[Breitbart] British military officers are embedded with CENTCOM in preparation for a long-term Strait of Hormuz freedom-of-navigation mission, and meetings have already taken place with like-minded allies, including France, Canada, and Japan, a report states.
The United Kingdom will lead a multinational coalition to re-open and then maintain the Strait of Hormuz “as soon as the conditions are right” — likely meaning not while a war is still going on — it is claimed. The Times cites unnamed British defence officials who say meetings between partner nations have already taken place, and more are planned, suggesting that while the coalition of Western nations is in no hurry to deploy to the region, they are also heeding President Donald Trump’s call to answer their own national interests by ensuring oil flows through one of the world’s most strategic waterways.
Whether the Strait is actually presently closed in any meaningful sense is up for debate: the United States has hit Iran hard for weeks, destroying its navy, air force, and land-based missile launch infrastructure. While the prospect of Iran mining the Strait has been feared for decades, alleged intelligence reports state there are at most a dozen mines in the whole area at present, a fraction of what military planners long worried Iran could unleash. And positive noises from apparent peace talks continue to grow.
Technically closed or not, the shipowners of the world will not wilfully return to the region and recommence carrying crude oil until it has been demonstrated that the path is clear and safe. British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer remains wedded to his position on the war in Iran, that the country won’t be drawn into the conflict, so this is not to come until “conditions are right”, apparently meaning until after a ceasefire, a peace, or the total exhaustion of Iran’s ability to offer resistance.
The mission will mean clearing the Straits of Hormuz of any lingering dangers, such as mines, and, once that has been demonstrated to be safe, providing ongoing reassurance to passing oil tankers with warships standing by or, as required, more actively engaged.
The British Chief of the Defence Staff has already chaired a meeting with his defence chiefs from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan and Canada last week, The Times states, demonstrating Canada’s arrival at that rank of named nations involved in the previous update on contributors. A further meeting is reported to be happening in the coming days for a much broader group of 30 countries, doubtless including Gulf states.
The point of these meetings, and the British officers embedded with CENTCOM, is to create a “viable, collective plan”, the defence sources are claimed to have said, according to The Guardian. They are reported to have stated that “in order to build this coalition and develop momentum so that as soon as the conditions are right, we’re able to open a safe route through the strait and provide that reassurance to merchant shipping… [Britain has] world leading capabilities in terms of autonomous mine hunting, as well as fantastic destroyer capability with our Type 45s, and also the development of hybrid navy concept, which provides us with opportunities to avoid putting people into harm’s way to help secure the strait”.
The UK’s alleged “world leading” mine-hunting capability, as claimed in the statement, is something of a sore spot with the United States, which has called on London to do its part in the Gulf against Iranian mines, only for Britain to have no mine-hunting ships on hand to deploy.
Counter-mine warfare was one of Britain’s key contributions to the NATO alliance during the Cold War, a competence so finely honed that the country at times had over a hundred counter-mine ships, allowing the U.S. Navy to run down its own mine-hunting capability to focus on other priorities. The UK also kept a mine-hunting squadron in the Gulf nonstop for decades, but ran down the outpost to the point that the final minehunter was returned to the United Kingdom at the beginning of this year.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
03/26/2026 04:30 ||
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[1805 views]
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#1
Answering America's call or shamed into action?
[IsraelTimes] Cypriot officials have long been uneasy with bases, which are on British colonial territory, while recent attack has sparked fears island could be exposed to ongoing war with Iran
Cyprus has initiated a discussion with London on the future of British bases on the island, its president said on Wednesday, after a dronezap on a military facility this month triggered fears their presence could expose it to the wider Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... conflict.
Cypriot politicians and legal experts have long been uneasy with the presence of the two bases on the island, among Britannia’s most important footholds outside of the United Kingdom, and which have supported operations across the Middle East for decades.
On March 1, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the US would be allowed to use British bases for the "specific and limited defensive purpose" of hitting Iran’s missile storage and launch sites. The announcement prompted concern among Cypriot authorities, appearing to contradict British assurances they wouldn’t use the island’s bases. British officials later specified that the bases in question are located in England and the Indian Ocean, not Cyprus.
