Iran: Trump wanted regime change, now just begging for Hormuz to open
Al Mayadeen | March 29, 2026
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday, marking the 30th day of Iranian national defense against the US-Israeli aggression, that the US president’s objectives have dramatically shifted since the start of the war on Iran.
“The enemy who claimed to have destroyed our air, naval, and missile forces, and had a plan for the collapse of the Islamic Republic, has now set his goal on reopening the Strait of Hormuz,” Ghalibaf said.
“Reopening a strait that was open before the war has become Trump’s operational dream,” he said mockingly.
Ghalibaf stated that the war on Iran, which has come to be known as the Ramadan War, is now at its most critical moment. He noted that Trump is unable to secure the support of European countries, that energy markets are out of control, and that food inflation is approaching.
The war bites the belligerent
The Parliament Speaker detailed the damage inflicted on US military assets throughout the conflict. “The manifestations of American arrogance, from the F-35 to the aircraft carrier and US regional bases, have suffered major blows,” he said. “Strikes on the Israeli regime have been effective, precise, and foundation-shaking.”
Ghalibaf also highlighted the growing strength of the Resistance Axis across the region.
“Hezbollah in Lebanon, which was constantly threatened with disarmament, is today an important and effective part of the Resistance and has trapped the malignant Israeli regime,” he said.
“The Resistance in Iraq is fighting heroically and has astonished the enemy. Ansarallah in Yemen has breathed new life into the Resistance front and is ready to achieve spectacular surprises.”
“This is the honor and greatness of the Resistance front against the world’s arrogant powers,” Ghalibaf stated. “Trump has been accused worldwide of waging a pointless war and has no answer for his public opinion. The evil of initiating the war has returned to its initiator.”
Here is a background section summarizing the current situation with the Strait of Hormuz, based on the Al Mayadeen article:
The battle for the Strait of Hormuz
Since the US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28, the Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas shipments pass, has become a central front in the war on Iran. Iranian authorities have restricted the movement of vessels linked to the US and “Israel” or those supporting, requiring ships to obtain approval before transiting the strategic waterway.
Tehran has made clear that “nonhostile” ships may pass safely if authorized, while the strait remains “closed only to enemies carrying out cowardly aggression against Iran,” as Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi put it. The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps has turned back multiple container ships attempting to transit without authorization.
Iran’s Parliament is now advancing legislation to impose formal tolls on vessels passing through the strait, a move lawmakers say is designed to assert Tehran’s “sovereignty, control and oversight” over the passage, much like the model applied by Turkey in the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits. The toll system would build on temporary fees applied since late February.
US President Donald Trump has threatened an escalation in the aggression against Iran’s power infrastructure if the strait remains closed, while US attempts to organize international naval escorts to bypass Iran’s control over the strait have so far failed.
The new framework signals Tehran’s intent to use its control over its waterway to regulate access systematically, rather than relying on ad hoc measures, while simultaneously sending a message to the US and “Israel” about the country’s ability to control this key energy corridor.
IRGC: Israeli, US universities in region legitimate targets after strikes on Iranian university
Al-mayadeen | March 29, 2026
The Iranian Revolution Guard condemned the bombing of the Tehran University of Science and Technology by American and Israeli forces, emphasizing that such attacks on universities and research centers will not go unanswered.
The IRGC warned that all universities in the Israeli entity, as well as American universities across West Asia, are now considered legitimate targets, following a principle of destroying two institutions for every Iranian university attacked.
“The misguided rulers of the White House should know that from now on, all universities of the occupying Israeli entity, as well as American universities in West Asia, are legitimate targets for us,” the statement said.
The statement issued a warning to all staff, professors, students, and nearby residents to maintain a safe distance of at least one kilometer from American universities in the region.
The Guard added that if the US government wants to ensure that its universities in the region are limited to only the two corresponding targets in this phase, it must issue an official statement by 12:00 PM on Monday, March 30 (Tehran time), condemning the bombing of the universities.
Failure to prevent future attacks by US forces or their allies will leave these institutions exposed to further military action, the statement added.
Baghaei condemns US-Israeli strikes on Iran’s universities
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei on Saturday denounced deliberate US-Israeli attacks targeting Iran’s scientific and cultural foundations, accusing the aggressors of waging a systematic assault on the country’s civilian infrastructure under fabricated pretexts.
In a statement posted on X, Baghaei said that “Isfahan University of Technology and the Iran University of Science and Technology are just two among many universities and research centers deliberately attacked by the aggressors during the past 30 days of their illegal war on the Iranian nation.
