NOTE: Nobody reads this blog. But . . .
Links to SEVENTEEN-plus reports, commentaries, analyses and interviews (two dozen?): from the Associated Press, Middle East Eye, Agence France-Presse, Reuters, the Cradle, ScheerPost, Geopolitical Economy Report, National Public Radio, Common Dreams, MintPress News via Consortium News, and Breaking Points; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials as highlighted. (Scroll down for 3-17-26.)
* Among the news organizations with frequent war updates, photos and occasionally maps are Al Jazeera, the Associated Press, Middle East Eye and Middle East Monitor: HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE. AP and El País reports in Spanish are HERE and HERE. *
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Trump’s failed strong-arming of allies on Iran shows that pressure is losing its effect, by John Leicester and Emma Burrows | AP PARIS — We’ve long had your back, now it’s our turn. That is how the famously transactional U.S. President Donald Trump is framing his demands that allies help him with the Iran war. He wants to call in IOUs for decades of U.S. security guarantees. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish, and HERE for others.
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Iran tells Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE to evacuate energy facilities after Israel hits gas plant, by Alex MacDonald | Middle East Eye Iran has issued an order to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE to evacuate their petrochemical facilities, implying an impending attack. The warning, issued from state media, comes shortly after a U.S.–Israeli attack on the South Pars gas field in Iran. READ MORE . . .
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Israel, U.S. hit Iranian facility at major Gulf gas field: Iranian state media. From AFP. “Moments ago, parts of the gas facilities located in the South Pars Special Economic Energy Zone in Asaluyeh were struck by projectiles fired by the American-Zionist enemy,” Iranian state television reported. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for similar report in French from Connaissance des Énergies with AFP, and HERE and HERE for headlines of others in English and French from AFP / AFP. Click HERE for report from Reuters.
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Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib killed, Israel defense minister says. Edited by Bridget Brown, Lorian Belanger, Brian P.D. Hannon and Menelaos Hadjicostis | AP Israel’s defense minister said today that the Israeli military killed Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib. Israel Katz made the announcement. Khatib’s killing follows Israel’s killing of top Iranian security official Ali Larijani and the head of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for report from NPR, and HERE for other Iran war-related AP reports. Click HERE for report from Middle East Eye.
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IRGC launches ‘revenge strikes’ on Israel after assassination of Ali Larijani. From the Cradle. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced early today a series of retaliatory missile strikes on Israel, launched shortly after Tehran confirmed the assassination of Supreme National Security Council chief Ali Larijani. READ MORE . . .
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The Strait, the dollar and the limits of empire, by Joshua Scheer of ScheerPost and Ben Norton of Geopolitical Economy Report. What is unfolding around Iran is not simply another regional . . . Click HERE for text of Scheer article and video of Norton analysis from a day or three ago.
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FROM MARCH 17 Iran launches barrage of missiles after Israel kills 2 of its top officials, by Jon Gambrell, Julie Watson and Samy Magdy | AP DUBAI — Israel killed two senior Iranian security officials in a major blow to the Islamic Republic’s leadership as it faces its greatest test in decades, and Iran responded today with renewed missile and drone attacks on its Gulf Arab neighbors and Israel. Click HERE for rest of report and several photos. Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish, and HERE for others.
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With strikes above and crackdowns on the ground, Iranians describe life under siege. Reported by Arezou Rezvani and Steve Inskeep | NPR A state-imposed internet blackout has obscured the reality of life in Iran as the war rages on. Those fleeing through neighboring countries share a rare glimpse of what life is like in Iran. Click HERE to listen and, later, read, and HERE for all four of Iran war-related reports today on NPR’s “Morning Edition.”
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FROM MARCH 17 USS Ford heads to Greek port days after fire that raged for over 30 hours: report. From the Cradle. Washington’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, is returning from the Red Sea to the Greek island of Crete for refueling, and to probe the recent fire which erupted on board the ship days ago, Greek media reported on Tuesday. READ MORE . . .
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FROM MARCH 17 Netanyahu shows off kill list ‘punch card’ to a fawning Mike Huckabee, by Brad Reed
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FROM MARCH 17 Iran made ‘unexpectedly substantial’ offer during Geneva talks, U.S. envoys ‘dragged’ Trump into war: report. From the Cradle. UK National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell attended the final U.S,–Iran talks in Geneva last month and concluded that a deal was in reach, The Guardian reported on Tuesday, citing sources as saying that Washington’s leading envoys were acting as “Israeli assets” who “dragged” the U.S. into war. READ MORE . . .
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FROM MARCH 16 Iran’s Larijani calls on Muslim world to confront ‘Great Satan.’ From the Cradle. Ali Larijani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, issued a six-point statement on Monday addressed to Muslims and Islamic governments across the world, accusing regional states of failing to support Iran during the US-Israeli war and urging them to reconsider their political alignment. READ MORE . . .
FROM MARCH 17 Five steps to end the Trump-Netanyahu war, by Jeffrey Sachs and Sybil Fares | Common Dreams / Consortium News The conflict is likely to spiral out of control because the U.S. and Israel are dead set on hegemony in the Arab world and West Asia – one that combines Israeli territorial expansion with American-backed regime control across the region. READ MORE . . .
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FROM MARCH 17 A crack in U.S. war machine & a slap in Trump’s face, by Ramzy Baroud | MintPress News / Consortium News Joe Kent’s resignation is not an anomaly but an alarm: elite dissent is surfacing early because this war is built on deception. Kent’s resignation is shocking, but not for the obvious reason. READ MORE . . .
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FROM MARCH 17 Diesen: U.S. hegemonic world order is over. Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti of Breaking Points talk with analyst Glenn Diesen of the Glenn Diesen Show about developments in the Iran war and what he sees as its effects worldwide. Click HERE for video of interview.
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FROM MARCH 16 Mojtaba’s message to Trump: ‘Bring it on!’ by M.K. Bhadrakumar | Indian Punchline There is an English proverb, “The darkest hours are just before the dawn.” Maybe, hope should linger on that the cruel, senseless bombing of Iran by the U.S. and Israel is leading to what strategists call the ‘endgame.’ READ MORE . . .
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