But the March 2 strike by an Iranian-made Shahed drone at one facility, RAF Akrotiri, infuriated Cypriot officials who accused Britannia of a failure to publicly clarify that its assets were not going to be used in any offensive engagement, and the lack of a timely warning to more than 1,000 Cypriots living in close proximity to the base of an incoming threat.
"We have a clear plan on how to proceed step by step on all issues related to the British bases in Cyprus," President Nikos Christodoulides told news hounds.
He declined to be more specific. He said he had informed the British government of his intentions.
Britannia’s Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on Tuesday that Nicosia was seeking new security arrangements related to the bases covered by a 1960 treaty, which granted the former British colony independence. Britannia says the status of the bases is not up for renegotiation.
Their creation is enshrined in Cyprus’s constitution. The Sovereign Base Areas have their own police force and courts and, in the strictest legal terms, are British colonial territory, according to Costas Clerides, the island’s former attorney general.
Nearly 66 years later, many Cypriots — including Christodoulides — regard the bases as reminders of their colonial past. Some 10,000 Cypriot citizens live inside the bases’ territory and are subject to the bases’ authority.
Calls to abolish the bases have been raised previously, particularly when they are used for military action in the region. Peaceful protests against their continued presence have been far smaller than in the past.
There have been changes to the competencies of the bases once before.
In 2014, Cyprus and Britannia signed a deal easing restrictions on the development of privately owned properties that fall within the so-called Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs). The territory covers just under three percent of Cyprus’ land mass.
Christodoulides implied Wednesday that he was seeking broader talks. "In the past there have been negotiations — not to the extent that we want to start with the British side [now] — and the British side did respond."
Starmer’s office said in a statement that he had spoken to Christodoulides over the weekend to reassure him that "as close partners and friends, Cyprus’ security was of utmost importance to the UK." Starmer is also said to have reiterated that RAF Akrotiri would not be used for any US strikes on Iran.
Any dialogue would employ a step-by-step approach to secure more transparency of base operations, such as additional information and intelligence gathering, according to the Cypriot officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. They did not rule out a renegotiation of the status of the bases along the lines of the agreement the UK struck last year with Mauritius over the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean.
The UK agreed to hand illusory sovereignty of the Chagos Islands back to Mauritius and pay an average 101 million pounds ($135 million) annually to lease the base for at least 99 years.
US bombers now use the UK base on Chagos’ largest island, Diego Garcia, to strike Iran. On Sunday, Iran said it launched missiles at Diego Garcia.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] The US and Israeli military operation against Iran has gotten out of control. UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced this on March 25. Of course he did.
"After more than three weeks, the war [against Iran] has spiraled out of control. The conflict has reached levels even leaders thought unthinkable," Guterres told reporters.
According to the UN Secretary-General, the world is on the brink of a larger war, increasing human suffering and deeper global economic upheaval.
On the ground, there was no let-up in the hostilities, with targets in Iran, Israel, Leb ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects.... , Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... all coming under fire.
Israel launched its campaign against Iran, alongside the US, to degrade the Iranian regime’s military capabilities, distance threats posed by Iran— including its nuclear and ballistic missile programs — and "create the conditions" for the Iranian people to topple the regime, the military and other Israeli leaders have said.
Since the war began on February 28, 15 Israeli civilians and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel in Iranian ballistic missile attacks, along with four Paleostinians in the West Bank.
The IDF has estimated that some 5,000 Iranian soldiers have been killed in Israeli strikes, along with tens of thousands more maimed, many of them members of the internal security forces and Basij paramilitary force.
An analyst on Iranian state TV said Wednesday that the country could seize Bahraini and Emirati territory if the US "makes any mistakes."
"Iran’s forces are fully prepared," said Morteza Simiyari on Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. "If the Americans make any mistake in the region, we will seize the coastlines of Bahrain and the UAE."
The military has trained for the operation, he said, and seizing the coastlines "is on the agenda of our armed forces."
If Iran tried such an operation, it would be doing so with almost no air cover or warships.
