saying it is not the late leader’s son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, who is believed to be injured and has not been seen since ascending to the role.

“With few exceptions, all of the surviving regime leaders insist on using Iran’s strategic advantages to deter the US from attacking Iran at any time in the future,” wrote the Soufan Center think tank in a briefing note.

No Lebanon ‘surrender’

To avenge Khamenei’s killing, pro-Iran Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on March 2, drawing Lebanon into the war.

As the fighting showed little sign of stopping, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military had “created a genuine security zone” in southern Lebanon, where an Israeli soldier was killed in the fighting on Thursday.

Hezbollah meanwhile launched a new volley of missiles early Thursday at military sites in central Israel, after its chief Naim Qassem said negotiations with Israel would amount to “surrender”. — AFP

***

That frigging shows he is just a pathetic kampong thug, given to issuing threats when he doesn't get his way.

Anwar confirms Iran granting safe passage for Malaysian oil tankers through Hormuz strait

Anwar confirms Iran granting safe passage for Malaysian oil tankers through Hormuz strait



A map showing the Strait of Hormuz is seen in this illustration in Washington, DC on June 22, 2025. — Reuters pic

Thursday, 26 Mar 2026 8:25 PM MYT


KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 — Iran is letting Malaysian tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz after talks with Iranian, Turkish and other regional leaders, Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said on Thursday.

Speaking on national television, Anwar said he spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, as well as Egyptian and Turkish counterparts and other leaders in the Gulf region.

“We’re now in the process of releasing the Malaysian oil tankers and the workers involved so that they can continue their journey home,” Anwar said, thanking Pezeshkian.

Anwar added that, thanks to production by Malaysian petroleum giant Petronas, “We are in a far better position.”


Petronas last year produced around two million barrels of oil a day, according to the latest company figures.


But Anwar warned that food supplies will be disrupted and that “prices will certainly rise”.

“The same goes for fertiliser, and of course oil and gas,” Anwar said.


He also announced a range of measures, including a reduction in the quota of subsidised fuel for Malaysian citizens and new diesel purchase limits in the eastern states of Sabah and Sarawak, as part of tighter controls to curb hoarding and smuggling of subsidised fuel. — AFP

Germany's defence minister claims Trump has 'no exit strategy' in Iran

Germany's defence minister claims Trump has 'no exit strategy' in Iran

By foreign affairs correspondent Stephen Dziedzic and acting defence correspondent Tom Lowrey

7 hours ago



Boris Pistorius told the National Press Club in Canberra the Trump administration has "no exit strategy" in Iran. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)

In short:

Germany's defence minister has accused the Trump administration of sending contradictory messages to its European allies.

Boris Pistorius told the National Press Club in Canberra the US has "no exit strategy" in Iran.

What's next?

He said Germany would only provide support to ships in the Strait of Hormuz once a ceasefire deal was struck.



Germany's defence minister has lashed the Trump administration over the Iran war, saying it has "no exit strategy" and accusing it of sending contradictory demands to European allies.

Boris Pistorius also told the National Press Club in Canberra his nation will not get "sucked in" to the conflict, vowing that Germany will only help to secure the Strait of Hormuz after the United States and Iran have struck a ceasefire.

While US President Donald Trump has declared that Iranians are trying to sue for peace — despite the regime's public denials — Mr Pistorius made it clear he was worried about the war's trajectory.

"What really concerns me the most about that war is there was no consultation, there is no strategy, there is no clear objective and the worst thing from my perspective is that there is no exit strategy," he said.

Mr Trump has previously lashed US allies in Europe, saying they were "cowards" and calling NATO a "paper tiger" because they refused to help the US reopen the Strait of Hormuz for oil tankers.

But multiple European officials have insisted there has been no formal request for military assistance from the US.

Mr Pistorius said Mr Trump had also contradicted his own administration's demands to Germany over the last 12 months, saying top American officials had instead been pushing Berlin to spend more money and focus on defending its own borders.

