How, and why, US data centers in the Gulf became targets of war
Al Mayadeen | March 6, 2026
The drone strikes that knocked Amazon Web Services facilities offline in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain this week were not random acts of escalation. They were, according to analysts and industry insiders, a calculated strike on infrastructure that the United States has quietly woven into its military architecture across West Asia.
Amazon and Google hold a $1.2 billion contract with the Israeli government to provide cloud computing and artificial intelligence services to entities, including the Israeli occupation forces.
That contract, largely absent from Western coverage of the strikes, may explain why AWS facilities, and not the dozens of data centers operated by local Gulf companies on behalf of US tech giants, were the ones that were hit.
“It would be easier to target AWS,” Ed Galvin, founder of data center research firm DC Byte, told Bloomberg, noting that other US tech services are typically housed within locally operated facilities, making them harder to identify and strike.
Of approximately 230 data centers built or under development across Gulf Arab states, only a handful are wholly owned and operated by a US company, according to DC Byte. All three struck this week belong to Amazon.
What was hit
The strikes took down two of AWS’s three availability zones in the UAE, one site located near Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai, according to DC Byte, and damaged a facility in Bahrain situated close to a local military base and the King Fahd Causeway connecting the island to Saudi Arabia.
Consumer services, including online banking, were disrupted across the region. In a statement to clients, AWS said it was working to restore services while urging customers to migrate workloads to data centers outside West Asia, acknowledging that “the broader operating environment in the Middle East remains unpredictable.”
What Western media outlets fail to mention is that the exchange has not been one-sided. “Israel” and the United States have struck at least two data centers in Tehran, according to Holistic Resilience, a nonprofit organisation that maps airstrike activity.
A new front in an old logic
Data centers have entered the battlefield as legitimate targets because they power surveillance systems, drone navigation, real-time analysis of satellite footage, and the digital backbone of modern military operations.
Attacking such facilities can “paralyze banks, paralyze government offices,” Daniel Efrati, chief executive of NED Data Centers, told Bloomberg. “If you have one minute of downtime, it can cost any organization millions.”
Soft targets with hard consequences
The physical vulnerability of these facilities has been laid bare by this week’s strikes. Data centers are sprawling, visible, and dependent on exposed infrastructure, e.g., cooling units, diesel generators, gas turbines, that can be disabled without a direct hit on the building itself.
“If you knock out some of the chillers you can take them fully offline,” Sam Winter-Levy, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the Financial Times. Conventional data center security is designed to repel cyberattacks and physical intruders; it was not designed for drones.
Gulf AI ambitions under fire
The strikes land at a particularly fraught moment for Gulf states whose economic diversification strategies rest heavily on positioning themselves as global AI hubs. Saudi Arabia’s Humain and the UAE’s G42, both state-backed, have committed to vast data center clusters and signed major deals with Nvidia, Amazon, and Microsoft.
The UAE is constructing one of OpenAI’s “Stargate” facilities in Abu Dhabi. Microsoft announced last month it would open a new Azure facility in Saudi Arabia before the end of the year. Those ambitions now carry a new risk premium.
“The Gulf sold itself as a safe alternative to other markets,” Jessica Brandt, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told the Financial Times. “That argument just got harder to make.”
The new table stakes
Harder, but not necessarily fatal. Several analysts caution that the political and economic momentum behind Gulf AI investment is unlikely to be reversed by the strikes alone.
What has changed is the calculus around protection. “You can’t hide data centers,” Noah Sylvia, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute, told Bloomberg. “But you can put air defence systems on them.”
One industry veteran based in the Gulf compared the situation to Intel’s chip manufacturing plants in “Israel,” ringed by military air defences, telling the Financial Times that for a project of Stargate’s scale, that kind of protection is now “table stakes.”
A global precedent
The broader implication reaches beyond the Gulf. “This is a harbinger of what’s to come,” Winter-Levy told the Financial Times, “and these types of attacks are not going to be limited to the Middle East.”
For the first time in history, the data centers that underpin the global digital economy have become a theater of war. The infrastructure the US built to project technological power across a volatile region has become a target precisely because of what it enables.
Donald Trump Was Installed in Office to Do One Thing
José Niño Unfiltered | March 5, 2026
Long before Donald Trump descended the golden escalator, long before he learned to tell campaign crowds what they wanted to hear about ending endless wars and bringing the troops home, he told the world exactly what he intended to do about Iran. He wrote it down. He published it. And almost nobody bothered to read it.
In his 2011 book Time to Get Tough, Trump laid out his position on Iran’s nuclear program with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. “America’s primary goal with Iran must be to destroy its nuclear ambitions,” Trump wrote. “Let me put them as plainly as I know how. Iran’s nuclear program must be stopped by any and all means necessary. Period. We cannot allow this radical regime to acquire a nuclear weapon that they will either use or hand off to terrorists.”