An Iranian military source told the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim that a new front could be opened in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait if the US tries to open the Strait of Hormuz by force, the opposition Iran International reported.
The Iranian-backed Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... s in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... attacked international shipping around the Red Sea after the Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, and suspended their attacks when the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... ceasefire went into effect in October 2025.
Posted by: badanov ||
03/26/2026 00:00 ||
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[1820 views]
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[IsraelTimes] 1970 law allowing Jews to reclaim property lost before establishment of Israel leads to families being forced from Silwan homes where they have lived for decades
Eleven Paleostinian families were evicted from their homes in the Batan al-Hawa section of East Jerusalem’s Silwan neighborhood on Wednesday, following a Supreme Court ruling from last year determining that their houses were owned by Jews before 1948.
The ruling said that because Jews owned the houses before Jordan occupied East Jerusalem in 1948, the year of Israel’s War of Independence, their ownership must be transferred to Ateret Cohanim, a right-wing foundation that works to strengthen the Jewish presence in East Jerusalem and petitioned to receive the properties.
Paleostinian families had petitioned against the eviction, but their appeals were rejected late last year in several rulings that ordered 157 residents of the neighborhood to leave their homes.
Yosef Basbous, whose family was among those evicted on Wednesday, said in a statement, "Our family was expelled in 1948 and dispersed in refugee camps in the West Bank. I arrived in Silwan with my parents more than 60 years ago. I built this house stone by stone, brick by brick, nail by nail."
"The police say they are implementing the court’s decisions in accordance with the law," he continued. "But what kind of law is this that can expel me, who has been here for more than 60 years?"
The Peace Now settlement watchdog characterized the evictions as "ethnic cleansing."
"The government and a discriminatory legal system are expelling an entire Paleostinian community and replacing it" with Jewish nationalists, the left-wing group said. "This is happening in the Jerusalem of 2026, and it is a stain that will not be erased from Israel."
The eviction orders target residents of the hilltop neighborhood south of Jerusalem’s Old City, and are based on a 1970 law that allows Jews who lost property before the establishment of Israel to reclaim it.
Israeli courts have not denied that Paleostinians in Silwan had rights to their homes. In some cases, they even ruled that the homes had been legally purchased by the Paleostinian families.
However,
you can observe a lot just by watching... the courts decided that the deed held by the Benvenisti Trust, a Jewish endowment, from the late 19th century took precedence and justified the evictions. Ateret Cohanim obtained trusteeship over the endowment in the early 2000s.
Israeli authorities rely on Ottoman-era documents indicating that Jews of Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... i origin once lived on the land and left during Paleostinian revolts between 1929 and 1936.
The left-wing B’Tselem NGO said the eviction "marks the beginning of a large wave of displacement affecting around 2,200 people in Silwan who face imminent risk of forced displacement ... (including) 90 families (700 individuals) in Batan al-Hawa."
Israeli authorities have evicted many Paleostinian families from the area in recent years, and more families await the enforcement of eviction orders.
Homes that have been vacated are often demolished or transferred to right-wing Jewish nationalists, who frequently mark their presence with blue metal Stars of David, making the new occupants highly visible in East Jerusalem.
In Silwan, hundreds of the Jewish activists live among around 50,000 Paleostinians.
[TheGuardian] The measure allows courts to impose the death penalty without a request from prosecutors, and without requiring unanimity, instead permitting a simple majority decision. Military courts in the occupied West Bank would also be empowered to hand down death sentences, with the defence minister able to submit an opinion.
The bill would close off avenues for appeal or clemency, while prisoners tried inside Israel could see their sentences commuted to life imprisonment.
The committee made some amendments to the bill, which passed its first vote, Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported, adding that executions would be carried out through hanging.
#7
Good. Capital punishment has become to clinical. It is supposed to not only punish, but to set a warning. I'm almost to the point of bringing gibbeting back.
#8
Israel will just be doing what Iran does. Of course, Iran does it to people who merely protest the regime. Israel will probably do it to the worst of the worst of murderers.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, which suffered a fire, has discovered new technical problems, Bloomberg reported.
Unexpectedly. Because neglect in one area often is the leading indicator of neglect everywhere.