"The United States demanded from Europe to take more responsibility for our conventional deterrence and defence, and demanded that we need to ramp up to achieve 3.5 per cent [on defence spending]," he said.

"Some voices in Washington even said, 'OK, take care of your own backyard and Europe, and don't mix up with us in the Indo-Pacific.'

"That was before the war started against Iran. Now, the arguments are different. Now they are saying: 'Where are you, you are cowards, you don't help us.'"
Germany calls on Iran to stop blockade of Strait

Germany has put its name to a joint statement signed by 22 countries which calls on Iran to stop blocking commercial traffic through the Strait, and which says the signatories are willing to "contribute to appropriate efforts" to ensure safe passage.

But Mr Pistorius was adamant Germany's military would not enter the Strait until after Iran and the US reached a peace settlement — or at least a ceasefire.

"We are ready to secure any peace. If it comes to a point where we have a ceasefire, then we will discuss every kind of operation to secure the peace, to secure, especially, the freedom of navigation," he said.

The defence minister also met with his Australian counterpart, Richard Marles, in Canberra this morning, where the two unveiled plans to begin negotiations on a new Status of Forces agreement designed to make it easier for Australian Defence Force personnel to operate in Germany, and vice versa.

Mr Pistorius said the two countries had also signed a letter of intent to help develop an "early warning system" to detect space threats from Russia and China.

"We need to be aware of what is going on up there. This is the only way to protect our own systems," Mr Pistorius said.

"We are taking a huge leap forward. We are strengthening the space capabilities of both countries."

Richard Marles and Boris Pistorius held a bilateral meeting in Canberra this week. (ABC News: Matt Roberts )


Mr Marles heaped praise on Germany following the meeting.

"To have a country where we share values, but we share a commitment to the rules-based order, seeking to play a part in the Indo-Pacific, I mean, that is deeply welcome, and it is much more than symbolic," he said.

"In a challenging world, I fundamentally feel safer having had the kind of conversation that we've had today."

Israeli Lébensraum - ''Greater Israel' is well underway

From the FB page of:

Nury Vittachi 

oprtendoSs8d2lhaa0a1ra  mAtst64l9t8cuYf17:c01heh i8l1fmyi1eM ·

ISRAEL HAS INVADED LEBANON. “The new Israeli border must be the Litani,” said Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich said, referring to a river than is more than 30km (19 miles) away from the actual border with Israel.

More of southern Lebanon will be cleared, the Israeli army said last night, issuing yet another set of compulsory evacuation orders.

The invasion, which began last week, is officially referred to as “the creation of a buffer zone” by Israeli PR, echoed by much of the western mainstream media.

.

MORE HONEST

But many Israelis have been more honest. The expansionist nation must have a new border which includes southern Lebanon, Smotrich said in a radio interview on Monday.

The invasion “needs to end with a different reality entirely”, he added.

Normally, when one country invades another, there is outrage from the dominant powers of the world, the global west. But it’s Israel, so other than the making of token complaints, no action will be taken.

Where is the Lebanese army? It is controlled by the United States.

.

DELETED ARTICLE

A key technique, used for years, is to demonize Hezbollah, a group defending the Lebanese. But a different view is possible. The UK Telegraph printed an article which included quotes from a man in Christian village in South Lebanon.

"How can we as Christians in this area not be with Hezbollah?," he said. "They protect our churches. They helped us fight Isis. During Covid they gave us free care in their hospitals. When there was no electricity they gave us generators. They even put up a Christmas tree at Christmas. How can we not be with them now?"

The report also quoted Ahmad, 30, who said: “There were cases where the Israelis would call and say, ‘do you want to die with your family or die alone?’. They [the Lebanese] would then walk out and be killed in front of their children. How much courage does that take? And how much cruelty?”

The article was quickly deleted and now no longer appears on the Telegraph website.

The “Greater Israel” project, with the destruction of Iran and the US taking control West Asia through Israel, is well underway.