By any and all means necessary. Those six words should have settled every subsequent debate about Trump’s foreign policy instincts toward Iran. They were not the words of a non-interventionist. They were not the words of a man who believed in restraint, in diplomacy, or in the sovereign right of nations to manage their own affairs without American interference. They were the words of a man who had already decided, more than a decade before he ordered B-2 bombers over Fordow, that Iran’s nuclear program would be destroyed on his watch. Everything that followed was execution.
Tearing Up the Deal
Trump repeatedly condemned the Iran nuclear deal throughout his 2016 campaign, calling it “the worst deal ever” that would lead to “a nuclear holocaust.” Though he occasionally struck a peaceful tone with select audiences, his actual policy toward Iran was one of consistent escalation from the moment he took office. The International Atomic Energy Agency had certified Iran’s compliance with the agreement on at least ten occasions. Trump’s own administration certified Iranian compliance in April and July 2017. None of it mattered at the end of the day.
On May 8, 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and launched what his administration called the “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign. A White House statement announced that the administration would “immediately begin the process of re-imposing sanctions” targeting “critical sectors of Iran’s economy, such as its energy, petrochemical, and financial sectors.” Trump also warned of “severe consequences” for any country that continued doing business with Tehran.
Maximum Pressure, Minimum Restraint
The sanctions that followed ranked among the most severe in modern American history. The White House stated explicitly that the campaign was “intended to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero, denying the regime its principal source of revenue.” The Trump administration steadily widened the scope of the economic siege, targeting Iran’s central bank, space agency, and shipping industry. In June 2019, Trump signed an executive order imposing sanctions on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei personally, his office, and those closely affiliated with his access to key financial resources. In July 2019, the Treasury sanctioned Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. By November 2019, the administration had targeted Khamenei’s inner circle of advisers, including his son Mojtaba and the head of Iran’s judiciary.
Between 2018 and 2021, the Trump administration imposed more than 1,500 sanctions designations on Iran and on foreign companies or individuals who did business with Tehran. According to the International Crisis Group, the campaign targeted more than 80 percent of Iran’s economy.
Branding Another Country’s Military a Terrorist Organization
In April 2019, Trump took a step that no previous American president had ever contemplated. He designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, the first time in American history that any branch of a foreign government’s military had received that label.
At the time, Trump bragged about the move in a White House statement that read like a victory lap. “If you are doing business with the IRGC, you will be bankrolling terrorism,” Trump declared. “This designation will be the first time that the United States has ever named a part of another government as an FTO.” He called it an “unprecedented step” and boasted that it would “significantly expand the scope and scale of our maximum pressure on the Iranian regime.”
The timing was notable. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced national elections the following day. The Soufan Center assessed that the designation appeared designed in part to bolster Netanyahu’s electoral chances. Iran’s Foreign Minister Zarif called it “another misguided election-eve gift to Netanyahu.” The move had little practical effect beyond the sanctions already in place, but it sent an unmistakable signal about whose interests Trump’s Iran policy was designed to serve—world Jewry.
Assassination in Baghdad
The most dramatic escalation of Trump’s first term came on January 3, 2020, when he authorized a drone strike near the Baghdad International Airport that killed Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force, along with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iran-backed militias in Iraq, and several others.
Trump addressed the nation from Mar-a-Lago the following day. “Soleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on American diplomats and military personnel, but we caught him in the act and terminated him,” Trump declared. The claim of an imminent threat became the administration’s central justification. However, reporting from Pepe Escobar found that Soleimani was on a diplomatic mission with Iraqi paramilitary leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
But the story began to unravel almost immediately. The Trump administration shifted its justifications repeatedly over the following weeks. First Trump said Soleimani was plotting to attack the Baghdad embassy. Then he told Fox News it “would have been four embassies.” Then he tweeted that it “doesn’t really matter” whether the threat was imminent. A UN human rights investigator later concluded that the killing was “unlawful” under international law.
Iran retaliated with missile strikes on American bases in Iraq, leaving more than 100 U.S. soldiers with traumatic brain injuries. The world braced for open war. The killing of Soleimani represented the first known instance of a nation invoking self-defense to justify an attack against a state actor on the territory of a third country. It was a line that no previous administration had dared to cross.
The Generals Who Tried to Stop Him
Even after the Soleimani episode, Trump continued to explore military options for striking Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. According to The New Yorker, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley spent the final months of Trump’s first term in an alarmed effort to prevent the president from launching a strike on Iranian interests that could ignite a full-scale war.
