For now, links to FIFTEEN-plus reports, analyses and commentaries (around 25 at this point), with frequent updates from the Associated Press, Middle East Eye and Middle East Monitor, and links to reports and articles of opinion from Middle East Eye, National Public Radio, WBUR, the Cradle, Middle East Monitor, Agence France-Presse, Common Dreams, ScheerPost, BreakThrough News, Consortium News, and the Floutist; others or at least headlines are accessible by clicking on their names or initials as highlighted. (Scroll down for IRAN 3-2-26.) Entries for UKRAINE, WEST BANK, GAZA, SYRIA, LEBANON, CUBA, VENEZUELA, MEDIA, 9/11 TRUTH, etc., have been temporarily suspended since Feb. 27.) — MCM
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* War updates from the Associated Press, Middle East Eye and Middle East Monitor are HERE, HERE and HERE. AP reports in Spanish are HERE. *
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Blasts rock Mideast for fourth day as conflict widens. Edited by Bridget Brown, Lorian Belanger and Brian P.D. Hannon | AP Iran struck the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia’s capital with a drone early today, as it continued to target areas around the region. Across Iran’s capital, Tehran, explosions rang out overnight as the U.S. and Israel pounded Iran with airstrikes. Iran and its allies have hit back against Israel, neighboring Gulf states and targets critical to the world’s oil and natural gas production. Click HERE for AP coverage including photos.
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U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia hit as Israeli troops enter Lebanon. From Middle East Eye. Saudi authorities said two drones struck the U.S. embassy in Riyadh early today, causing a limited fire and minor damage to the building. READ MORE . . .
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U.S. urges Americans across the Middle East to evacuate as war with Iran intensifies. Reported by Daniel Estrin and A Martínez | NPR The United States evacuated diplomats across the Middle East and shut down some embassies as the war with Iran intensified today. Click HERE to listen and, later, read, and HERE for seven other reports from today’s “Morning Edition.”
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Oil and gas facilities shut across Gulf as Iran conflict escalates. From Middle East Monitor. Oil and gas facilities across the Gulf have been shut down or suspended following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Tehran, fueling concerns over energy security and pushing global crude prices higher. READ MORE . . .
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Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen on Iran war. Indira Lakshmanan of WBUR speaks with U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who was at a classified briefing Monday with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Shaheen is the ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee and a senior member of the Armed Services Committee. Click HERE to listen to interview, and HERE for WBUR’s “Here & Now” livestream.
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FROM MARCH 2 Trump claims ‘big wave’ coming against Iran, as Pentagon says more troops deployed to defend Israel. From the Cradle. U.S. President Donald Trump told the New York Post on Monday that he is not ruling out putting U.S. boots on the ground in Iran. READ MORE . . .
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FROM MARCH 2 and TODAY Global energy prices spike after Iran shuts down Strait of Hormuz. From the Cradle. The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has pushed commercial transit through the Strait of Hormuz into “de facto closure,” according to data published by market intelligence firm Kpler on Sunday, with Brent crude prices jumping as much as 13 percent to above $82 per barrel. READ MORE . . . Click HERE and HERE for report this morning from AFP / AFP in English and French.
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Netanyahu insists Iran assault is ‘not an endless war’ as U.S. sends more forces to Middle East, by Jake Johnson | Common Dreams Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted in a Fox News appearance late Monday that the intensifying assault on Iran “is not an endless war” . . . READ MORE . . .
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U.S. troops were told Iran war ‘anointed by Jesus’ to bring on Armageddon, watchdog says, by Oscar Rickett | Middle East Eye U.S. commanders from every arm of the military have told their units that the war on Iran is “anointed by Jesus” and would bring about his return to Earth as part of the Armageddon, resulting in scores of complaints from serving members of the military. READ MORE . . .
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Netanyahu equates Iranian regime to ancient biblical foe. From Middle East Eye. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referenced a Torah command equating the Iranian regime to an ancient biblical foe on Sunday, Anadolu reports. READ MORE . . .
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FROM MARCH 2 The assassination that lit the fuse. Posted by Joshua Scheer | ScheerPost The second day of the U.S.–Israeli assault on Iran has made one reality impossible to ignore. Click HERE for commentary, and for video of BreakThrough News interview in which Rania Khalek of BT talks with Ali Abunimah of Electronic Intifada.
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FROM MARCH 2 Attack on Iran also an assault on UN, by Jeffrey D. Sachs and Sybil Fares | Common Dreams / Consortium News On Feb. 16, one of us (Jeffrey Sachs) sent a letter to the U.N. Security Council warning that the United States was on the verge of tearing up the United Nations Charter. That warning has now come to pass. READ MORE . . .
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FROM FEB. 28 ‘A war in the Zionist cause, nothing more,’ by Patrick Lawrence | The Floutist This is where Zionism, after all the decades agents of this pernicious ideology have spent infesting the republic’s institutions, social fabric, intellectual life, and public discourse, has led America. READ MORE . . .
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TO BE CONTINUED