Trump’s sanctions against a UN human rights Francesca Albanese for recommending ICC arrests and investigations over Gaza

Trump’s sanctions against a UN human rights expert show free speech is dying

Sandra L Babcock, Susan M Akram, Asli Bali, Thomas Becker and James Cavallaro


Francesca Albanese recommended ICC arrests and investigations over Gaza. Who will be the administration’s next target?

Tue 24 Mar 2026 21.00 AEDT


We are North American university professors and human rights lawyers who teach, write, and speak about the human rights of people around the world, including Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. In a country that purports to value democracy and human rights, we never imagined that we could face civil penalties or imprisonment for our work. That sense of security has evaporated after the Trump administration issued a series of executive orders and memoranda that aim to stifle speech and demonize dissent – particularly when it comes to Israel’s crimes against Palestinians living in Gaza.

Let us be clear: the evidence that Israel has committed war crimes is overwhelming. Israel killed an estimated 20,000 children – including more than 1,000 babies – in two years of war. Israel used starvation and thirst as a war tactic, leading to widespread famine that indiscriminately targeted the civilian population. It kept civilians from accessing cancer treatment, neonatal and maternal care, and basic antibiotics and painkillers by blockading the delivery of medical equipment and medications. Israel destroyed Gaza’s entire healthcare system, including reproductive healthcare facilities and Gaza’s largest fertility clinic. Israel’s systematic attack on Gaza’s civilian population was accompanied by dehumanizing language by authorities at the highest levels of government comparing Palestinians to “‘human animals” and “children of darkness”.

In January 2024, the international court of justice ordered Israel to take “all measures within its power” to prevent acts of genocide. Israel ignored that order. Since then, leading international and Israeli human rights organizations and experts–including the International Association of Genocide Scholars, Amnesty International, B’Tselem, the UN commission of inquiry and the authors of this essay – have concluded that Israel has committed genocide against the Palestinian people.

In May 2024, the prosecutor of the international criminal court sought arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu; its defense minister, Yoav Gallant; and three leaders of Hamas. Within weeks of taking office, Trump declared that the international criminal court posed “an unusual and extraordinary threat” to the United States because of its investigation of Israel’s war crimes. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, subsequently imposed sanctions on several prosecutors and judges of the ICC, three Palestinian human rights organizations and a UN expert who has documented Israel’s atrocities.

That expert is Francesca Albanese, who was appointed by the United Nations to monitor human rights in occupied Palestine. Albanese’s offense? She recommended that the ICC issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, and further recommended that the ICC pursue investigations and prosecutions of certain companies and their executives who have facilitated the commission of war crimes.

Israel has crushed Unrwa in Gaza – and the rest of the world has done nothing
Philippe Lazzarini


Read more


For these statements, the Trump administration has punished her by imposing sanctions that amount to a “civil death”: she may not open a bank account, sell her Washington DC house, or draw a salary from the American universities that employed her. But the targeting of Albanese has had ripple effects that go far beyond Albanese, her husband and her 13-year-old American daughter. This is because Trump signed an executive order threatening to criminally prosecute anyone who provides her or other designated figures, including Palestinian human rights organizations, with “funds, goods, or services” – terms that are so vague that they recently led a Maine university to cancel an academic conference in which Albanese was to make an unpaid appearance by zoom.

On our campuses, faculty and students are afraid to criticize Israel out of fear that they will lose their jobs or face public censure. Although we have all conducted research on Israel’s human rights violations, we cannot freely share that research, our analysis, and our recommendations with Albanese or the ICC lest we or our students be arrested or fined. This is what the courts call a “chilling effect” on free speech. As the US supreme court recognized 60 years ago, the threat of sanctions can deter speech as effectively as the sanctions themselves – and this violates both the US constitution and international human rights law. That is why we have filed a “friend-of-the-court” brief in support of a lawsuit filed by Albanese’s husband and daughter against Trump’s unconstitutional sanctions. No one should be prevented from expressing her views merely because they oppose official orthodoxy. Nowhere is this more important than when it leads to silence in the face of genocide.