Trump had a circle of Iran hawks around him and remained close with Netanyahu, who continued to push for military action against Iran even after it became clear that Trump had lost the election. “If you do this, you’re gonna have a f***ing war,” Milley would warn. He began holding daily morning briefings with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, meetings he referred to as the “land the plane” calls. “Both engines are out, the landing gear are stuck, we’re in an emergency situation,” Milley told his staff. “Our job is to land this plane safely and to do a peaceful transfer of power the 20th of January.”
On January 3, 2021, Trump convened one final Oval Office meeting on Iran, asking his advisers about reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iran’s nuclear activities. It was the last time Milley spoke with Trump as president. The generals had managed to prevent the strike, but only barely, and only because the clock ran out.
Finishing What He Started
When Trump returned to office, there were no generals left to stop him. In February 2025, he signed a presidential memorandum reimposing “maximum pressure” and directing his Treasury and State Departments to implement a campaign aimed at “driving Iran’s oil exports to zero.” He sat beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he signed it. He told reporters, “With me, it’s very simple. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump informed senior aides that he had “approved of attack plans for Iran” but was “holding off on giving the final order to see if Tehran will abandon its nuclear program.” The offer was never serious. American military assets, including carrier strike groups, bombers, and fighter jets, were moved into strategic positions across the region.
In June 2025, Trump ordered Operation Midnight Hammer, the first direct American military strike on Iranian soil. B-2 stealth bombers dropped bunker-buster bombs on the Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities, while a submarine launched Tomahawk cruise missiles at Isfahan. Trump declared on Truth Social that the strikes had “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites, including the deeply buried Fordow facility. “Nobody thought we’d go after that site, because everybody said, ‘that site is impenetrable,’” Trump boasted to Fox News.
But the intelligence agencies told a different story. A preliminary report from the Defense Intelligence Agency suggested that the strikes inflicted only limited damage, potentially setting back Iran’s nuclear program by months rather than years. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told CBS News that Iran could resume uranium enrichment “in a matter of months.” “Frankly speaking, one cannot claim that everything has disappeared and there is nothing there,” Grossi warned. Iran remained, in his assessment, “a very sophisticated country in terms of nuclear technology.”
Then came February 28, 2026. Operation Epic Fury. The joint American and Israeli assault that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, decimated the IRGC, and spread the conflict across the entire Persian Gulf. The culmination of everything Trump had promised over the course of 15 years.
Trump’s relentless hostility toward Iran is the predictable culmination of a career built upon deep integration with the most influential elements of American Jewry. These associations provided the capital and connectivity required for his ascent, inevitably shaping his worldview to prioritize their geopolitical ambitions. Consequently, Trump has functioned as the ideal vessel for those who seek to turn Old Testament fantasies into reality through American military might.
This pattern reveals that contemporary populism—and its Zio-populist offshoots across the pond—acts merely as a Trojan horse for Zionist interests. By exploiting rhetoric concerning immigration, race relations, and economic nationalism, these movements successfully capture the loyalty of the disaffected, only to redirect their political energy toward the preservation of Jewish supremacy rather than the survival of the European peoples of the West.
Nationalists must recognize these figures as false prophets and instead prioritize the demographic and civilizational continuity of our own nations through a policy of strict realism abroad and nationalism at home.
IRGC strikes critical Israeli military sites with Khorramshahr-4 missiles in latest wave
Press TV – March 5, 2026
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced early Wednesday that its aerospace force targeted the critical Israeli military infrastructure with heavy Khorramshahr-4 ballistic missiles in the 19th wave of True Promise 4 Operation.
In a statement, the IRGC said the super-heavy missiles, each fitted with a one-ton class warhead, were launched in the pre-dawn hours.
The targets of the strike were central Tel Aviv, Ben-Gurion Airport and Squadron 27 of the Israeli Air Force at the airport, according to the statement.
It said the strategic salvo was preceded by attack drones and that the strike package penetrated “seven layers” of regional and domestic air defenses to reach its objectives.
Khorramshahr-4 is one of Iran’s most advanced weapons, a roughly 13-metre missile with a boost weight of nearly 30 tonnes and a maneuverable re-entry warhead (MaRV) capable of carrying over 1,000 kilograms of explosive payload.
The IRGC statement also said that in the previous wave its forces had successfully struck some 20 US military targets across Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.
The statement described the strikes as part of coordinated, multi-axis action by Iran’s armed forces that exceeded US and Israeli expectations and had altered the operational calculus of the ongoing war imposed on the Islamic Republic.
In the statement, the IRGC further said American troops were fleeing regional bases and seeking shelter in hotels in host countries, while decrying the US military for using civilian facilities in Persian Gulf states as cover for military activity.
