WAR WITH IRAN - DAY 10 - THE SON OF DEATHS KHEMENI (WHOS IN HELL FIRE FOREVER) LEADS THE SEX FOR MURDER CULT IN IRAN NOW. WILL HE BE JOINING PAPA IN HELL TO.ONLY TIME WILL TELL.I'LL GIVE IT A WEEK AT MOST.
THE NEXT US-ISRAEL HIT ON IRAN SHOULD BE VERSE 37. ALL OFFENSIVE NUKE SITES MISSLES,DRONES,AND OF COURSE KHEMENI AND THE IRGC GUARDS.THEN AFTER IRANS REGIME CHANGE. MUSLIMS COME TO JESUS BY THE MILLIONS.
JEREMEIAH 49:32-39 (IN IRAN AT THE BUSHEHR OR ARAK NUKE SITES AND ALL OFENSIVE WEAPONS DESTROYED IN IRAN)
Jeremiah 49:32-39
32 Their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners [of their hair] cut off; and I will bring their calamity from every side of them, says Yahweh.
33 Hazor shall be a dwelling-place of jackals, a desolation forever: no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein.(Location & Size: It was strategically located along the Via Maris (Way of the Sea), a major trade route connecting Egypt with Syria and Mesopotamia.)
34 The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam,(IRAN) in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,
35 Thus says Yahweh of Hosts: Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,(IRANS OFFENSIVE WEAPONS) the chief of their might.(MISSLES AND NUKE SITES)
36 On Elam (IRAN) will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of the sky, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation where the outcasts of Elam shall not come.(SINCE 1979 IRANIANS HAVE GOTTIN OUT OF IRAN BECAUSE OF KHEMENI AND HIS APOCOPOLIPTIC DEATH CULT BELIEF-BLACK HATER 12ERS)
37 I will cause Elam (IRAN) to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those who seek their life;(ISRAEL THE LITTLE SATAN AND THE U.S THE BIG SATAN) and I will bring evil on them, (MISSLES) even my fierce anger,(FIRE) says Yahweh; and I will send the sword after them,(IRANS OFFENSIVE WEAPONS) until I have consumed them; (DESTROYED THEM ALL NUKE SITES,MISSLES ETC)
38 and I will set my throne in Elam,(IRAN WILL BECOME A CHRISTIAN NATION) and will destroy from there king (KHEMENI, ISLAM) and princes, says Yahweh.(IRANIAN ARMY GUARDS)
39 But it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring back the captivity of Elam,(IRAN) says Yahweh.(WERE IN THE LATTER DAYS NOW)
JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23 Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24 Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27 And I will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN DAMASCUS)
THE DEATH CULT KHEMENI SON (DADDYS LITTLE BOY) BELIEVES THE SAME AS HIS FATHER.HES AS DANGEROUS AS HIS PAPA BURNING IN HELL FOREVER WAS ON EARTH.HE BELIEVES ISRAEL THE LITTLE SATAN.AND AMERICA THE BIG SATAN MUST BE NUKED TO BRING NOSE PICKER MAHDI OUT OF THE WELL.SO ISLAM CAN HAVE WORLD RELIGOUS (CULT) CONTROL.YOU BECOME A MUSLIM OR DIE.SO LIKE I PREDICTED BY THE BIBLE.IRAN WON'T BE TOTALLY DESTROYED ITS LEEADERSHIP.TILL AFTER THE EZEK 38 & 39 WAR.WHEN GOD GETS RID OF 1/4 OR 300 MILLION MUSLIMS INCLUDING IRAN FOR GOOD.SO I KNEW IRANS NEW LEADER HAD TO BE A RADICAL ALSO.
Analysis'This is a hardline choice, made in a hardline moment'More hardline than his father, Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment signals defiance and revenge-Successor and son of Iran’s slain supreme leader will ‘have no choice’ but to expand repression, even if war ends, official says, warning world ‘will miss the era of his father’By Samia Nakhoul and Parisa Hafezi Today, 5:45 am-MAR 9,26
DUBAI (Reuters) — Iran’s clerical leadership chose confrontation over compromise in appointing Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father, Ali Khamenei, a move regional officials say is a direct rebuke to US President Donald Trump, who had declared the son “unacceptable.”Supreme leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli airstrike on February 28 in the opening salvo of the ongoing US-Israeli bombing campaign in Iran, which has responded with missile and drone strikes across the region.The appointment of Mojtaba as his successor by the Assembly of Experts locks hardliners firmly in control in Tehran — a gamble that could reshape Iran’s war with the US and Israel and reverberate far beyond the Middle East.“Having Mojtaba take over is the same playbook,” said Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. “It’s a big humiliation for the United States to carry out an operation of this scale, risk so much, and end up killing an 86-year-old man, only to have him replaced by his hardline son.”Under Iran’s complex, theocratic system, the supreme leader is the ultimate authority, including over foreign policy and Iran’s nuclear program, as well as guiding the elected president and parliament.Analysts say the choice of Mojtaba, 56, a deeply hardline cleric whose wife, mother and other family members were also killed in US–Israeli strikes, sends an unequivocal message: Iran’s leadership has rejected any prospect of compromise to preserve the system and sees no path forward except confrontation, revenge and endurance.According to insiders, Mojtaba will face immense internal strain from a disaffected population — the regime has killed thousands of Iranians when quashing protests earlier this year — and an escalating conflict, but is expected to move swiftly to consolidate power.That will likely mean expanded authority for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), harsher domestic controls and sweeping repression to crush dissent.“The world will miss the era of his father,” a regional official close to Tehran told Reuters. “Mojtaba will have no choice but to show an iron fist… even if the war ends, there will be severe internal repression.”That stance comes after months of deepening domestic unrest — the bloodiest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution — that had already weakened the Islamic Republic before the war began.Iran was grappling with a battered economy, soaring inflation, currency collapse and widening poverty, alongside tightening repression that had fueled public anger and protests — pressures now likely to intensify under wartime rule.Bleak days ahead-Difficult days lie ahead under Mojtaba, with far tighter internal controls, intensified pressure at home and an even more aggressive, hostile posture abroad, said another Iranian insider familiar with the situation on the ground.Paul Salem, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said Mojtaba was not a figure positioned to strike a deal with the United States or pivot diplomatically.