Trump’s retribution against Albanese should concern far more than those focused on Israel’s human rights record. It should trouble anyone who believes in free speech. Today the target is a UN expert. Tomorrow it could be journalists, scholars, peaceful protesters – or any citizen who challenges those in power. When a government claims the authority to police ideas, everyone’s liberty is on the line.

Sandra L Babcock is a clinical professor and director of the International Human Rights Clinic at Cornell Law School.

Susan M Akram is clinical professor and director of the International Human Rights Clinic at Boston University School of Law.

Asli Bali is a Professor at Yale Law School and is the past President of the Middle East Studies Association of North America.

Thomas Becker is the Legal and Policy Director at the University Network for Human Rights and teaches human rights at Columbia Law School.

James Cavallaro is the Executive Director of the University Network for Human Rights and a visiting professor at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs

***

Dimwit is a demented, deranged, (brain)damaged, dumbo disciple of the devil(shailok) demesne.

Anwar calls for Lebanon to be included in expanded West Asia ceasefire

Anwar calls for Lebanon to be included in expanded West Asia ceasefire



Firefighters at the site of an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut on March 17, 2026. — AFP pic

Thursday, 26 Mar 2026 8:42 AM MYT


KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 — Malaysia has called for a ceasefire in the ongoing West Asian conflict to be expanded to include Lebanon, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said.

Anwar said the call was conveyed during a telephone conversation with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, noting that the country has been severely affected, with about one million people displaced and more than 1,000 fatalities recorded.

“I reaffirmed Malaysia’s support for Lebanon’s sovereignty, condemned attacks on civilian infrastructure and urged all parties to de-escalate tensions and return to dialogue, while also addressing the increasingly urgent humanitarian situation,” he said in a Facebook post yesterday

During the conversation, the Prime Minister also extended Aidilfitri greetings to his counterpart and expressed appreciation for the Lebanese government’s support in ensuring the safety and welfare of personnel from the Malaysian Battalion (MALBATT) serving under the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

“In concluding the conversation, I expressed Malaysia’s commitment to continue working with Lebanon and international partners to restore regional peace and stability,” he added.

Media reports stated that Israel has carried out airstrikes and launched ground operations in southern Lebanon following a cross-border attack by the Iran-backed Hezbollah group on March 2.

Lebanese authorities reported that at least 1,039 people have been killed and 2,876 others injured in the Israeli attacks to date. — Bernama

'No such thing': Najib's lead counsel rubbishes claims of fresh pardon bid submitted

'No such thing': Najib's lead counsel rubbishes claims of fresh pardon bid submitted

Farah Solhi
Published: Mar 26, 2026 3:43 PM
Updated: 7:28 PM


Senior lawyer Shafee Abdullah, who represents former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak in his legal matters, has rubbished claims that a fresh pardon application was recently filed with the Pardons Board.

“I can confirm that there is no new pardon application filed.

“I would be the first person, apart from Najib, to have known if there is any,” he told Malaysiakini when contacted today.

Malaysiakini has reached out to Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Hannah Yeoh’s office for a response.

Earlier, Free Malaysia Today reported that Najib had filed a fresh application for pardon during Ramadan, with a copy of the application extended to the Istana Negara.

Quoting sources, the news portal said it is unclear whether the application was confined to the SRC International Sdn Bhd-linked case, the 1MDB case, or both.

Serving jail term

Najib, who turns 72 in July, is serving his jail term after he was convicted of seven counts of power abuse, criminal breach of trust and money laundering charges involving RM42 million of SRC International Sdn Bhd’s funds in 2020.

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and a RM210 million fine. He began serving his jail sentence two years after his conviction, after exhausting all legal avenues to appeal.

However, the Pardons Board in 2024 slashed his jail term to six years and reduced his fine to RM50,000, following his application for clemency.

Najib then filed a judicial review application in the Kuala Lumpur High Court in the same year, claiming there was a royal decree by the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong that allowed him to serve the remaining of his jail term under house arrest.