The statement also warned that such movements are under constant intelligence surveillance and that Iranian forces remain prepared to target aggressor troops.
The IRGC says at least 560 American troops have been killed in retaliatory operations and many more injured since Saturday.
US racks up billions in losses during first four days of war as Iran pummels key Pentagon assets: Report
The Cradle | March 4, 2026
Iran’s retaliatory strikes on US assets in the Persian Gulf have caused at least $2 billion in losses for Washington since the start of the war against the Islamic Republic, Anadolu Agency reported on 4 March.
Almost fifty percent of the losses result from Iran’s destruction of a US AN/FPS-132 early warning radar system at Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which is worth $1.1 billion.
The Islamic Republic also took responsibility for shooting down three F-15E Strike Eagles over Kuwait on Sunday, an incident US Central Command (CENTCOM) claims was caused by “friendly fire” from Kuwaiti forces. The estimated cost to replace the jets is $282 million.
Attacks by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Forces (IRGC) also caused heavy damage to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters in Manama, Bahrain, destroying two satellite communications terminals and several large buildings.
“Using open-source intelligence reports, the targeted SATCOM terminals were identified as AN/GSC-52Bs, which approximately cost $20 million, factoring in deployment and installation costs,” Anadolu Agency reports.
Tehran has also reported destroying the AN/TPY-2 radar component of Washington’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) air-defense system deployed at Al-Ruwais Industrial City in the UAE, estimated to be worth $500 million.
“Combining these costs, Iran has damaged $1.902 billion worth of US military assets in the region,” the Turkish news agency says.
On top of these losses, Washington spent at least $2.3 billion during the first four days of the war, which was launched without congressional approval by using post-9/11 emergency laws.
The first 24 hours of the so-called “Operation Epic Fury” alone cost around $779 million, including pre-strike mobilization expenses of $630 million.
“At the current scale of operations, a three-week war could easily exceed tens of billions of dollars in expenses,” the Center for American Progress (CAP) estimated on Tuesday.
The US public policy research and advocacy organization also emphasized that “a conservative estimate for the initial costs of Operation Epic Fury is more than $5 billion as of March 2—and the campaign is just getting started.”
More losses still need to be accounted for, as the IRGC and its regional allies have targeted at least seven US military sites across West Asia since the start of the war, destroying several US diplomatic missions and intelligence sites belonging to the CIA and Mossad.
Iran denies attacking Azerbaijan, suggests Mossad involvement
Al Mayadeen | March 5, 2026
Iran’s armed forces denied on Thursday that they launched drones toward Azerbaijan after Baku accused Tehran of carrying out UAV attacks in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
The statement was issued by the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces and carried by the Iranian state broadcaster IRIB.
Azerbaijan reports drone attack
Earlier in the day, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry claimed drones launched from Iranian territory struck targets in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, leaving two people injured.
Tehran rejected the claim and emphasized that Iran respects the sovereignty of neighboring countries, particularly regional Muslim states.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran, respecting the sovereignty of all neighboring states, especially brotherly Muslim countries, denies the launch of UAVs by the Iranian Armed Forces toward Azerbaijan,” the General Staff said in the statement.
Tehran blames Israeli involvement
The Iranian military suggested that “Israel” may have launched a drone toward Azerbaijani territory in an attempt to blame Iran and escalate tensions between the neighboring countries.
The accusation comes as regional tensions have intensified following the US and Israeli attacks on Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory operations.
Claims of covert Israeli activity in the region
The allegations also emerge amid claims of covert Israeli operations in several Gulf countries.
Speaking on The Tucker Carlson Show, American journalist Tucker Carlson said authorities in Qatar and Saudi Arabia had arrested Mossad agents accused of planning bombings in those countries. Carlson described the development as unusual and questioned the logic behind such operations.
He suggested the alleged plots could be part of broader efforts to destabilize multiple countries in the region while escalating pressure on Iran.
Iranian Armed Forces say no missile fired from Iran into Turkey
Press TV – March 5, 2026
Iran’s Armed Forces say they did not fire any missiles into Turkey, stressing Tehran’s respect for the neighboring country’s territorial integrity.
“The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran dismiss firing any missile into Turkey,” the Chief Staff of the Armed Forces said in a statement on Thursday.
It added that the Iranian Armed Forces respect the sovereignty of the neighboring and friendly country of Turkey.
The statement came after Turkey’s Ministry of National Defense claimed that NATO air defense systems had destroyed a ballistic missile fired from Iran and heading into Turkish airspace.
The ministry announced on Wednesday that the missile was shot down after passing over Syria and Iraq. The target of the missile has not been determined.
Incirlik Air Base, located in Turkey, is under the control of the country’s air force and operates as a joint Turkish-US airbase.