“Nobody emerging now is going to be able to compromise,” Salem said. “This is a hardline choice, made in a hardline moment.”In the eyes of Iran’s clerics, many of whom famously label America the “Great Satan,” the assassination of Ali Khamenei, the Islamic Republic’s highest religious authority, has elevated him to “martyrdom.”Clerics have cast the slain leader as a heroic figure, likening him to Imam Hussein — the Shiite symbol of sacrifice and resistance against oppression.“Mojtaba is even worse and more hardline than his father,” said Alan Eyre, former US diplomat and Iran specialist, adding that he was the preferred candidate of the Guards. “He’s going to have a lot of revenge to exact.”That calculus carries risks. Israel has warned that any successor to Khamenei would also be a target, while Trump has said the war may only end once Iran’s military leadership and ruling elite are eliminated.New leader has long opposed reformists-A powerful cleric, Mojtaba has long opposed reformist groups advocating engagement with the West. His close ties to senior clerics and the IRGC — a US-designated terrorist organization which dominates Iran’s security forces and its economy, and facilitates Iran’s regional network of anti-Israel proxies — give him leverage across the state’s political and coercive security institutions.He amassed influence under his father as a key figure within the security apparatus and the vast business empire it controls, operating for years as Ali Khamenei’s gatekeeper and, in practice, a “mini-supreme leader,” analysts say.His elevation comes as the US-Israeli campaign against Iran intensifies, with joint strikes hitting fuel depots and other targets inside Iran, while Iranian missiles and drones have struck Gulf states, widening the conflict.Mojtaba studied under conservative clerics in the seminaries of Qom, the heart of Shiite theological learning.The US Treasury sanctioned him in 2019, saying he represented the supreme leader in an official capacity despite never holding elected or formal government office.A Gulf source familiar with regional government thinking said of Mojtaba’s appointment: “This tells Trump and Washington that Iran will not back down, they will fight on until the finish.”Salem, of the Middle East Institute, likened Iran’s trajectory to Iraq under Saddam Hussein after 1991 or Syria under Bashar al‑Assad after 2012 — governments that survived years of war and isolation but steadily lost control.“They’re doubling down on the hard line,” Salem said. “Internally, it’s terrible — and deeply destabilizing.”Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Mojtaba Khamenei: son and successor to Iran's supreme leader by AFP Staff Writers.
Paris, France (AFP) Mar 8, 2026-Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, has been appointed to succeed his father as the new head of the Islamic republic.The younger Khamenei was named supreme leader by the top clerical body the Assembly of Experts in a statement published shortly after midnight on Monday in Iran.Other contenders for the top position had included Alireza Arafi, one of the three members of the interim council running the country, hardliner Mohsen Araki, and even Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the founder of the Islamic republic in 1979.But ultimately the assembly settled on Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, opting for the kind of hereditary transition that his father had rejected on principle in 2024. The Islamic revolution had put an end to a multi-century royal dynasty headed by the shah.Born on September 8, 1969, in the holy city of Mashhad in eastern Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei is one of six children of the late supreme leader.Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed aged 86 just over a week ago in Tehran during the first wave of US-Israeli air strikes that triggered the war in the Middle East.Because of his discretion at official ceremonies and in the media, Mojtaba Khamenei's true influence has been the subject of intense speculation for years among the Iranian population as well as in diplomatic circles.He is the only child of the former supreme leader to hold a public position, despite having no official post.The cleric, who has a salt-and-pepper beard and the black turban of the "seyyed", descendants of the Prophet Mohammed, has been presented by some as acting behind the scenes to pull strings at the heart of power in Iran.He is regarded as close to conservatives, notably because of his ties with the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of the Islamic republic's military.That relationship dates back to his service in a combat unit at the end of the war between Iraq and Iran that lasted from 1980 to 1988.- Security force links -The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Mojtaba Khamenei in 2019 during President Donald Trump's first term, saying he represented the supreme leader "despite never being elected or appointed to a government position aside from work in the office of his father".Ali Khamenei had "delegated a part of his leadership responsibilities" to his son, "who worked closely" with Iranian security forces "to advance his father's destabilising regional ambitions and oppressive domestic objectives", the Treasury said.Opponents have notably accused him of playing a role in the violent crackdown that followed the re-election of ultra-conservative president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009, which triggered a vast protest movement.According to an investigation by the Bloomberg news organisation, which cited anonymous sources and Western intelligence agency reports, Mojtaba Khamenei has amassed wealth estimated at more than $100 million.Money from oil sales had been channelled into investments in luxury British real estate, hotels in Europe and property in Dubai through shell companies in tax havens, according to the investigation.On the religious front, Mojtaba Khamenei studied theology in the holy city of Qom, south of Tehran, where he also taught.He attained the rank of Hujjat al-Islam, a title given to mid-ranking clerics, below that of Ayatollah held by his father and by revolutionary leader Ruhollah Khomeini.His wife, Zahra Haddad-Adel, daughter of a former speaker of parliament, also died in the US-Israeli strikes that killed the supreme leader, according to Iranian authorities.Israel has issued a stark warning to the new supreme leader and whoever selected him, saying "the hand of the State of Israel will continue to follow any successor and anyone who seeks to appoint a successor".The Assembly of Experts has 88 members who are elected every eight years.It has only overseen one leadership transition process to date, when Khamenei was selected in 1989 following the death of Khomeini.
Trump says new Iran leader won't last long without his approval.