The High Court, on Dec 22 last year, dismissed his application after judge Alice Loke found the royal addendum order was invalid under the law. Najib has since appealed against the decision.

A separate High Court convicted Najib of all 25 corruption charges in his 1MDB case, just four days after his house arrest bid was dismissed. He had also filed a notice of appeal against the decision.

When the oil runs out maybe we will find our humanity again

When the oil runs out maybe we will find our humanity again



Wednesday, 25 Mar 2026 10:14 AM MYT

By Erna Mahyuni


MARCH 25 — I am not trained in economics, but it’s easy enough to deduce the compounding effect on prices.

Everything will cost more and people already struggling will feel the pain first.


Some of us will glibly announce we will start making our own coffee now but for others it’s a smaller portion of an already meagre ration of rice.

There is one small dim silver lining to Trump’s madness.


“It doesn’t affect me,” people say about politics, global affairs, everything outside their comfortable bubble.


We can’t stuff the genie of globalisation back into the bottle.

Perhaps some of us will finally understand that none of us will be safe from suffering until everyone is.


Maybe it is wishful thinking, to hope for a better world and better people to emerge from this world on fire.

Yet that is what I must believe.

We are a species defined by belief.

Animals do not need to believe in anything.

Even atheists believe.

Their dogma, believing this life is all we have and that there is nothing beyond the doorway of death, is still a kind of faith.

What I think is that too many of us are fixated on the end times.



An Israeli self-propelled howitzer artillery gun fires rounds towards southern Lebanon from a position in the upper Galilee in northern Israel near the border on March 20, 2026. — AFP pic



Every year I have been alive someone has declared the world is ending.

I guess God is also the god of procrastination.

We do not truly live in unprecedented times.

We have just forgotten that powerful idiots will constantly destabilise the world just because they can.

Since we can never be free of idiots, we can only free ourselves from our own idiocy, even if it’s just the little things.

A friend confided in me that looking back on when her daughter was small, she had been so preoccupied and stressed by things she now sees were just trifles.

The world’s troubles will affect us all in the coming months so perhaps it might just be what wakes us up, if we’ve been sleepwalking most of our lives.

It has been shown that in the hardest of times the best in us will still prevail, the way it did during the early days of the pandemic.

Let’s hope it doesn’t again take the worst of times to bring out the best in us.

Iran threatens Red Sea shipping, warns of new front if US invades

Iran threatens Red Sea shipping, warns of new front if US invades



Iran has warned it could target Red Sea shipping if the United States launches a ground invasion, raising fears of wider disruption to global trade. — AFP pic

Thursday, 26 Mar 2026 11:45 AM MYT


TEHRAN, March 26 — Iran would target shipping in the Red Sea, a crucial conduit for global oil and other goods leading to the Suez Canal, if the United States launches a ground invasion, an unnamed military official told local media yesterday.

“If the enemy attempts a ground operation on Iranian islands or anywhere else on our territory, or if it seeks to impose costs on Iran through naval manoeuvres in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, we will open other fronts as a ‘surprise’,” the official was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency.


“The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is among the most strategic straits in the world, and Iran has both the will and the capability to pose a fully credible threat against it,” the official said.

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, like the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Iran, is a chokepoint for global shipping that lies between Yemen and Djibouti at its narrowest point.


Iran has close links to and arms the Houthi rebel group in Yemen which greatly reduced Red Sea traffic in October 2023 when they began attacking vessels in retaliation for Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.


The group has been battered by air strikes since, but analysts say the rebels could move from their position on the sidelines of the current US-Iran war and take a more active role.

However, the Houthis are seen as less ideologically tethered to Iran and have long enjoyed more independence than other Tehran-backed militant groups in the Middle East.


US President Donald Trump is moving thousands of airborne troops and extra marines to the Gulf amid speculation that he might order a limited ground invasion to either seize Iranian oil assets in the Gulf or secure the Strait of Hormuz.

One possible target is Kharg Island, which handles almost all of Iran’s crude exports.