His remarks come amid a sustained US-Israeli unprovoked aggression that has inflicted heavy civilian losses and widespread destruction across Iran, including repeated strikes on educational and academic institutions. Earlier today, a strike hit a building on the campus of Isfahan University of Technology, causing material damage to university facilities, while in recent days, a satellite research center affiliated with the Iran University of Science and Technology in Tehran was also targeted, with the blast damaging surrounding structures.
The most devastating incident occurred on February 28, when missiles struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ school in Minab, killing more than 170 people, the majority of them schoolchildren, in what has become one of the deadliest attacks of the war.
The strike, which hit the school during class hours, drew condemnation from international organizations, with UN agencies warning that attacks on educational facilities constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law.
Beyond Minab, multiple reports confirm that schools in several cities, including Tehran and Parand, have been struck or damaged since the beginning of the war, pointing to a broader pattern of attacks affecting Iran’s educational sector.
Trump admits Iran hit USS Ford carrier: ‘We ran for our lives’
Al Mayadeen | March 28, 2026
US President Donald Trump revealed that Iranian forces carried out a coordinated assault on the USS Gerald R. Ford, stating that the world’s largest aircraft carrier came under a multi-directional attack in the Red Sea as Tehran intensifies its retaliation against the US-Israeli aggression launched on February 28.
Speaking at a Saudi investment forum in Miami on Friday, Trump described what unfolded as “a serious situation” for US naval forces, indicating that the scale and intensity of the operation rapidly overwhelmed expectations.
“It was one o’clock in the morning,” Trump said, recalling the moment the vessel came under attack “from 17 different angles.”
“We knew we were in trouble,” he added.
“They were here, they were there. We ran for our lives, it was over,” Trump said, relaying the account of a Navy commander who was aboard at the time.
Carrier forced to withdraw
The USS Gerald R. Ford, the centerpiece of US naval power projection, had been deployed to West Asia as part of Washington’s aggression against Iran. In the immediate aftermath of the reported confrontation, the carrier was forced out of the theater following a fire that erupted onboard on March 12, injuring crew members and leaving nearly 200 sailors affected by smoke inhalation, while damaging large sections of the vessel.
The warship withdrew first to the Greek island of Crete before docking in Croatia for urgent repairs, after nearly nine months of continuous deployment marked by mounting technical failures, including persistent system malfunctions that had already raised concerns about its operational reliability under sustained pressure.
Despite the sequence of events, the Pentagon insisted that the damage stemmed from a “non-combat-related” fire in a laundry area, attempting to frame the withdrawal as a routine technical issue rather than the result of battlefield impact.
Iran exposes vulnerability
Iranian officials have categorically rejected this narrative, arguing that it is a transparent attempt to obscure the consequences of Iran’s retaliatory operations, which have increasingly exposed the vulnerability of even the most advanced US military assets.
The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps ridiculed the US account, stating, “What kind of military giant is this that faces a crisis and is forced to leave the battlefield due to a fire occurring in its laundry room?”
Tehran has repeatedly warned that US aircraft carriers operating in regional waters would be treated as legitimate targets, stressing that their presence constitutes a direct threat to Iran’s sovereignty.
Within this context, Iranian officials and analysts view the carrier’s abrupt withdrawal as clear evidence that sustained missile and drone operations are imposing real constraints on US forces, undermining Washington’s ability to maintain control despite its overwhelming technological advantage.
Iran’s armed forces have also reported conducting successful drone and missile strikes against another US carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, reinforcing what Tehran presents as an expanding and effective deterrence posture capable of reshaping the military balance across the region.
Iraqi resistance conducts drone strike on US-run base in Syria
Press TV – March 28, 2026
Fighters from the anti-terror group Islamic Resistance in Iraq have conducted a drone strike against an installation operated by US occupation forces in Syria’s southwestern al-Tanf region, close to the borders with Iraq and Jordan.
The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that air defense systems manned by members of the ruling Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militant group had intercepted and shot down an unmanned aircraft as it was flying in the skies over the base.
It added that the drone had most likely set off from an area in neighboring Iraq, without specifying the exact location.
Back on March 20, Iraqi resistance groups destroyed three critical sites at the US-run Harir base in Erbil — the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, sharply reducing American military activities there.
An informed source said the positions were targeted simultaneously with missile strikes on the Victory Airbase close to the Baghdad International Airport.
Over the past two weeks, coordinated drone and missile attacks have repeatedly struck key infrastructure at Harir, including its central radar system, which was hit at least four times and ultimately destroyed.