Tehran (AFP) Mar 8, 2026 - US President Donald Trump warned on Sunday that Iran's next supreme leader would not last long without his approval, as Tehran prepared to reveal the successor to the slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Nine days into the war that killed the supreme leader, three members of Iran's Assembly of Experts said the organisation had chosen a successor, but several hours after those statements no name had been revealed.Hossein Redaei, a member of the body, said it had gathered the votes for the next supreme leader, but said it had not been deemed appropriate to hold a public and in-person gathering given the wartime conditions.Some have suggested that Khamenei's 56-year old son Mojtaba Khamenei would succeed his father.Trump had previously demanded a say in the appointment and dismissed the younger Khamenei as an unacceptable "lightweight"."He's going to have to get approval from us," Trump told ABC News on Sunday, referring to Iran's next leader. "If he doesn't get approval from us he's not going to last long."But Tehran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi said earlier in the day that the decision was Iran's alone, adding it would "allow nobody to interfere in our domestic affairs".Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press", Araghchi went on to demand that Trump "apologise to people of the region" for the spiralling war.The younger Khamenei is regarded as a conservative figure, notably because of his ties to the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of the Islamic republic's military.Israel's military has warned any successor that "we will not hesitate to target you".- Air 'unbreathable' -Israel's reach was underlined by two new operations overnight -- strikes against fuel dumps in and around Tehran, and an attack on a hotel in the heart of Lebanon's capital Beirut that targeted suspected Iranian commanders.Israel said the Beirut strike killed five Revolutionary Guards commanders, including three from the Quds Force, the Guards' elite foreign branch.Warplanes hit five oil facilities around the Iranian capital, killing at least four people, according to a state oil executive, and blanketing the city in acrid smoke.Tehran's governor told the IRNA news agency that fuel distribution had been "temporarily interrupted" in the capital.A dark haze hung over the city of 10 million people, blocking out the sun, while the smell of burning fuel lingered in the air.Authorities warned the fumes could be toxic and urged citizens to stay indoors, but many windows were blown out by the force of the blasts."The blaze has been burning for more than 12 hours, the air has become unbreathable. I can't even go out to do the daily shopping," said a 35-year-old from Tehran."At first, I supported this war. After Khamenei's death, I celebrated with my friends: we drank wine and we danced."But since yesterday... people say there's not even any gasoline left at the gas stations," she said in a text message to Europe.As the war ground on, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had enough supplies to continue their drone and missile war over the Middle East for up to six months.Several blasts were heard over Israel's commercial hub of Tel Aviv after the Israeli military said it had detected a salvo of missiles from Iran. The Magen David Adom emergency services said six people were wounded in central Israel.- Advanced missiles -Trump again refused to rule out sending US ground troops into Iran, but continued to insist that the war was all but won despite the ongoing Iranian missile and drone strikes.His comments came hours before the US military announced the death of a seventh service member, who died on Saturday in Saudi Arabia after being wounded during an Iranian attack.Guards spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini said Iran had so far used only first- and second-generation missiles, but would use "advanced and less-used long-range missiles" in the coming days.Saudi Arabia said two people were killed and 12 wounded by a "projectile" on Sunday in Al-Kharj province, having earlier said it intercepted a wave of drones headed for targets including the diplomatic quarter of its capital Riyadh.Kuwait, meanwhile, said an attack hit fuel tanks at its international airport and Bahrain reported a water desalination plant had been damaged.In a rare speech, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa said "we regret the unprecedented aggression" of Iran's attacks, which he said "cannot be justified under any excuse".Iran's health ministry said Sunday that at least 1,200 civilians had been killed and around 10,000 wounded -- figures AFP could not independently verify.Lebanon's health minister said at least 394 people had been killed in Israeli air strikes since Lebanon was dragged into the war a week ago, including 83 children and 42 women.Two Israeli soldiers were killed during the fighting in southern Lebanon, the Israeli military said.Trump on Saturday attended the return of the bodies of six American service members who were killed in a drone strike on a US base in Kuwait last Sunday.- No clear way out -Analysts warn there is still no clear path to ending a conflict that US and Israeli officials say could last a month or longer.Trump has suggested Iran's economy could be rebuilt if a leader "acceptable" to Washington replaces the late supreme leader.China and Russia have largely stayed on the sidelines despite close ties with Tehran.China's top diplomat Wang Yi said the war in the Middle East should "never have happened", telling a press conference in Beijing: "The world cannot return to the law of the jungle."On Sunday, Pope Leo XIV prayed "that the roar of the bombs may cease, the weapons may fall silent, and a space for dialogue may open".
China says opposes any targeting of new Iran leader.
Beijing, March 9 (AFP) Mar 09, 2026-China said Monday that Iran's decision to name Mojtaba Khamenei as its new supreme leader following the killing of his father was a domestic matter, and it opposed any attempt to target him.Israel's military has threatened to target any successor to former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the first wave of US and Israeli strikes on Iran.US President Donald Trump had previously dismissed Mojtaba Khamenei as a "lightweight", and insisted he should have a say in appointing a new Iranian leader.China's foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters on Monday that Iran's decision to appoint the younger Khamenei was "based on its constitution"."China opposes interference in other countries' internal affairs under any pretext, and Iran's sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity should be respected," he said when asked about the threats against the new leader.Israel and the United States have continued pounding Iran in recent days, with Tehran retaliating by launching waves of missile and drone attacks on Israel and Gulf neighbours hosting US forces.Beijing is a close partner of Tehran and condemned the killing of the former supreme leader, but it has also criticised the Iranian strikes against Gulf states.China's envoy to the Middle East urged de-escalation when he met Saudi Arabia's foreign minister for talks on Sunday."China urges all parties to immediately cease military operations, prevent further escalation of tensions, and avoid causing greater harm to the people of regional countries," Zhai Jun told his counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan.China's Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, said Sunday that the war "should never have happened" and called for an end to fighting.The conflict has threatened global energy security and trade, as well as China's oil supplies.More than 80 percent of Iranian oil exports went to China last year, according to analytics firm Kpler.That accounted for a relatively small proportion of China's total seaborne oil imports, standing at about 13 percent, Kpler data shows.However, more than half of China's total seaborne crude imports last year came from the wider Middle East, Kpler said, making it highly dependent on transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)
REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE 17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4 billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Conscripts called up as military service returns to Croatia.
Zagreb, March 9 (AFP) Mar 09, 2026-Croatia's first conscripts in nearly two decades arrived at barracks Monday after the Balkan nation reintroduced mandatory military service.The European Union member scrapped compulsory military service in 2008, a year before joining NATO.But since 2020 -- and increasingly since Russia invaded Ukraine -- the country has pushed to restore basic military training with lawmakers approving its return last October.Around 800 recruits -- a majority of them volunteers -- arrived for the two months of training at three centres Monday.Among them were 82 women, who are required by law to serve.Once the recruits have completed their training, they will become part of Croatia's reserve forces.Defence Minister Ivan Anusic last week praised the response to the call for recruits, describing it as a "major and important project for Croatia's security"."Young people have recognised the importance of basic military training," Anusic said.The recruits will not be trained to be deployed to conflict zones but instead learn survival, self-defence and drone operation, he told reporters.The project is expected to cost up to 25 million euros ($29 million) a year, with conscripts paid 1,100 euros ($1,290) a month.EU countries have dramatically boosted defence spending in recent years to a record 381 billion euros ($442 billion) in 2025, according to the European Defence Agency.Conscripts will receive preferential treatment when applying for Croatian government jobs after their service.Ten conscientious objectors have been offered much lower-paid work with civil protection services or local government.Critics argue that the measure discriminates against women in not treating them in the same way as men and against those who would prefer to do civil protection work instead of military service.Officials plan to gradually expand the call-up to around 19,000 young people a year as they turn 19.Croatia is the first former Yugoslav republic to reintroduce compulsory military service since the socialist country disintegrated in a series of bloody wars in the 1990s.Neighbouring Serbia, which abolished conscription in 2011, also plans to restore it.The 75-day mandatory service could start either in December or in March next year, President Aleksandar Vucic said.Croatia's military budget is slightly above NATO's target of two per cent of gross domestic product.