Trump has called it a “little oil island that sits there, so totally unprotected”.

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed to a trickle because of the conflict, disrupting roughly 20 percent of global oil supplies.

Crude prices have spiked to around 100 dollars a barrel as a result of what the International Energy Agency has called “the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market”. — AFP

Netanyahu orders 48-hour surge in Iran air strikes fearing Trump may halt war — report

Thanks MF:




WAR ON IRAN


Netanyahu orders 48-hour surge in Iran air strikes fearing Trump may halt war — report

Benjamin Netanyahu instructs the military to speed up its air campaign against Iran for 48 hours to destroy as much of the country's arms industry as possible before Washington moves towards a ceasefire

Netanyahu accelerates strikes on Iran before potential ceasefire. (FILE) / Reuters


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed the military to speed up its air aggressions against Iran for 48 hours to destroy as much of the country's arms industry as possible before Washington moves toward a ceasefire, according to the New York Times.

The directive has come after Netanyahu's government obtained a copy of a US-drafted 15-point plan to end the war and concluded it did not adequately address Iran's nuclear programme or ballistic missile capabilities.

Israeli officials fear US President Donald Trump could announce peace talks at any moment, the report said.

On the reported plan, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt urged caution, saying she had seen a plan "floated in the media" but that the White House had never confirmed it.

"There are elements of truth to it, but some of the stories I read were not entirely factual," she added.

Netanyahu issued the order during a meeting at a military headquarters on Tuesday, following briefings from senior commanders on remaining viable targets.

TRT World - White House declines to say who US is negotiating with in Iran as backchannel talks continue


Limited leverage

The urgency reflects a constraint Israel faces in the war, according to Israeli national security officials cited in the report.

The decision to end the war rests with Trump, leaving Netanyahu with limited influence over its conclusion.


Israeli officials remain divided, with some pushing for at least another week of attacks while others favour an earlier end.

Officials cited in the report said the most significant military gains came in the opening week, with concerns growing over international opinion, the war's financial cost and the burden on Israelis.

Uprising debate

Trump has rejected a suggestion by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly encourage an uprising in Iran, according to Axios.

Netanyahu suggested urging Iranians to take to the streets during a recent call, but Trump opposed the idea, warning protesters could be "mowed down", the report said, citing US and Israeli sources familiar with the conversation.

The report added Israeli officials believed recent strikes targeting senior Iranian figures could weaken the regime and create conditions for unrest.

The United States and Israel launched their joint war against Iran on February 28, killing more than 1,340 people.

Iran has responded with strikes across the region, disrupting oil flows and aviation.

***

The WICKEDNESS of Satanyahu is sheer staggeringly sickening and 101% EVIL.

Russia Calls Korea-U.S. Joint Drill 'Clear War Preparation' Amid Peninsula Tensions

THANKS MF:



Seoul Economic Daily
Korea's Leading Business News Since 1960
한국어



Russia Calls Korea-U.S. Joint Drill 'Clear War Preparation' Amid Peninsula Tensions



Published 2026.03.25. 23:05:47|
By Im Hye-rin

Russia: "Joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises amid heightened Korean Peninsula tensions are clearly war preparations"


Russia has criticized the recently concluded annual Korea-U.S. combined command post exercise (CPX), Freedom Shield (FS), calling it "war preparation."

Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a briefing on Friday that "the United States and South Korea conducted yet another combined military exercise from March 9 to 19 amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula," according to RIA Novosti and Reuters.

"It was officially announced as a defensive exercise, but considering the content of the maneuvers and the military equipment mobilized, this is clearly no different from war preparation," Zakharova said.

According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Republic of Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, approximately 18,000 troops participated in this year's FS exercise, a figure similar to last year.

North Korea, which has long reacted sensitively to Korea-U.S. joint exercises, once again issued a statement under the name of Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the Workers' Party Central Committee, just one day after the drill began. She warned that "military force demonstrations by hostile forces near our nation's sovereign security domain could lead to consequences too horrific to imagine."