Failing to Defeat Hezbollah, Israel & US Pressure Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa to Join War
By Robert Inlakesh | MintPress News | March 27, 2026
Openly declaring its intent to illegally occupy southern Lebanon, Israel finds itself in a costly ground battle with Hezbollah, from which there are indications Syria may soon be roped in. This is born from the understanding that in order to successfully weaken the Lebanese resistance, the Israeli military must penetrate the Bekaa Valley area.
Understanding the costly price of attempting to physically take all of south Lebanon militarily, both Washington and Tel Aviv have been attempting to devise strategies that would help achieve Israel’s war goals of weakening Hezbollah.
One possible option that has been placed on the table is the use of Syria’s military to invade Lebanon’s border and attack Hezbollah, aiming to go after what is labelled critical infrastructure belonging to the Lebanese group. According to reports, the US Trump administration has directly put pressure on Syrian leader Ahmed al-Shara’a to do just that.
In the event of such an assault, the Beka’a Valley would be the target territory. The Beka’a is what Israel’s Alma Research and Education think-tank calls “Hezbollah’s strategic depth”, which it argues is the group’s “operational and logistical center of gravity”. If Tel Aviv truly seeks to degrade Hezbollah’s capabilities, a ground incursion into this region is the only way to truly achieve such a goal.
Another plausible option is that Israel itself will use Syrian territory in order to invade Lebanon’s eastern border. This would appear possible, as the current Hayat Tahrir al-Sham administration in Damascus has allowed Israel to use Lebanese territory on two occasions so far.
Although al-Shara’a doesn’t grant direct permission, he refuses to deploy his forces to prevent the Israelis from violating Syria’s sovereignty. Earlier this year, the leadership in Damascus agreed to setting up a soft normalisation understanding with the Israelis. According to US State Department press release, the following was agreed upon:
“Both Sides have decided to establish a joint fusion mechanism—a dedicated communication cell—to facilitate immediate and ongoing coordination on their intelligence sharing, military de-escalation, diplomatic engagement, and commercial opportunities under the supervision of the United States.”
It suffices to say that Syria’s current leader, who once spoke of conquering occupied Jerusalem, has clearly aligned himself with the United States and now openly states he will pose no threat to Israel. Instead of fighting back against Israel’s ever growing occupation of more Syrian lands, or responding to civilian massacres inside his territory, he has instead sought to disarm those Syrians who are threatened by the belligerent occupying force in the south.
Despite this, Israel has continually attacked Syrian territory, including bombing the ministry of defence in Damascus. Recently, it also attacked Syrian military positions in the Damascus countryside, citing renewed sectarian clashes between Israeli-aligned Druze separatists and HTS allied forces.
In December of last year, parades were held in Damascus and other Syrian cities, where armed factions making up the country’s new armed forces held marches in the streets to mark the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Notably, these soldiers chanted in solidarity with Gaza and issued threats to Israel.
Some groups belonging to the new Syrian security forces, also burned Israeli flags and expressed solidarity with the village of Beit Jinn, where a group of locals had organised an ambush against Israeli invading forces. Israel then bombarded the village, which is home to both Palestinians and Syrians, murdering at least 13 civilians.
A series of Syrian Resistance groups have also popped up in the country’s south, occasionally carrying out rocket attacks or opening fire on Israeli soldiers with light weapons. The most prominent group has been ‘Jabhat al-Moqowameh al-Islammiya Fe Souriya’ [The Islamic Resistance Front In Syria].
The newest group to emerge is called ‘Kataeb Jund al-Karrar Fe Balad as-Sham’ [Soldiers of the Karrar Brigades in the Levant] also emerged on March 8, publishing a video of themselves firing rockets at US military positions in Syria’s Palmyra. The group has additionally claimed attacks on Israel.
If Syrian President Ahmed al-Shara’a orders an attack on Lebanon, this could immediately trigger an incursion into Syria by the powerful Iraqi groups aligned with Hezbollah. An official statement issued by The Islamic Resistance Coordination Committee in Iraq explicitly threatened that:
“We see the treachery of the new authority in Syria and are monitoring its coordination with the enemy. We say clearly: if you dare violate the sovereignty of Lebanon and its patient, resisting people, we will turn your land into an open arena of fire. He who warns has given fair notice.”
On the other hand, due to the fragile security situation inside Syria, if the Israeli military does attempt to launch an offensive from inside Syrian territory, there is always a chance that they will come under attack from a whole myriad of forces. It is possible that what currently constitutes the Syrian Army, may even break ranks and refuse to listen to the leadership in Damascus.
On March 6, a botched Israeli special forces raid targeted the Lebanese village of Nabi Cheet, located east of Beirut. In order to conduct this infiltration operation – which was successfully repelled due to a joint effort from Hezbollah, local militias and the Lebanese Army – it used Syrian territory. Notably, it launched its assault from an area located north-west of Damascus.