Japan to deploy counter-strike missiles closer to China.
Tokyo, March 9 (AFP) Mar 09, 2026-Japan will deploy a batch of long-range, counter-strike missiles in a southwest region near China by the end of March, officials said Monday.The Ground Self-Defense Force plans to position its Type 12 surface-to-ship missiles, with a reported range of 1,000 kilometres (620 miles), in Kumamoto, Kyushu region, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told a regular briefing."I have been told that once the necessary preparation has been made, the ministry of defence will brief local residents" about the move, said the top government spokesman.Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China increases its naval activities in the East China Sea.It wants to hold its "counter-strike" capacity and use the missiles to hit enemy bases if Japan comes under direct attack.Japan's ties with Beijing quickly soured after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hinted in November that Tokyo could intervene militarily in any attack on self-ruled Taiwan.China views Taiwan as its territory and has not ruled out taking it by force.Since Takaichi's remark, Beijing has imposed economic pressure on Tokyo and discouraged Chinese nationals from visiting Japan.Local media said Japan's ground force delivered a launcher for the missiles to Kumamoto overnight without an advance notice to local communities, prompting dozens of opponents to stage a protest in front of a local military base.Critics of the move say the missiles' deployment could make the area a target of possible enemy attacks.
Macron arrives in Cyprus to discuss security amid Mideast war.
Paphos, Cyprus, March 9 (AFP) Mar 09, 2026-French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Cyprus on Monday to discuss regional security, while Paris deployed warships to the Mediterranean and the US-Israeli war on Iran stretched into a second week.Macron, who landed in Paphos earlier on Monday, met Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for talks.European Union member Cyprus was targeted last week by Iranian-made drones, leading Macron to order France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean, as well as a frigate and air defence units to the island nation.Macron was scheduled to visit the Charles de Gaulle on Monday afternoon. France's flagship is currently stationed off the coast of Crete, according to the Elysee.The Elysee has said the visit aims to show "solidarity" and detail moves to "strengthen security around Cyprus and in the eastern Mediterranean".Macron said he had spoken to his US and Iranian counterparts on Sunday ahead of the trip.Macron also spoke on Monday morning to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the situation in the Middle East and Lebanon, the Elysee said.He had already spoken with Netanyahu last week for the first time since the summer of 2025.During his visit to Cyprus, the French leader was also to discuss freedom of navigation and maritime security in the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz.There have been numerous attacks targeting the key waterway in the Gulf since the US-Israeli war on Iran started on February 28.A government spokesman for Cyprus, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, has said Macron's visit will allow the leaders of Cyprus, Greece and France to assess the "high level of coordination" between their nations.
Kurdish rebels say ready to resist Iran, await uprising.
Penjwen, Iraq, March 9 (AFP) Mar 09, 2026-From their hideouts in the Iraqi mountains near Iran, leftist Kurdish rebels say they are ready to fight the Islamic republic, but hope for an uprising before they intervene, with or without US support.After saying that he would be "all for" a Kurdish offensive on Iran, US President Donald Trump appeared to backtrack Saturday, saying he did not want such an attack.Senior commander Roken Nerada of the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) told AFP: "If there is an attack on the Kurdish people... then with every means... we are ready to resist as we always have.""I think we can achieve our rights without the help of the US or any other country," said Nerada, 39, who joined the rebels 17 years ago.Like other Iranian Kurdish rebel groups, PJAK has bases in the mountains of Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdistan region, but it also maintains hideouts in majority-Kurdish areas inside Iran.Iran has designated Kurdish rebels groups as terrorist organisations, and many have previously fought its security forces in Kurdish-majority areas along the border.But in recent years, under political pressure mostly from their Iraqi hosts, they have largely refrained from armed activity -- raising questions about their current capacity to lead an armed offensive against Iran.AFP journalists met 30 PJAK fighters in a bunker adorned with photos of fallen comrades, with a television inside showing war coverage with smoke rising from Tehran and Beirut.Since the Middle East war began late last month with a wave of US-Israeli strikes on Iran, Tehran has repeatedly struck Kurdish militants' positions in Iraq, accusing them of serving Western or Israeli interests.- Ground attack, not yet -Just before the war, and after anti-government protests in Iran, PJAK joined a coalition of Kurdish rebel parties seeking to overthrow the Islamic republic and secure self determination."We are ready to fight, especially after what they did 50 days ago," PJAK fighter Shwan said, referring to the crackdown on the protests in Iran that left thousands dead.Amid reports that rebels might collaborate with the US, Tehran threatened to target "all facilities" in Iraq's Kurdistan if Kurdish militants cross the border.But on Saturday, Trump said "we're not looking to the Kurds going in"."We don't want to make the war any more complex than it already is," he added.Amir Karimi, another commander in PJAK, told AFP last week that the "Americans are already in the area, and we have had a dialogue".It was "a political exchange... to get to know each other," Karimi said, adding that "a ground attack is not on the table at this stage"."From a strategic and tactical point of view, we believe it wouldn't be a good idea," he added, warning that Iranian forces have reinforced the borders."The most important thing is that the population itself becomes a driving force. There must be a popular uprising" in Iran, Karimi said."We are not waiting for Iran or the United States to give us the green light. But the population needs support from the outside," he added.The Kurds will need guarantees to secure a democratic Iran, he said."Who can say that, tomorrow, they won't support another dictator and bring him to power," Karimi said, referring to the US.Commander Nerada said: "What is important... is to change this current darkness into a democratic Iran."