It is used by foreign military forces, mainly the US and other NATO allies.
Incirlik was a key logistics and air support site for US-led operations in Iraq during the 1991 Persian Gulf War and later as a cargo hub for Iraq and Afghanistan operations.
Iran is defending itself against an uprovoked US-Israeli aggression that started last Saturday. Iranian armed forces have launched multiple drone and missile operations against US military assets across the region since the start of the war.
Larry Johnson: AIR POWER CANNOT BEAT an ENTRENCHED ENEMY LIKE IRAN
Daniel Davis / Deep Dive – March 4, 2026
Larry Johnson argues that Iran will not back down because it sees the conflict as existential, while the U.S. lacks the long-term resolve to sustain another major war—citing failures since the Vietnam War.
He claims Iran has effectively neutralized much of the U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf, rendering bases such as Al Udeid Air Base, Prince Sultan Air Base, and U.S. naval facilities in Bahrain combat-ineffective, and destroying key radar systems. He argues that airpower alone—referencing “shock and awe” from the Iraq War—cannot secure victory without ground forces.
The discussion questions statements by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, contrasting his current rhetoric with past criticism of U.S. interventionism. The speaker suggests current leadership is overstating progress and creating unrealistic expectations that Iran will soon collapse.
He further argues that despite heavy bombardment, Iran remains capable of striking Israel and that damage inside Israeli cities is being underreported due to social media censorship. He claims missile defenses such as Patriot, THAAD, and Iron Dome are being depleted or are ineffective.
Strategically, he contends the U.S. and Israel lack the capacity to conquer Iran, noting its vast size, mountainous terrain, and the logistical impossibility of a ground invasion—drawing comparisons to difficulties in Afghanistan. He also points to Israel’s ongoing struggle in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 as evidence that overwhelming airpower does not guarantee political or military victory.
Overall, the speaker concludes that U.S. leadership is misrepresenting the situation, underestimating Iran’s resilience, and setting itself up for strategic and political failure.
Iran UN: Timing not suitable for any form of negotiation with US
Al Mayadeen | March 3, 2026
Iran’s UN envoy in Geneva dismissed the possibility of talks with the United States amid ongoing aggression, reaffirming Tehran’s defensive military focus and highlighting efforts by the US and “Israel” to provoke attacks in neighboring states
Iran’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Reza Bahreini, stated on Tuesday that “the only language to deal with the United States now is the language of defense.”
Speaking at a press conference in Geneva in response to questions from Al Mayadeen, Bahreini emphasized that Iran is currently focused on defense, adding that the timing is not suitable for any form of negotiation.
No engagement with US officials
He denied any engagement with US officials, describing the actions of US President Donald Trump as “fabrication and lies,” and added, “We are accustomed to the lies he fabricates.”
Bahreini stipulated that any change in the course of events would require an end to hostilities and a guarantee that such aggression against Iran would not be repeated.
Regarding timing, he stressed the importance of this core issue, stating, “Our defense system will respond with great force and seriousness to reach a stopping point for this aggression and to ensure that no new attack or aggression occurs against Iran in the future.”
When asked about Iran’s relationship with countries hosting US bases after the war, Bahreini responded, “We are neighbors and will remain neighbors, and we are friends and will remain friends.”
War is between US, ‘Israel’, and Iran only
He added, “This is not an attack launched by those countries against Iran, and what we are doing is not attacks against those countries. As I told you, this is a war between Iran, the United States, and Israel.”
Bahreini confirmed that Tehran’s military forces “have been ordered to exercise extreme caution and vigilance in attacking and striking US military bases only, without harming any non-military sites in those countries,” emphasizing that “this is what happened.”
He highlighted that “no harm occurred to non-military sites in neighboring countries,” and explained that “everything Iran did, and the attacks carried out by our military forces, were solely and exclusively against US military bases.”
Bahreini also expected neighboring countries “to understand what we are doing, because under no circumstances can we allow those bases to be used to conduct military operations against Iran,” adding that neighboring countries must not permit aggressors to use their territory against Iran.
He concluded by underscoring the principles at stake. “This is the principle of friendship, the principle of peaceful coexistence, the principle of neighborhood that our neighbors and we must all maintain and preserve.”
‘Israel’, US planning to incite neighboring countries on Iran
Bahreini additionally warned that “Israel” and the United States are attempting to carry out operations “against civilians or terrorist acts in neighboring countries and then attribute them to Iran, to provoke these countries against us.”
Bahreini added that he is “confident they will not succeed if neighboring countries show sufficient vigilance and are aware and prepared for any scenario, for any bad scenario that the United States and Israel may execute.”