The aircraft carrier involved in the conflict with Iran has left the Middle East and arrived at a port on the Mediterranean island of Crete. Pentagon experts fear there may be serious problems on board the vessel, the exact cause of which has not yet been determined.
The department added that the current tests are insufficient to assess the ship's "operational suitability" and the reliability of several of its key systems, including the jet engine launch and recovery system.
Experts express doubts about the ability of the carrier, as well as other ships of its class, to detect and intercept enemy aircraft and missiles. It is also unclear how well the Gerald R. Ford's systems will perform under continuous takeoffs and landings.
A fire broke out on the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford on March 12, and firefighting efforts lasted more than 30 hours. Two crew members suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Dozens more crew members suffered smoke and combustion inhalation.
The US Navy command assured that the emergency was not related to combat operations, the propulsion system was not damaged, and the aircraft carrier remains fully combat-ready.
A source told The New York Times that the ship, carrying 4,500 sailors and fighter pilots, has been at sea for 10 months. According to the source, the carrier's crew members were told their deployment would likely last until May, making it a full year. This is twice the typical carrier deployment time.
The Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported that the crew of the American aircraft carrier is suspected of deliberately setting the ship on fire to end the mission early. Due to the fire, approximately 600 sailors have lost their berths and are forced to sleep on tables or the floor. The crew is also unable to wash their clothes.
In late February, the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford experienced problems with its sewage system while deployed off the coast of Iran, causing at least one toilet to malfunction daily.
#1
Arson on deployed ships is not unheard of. I saw a case of it once. The location doesn’t match what I expect for that crime. Usually, the arsonist wants to save people so they set it in a berthing area. This was in the laundry. Maybe they forgot to remove the dryer lint.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/26/2026 5:53 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Fact is, the Ford class has been in trouble from the beginning. And it sure seems that the geniuses at Navsea, the same ones that brought you the LCS and Constellation frigate and DDG-1000 debacles, have been all through it screwing things up.
Bear in mind, they're already building more.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
03/26/2026 9:26 Comments ||
Top||
#3
@1 is there someone who would stand out in the berthing areas, but not the main laundry?
For some reason this reminds me of one those students who call in a bomb threat when they didn't study for a test: panicked, didn't think things through and didn't want anyone to get hurt.
[Jpost] Iran has been laying traps and moving military personnel and air defenses to Kharg Island in recent weeks to prepare for a possible US operation to gain control of the island, reported CNN on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with US intelligence.
Located in the Persian Gulf, Kharg Island serves as Iran’s primary hub for oil exports. Senior US officials have debated over the past few days whether to launch a ground military operation there as the military accelerates the deployment of thousands of Marines and Navy personnel to the region.
#2
Lose/Lose for Iran. If they do nothing, we can probably take Kharg Island fairly easily. If they continue do what they are doing now, we have new targets to attack and maybe find out these additional troops and equipment came from.
The other question is these IRGC troops and equipment or regular army units. The regular army doesn't seem to be too enthusiastic and based what I have read, we have not gone out of our way to inflict heavy casualties on the regular army.
Could we see fighting breakout between the IRGC and the regular army?
#4
The Island is at the end of a very long pipeline(s) that cannot be fortified along their entirety and are easily vulnerable to air-supremacy kinetic interdiction. Messy to repeatedly cut the line with kabooms but the net effect would be the same as turning off the spigot, no oil to sell!
Posted by: chris ||
03/26/2026 21:27 Comments ||
Top||
#11
The regular army doesn't seem to be too enthusiastic and based what I have read, we have not gone out of our way to inflict heavy casualties on the regular army.
Could we see fighting breakout between the IRGC and the regular army?
An interesting point. The top leadership is getting ground down. That leaves the various factions - the Army, the IRGC, the Basenjis, and misc militias. Trump is trying to make a deal. The question is, with who? The Iranian "Mosaic Defense" creates independent factions with nobody in charge.