Israel has so far displaced over a million people in Lebanon, openly declaring its intent to expand what it calls a military “buffer zone”. Israeli defence minister Israel Katz doesn’t mince his words however, openly declaring that he is seeking to occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River.
To this effect, the Israeli military has not only ordered the entire population of southern Lebanon to evacuate the territory, but also bombed five primary bridges connecting the south to the rest of the country. And yet, on the ground, the Israeli army is having a difficult time simply passing the border villages, where Hezbollah has damaged or destroyed around 70 Merkava tanks so far.
If the Israelis come under attack from forces inside Syria itself, they could be dragged into a painful quagmire there. This could also come about in the event that Syria’s al-Shara’a decides to seize the opportunity of Israel being distracted in Lebanon, to launch an offensive against the Druze separatist militias in Sweida. In order to save their Druze militia allies from suffering a major defeat, the Israeli army itself could get roped into direct clashes with Syrian forces.
Therefore, if the Israeli leadership makes the decision to escalate the Lebanon conflict by making a move towards the Bekaa Valley, they could very easily find themselves dealing with a totally new reality inside Syria too.
US-Israeli war on Iran drives global fertilizer prices up 40%
Al Mayadeen | March 28, 2026
The ongoing war on Iran is driving a sharp rise in global fertilizer prices, exposing how Western-led escalation is reverberating across critical sectors such as agriculture and food production, the German-based Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) reported on Friday.
According to Philipp Spinne, managing director of the German Raiffeisen Association, mineral fertilizer prices have increased by 30% to 40% since the beginning of the year. He noted that current market conditions are approaching levels seen at the start of the war in Ukraine, indicating mounting pressure on global supply chains. “A situation similar to what happened in February 2022 is recurring,” Spinne said, pointing to the rapid climb in nitrogen fertilizer prices toward previous peaks.
Hormuz disruptions
The surge is closely tied to disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which a significant share of global fertilizer trade passes, including roughly one-third of globally traded urea and about 20% of ammonia. Tehran’s response to the US-Israeli aggression has prompted restrictions on maritime flows, tightening supply and pushing energy prices higher, feeding directly into production costs.
Despite this, the immediate impact on European consumers remains limited. Many farmers had already secured their fertilizer supplies before the outbreak of the war. According to German industry estimates, around 80% of the required quantities for the entire spring season are already held in cooperative storage, while roughly 50% are already in the hands of farmers. However, industry representatives warn that a prolonged war will inevitably translate into higher production costs, which are expected to pass through to food prices over time.
A spokesperson for the Bavarian Farmers’ Association noted that while availability is currently manageable, farms that did not secure supplies early are now facing significant cost burdens. At the same time, relatively weak grain prices are compounding the pressure, squeezing margins and weighing on farm liquidity.
Rising fertilizer costs
Energy costs remain the central driver. Gas accounts for between 80% and 90% of the cost of producing ammonia and nitrogen fertilizers, meaning that fluctuations in energy markets, intensified by the war, directly affect agricultural inputs. Industry representatives added that the sharp rise in gas prices in Western Europe during the Ukraine war had already weakened the region’s chemical sector, a trend now deepening.
As prices rise, farmers may reduce fertilizer use, a shift that could lead to lower yields and tighter food supplies globally. The structural importance of fertilizers to global food systems reflects the scale of the risk: nearly half of the world’s population depends on crops grown using mineral fertilizers, while yields today are roughly double those of the early 20th century due to their use. Any sustained disruption, therefore, carries long-term implications for food security.
Although Europe produces a large share of its own fertilizers, covering roughly three-quarters of its nitrogen needs domestically and slightly more in the case of potash, it remains indirectly exposed through rising gas and LNG prices. While Europe has for years imported little fertilizer directly from conflict-affected regions, indirect pressures through energy markets continue to impact production costs.
Europe under pressure
At the policy level, European actors are increasingly turning to protectionist measures, including tariffs on Russian fertilizers, in an effort to shield domestic markets and reduce external dependency. Industry groups have also called for higher tariffs on Russian potash and for strengthening local production capacity. At the same time, Russia has introduced its own export restrictions to protect internal supply, further tightening global availability.
For now, German farmers remain partially insulated, but those forced to purchase at current prices are facing significantly higher costs, reinforcing concerns that the economic strain on agriculture will deepen if the war persists.
Yemen joins fight against US, Israel by firing missiles at occupied territories
Al Mayadeen | March 28, 2026
Yemen’s Armed Forces have carried out their first military operation since announcing readiness for direct military intervention in the ongoing US-Israeli war on the Axis of Resistance, targeting military sites in southern occupied Palestine with a salvo of ballistic missiles.
Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree confirmed the operation on Saturday, stating that ballistic missiles struck “sensitive military objectives belonging to the Israeli enemy in southern occupied Palestine.”
Saree said the operation coincided with ongoing resistance operations by fighters in Iran and Lebanon, stressing that it “successfully achieved its intended objectives.”
He affirmed that operations would continue “until the declared goals are met and until the aggression ceases across all fronts of the resistance.”
Earlier this morning, Israeli media had reported missiles launched from Yemen toward the southern occupied territories, with sirens sounding in Eilat, the Wadi Araba region, and al-Naqab.
Saree’s warning
The strike follows a Friday warning from Saree that the Yemeni Armed Forces were prepared for direct military intervention should certain red lines be crossed.
He named three specific triggers: the formation of additional alliances alongside the US and “Israel” against Iran or Axis of Resistance states; the use of the Red Sea as a platform for hostile military operations against Iran or any Muslim country; and the continued escalation of the US-Israeli aggression.
Ansar Allah leader Sayyed Abdul Malik al-Houthi had warned Thursday that the US and “Israel” are advancing a “scheme to reshape the Middle East and establish the so-called Greater Israel,” stressing that Yemen is “not neutral” but stands with the Islamic nation.
Sayyed al-Houthi affirmed that any developments requiring a military response would be met with full readiness, as in previous rounds, while reiterating that Yemen’s military activity targets only US and Israeli objectives, not Muslim-majority states or civilian populations.
Seizing the Kharg: Washington’s path to defeat in the Persian Gulf
By Anis Raiss | The Cradle | March 27, 2026
Four weeks of US-Israeli war on Iran – and the stakes have climbed far higher than Washington anticipated. US President Donald Trump threatened on Truth Social to “hit and obliterate” Iran’s power plants if the Strait of Hormuz was not reopened within 48 hours.
The deadline passed. He blinked and, for the second time, postponed his own ultimatum, recasting it as ‘productive conversations.’ Tehran denied any talks and insisted the reversal was driven by “fear of Iran’s response.”
The US-Israeli air campaign was supposed to break Iran. It didn’t. Now the hawks are pushing for boots on the ground. But the ground war being floated does not simply risk American lives on an island 15 miles (around 24 kilometers) off Iran’s coast. It threatens the entire US military architecture in the Persian Gulf – the bases, the alliances, and the energy infrastructure that has underwritten American dominance in West Asia for decades.
In an interview with NBC News, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in response to a question about a possible ground invasion by the US, delivered words the Pentagon had no answer for: “We are waiting for them,” which became a meme in the process. The bluff has been called. The question now is whether showing Washington’s hand collapses the entire table.
Raising the stakes with an empty hand
The ground invasion discourse is no longer hypothetical. Pentagon officials have submitted detailed preparation requests for deploying ground forces. Three Marine amphibious assault groups are converging on the Persian Gulf: the USS Tripoli carrying the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit from Japan, the USS Boxer with the 11th MEU from California, and roughly 1,500 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg.
By the time all units arrive, between 6,000 and 8,000 US ground troops will be within striking distance of Iran. But the composition of these forces exposes the gap between rhetoric and reality. Military analyst Ruben Stewart noted that what is being deployed is “consistent with discrete, time-limited operations, not a sustained ground campaign.”
At the same time, Israel’s own military is showing signs of strain. Chief of staff Eyal Zamir warned on 25 March that the army is “going to collapse in on itself,” citing an eroding reserve force and a deepening manpower crisis as wars stretch from Gaza to Lebanon and now Iran.
Washington is pushing more chips to the center of the table – but the hand behind them remains weak. The scenarios now circulating form an escalation ladder where each rung risks pulling the US deeper into a fight it is structurally unprepared to sustain.
Pickaxe Mountain and the raid that takes too long
The most politically attractive option is a covert raid on Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile – believed to be around 400 kilograms enriched to roughly 60 percent, possibly stored near Isfahan or deep inside Pickaxe Mountain.
But the problem is one Sun Tzu identified centuries ago: speed is the essence of war – yet this mission demands the opposite. Extracting nuclear material requires troops to remain on-site long enough for Iranian forces to respond.
Former CENTCOM commander General Joseph Votel described such operations as “feasible,” but issued a clear warning: “You’re going to have to take care of them, resupply them, medevac them. And that requires a logistical tail, and at some point that tail has to be protected as well.”
Washington still carries the scar of Operation Eagle Claw – the failed 1980 hostage rescue that collapsed in the Iranian desert and helped end Jimmy Carter’s presidency.