Despite missile fire, Israel preparing to reopen schools in some areas this week-The education system could start operating in areas considered at a lower risk by the Home Front Command, if schools have access to adequate shelters-By Rossella Tercatin and Ariela Karmel-Today, 2:13 pm-MAR 9,26
Education Minister Yoav Kisch said Monday that he was working toward reopening some schools this week, even as deadly Iranian missile fire continues to hit Israeli cities.Kisch met virtually with representatives of local authorities to present his plan for a gradual reopening of the education system during the ongoing war with Iran. The minister stressed that on Tuesday, schools will remain closed or operate only remotely, but the plan could be implemented in the course of the week.Under the new framework, the school system will be able to operate in areas classified as “yellow” (that is, at a lower level of risk) by the Home Front Command, provided that schools have access to shelters. Currently, the whole country is designated as “orange” until Monday at 8 pm, when a new assessment will be published.Municipalities that are not classified as yellow will be able to request special permission from the Home Front Command to reopen schools.“Each authority has different challenges and characteristics, and therefore requires tailored responses in the field of education,” Kisch said.“The security and safety of students and education staff are our top priority,” he noted. “We will continue to maintain close coordination with the Home Front Command and with local authorities and will update the public on any developments.”Iran has continued to fire volleys of missiles at Israel, while the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon has been firing rockets at communities across northern Israel.The push to reopen schools comes after workplaces reopened last week, creating a situation where many parents were unable to work because they could not leave their young children home alone.Kisch’s announcement also comes a day after the Knesset Research Center released a report stating that over 450,000 children are studying in schools without sufficient shelter, and the ministry has no data regarding whether there is shelter in over 50% of kindergartens.According to the report, about 14% of Israeli schools have no protection at all, while 24% have only partial protection. This means that about 466,000 students, comprising roughly one-quarter of the country’s students, lack adequate protection against rockets and missiles.The report was compiled at the request of the Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee and is based on findings from the State Comptroller released in its audit of shelters in January.The Knesset Research Center also found that the Ministry of Education lacks data for about 51% (10,975 classrooms) of kindergartens. For the remaining 49% (10,444 classrooms), the ministry assumes they are protected simply because they were built after 1992, when protection requirements took effect, but does not actually know, since it has not been tracking the issue. Therefore, the number of unprotected kindergartens is likely much higher.The ministry told the State Comptroller that it was in the process of contracting a company to collect updated information and map the status of all educational institutions, including kindergartens.Under Kisch’s plan presented on Monday, local authorities will be required to establish educational frameworks for young children of teachers and school staff if their schools and daycares do not operate.In addition, regarding special education schools, during the first phase, parents will need to bring their children to school (the special education system typically provides transportation).
IDF pushes deeper into south Lebanon amid incessant Hezbollah rocket fire on Israeli towns-No reports of Israeli injuries; after issuing warning, IDF strikes US-sanctioned financial firm linked to terror group; Lebanon PM: Israel won’t achieve its goals through strikes-By Emanuel Fabian and Agencies Today, 2:00 pmUpdated at 2:27 pm-MAR 9,26
The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that it had pushed deeper into southern Lebanon overnight as part of a bid to create a buffer zone to protect northern communities after Hezbollah began attacking Israel a week ago, as the terror group fired multiple rocket barrages at civilian areas.Troops raided the Rab al-Thalathine area, west of the Israeli border community of Misgav Am, with the aim of locating and clearing the Lebanese village of Hezbollah infrastructure and operatives, the army said.The IDF said it carried out numerous air and artillery strikes before the troops moved into the area, saying it was part of its “enhanced forward defense posture.”“This operation is part of the effort to establish a forward defense that will create an additional security layer for the residents of the north,” the military said in a statement. The IDF has said that Hezbollah is launching most of its attacks from deeper within southern Lebanon, and not from close to the border.The IDF said Monday that some 300 members of Hezbollah and other terror groups have been killed since hostilities intensified last week.Lebanon’s health ministry said that at least 394 people have been killed in Israeli strikes, including 83 children. The toll did not differentiate between terror operatives and civilians.On Sunday, two Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed in a Hezbollah attack in southern Lebanon.Meanwhile, the incessant Hezbollah rocket and drone fire at northern Israel continued, sending millions running for shelter, including in the city of Haifa.There were no reports of injuries.One Hezbollah barrage targeted the north at the same time as a missile salvo from Iran. The IDF has said it has no intelligence indicating that concurrent fire from Iran and by Hezbollah in Lebanon is a “coordinated” effort.Ongoing strikes-Israel carried on with heavy strikes in Lebanon on Monday as the military said that in the past week it has hit more than 700 targets, including 120 in the past day. More than 30 multi-story buildings in Beirut, used by Hezbollah, have been destroyed in the strikes, the army said.The military additionally published a drone video apparently showing the identification of armed Hezbollah gunmen operating in a “Christian village” in southern Lebanon.According to the IDF, after the operatives were identified by troops entering a building, an Israeli Air Force fighter jet struck the site and killed them.The military did not name the village, and said Hezbollah’s activity in the area “constitutes another example of the cynical exploitation of civilian infrastructure for terrorist purposes” by the terror group.On Monday, further targets were hit in Beirut’s southern suburbs and Sidon after Israel warned it would target branches of a US-sanctioned financial firm linked to Hezbollah.The IDF said it would strike branches of Al-Qard al-Hassan, a financial firm mainly operating in Hezbollah strongholds across Lebanon’s south and east and Beirut’s southern suburbs. Israel also bombed the firm’s branches in 2024.Founded in 1983, Al-Qard Al-Hassan describes itself as a charitable organization that provides loans to people according to Islamic principles that forbid interest.However, the US Treasury Department, which sanctioned AQAH in 2007, has said that Hezbollah uses Al-Qard Al-Hassan as a cover to manage “financial activities and gain access to the international financial system.”“While AQAH purports to serve the Lebanese people, in practice it illicitly moves funds through shell accounts and facilitators, exposing Lebanese financial institutions to possible sanctions,” it said in a statement sanctioning individuals linked to the organization in 2021. Hezbollah’s former terror chief Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on September 27, spoke about AQAH many times.‘Won’t achieve goals through strikes’Amid the fighting, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday that Israel will not achieve its goals through military strikes and stressed Beirut’s “full readiness” to resume negotiations with Israel to discuss “the essential security points necessary to halt the dangerous Israeli escalation.”There was no mention of the fact that Hezbollah began firing rockets and drones at Israel last week in what it said was retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei.Aoun made the comments to three Scandinavian ambassadors, according to the Lebanese readout, as he also issued a thinly-veiled warning to Hezbollah and its allies, saying the army would continue confiscating arms when conditions permit.Any attempts to target the Lebanese Army “aligns, directly or indirectly, with the goals of those working to drag Lebanon into the ongoing regional war,” said Aoun, “bypassing the will of the majority of Lebanese who are weary of wars and their repercussions and insist on the state’s exclusive right to decide on war and peace.”Prior to Hezbollah restarting rocket and missile fire on Israel last week, Lebanon had urged the terror group not to drag the country into a new conflict.In a further blow to Lebanon’s stability, the parliament on Monday postponed legislative elections, initially due to be held in May, by two years, according to a statement from the parliament speaker, because of the renewed conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed terror group.MPs convened, including Mohammed Raad, head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, as Israeli warplanes flew above the nearby southern suburbs of Beirut.Israel regularly struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon following a 2024 agreement, accusing the terror group of ceasefire violations, and continued to hold on to five border posts inside Lebanon, citing security needs. It has now expanded beyond those points, citing defensive needs.The November 2024 ceasefire ended a year of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, which started when the terror group began firing missiles and drones into northern Israel one day after its ally Hamas launched a devastating attack on southern Israel that set off the war in Gaza.Lazar Berman contributed to this report.