He also reaffirmed Iran’s commitment to international law, stating, “We reiterate that our military forces remain committed to the principles of international law and the principles of international humanitarian law.”
Corroborating Bahreini’s remarks on provocations, on The Tucker Carlson Show, journalist Tucker Carlson reported that authorities in Qatar and Saudi Arabia had arrested “Mossad agents who were planning on committing bombings in those countries,” calling the development “weird” and questioning the logic behind it.
“Why would the Israelis be committing bombings in two Gulf countries, which are also being attacked by Iran? Aren’t they on the same side?” Carlson asked, before answering himself: “Israel wants to hurt Iran and Qatar and UAE and Saudi and Bahrain and Oman and Kuwait.”
Iran no longer has any reason for restraint
By Samuel Geddes | Al Mayadeen | March 3, 2026
Tehran may well refuse US-Israeli pleas for a ceasefire until the region is transformed.
Both Trump and Netanyahu find themselves in an extraordinarily vulnerable position. They have given their greatest ideological opponent the means and the justification to extract maximum damage from them, as well as ceasefire conditions that would truly make this conflict a turning point in modern history.
President Trump clearly believed, at Netanyahu’s encouragement, that assassinating Iran’s Leader would pressure it to soften its negotiating position on the nuclear file. What he did instead was to shatter nearly a decade of Iranian restraint in the face of relentless provocation.
Trump has rendered both Washington and Tel Aviv more desperate for an end to the war than Iran. In addition to retribution for the assassination of the Leader of the Revolution, Tehran is calling in the debts of Trump’s “maximum pressure strategy” in full.
Ever since Trump’s withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2018, Tehran has attempted to limit the rate of escalation, especially following the assassination of Quds Force commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani in 2020 and others across various arenas since October 2023’s Al-Aqsa Flood.
Netanyahu’s domestic political interests have been the opposite, deliberately prolonging the genocidal onslaught in Gaza, expanding it to the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and from 2024, Iran, when it bombed the Damascus consulate. He followed up by assassinating Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and much of Lebanese Hezbollah’s leadership.
By June last year, he had attained his life-long goal of drawing Washington directly into hostilities with Iran when it bombed the Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan nuclear facilities. Now he has obliterated the ultimate red line with the airstrike that martyred Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei.
As US and Israeli military sources themselves acknowledged, even before the outbreak of war, stockpiles of missile defense munitions were critically low. The 12 days of direct war between Iran and “Israel” last year cut deeply into the regime’s Iron Dome, Arrow and David’s Sling systems before Washington stepped in to impose a ceasefire.
Now that Iran and Hezbollah are unleashing their arsenal, the ability of Israel, US forces and GCC states to avoid catastrophic blows is being measured in days rather than weeks. The global supply of these munitions has been further strained by shipments sent to Ukraine and will be insufficient to resupply the West Asian theatre well before the end of this week. This will critically expose western assets not just in the region but globally, for years to come.
As of just the third day of the war, maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is effectively at a standstill. In Saudi Arabia, Ras Tanura, the most crucial oil refinery in the world, has sustained impact from drones and halted operations.
Even without direct hits on regional energy infrastructure, GCC oil producers will be forced to halt production within three weeks due to a lack of storage capacity. President Trump’s favorite metric of economic performance, the stock market, is staring down the barrel of an energy shock unseen since 1973, and which may well exceed that crisis. The frail state of the US economy, combined with the global blowback to its tariff policy, could easily tip into recession or even depression. This would be shattering to the petrodollar system as well as the very status of the US Dollar as the global reserve currency.
Once Iranian missiles are unimpededly striking vital military and economic targets in “Israel” daily and inflicting mass casualties on US forces from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Arabian Sea, the Islamic Republic will be able to impose extraordinary conditions merely in exchange for a halt to the war. It will plausibly be able to demand the unconditional lifting of all Western sanctions, not just against itself, but against Yemen, Lebanon, and Gaza. It will also be able to dictate the end of Netanyahu’s regional escalation spree, forcing “Israel’s” withdrawal from Gaza, Lebanese and Syrian territories, and re-establishing a balance of terror that ensures an indefinite calm, even if a limited one.
Alternatively, it could, in emulation of Ansar Allah in early 2025, agree a separate ceasefire with Washington, leaving them a free hand to continue full-scale bombardment of “Israel”.
Assuming the intensity of hostilities doesn’t achieve this first, it could also demand the definitive withdrawal of US forces from the Persian Gulf, ending America’s hegemony over the region and the world by extension.
US ‘stonewalls’ Gulf calls for more interceptors as supplies quickly run out: Report
The Cradle | March 3, 2026
Washington has been “stonewalling” its Gulf allies’ requests for a replenishment of air defense missiles, Middle East Eye (MEE) reported, coinciding with intensifying Iranian attacks on US bases and assets across the region.
