NOTE: Nobody reads this blog. But . . .

Links to FIFTEEN-plus reports, commentaries, analyses, interviews, and summaries (around 20): from the Associated Press, Reuters, Middle East Eye, National Public Radio, the Cradle, Foreign Policy in Focus, Common Dreams, Middle East Monitor, ScheerPost, and Consortium News; others or at least headlines are accessible by clicking on their names or initials as highlighted. (Scroll down for IRAN 3-30-26 and LEBANON.) — MCM

* Among the news organizations with frequent war updates, photos and occasionally maps are Al Jazeera, the Associated Press, Middle East Eye, the Cradle, and Middle East Monitor: HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE. AP and El País reports in Spanish are HERE and HERE. *

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Iran sets giant oil tanker ablaze off Dubai after Trump warnings. From Reuters. Tehran attacked and set ablaze a fully loaded oil tanker off Dubai today, and U.S. President Donald Trump told countries that had not helped in the conflict to find “some delayed courage” to take the Strait of Hormuz and get their own oil. READ MORE . . .  Click HERE for report from NPR.

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A militarily degraded Iran is still a stubborn foe, by Isabel Debre and Konstantin Toropin | AP  After more than a month of punishing U.S.-Israeli airstrikes, a degraded Iranian military remains a stubborn foe. Its steady stream of strikes against Israel and Gulf Arab neighbors are causing regional chaos and an outsized economic and political shock. READ MORE . . .

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U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran’s oil and gas could poison people and environment for decades, by Katherine Hearst and Heba Nasser | Middle East Eye  On the night of March 7, air strikes hit four oil depots and refineries in and around Tehran. The resulting petrochemical fires burned for days, spewing columns of thick smoke which shrouded the skies of Iran‘s capital and poisoned its air. READ MORE . . .

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Iran opens Strait of Hormuz to some ships amid escalating strikes on Gulf countries. Reported by Aya Batrawy and Michel Martin | NPR  Iran opens select ships through the Strait of Hormuz, but most oil and gas tankers are stalled as regional attacks escalate, with Gulf countries facing daily missile and drone strikes. Click HERE to listen and, later, read; and HERE for links to all four or five Iran war-related reports on NPR’s “Morning Edition.”

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FROM MARCH 30  Iran’s strike hurt over a dozen U.S. personnel and hit valuable jets in Saudi Arabia. From NPR.  More than a dozen U.S. service members were wounded and two E-3 Sentry aircraft were damaged in an Iranian strike on an air base in Saudi Arabia on Friday, NPR has confirmed. READ MORE . . .  Click HERE for report from Middle East Monitor.

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FROM MARCH 30  Iran denies responsibility for ‘depraved’ attack on Kuwait desalinization plant. From the Cradle. The Iranian military on Monday denied the recent attack that hit a desalination plant in Kuwait, labeling the strike a U.S.-Israeli false-flag operation aimed at “destabilizing and destroying the region.” READ MORE . . .

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Water under fire, by Stasa Salacanin | Foreign Policy in Focus Reports of airstrikes targeting water desalination facilities in Iran, Bahrain, and Kuwait have heightened concerns over a dangerous escalation in an already volatile conflict. In one of the world’s most water-scarce regions, such attacks threaten a resource essential to civilian survival, raising fears of severe humanitarian consequences and the opening of a far more perilous phase of the war. READ MORE . . .

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Poland rejects ‘unofficial’ U.S. request to redeploy Patriot batteries to West Asia. From the Cradle. Poland has rejected an “unofficial” U.S. request to deploy one of its Patriot air defense systems to West Asia, Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced today, following reports by Polish daily Rzeczpospolita that Washington had informally approached Warsaw amid rising regional tensions. READ MORE . . .

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Italy denies U.S. warplanes access to key air base, rejects role in Iran war. From the Cradle. Italy denied U.S. warplanes access to the Sigonella Air Base in Sicily “a few evenings ago,” after flight plans were submitted while in mid-air without prior approval, according to a report cited by Corriere della Sera today. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MARCH 30  Israel is making sure Trump can’t find an off-ramp in Iran, by Jonathan Cook | Middle East Eye / ScheerPost  Chaos is what Israel has been trying to engineer in Gaza and Lebanon — and there is every sign it is seeking the same outcome in Iran. READ MORE . . .

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U.S. or Israel. Who is top dog? by Jonathan-Cook.net / Consortium News  The joint U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has thrust back into the spotlight a divisive debate about whether the dog wags the tail, or the tail wags the dog. Who is in charge of this war: Israel or the United States? READ MORE . . .

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Why the Middle East’s ‘Gray Zone’ just vanished, by Jasim Al-Azzawi | Middle East Monitor  Three weeks ago, this region operated under a set of assumptions that had held, more or less, for forty years. Iran would threaten. Proxies would fight. Oil would flow. And everyone would continue doing what they do best. For 30 years, the Middle East operated in what strategists called the Gray Zone. READ MORE . . .

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The U.S.-Israel war on Iran is undermining the very foundations of the rule of law, by Phyllis Bennis | Foreign Policy in Focus / Common Dreams  Right now, Iranian civilians are paying the highest price for the U.S.-Israeli war. But the collapse of the rule of law makes the future more dangerous for everyone else, too. READ MORE . . .