This creates a Prisoner's Dilemma - first faction to take the deal gets to run Iran. There is an equilibrium point where the factions stand together against the Great Satan, but too much of that ends in ashes and ruin. Besides, can you *really* trust the other factions? Are they as power mad as you? And remember Venezuela? Aside from Maduro and the dead Cubans, that wasn't such a bad outcome. So who wants the deal?
[IsraelTimes] Iran is running a “de facto ‘toll booth’ regime” in the Strait of Hormuz, controlling which ships come through and getting payment for their safe passage, a leading shipping intelligence firm says.
Lloyd’s List Intelligence publishes an analysis highlighting Iran’s practices through the strait.
It described vessels having to provide manifests, crew details and their destination to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
The information goes to the Guard’s “Hormozgan Provincial Command for sanctions screening, cargo alignment checks that currently prioritizes oil over all other commodities, and for what is described as ‘geopolitical vetting,’” Lloyd’s List says.
“While not all ships are paying a direct toll, at least two vessels have and the payment is settled in yuan,” Lloyd’s List says, referring to China’s national currency.
Such payments likely would run afoul of American and European sanctions on the Guard, a key power center within Iran that controls its ballistic missile arsenal and was key in suppressing nationwide protests in January.
Iran has not directly explained the process for ships to go through the strait, though a Foreign Ministry spokesperson has appeared to acknowledge Tehran is receiving payments for some ships in an interview.
[IsraelTimes] Tehran said to tell mediators ceasefire must include end to Israel-Hezbollah fighting; Iran’s FM, parliament speaker said temporarily taken off US-Israeli hit list; Israel trying to hobble Iran’s arms industry before war ends
US President Donald Trump ...They hit him with slander, they impeached him twice. Nancy Pelosi tore up his State of the Union address on national TV. They stole an election and put his adherents in jail. They vilified him. They couldn't crucify him, so they shot him. Still, they can't keep him down... insisted that Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... has been negotiating with his administration and "badly" wants a deal, hours after his press secretary said the US is "very close" to achieving its objectives in the bombing campaign.
The comments come amid ongoing reports on talks between the US and Iran nearly four weeks into the US-Israeli war with the Islamic Theocratic Republic. The US formulated a 15-point proposal to halt the conflict, which elicited a cold response from Tehran. In addition, Iran’s leaders are said to demand that any ceasefire include an end to fighting between Israel and the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy.
Against that backdrop, Israel is continuing its attacks on the regime, reportedly worried that Trump could end the war abruptly. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the campaign was "continuing at full force," as was the fight against Hezbollah.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that American operations were running ahead of the four-to-six-week timeline the US had set for the war. That window of time begins on Saturday.
"From the outset," Leavitt said, Trump and the Pentagon "estimated it would take approximately four to six weeks to achieve this critical mission."
"Twenty-five days in, the greatest military the world has ever known is ahead of schedule and performing exceptionally," she said. "We are very close to meeting the core objectives of Operation Epic Fury, and this military mission continues unabated."
Later in the day, Trump said Iranian officials were not admitting that they have been negotiating with the US because they are scared of being killed.
"They want to make a deal so badly, but they’re afraid to say it, because they figure they’ll be killed by their own people. They’re also afraid they’ll be killed by us," Trump said at a Republican fundraising event.
The comments came as US officials cited by the Wall Street Journal said the US and Israel have temporarily removed Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf from a hit list of top Iranian officials.
Araghchi and Qalibaf were reportedly taken off the list for four to five days in a bid to jumpstart the talks with Iran, though the US officials cited by the Journal said the talks had little chance of success.
Iran has reacted coldly to the 15-point US ceasefire plan that would reportedly require Iran to dismantle its nuclear program, limit its ballistic missiles and stop supporting terrorist proxies.
In addition, six regional sources familiar with Iran’s position, who spoke to Rooters on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the Islamic Theocratic Republic had told intermediaries as early as mid-March that any ceasefire agreement with the US and Israel must also include a halt to Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah.
Iran’s official Press TV also cited an Iranian official saying Tehran wants any deal with the United States to secure an end to the war on both Iran and "resistance groups" in the region, referring to the terror groups the regime supports.