“At least one Gulf state that has come under attack from Iran asked US officials about replenishing supplies that have been depleted since the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran, but was brushed off,” a former US official familiar with the matter told MEE.
The former official said a separate Gulf state “responded to US requests to use air bases in their country with enquiries about the US’s commitment to their air defense systems,” and added that Washington’s Arab allies will “be left wanting if they expect new supplies of interceptors.”
“Whatever munitions were produced in the last couple of months, we have shot several years’ worth of production in the last few days,” the source went on to say.
The report also says pressure is growing on Arab states to join Israel and the US in their war against Iran.
Kelly Grieco at the Stimson Center think tank said, “The UAE has now burned through a significant chunk of an interceptor stockpile that took years to build.”
“US defenses focus on Israel … There is a sense of disappointment in the Gulf with our ally and partner, if we are describing that correctly, which focuses on Israel security and stability of Israel without attention to defending the Gulf states which are being subjected to Iranian attacks,” Saudi political analyst Suleiman al-Aqili told Al Jazeera.
Iranian missile and drone attacks against Israel, US military bases across the region, and major energy assets in the Gulf and Iraqi Kurdistan have not stopped since the start of the US-Israeli war. The Strait of Hormuz has also been closed.
The US Navy’s Fifth Fleet base, in particular, is among the targets being relentlessly pounded. Six US soldiers have been killed over the past few days [as per US sources].
Iraqi resistance factions allied to Tehran have also joined the fight, along with Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Despite the mass buildup of US defenses and Israel’s sophisticated network of interceptor systems, Iranian missiles continue to make direct hits on Israeli targets.
US running out of stand-off munitions, copies Iranian drones to compensate
By Drago Bosnic | March 3, 2026
The American and Western style of warfare relies heavily on achieving complete air dominance, followed by devastating bombing attacks designed to cripple the military infrastructure of a targeted country. If that doesn’t work, the US/NATO then resorts to unadulterated terrorism, targeting noncombatants and civilian infrastructure. During the early stages of the (First) Cold War, this approach was used against Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and numerous other countries. However, it never resulted in a strategic victory. On the contrary, it only galvanized the resistance of the local populace, strengthening their resolve in the face of American/Western terror bombing strategy.
This military doctrine suffered a failure over Indochina, where the heroic resistance of the Vietnamese people resulted in a crushing and humiliating defeat for the invading Americans. With the help of Russia, which sent thousands of military advisors and the most advanced air defense systems of the time, the Vietnamese military managed to shoot down approximately 12,000 US aircraft, saving millions of lives in the process. Just like in Korea, Washington DC employed an indiscriminate terror bombing of Vietnamese cities. The estimates for the total number of casualties go upwards of 5 million for Indochina, as American occupation forces heavily bombed the entire region.
This is particularly true for Laos, which suffered devastation on 98% of its territory. From 1964 to 1973, the USAF launched nearly 600,000 sorties, dropping well over 2,000,000 tons of ordnance on the unfortunate country. This equates to one aircraft load every eight minutes, 24/7 for 9 years, making Laos the most heavily bombed country in history. Laos formally wasn’t even a party to the US-orchestrated conflict, but the Pentagon still dropped more bombs on it than on Germany and Japan during WWII, combined! With a population of only 3 million at the time, this equated to roughly one ton of bombs per person. This terror campaign left more than 80 million unexploded cluster munitions and other ordnance.
Needless to say, these American weapons kill civilians to this very day, well over half a century later. In addition, much of the land remains unusable, contributing to poverty in affected regions. The only reason the situation wasn’t as bad for Vietnam is that it had Russian-made SAM (surface-to-air missile) systems and fought back with unrelenting resolve. The US aggression on Indochina resulted in a change of tactics and doctrine, with the Pentagon placing all of its bets on precision warfare in subsequent conflicts. By the end of the (First) Cold War and afterwards, the US launched dozens of truly unprovoked wars of aggression, using this to great strategic effect.
However, even after adopting the new strategy, civilian casualties kept piling up. Tens of thousands were killed in US aggression on Serbia/Yugoslavia in the 1990s, culminating with the 1999 bombing. One would expect fewer civilian casualties as military technologies became more advanced, but this actually got worse in the Middle East, where US wars of aggression killed at least five million people from 2001 to 2021. The latest American war is no less bloody, with the USAF killing up to 200 Iranian schoolgirls on the first day of aggression on Iran. However, this resulted in yet another “Vietnam effect”, with the Iranian people demonstrating resolve to fight back and defend their country.