Kharg Island: The trap disguised as a shortcut
If covert raids carry too much risk for too little certainty, the next option on the table is a limited territorial seizure – and Washington’s hawks have converged on a single target: Kharg Island.
An eight-square-mile (around 20.7 square kilometers) coral outcrop in the northern Persian Gulf, Kharg processes roughly 90 percent of Iran’s crude exports. US Senator Lindsey Graham urged Trump to “take Kharg Island,” while retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg described himself as a “big believer in boots on the ground” there.
The logic sounds surgical: seize Iran’s economic lifeline and force Tehran to the table. But it collapses under even basic scrutiny. Kharg sits just 15 miles (around 24 kilometers) off the Iranian mainland – well within range of coastal missile batteries, drones, rockets, and artillery. Any US force stationed there would face “near-constant bombardment.”
Retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery put it bluntly: “If we seize Kharg Island, they’re going to turn off the spigot on the other end. It’s not like we control their oil production.”
Sun Tzu warned that there is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare. Modern analyses reach the same conclusion. Think tank assessments warn that Kharg is a textbook case of mission creep, pulling US forces step by step toward a wider ground war.
The war Iran has prepared for
What Washington’s hawks consistently overlook is that Iran has spent decades preparing for precisely this scenario – not to match US firepower, but to make any ground war prohibitively costly.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is divided into 31 autonomous ground divisions, each capable of operating independently if central command is disrupted.
When strikes killed the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, intelligence minister Esmail Khatib, and Basij chief Gholamreza Soleimani, the military apparatus continued launching missiles, closing the Strait of Hormuz, and fighting. A command structure designed to survive decapitation appears to be doing exactly that.
At sea, Iran’s naval doctrine relies on asymmetric warfare. Its reported arsenal: hundreds of fast attack craft, coastal missile batteries, an estimated 5,000 naval mines, over 1,000 unmanned suicide vessels, and Ghadir-class midget submarines built for the Gulf’s shallow waters. The Persian Gulf is not an open ocean. It is a corridor shaped by geography and fortified by doctrine – designed to swallow conventional naval power.
On land, the scale alone is decisive. Iran is four times the size of Iraq, with a population exceeding 90 million. Estimates suggest that any conventional invasion would require “hundreds of thousands of troops.”
Then there is the Basij paramilitary network, reportedly capable of mobilizing up to a million reservists – and the IRGC’s decades of experience coordinating asymmetric resistance across the region.
The US currently has fewer than 8,000 moving into position. This is not a war Iran needs to win – but one that is designed to make Washington unable to sustain.
Winning Kharg, losing the Gulf
Even if Washington succeeds tactically – seizing Kharg and declaring victory – the strategic consequences are immediate.
Since the war began, Iran has already demonstrated its escalation capacity. Missiles and drones have targeted US-linked infrastructure across Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. Energy facilities, airports, and desalination plants have all come under fire.
A seizure of Kharg would likely trigger a far broader response. Iranian officials have explicitly warned of “continuous and relentless attacks” on regional infrastructure if Iranian territory is occupied.
Tehran has also signaled it could expand the conflict to the Bab al-Mandab Strait through allied Ansarallah-aligned forces in Yemen, threatening a second global chokepoint.
Every US position in the Gulf depends on supply lines that run through the very states already under threat. Bahrain hosts the Fifth Fleet. The UAE hosts Al-Dhafra. Kuwait functions as a logistical hub.
As the Stimson Center noted, Gulf states already fear Trump could declare victory and leave them fighting Iran alone.
Iran reports 500 US casualties in strikes on covert US military sites
Al Mayadeen | March 28, 2026
Iran’s Armed Forces announced on Saturday that they inflicted heavy casualty losses on US military personnel after striking two covert sites used to shelter US troops, both in Dubai.
The spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Lieutenant Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari, stated that the strikes resulted in casualties affecting more than 500 US soldiers and officers, with approximately 400 at the first site and over 100 at the second.
He confirmed ambulances were seen transporting the dead and wounded for hours following the operations.
Tehran issued a warning to US President Donald Trump and US military commanders in the wake of the strikes, declaring that the region had become “a graveyard for their soldiers” and that the United States has no option but to yield to Iran’s will or face inevitable consequences.
Dubai, al-Kharj targeted in coordinated strike
Zolfaghari also announced in a separate statement that the two secret locations were identified and struck using a combination of missiles and drones in precise operations.
He added that an IRGC strike on the US troop deployment site at Al-Kharj base in Saudi Arabia on Friday destroyed one refueling aircraft and severely damaged three others, rendering all four completely inoperable.