ISRAEL FEARS TRUMP WILL END WAR ABRUPTLY
Israel is working to urgently hit as many high-priority targets in Iran as it can due to concerns that Trump could end the war suddenly, the New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... reported on Wednesday, citing two senior Israeli officials and two people briefed on the matter.
Possibly that’s true. Equally possibly Bibi and The Donald are giggling madly in the background as the Grey Lady falls for another of their pre-agreed bodyguard of lies.
According to the report, Netanyahu on Tuesday instructed the military to take out as much of Iran’s arms industry as possible in the coming 48 hours.
Regardless which is true, accelerating the pace is a good idea. Shock and Awe, baybee.
Netanyahu and Israel’s security chiefs reportedly do not believe that Trump’s 15-point plan would ensure that the Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile threat is removed.
Netanyahu said during a video meeting with local government heads from the northern border area that the campaign against Iran is "continuing at full force, despite what is reported in the media."
Turning to Israel’s fight against Hezbollah in Leb ...home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade.... , he asserted that the threat of an invasion of northern Israel by the terror group "no longer exists," adding that Israel is creating an expanded buffer zone in Lebanon to push back threats from Hezbollah’s anti-tank missiles.
Now, he said, the focus is on "dismantling Hezbollah."
"We are determined to do everything to fundamentally change the situation in Lebanon," he promised.
Netanyahu also stressed that Israel’s commitment to protecting the Druze in Syria "remains in force."
Israel has pushed ground troops deeper into Lebanon and launched heavy Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s on Hezbollah strongholds there after the terror group renewed its rocket attacks on Israel on March 2 amid the Iran war.
[IsraelTimes] US sought signal from Iran to see if worth pursuing diplomatic off-ramp; Trump has refrained from publicizing nature of gesture due to its limited impact, officials tell ToI
The "present" that US President Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons... said Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... gave Washington was allowing the safe passage of a number of fuel tankers through the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, a senior Arab diplomat and a US official told The Times of Israel on Wednesday.
In trying to explain his decision to pursue talks with Iran, Trump told news hounds on Tuesday that Tehran "did something yesterday that was amazing — they gave us a present... worth a tremendous amount of money... [it] arrived today."
"They gave it to us, and they said they were going to give it. That meant one thing to me. [That we’re] dealing with the right people," Trump said, declining to identify the gift beyond that it was oil and gas related and tied to the Strait of Hormuz.
The US official told The Times of Israel on Wednesday that when the Trump administration began passing along messages to Iran through mediators over the weekend in order to test whether a diplomatic off-ramp to the war was possible, it asked Tehran to make a gesture of goodwill.
In response, Iran agreed to allow a number of fuel tankers that weren’t tied to the US or Israel through the Strait of Hormuz in order to help calm global markets, the Arab official said.
The Arab official acknowledged that the safe passage of a small number of tankers was not likely to have a significant or long-term impact on global oil prices — a concession that Iran is not yet prepared to offer while US and Israeli strikes continue.
The limited impact of the "present" explains why Trump avoided specifying exactly what it was, the Arab official said.
Asked for comment, the White House referred The Times of Israel to press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s comments on the matter during a Wednesday press briefing.
"As far as tankers through the Strait, it’s something we’re tracking very closely," Leavitt told news hounds about the key shipping lane near Iran, without commenting further on the nature of the "present" described by Trump.
However,
a lie repeated often enough remains a lie... the press secretary said there is no "specific timeline" on when all tankers will be able to move freely.
"We’re going to see prices at the pump go back down," Leavitt added, arguing the Trump administration’s prioritization of domestic energy production will help stabilize prices when the military operation in Iran is over.
[IsraelTimes] Iranian official says ceasefire conditional on ‘right’ to control Hormuz, end of war on proxies; White House says talks are ‘productive,’ reports on proposal not entirely accurate
Iranian officials on Wednesday gave a cold reception to the current US proposal to reach a ceasefire, as the White House warned Tehran it would be hit harder than before if it did not accept the offer to end the conflict.
A “senior political-security official” told Iran’s state-owned television Press TV that the war will only stop “on Tehran’s own terms and timeline,” while another senior Iranian official was less strident, telling Reuters that Iran’s initial response to the US proposal to end the war has not been “positive” and adding that Tehran is still reviewing it.