The USAF lost at least three “invincible” F-15 jets, while the Iranian military continues pounding American bases all across the Middle East. The Pentagon is already worried that it will soon run out of costly stand-off munitions, which were designed for “shock & awe” wars that would knock out a country in days or weeks. However, it’s perfectly clear now that’s not going to happen, so Washington DC is looking for alternatives to maintain a prolonged war. This includes the shameless copying of Iranian “Shahed 131/136” drones, dubbed LUCAS (Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System) in American service. These will be used to replace the exorbitantly expensive “Tomahawk” cruise missiles and similar weapons.
Much unlike the US, Russia and Iran jointly upgraded the latter’s “Shahed” designs, with Moscow providing significantly enhanced guidance systems, electronic warfare (EW) countermeasures, larger warheads, etc. The Kremlin is now also using this experience to improve its own long-range precision-strike capabilities, including with new cruise missiles that are more affordable than current munitions. Iran is also likely to receive such technologies from Russia, aiding its resistance efforts against US aggression. The stakes are high, especially for Donald Trump, whose political “skin” is in the game, particularly in a midterm election year.
Drago Bosnic is an independent geopolitical and military analyst.
War on Iran shifts to attrition phase: Bloomberg
Al Mayadeen | March 3, 2026
An analysis published by Bloomberg on Tuesday suggests that only days after open hostilities began, the confrontation between the United States and Iran has shifted into a prolonged war on attrition.
According to the report, waves of Iranian drones, particularly the Shahed-136, have continued targeting US military installations and infrastructure across the Gulf following the initial strikes launched by Washington and Tel Aviv. While Gulf officials claim interception rates exceeding 90% through US-supplied Patriot missile batteries, the economic imbalance of the battlefield tells a different story. Each PAC-3 interceptor costs millions of dollars, dramatically outweighing the comparatively modest cost of the drones they attempt to neutralize.
The disparity recalls lessons from previous conflicts, including the 12-day aggression on Iran in June 2025, where sustained barrages exposed the limits of even advanced air defense architectures. High-end Western interceptor systems can be placed under strain when deployed continuously against lower-cost aerial platforms. Analysts say this dynamic creates mounting financial and logistical pressure on US regional partners, raising persistent questions about the long-term sustainability of such defensive operations.
A strategic response to escalation
Observers cited in the report argue that Iran’s approach reflects deliberate operational planning rather than improvised escalation. By relying heavily on drones and calibrated missile deployments, Tehran appears to be managing its resources while imposing steady costs on foreign forces operating near its borders.
Kelly Grieco of the Stimson Center noted that an attritional approach “makes operational sense from Iran’s perspective,” suggesting Tehran is calculating that defensive stocks among US allies could be depleted while political pressure mounts across Gulf capitals.
Iran is believed to retain substantial reserves of ballistic missiles and loitering munitions. Reports indicate more than 1,200 projectiles have been launched since hostilities began, though heavier systems may be preserved for prolonged engagement. Analysts view this as evidence that Tehran is pacing its response rather than exhausting its capabilities prematurely.
Logistical Questions on Both Sides
Bloomberg also noted that Patriot interceptor supplies in some Gulf states, including Qatar, could last only days at the current rate of usage, prompting behind-the-scenes diplomatic engagement to prevent further escalation. Production of PAC-3 interceptors remains limited, while the more advanced THAAD systems operated by Saudi Arabia and the UAE are generally reserved for high-speed ballistic threats and involve even greater financial cost.
These concerns echo remarks made separately to CNN by Shashank Joshi, defense editor at The Economist, who warned that high-intensity exchanges could quickly expose vulnerabilities in advanced interceptor stockpiles.
“But my supposition is that, after about sort of another week of this, we would begin to see very, very serious shortages, particularly of the most high-end interceptor munitions,” Joshi said.
Joshi further indicated that a sustained campaign would likely extend beyond intercepting incoming projectiles to targeting missile production networks and supply chains inside Iran, an approach designed to degrade long-term replenishment capacity rather than merely blunt immediate attacks.
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth sought to limit expectations about an extended campaign, stating: “This is not Iraq, this is not endless.”
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi suggested that military units were operating under standing strategic directives. “Our military units are now in fact independent and somehow isolated and they are acting based on instructions, general instructions given to them in advance,” he told reporters.
If exchanges continue at the current intensity, both offensive and defensive arsenals could begin thinning within weeks.
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15 Saudi ‘hijackers’ were CIA agents working for US: Scholar
Press TV – April 13, 2016
Fifteen of the 9/11 “hijackers” from Saudi Arabia were CIA agents working for the United States government, which was seeking to destroy the Middle East for Israel and to double the American military budget, says Dr. Kevin Barrett, an American academic who has been studying the events of 9/11 since late 2003…. continue
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