Iran hails 'first wave of missiles' under Mojtaba Khamenei-1 dead, 2 seriously wounded as Iranian cluster bomb warhead hits central Israel-Iran fires 7 missile salvos at Israel since midnight, woman moderately injured by flying debris in Rishon Letzion; Bahrain’s only oil refinery burns as attacks continue against Gulf infrastructure By Emanuel Fabian-and AP Today, 1:21 pm-MAR 9,26
At least one person was killed and two others seriously wounded by an Iranian missile with a cluster warhead that was fired at central Israel on Monday, the seventh salvo of fire since midnight as Tehran kept up its attacks on Israel and Gulf nations.The cluster warhead hit at least six sites across central Israel, including in Yehud, Or Yehuda, Holon and Bat Yam. One man was killed and another was critically wounded at a construction site in Yehud, and a third man was seriously wounded in Or Yehuda, according to medical officials.At the construction site, two men in their 40s were critically hurt by shrapnel, with one succumbing to his wounds, Magen David Adom said. The second man was taken to a hospital.Images from the scenes of the impacts showed craters in the ground and vehicles and buildings damaged by the explosions. Iran has launched multiple ballistic missiles at Israel carrying cluster bomb warheads during the ongoing conflict, indiscriminately spreading small bombs over wide areas of the country.The repeated volleys of missiles targeted sites across the country, including southern Israel, the center and the north. At the same time, the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group fired rockets and drones at the north.In an early morning strike, a woman in Rishon Lezion was moderately wounded.MDA paramedics treated the injured woman in her 50s for a head injury after she was hit by flying rocks resulting from part of a cluster munition that fell in the area, then took her to Shamir Medical Center in stable condition.Hospital staff later announced she was in good health. She was not inside a bomb shelter when she was hit by the debris.Iranian state broadcaster IRIB hailed the strikes, saying the country fired its “first wave of missiles under Mojtaba Khamenei towards occupied territories,” referring to the newly elected leader who was chosen Sunday as successor to his father, Ali Khamenei.IDF strikes Isfahan-While Iran fired the repeated salvos at Israel, the Israel Defense Forces continued to carry out air strikes in Iran.The IDF said it struck several bases of Iran’s Basij paramilitary force and internal security forces in the city of Isfahan, along with missile sites in other areas of the country.During the wave of strikes in Isfahan, the IDF said it hit the headquarters of Iran’s “regional corps,” a command center of the internal security forces, a base used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Basij, and the IRGC’s police headquarters.Elsewhere, the Israeli Air Force struck a rocket engine production facility and missile launch sites, the military said.Regional anger grows as energy infrastructure is hit and oil prices spike-In addition to the strikes on Israel, Iran also kept up its attacks on the Gulf states and on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz has also all but stopped tankers from using the shipping lane between the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman through which a fifth of the world’s oil is carried. The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, surged to nearly $120 a barrel on Monday, about 65% higher than when the war started, before retreating slightly.As global economic concerns grew, US President Donald Trump downplayed the spike in prices.“Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace,” Trump wrote on social media.Iran has targeted Israel and American bases in the region since the start of the war, and has also been launching missiles and drones at energy and water infrastructure.On Monday, a fire broke out at an oil facility that was attacked in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. Bahrain’s only oil refinery was apparently also hit and Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted several drones attacking its massive Shaybah oil field.Saudi Arabia lashed out at Iran following a thwarted drone attack on Shaybah, saying Tehran would be the “biggest loser” if it continues to attack Arab states.The Foreign Ministry said Iranian attacks mean “further escalation which will have grave impact on the relations, currently and in the future.”In addition to energy facilities in the UAE, authorities there said the capital of Abu Dhabi was targeted by Iranian missiles, and two people were hurt by shrapnel from interceptions.Bahrain’s only refinery burns-Iran attacked Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, where it hit a residential area, wounding 32 people, including several children, according to authorities. Another attack appeared to have started a fire at Bahrain’s only oil refinery, sending thick plumes of smoke into the air.Bahrain has also accused Iran of damaging one of its desalination plants, though its electricity and water authority said supplies remained online. Desalination plants supply water to millions of residents in the region and thousands of stranded travelers, raising new fears of catastrophic risks in parched desert nations.On Monday, Bahrain’s state oil company declared force majeure for its oil shipments, the state-run Bahrain News Agency reported, a legal maneuver releasing a company of its contractual obligations because of extraordinary circumstances. It insisted that local demand could still be met.In Iraq, air defenses downed a drone as it attacked a US military compound inside the Baghdad International Airport, a security source told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. No injuries or damage were reported. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, but pro-Iranian Iraqi militias have previously targeted the base.Elsewhere, the US military said a service member died of injuries from an Iranian attack on troops in Saudi Arabia on March 1. Seven US soldiers have now been killed.The US State Department early Monday ordered nonessential personnel and families of all staff to leave Saudi Arabia following the escalation in attacks.Eight other US diplomatic missions have ordered all but key staff to leave: Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the consulate in Karachi, Pakistan.
Synagogue in Belgium damaged in blast, no injuries; mayor: ‘Violent act of antisemitism’-Counter-terror police investigating Liege explosion; mayor says ‘there can be no question of importing external conflicts’; house of worship also serves as Jewish community museum-By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 11:04 am-MAR 9,26
A synagogue was damaged in a blast early Monday in Liege, eastern Belgium, police said, in an incident denounced by the mayor as an “extremely violent act of antisemitism.”No injuries were reported, with “only material damage,” a spokesman for the police in the city said in a statement.Police cordoned off the street while a specialized counter-terrorism team investigated the incident.The blast took place around 4:00 a.m. in front of the synagogue, blowing out the windows of the buildings across the road, the police spokesman said.Liege Mayor Willy Demeyer expressed his “utter condemnation of this extremely violent act of antisemitism” in an interview with RTBF.“There can be no question of importing external conflicts into our city,” he said, in an apparent reference to the Middle East.A local resident told the outlet that they heard a large explosion.“We were woken up by the noise, and then, when we went downstairs, we saw that everything had been blown out,” the unnamed individual said.Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever issued a statement on X condemning the attack.“Antisemitism is an attack on our values and our society, and we must fight it unequivocally,” De Wever wrote. “We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community in Liège and across the country.”MP Michael Freilich, Belgium’s only Orthodox Jewish lawmaker, responded that government inaction on antisemitism had created an environment that made such incidents possible.“When antisemitism isn’t a priority for the public prosecutor’s office — with dozens of dismissed cases — it creates a climate of impunity,” Freilich wrote on X. “Physical attacks are, unfortunately, the predictable result. The once-promised zero tolerance for antisemitism is now colliding with an oversaturated justice system. My appeal to the government: finally address this.”Built in 1899, the synagogue also serves as a museum for the history of Liege’s Jewish community.Antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiments have skyrocketed in Belgium since the start of the war sparked by the devastating Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.Attacks such as verbal abuse, intimidation, physical violence, and graffiti continue to occur in the 30,000-strong Jewish community on a weekly basis, Ralph Pais, vice-chair of the Jewish Information and Documentation Centre (JID), said in December.