At the same time as the Dubai strikes, Zolfaghari revealed that a warehouse storing Ukrainian anti-drone systems, present in Dubai to support the US military, was also destroyed in a combined operation carried out by the IRGC’s aerospace and naval forces.
21 Ukrainian personnel were reported to have been at the site at the time of the strike. “There is no confirmed information regarding the fate of the Ukrainian personnel present at the site, who are likely to have been killed,” Zolfaghari said.
US Tells Allies That Ukraine-Bound Arms Could be Sent to Middle East
Sputnik – 27.03.2026
The US has warned that weapons deliveries to Ukraine could be halted as the Pentagon shifts its focus to the Iran war.
The State Department reportedly told European NATO allies that munitions deliveries — especially Patriot surface-to-air missiles — could face disruptions.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised the issue at the G7 foreign ministers meeting on March 27.
NATO members have already voiced concerns that the US could reroute weapons they had bought and paid for to replenish its stockpiles amid the Iran war.
The Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) — under which US allies buy arms from the US for Ukraine—may also face disruption, despite some having “received assurances” from Washington.
Organized terrorism: Iran condemns killing of its diplomats in Lebanon
Al Mayadeen | March 27, 2026
The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned on Friday the killing of several Iranian diplomats in Lebanon, holding the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the “heinous crime” targeting their place of residence.
The Ministry stated that the incident forms part of an “aggressive policy” pursued by “Israel” against the Iranian people, adding that it constitutes a flagrant violation of international legal and humanitarian norms, particularly the principle of diplomatic immunity and the obligation to respect the sovereignty of states.
‘Organized terrorism’
In this context, the Foreign Ministry stressed that the killing of diplomats constitutes a clear example of “organized terrorism” and a direct breach of international law, affirming Iran’s determination to pursue all available legal and international channels to hold those responsible accountable.
The Ministry also extended condolences to the families of the martyrs and to the Iranian people, reaffirming its commitment to continue their path in safeguarding Iran’s security and national interests.
It identified the martyrs as: Sayyed Mohammad Reza Mousavi, Alireza Bi-Azar, Majid Hosseini Kandsar, Hossein Ahmadlou, Ahmad Rasouli, and Amir Moradi.
Iran urges UN to condemn US-Israeli assassination plots
Earlier today, Iran formally called on the United Nations Security Council to condemn active US-Israeli plans to assassinate senior Iranian officials, including Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Sayyed Abbas Araghchi. The US and “Israel” have been on an assassination spree that has now claimed the lives of Iran’s Leader and dozens of other officials since the start of the US-Israeli aggression on Iran on February 28.
In a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the President of the Security Council on Thursday, Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative Amir Saeid Iravani warned that media reports had exposed an operational framework explicitly targeting Iran’s highest political figures. The alleged suspension of those plans, Iravani stressed, offered no reassurance, as its “conditional nature” confirms that “the threat remains real, deliberate, and ongoing.”
The ambassador condemned the practice as a product of “criminal mindsets” that have publicly dismissed the rules of engagement as “foolish”, the same forces, he wrote, that have bombed students, targeted hospitals, and destroyed cultural heritage sites in an open campaign of state terrorism.
The promotion of the term “kill lists”, the letter stated, is “another manifestation of the same terrorist acts” that initiated a criminal war and have so far led to the martyrdom of more than 3,000 civilians.
Iravani further invoked the protections afforded to officials at the level of foreign minister under customary international law, protections repeatedly affirmed by the International Court of Justice, warning that any attack on their lives “would undermine the foundations of peaceful international relations.”
A record built on killing
By documented count, the Israeli entity has conducted approximately 2,300 assassination operations since 1948, a record that dwarfs any other state in the Western world and one so institutionalized that the occupation entity was likely the first government to formally acknowledge a policy of assassination, which they dub “targeted killing”, as far back as 2000.
Since the onset of the genocide in Gaza, the killing machine accelerated dramatically, targeting dozens of senior officials in the Palestinian and Lebanese Resistance, and ultimately the Iranian Leader himself, martyred in a joint US-Israeli operation on February 28, 2026.
The campaign has never been confined by borders. Operations in Dubai, Tehran, Beirut, Damascus, and European capitals have established, as a matter of practice, that the occupation recognizes no other country’s territorial sovereignty.
Why could Gaza enter the regional war?
By Robert Inlakesh | Al Mayadeen | March 27, 2026
As the Israeli-US war on the Islamic Republic of Iran continues, so too does its seemingly never-ending assault on the people of Gaza. Which may end up resulting in one of the most extreme forms of blowback that the Zionist regime has ever faced.