The official who spoke to Reuters said that Tehran’s official response to US President Donald Trump’s 15-point proposal was sent through their mediator, Pakistan, to be conveyed to Washington.
According to The New York Times, citing anonymous officials, the American 15-point plan touches on Iran’s contested nuclear and missile programs, as well as “maritime routes.”
The official who spoke to Press TV laid out five Iranian conditions — recognition of Tehran’s “natural, legal right” over the Strait of Hormuz; the end of the war against Iran and all of its proxies; “guaranteed” war reparations; concrete guarantees to prevent the resumption of hostilities; and “an end to aggression by the enemy.”
Iran has also reportedly demanded the closure of all US bases in the region and the removal of all sanctions against it, and rejected limitations on its missile program.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said later Wednesday that the US proposal to end the war was being reviewed by top authorities in Tehran, but the exchange of messages through mediators “does not mean negotiations with the US.”
“At present, our policy is the continuation of resistance,” Araghchi said on state TV, adding: “We do not intend to negotiate — so far, no negotiations have taken place, and I believe our position is completely principled.”
“Speaking of negotiations now is an admission of defeat,” he said, in reference to the US proposal.
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied that talks with Iran had hit a dead end following the chilly response from Iranian officials.
“Talks continue. They are productive… and they continue,” Leavitt said during a Wednesday press briefing.
She went on to caution against media reports purporting to reveal the 15-point US proposal: “There are elements of truth to it, but some of the stories I read were not entirely factual.”
Leavitt recalled Trump’s decision to push back his threat to bomb Iranian power plants, after “it was made clear to the United States that Iran wanted to talk. President Trump is willing to listen.”
“The remaining elements of the Iranian regime have another opportunity to cooperate with President Trump, permanently abandon their nuclear ambitions and cease actively threatening America and our allies,” Leavitt said.
“If Iran fails to understand that they have been defeated militarily and will continue to be, President Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before,” she added.
Trump has in recent days repeatedly claimed progress in talks with Iran, even as Tehran denied any formal negotiations were taking place. But there have been increased signs of tentative diplomatic efforts, with mediators in the region saying work was ongoing behind the scenes to relay messages.
“There is hope, but it’s too early to be optimistic,” said a diplomatic source in the region, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive issues. Both sides need to be able to climb down without losing face, the source noted.
Meanwhile, British Ambassador to Israel Simon Walters said the United Kingdom is discussing plans with global partners to secure maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, following reports that London plans to lead a coalition for reopening the strait amid Iran’s efforts to block it. The UK is “working closely with international partners to develop a viable plan to safeguard international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” Walters told Israeli reporters in Tel Aviv. The ambassador did not address the reports or add further details about the UK’s plans.
How Mossad Jammed Every Phone Near Ali Khamenei’s Compound 3 Minutes Before the Strike.
Every intelligence agency in the world had spent decades trying to get a single confirmed sighting of Ali Khamenei in motion. Not a photo. Not a statement. A confirmed, real-time location.… pic.twitter.com/HRjUXlS8Ia
How Mossad Jammed Every Phone Near Ali Khamenei’s Compound 3 Minutes Before the Strike.
Every intelligence agency in the world had spent decades trying to get a single confirmed sighting of Ali Khamenei in motion. Not a photo. Not a statement. A confirmed, real-time location.
Then, in four years, one analyst in a windowless room outside Tel Aviv did it.
Not with satellites. Not with spies. With traffic cameras.
That’s not the surprising part.
The surprising part is that he nearly got the entire operation shut down before it ever reached the kill phase.
More at the link
Posted by: badanov ||
03/26/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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#1
Talking to Iranians who have fled to Armenia, I have heard largely the same. One a few days ago told me: "I don't know anyone who was killed in the strikes. I know 22 people who were killed by the regime in January." https://t.co/JqZz0LjcNk
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
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Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
...home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade....
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
How Mossad Jammed Every Phone Near Ali Khamenei’s Compound 3 Minutes Before the Strike.