ExclusiveHerzog should give PM that 'ridiculous pardon' immediately-Trump to Times of Israel: It’ll be a ‘mutual’ decision with Netanyahu regarding when Iran war ends-US president, in phone interview, clarifies that he’ll make final call to end operation ‘at right time’; says he and PM ‘worked together’ against Islamic Republic: ‘We’ve destroyed a country that would have destroyed Israel’By Jacob Magid-Today, 2:36 am-MAR 9,26
US President Donald Trump told The Times of Israel on Sunday that a decision on when to end the war with Iran will be a “mutual” one that he’ll make together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Trump also asserted in the brief telephone interview that the Islamic Republic would have destroyed Israel if he and Netanyahu had not been around. “Iran was going to destroy Israel and everything else around it… We’ve worked together. We’ve destroyed a country that wanted to destroy Israel.”The US president was asked whether he alone would decide when the war with Iran ends or if Netanyahu would also have a say.“I think it’s mutual… a little bit. We’ve been talking. I’ll make a decision at the right time, but everything’s going to be taken into account,” he responded, indicating that while Netanyahu will have input, the US president will have the final say.Asked whether Israel could continue the war against Iran even after the US decides to halt its strikes, Trump declined to entertain the theoretical possibility before adding: “I don’t think it’s going to be necessary.”Trump has sought to avoid being locked down to a specific timeline for the war, but White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday that Washington expects it to last four to six weeks.Trump’s answers to The Times of Israel pointed to the significant degree of influence Netanyahu would appear to have over Trump’s decision-making in the war, which the US and Israel launched jointly on February 28 with a strike that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei.Trump held the phone interview shortly after Iran’s state media announced that the Islamic Republic’s Assembly of Experts had named Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba, as the country’s next supreme leader.Hours earlier, Trump told ABC News that the next leader of Iran won’t “last long” if he doesn’t have approval from the White House.Trump declined to comment to ToI on Mojtaba’s election, sufficing by declaring: “We’ll see what happens.”Give Netanyahu that pardon-The US president made headlines in Israel last week by calling President Isaac Herzog a “disgrace” for not heeding his call to pardon Netanyahu, who is standing trial for alleged bribery, fraud and breach of trust.The next day, though, Trump’s ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, met with Herzog and hailed the latter’s leadership.Asked if this was part of a “good cop-bad cop” strategy to sway Herzog, Trump avoided answering directly, but again chided the Israeli president.“Bibi Netanyahu should be given that pardon immediately. I think [Herzog is] doing a terrible thing by not giving it. We want Bibi to be focused on the war, not on a ridiculous pardon,” Trump told ToI, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.Herzog’s office said last week that it’s his prerogative to decide for himself whether to grant Netanyahu a pardon.“President Herzog greatly respects and appreciates the tremendous contribution of Donald Trump to Israel’s security,” his office said, while stressing that Israel “is a sovereign state governed by the rule of law,” and as such, the pardon request is currently being dealt with by the Justice Ministry, which will offer its legal opinion, as per the law. No timeline has been announced for when that legal opinion will be issued.Trump’s relationship with Netanyahu has improved dramatically since the 2024 US presidential election season, after the pair seemed to have had a falling out four years earlier when the Israeli premier congratulated Joe Biden for defeating Trump.In a 2021 interview with Israeli journalist Barak Ravid, Trump blasted Netanyahu for calling Biden to congratulate him on the 2020 election win and went on to assert that the Israeli premier had never been interested in making peace with the Palestinians.Asked during the Sunday phone interview whether his feelings about Netanyahu have evolved since his previous tenure, Trump responded: “We’ve done a great job together, like what we’ve done with Iran.”The US president then made a new assertion regarding Iran’s intentions, in an apparent attempt to further justify the decision to launch the war against the Islamic Republic eight days earlier.“Iran was going to destroy Israel and everything else around it… and now look what we have — we have them being destroyed,” Trump said of Iran.The US president said he wasn’t surprised by how widespread support for the Iran war is in Israel, joking that the only thing more popular there is his own favorables.He then reiterated his praise for Netanyahu and their partnership against the Islamic Republic: “Bibi’s done a great job. He’s been a wartime prime minister. We’ve worked together. We’ve destroyed a country that wanted to destroy Israel. Would have destroyed Israel if I wasn’t around.“And [if] Bibi wasn’t around, Israel would not exist today,” he added.Will Iran war lead to Hamas disarmament? The Iran war appears to have pushed off discussions the US and fellow Gaza mediating countries Egypt, Qatar and Turkey are slated to hold with Palestinian terror group Hamas on its disarmament.Given Iran’s longstanding financial support for Hamas, Trump was asked whether Tehran’s weakening in the ongoing war would make it easier to coax the Gaza-based terror group to give up its weapons.“Many people will disarm because of [the war against Iran],” he responded. “Because right now, Iran is in a position that it’s never known before, and it’s only going to get worse for them.”Before ending the call, Trump said again: “Tell this president to give him the pardon right now.”