The so-called Gaza ceasefire agreement that came into effect on October 10, 2025, has proven to be precisely the opposite of a cessation of hostilities. Instead, just like with the way in which the Israelis dealt with the Lebanon ceasefire, they decided that the deal only applies to one side and that because they have the military edge, they can simply bomb wherever at will.
In the case of the Lebanese ceasefire, over 15,400 total violations were tallied by the time that Hezbollah chose to respond. Gaza’s official violation count is steadily on the way to the 3,000 mark, with the Zionist entity having murdered around 700 people during the “ceasefire” period.
Just as this strategy of arrogance backfired with Hezbollah, of believing that they can simply assert dominance and commit atrocities whenever they choose without any response, so too is it likely to blow up in their faces with the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza. In fact, it was this kind of mentality and arrogance that led to the humiliating defeat of their southern command on October 7, 2023.
Gaza had already been declared unlivable by 2020, as per calculations provided by United Nations experts, with a water supply that was 97% unfit for human consumption, one of the highest unemployment rates on earth, and who could forget the frequent series of massacres visited on the population there? Now, the situation on the ground is beyond comprehension.
Month after month, the sadistic Zionist administration of US President Donald Trump toyed with the Palestinian civilian population by claiming that a “Phase 2” to the ceasefire agreement was within reach. This evidently never materialised, the people were left in around 40% of the Gaza Strip with little shelter and supplies, living amongst the sewage and bombed out buildings surrounding them.
Meanwhile, the five Israeli created ISIS-linked collaborator gangs in Gaza, composed of Wahhabis and common criminals, have been granted round the clock protection and limitless supplies in order to further the goals of destroying the Palestinian people.
The “International Community?” and “International Legal System?” Nowhere to be seen, or totally ineffective where any efforts are made. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) even passed resolution 2803, birthing Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” (BoP) last November. All the Arab regimes came grovelling at the US President’s feet, as they congratulated the resolution that burned down decades of international law and precedents.
In the end, what was the BoP? Well, its charter didn’t mention Gaza, or even Palestine, once. It was instead an attempt to create a UN replacement, filled with the most repellent of spineless creatures, like Tony Blair, and billionaire friends of the US President.
Under the current conditions being faced by the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, with their civilians who are continuing to be murdered, kidnapped and injured, there will eventually come a time that the opportunity will present itself for the Palestinian national resistance to take action.
If the Israeli military continues to commit to its ground offensive inside Lebanon, forcing it to get bogged down, while the Iranian missile and drone waves continue to take out strategic targets, there may be an opportunity for the Palestinians to finally take matters into their own hands.
It is not likely that any major moves will be made at this stage of the regional war, yet if this reaches a phase where the Israeli military is being severely battered and it no longer possesses many capabilities it entered the war with, it may be in for dealing with the final flood. The Al-Aqsa Flood operation proved what happens when the Zionist entity refuses to compromise and allow the people of Gaza to breathe.
As long as the Israelis refuse to admit defeat in this war, things will certainly continue to get worse and worse for them as the months go on. The reason for this is simple, they are so hell bent on conquering more territory and spilling the blood of the region’s peoples, that there is only one solution available, to force them to face a total strategic military defeat.
Although these are all broadly considered to be low likelihood possibilities, their regional aggression could easily trigger various fronts in ways that may spin out of control. Take for example the occupied West Bank and Al-Quds, although they have so far refrained from standing up for themselves in any large-scale uprising, if they were to simply revolt, they would cause an earthquake for the Israeli military and society at large.
The Israelis know well the potential consequences of a West Bank uprising, but instead of taking measures to minimize this possibility, they choose to increase the pressure on the population there. Since October 7, 2023, they have indeed fallen silent – with the exception of the Resistance groups primarily situated in the north’s refugee camps – but in no way is it certain they will continue to take this kind of punishment.
Even the way the Zionist entity handles its predicament inside Syria, it uses nothing but brute force and refuses to behave in a strategic manner. It may be an unlikely scenario, seeing that the current President of Syria is only one step away from a normalization agreement, yet how could the Israeli military deal with being roped into a quagmire inside Syrian territory, where an abundance of groups could end up attacking them?
Which brings us back to the question of Gaza. Considering that the opportunity presents itself, the Resistance could certainly act down the line in this conflict. If it does happen, it will be out of necessity and because the Zionist entity refused to end its genocide. In anticipation of any such action, it should be noted on record that it will be entirely the fault of the Israelis and the regime in Washington.
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From the Archives
Not Hamas-Israeli conflict: The Palestinian cause belongs to the world
By Ramzy Baroud | MEMO | October 15, 2023
This, in his thinking, could only mean one thing: “Never before has Israel stood more honored and revered by the nations of the world.”
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