Trump said planning to dispatch Witkoff, Kushner to Israel-IDF chief warns ‘no safe place’ for Iranian regime as fighting enters second week-Israel targets IRGC air force HQ, space center, after oil strikes said to frustrate DC; IDF says Israel will ‘pursue every successor’ to Khamenei; US accuses Tehran of attacking from civilian areas as Iran says no desire for truce-By Emanuel Fabian,Stav Levaton,Agencies and ToI Staff 8 March 2026, 11:21 pm
Israel Defense Forces chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir warned on Sunday that there was “no safe place” for the Iranian regime to hide as Israel and the US continued to strike targets across Iran on the ninth day of their joint campaign against the Islamic Republic.Iran, in turn, kept up its attacks on Israel and the Gulf states, firing nine ballistic missile salvos at Israel throughout the day, setting off sirens across the country and repeatedly sending millions of people rushing to shelter.Zamir spoke after the IDF announced that an Israeli Navy strike in Beirut, Lebanon overnight had killed five commanders of Iran’s Quds Force, the extraterritorial arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.“I tell you that there is no safe place for the arms of Iranian evil, anywhere in the Middle East, not in Beirut and not anywhere else,” he said during an assessment with Home Front Command chief Maj. Gen. Shai Klapper and other military officials.Among the targets recently struck by the Israeli Air Force was the headquarters of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ air force in Tehran, IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said at a press conference on Sunday evening.He said Iran “managed the fire of missiles and drones at Israel and countries in the region” from the headquarters.The IDF also announced that recent waves of airstrikes had targeted the IRGC space and satellite headquarters.The headquarters, the IDF said, “served as a reception, transmission and research center for the Iranian Space Agency, which is affiliated with the regime’s military.”It said the headquarters included “research facilities as well as a command-and-control structure for the Khayyam satellite,” launched by Iran in August 2022, which the IDF said was used by the IRGC to “advance terror activities and monitor the State of Israel and countries in the region.”Additionally, as part of the waves of strikes, the IDF said it hit 50 bunkers at one of Iran’s internal security forces bases that were used to store ammunition; a base of the Basij paramilitary force; headquarters of the internal security forces; and a compound belonging to the IRGC ground forces.Separately, the military provided details on a strike carried out on Saturday against the newly appointed military secretary to Iran’s supreme leader, Abolghasem Babaeian, who was appointed last week despite the supreme leader’s role being vacant following the assassination of Ali Khamenei.The IDF confirmed that it killed Babaeian, saying that it did so within an hour of having received “real-time emerging intelligence.”IAF fighter jets took off for Iran while the intelligence was being consolidated, and within 50 minutes of the information being received, the jets launched the munitions that killed Babaeian, the military said.It said that in addition to being the intended head of the military bureau of the supreme leader, Babaeian was also chief of staff at the Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, also known as Iran’s military emergency command.“Babaeian was responsible for coordinating between regime bodies to advance actions against the State of Israel and to operate the regime’s emergency mechanisms,” the IDF said.He was appointed to the role after the previous chief of Khamenei’s military bureau, Mohammad Shirazi, was killed in the opening strikes of the war alongside the supreme leader.The military also said it would target Khamenei’s successor and those who choose him. “Iran’s Assembly of Experts, which has not convened for decades, will soon gather in the city of Qom. We want to tell you that the hand of the State of Israel will continue to pursue every successor and every person who seeks to appoint a successor,” the IDF said. “We warn all those who intend to participate in the successor selection meeting that we will not hesitate to target you either.”‘Perseverance and patience’Zamir, during his assessment with the Home Front Command chief, acknowledged the “prolonged state of emergency” that the Israeli public has been living in since the outbreak of war with Hamas on October 7, 2023, but stressed the need for continued “perseverance and patience” as the battle against Iran proceeds.“It will take a long time yet; you need to be prepared for that, and however long it takes, it will take,” Zamir said.Iran, too, appeared to be in it for the long haul, with parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf vowing that it was not seeking a ceasefire.“If the enemy attacks us from any country, Tehran will respond decisively,” he told Iran’s state TV, adding that “aggressors” should be punished.Nine missile salvos were fired at Israel from Iran between midnight on Sunday and the following evening. One salvo, the sixth of the day, apparently included a cluster warhead and resulted in the injury of six people, one of them seriously.Iran has launched multiple ballistic missiles at Israel carrying cluster bomb warheads during the ongoing conflict, indiscriminately spreading small bombs in wide areas of the country.The Health Ministry said on Sunday evening that since the start of the war with Iran on February 28, 2,072 people had been treated at hospitals across the country, 155 of whom were still hospitalized in intensive care.Among those hospitalized, it said, nine were in serious condition, 42 in moderate condition, and 98 in good condition. An additional three people were being treated for anxiety and four were undergoing medical evaluations.Attacks launched from populated areas-Ten people have been killed in Iranian attacks on Israel since February 28, in addition to 18 people in the Gulf, and seven US service members.The death of the seventh American soldier was announced by US Central Command on Sunday, after they succumbed to wounds sustained in an attack on troops in Saudi Arabia on March 1.“This is the seventh service member killed in action during Operation Epic Fury,” CENTCOM said, adding that the soldier’s identity will be withheld until 24 hours after next-of-kin notification.The US military, on Sunday, accused the Iranian regime of firing ballistic missiles and drones from within heavily populated civilian areas, and urged civilians to stay home to avoid being harmed.It said this practice was primarily occurring in the cities of Dezful, Isfahan and Shiraz, and warned that the “dangerous decision risks the lives of all civilians in Iran since locations used for military purposes lose protected status and could become legitimate military targets under international law.”“The US military takes every feasible precaution to minimize harm to civilians but cannot guarantee civilian safety in or near facilities used by the Iranian regime for military purposes,” the CENTCOM statement added, urging “civilians in Iran to stay home.”“The Iranian regime is knowingly endangering innocent lives,” it said.Cracks emerge over oil strikes-Meanwhile, thick black smoke hung over Tehran on Sunday, after strikes on oil storage facilities had lit up the sky with plumes of orange flame the previous night.The strikes, carried out by Israel, sparked fury in Iran, which declared that they amounted to a war crime and a “dangerous new phase” of the conflict.In what would appear to be daylight between the two allies, reports suggested on Sunday that the US was not too pleased about the strikes either.A senior American official told Israel’s Channel 12 that Jerusalem had informed Washington in advance about the plans to target oil infrastructure, but did not indicate that the strikes would be as intensive as they were.“We don’t think it was a good idea,” the official said, adding that the US military had expected a largely symbolic strike and was surprised by the scope of the operation.According to the official, US officials are concerned that targeting infrastructure that also supplies fuel to Tehran’s civilian population could backfire by strengthening the Iranian regime and turning public opinion against Israel and the US.An Israeli security official cited by Channel 12 said the strikes on the fuel depots were intended in part to send a message to Tehran to stop targeting civilian sites in Israel.The report also said the discussion over the strikes has so far taken place mainly at the military level, without a clear political message being conveyed between the governments.To that end, the report said US President Donald Trump would be dispatching his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Israel on Tuesday.Earlier on Sunday, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the US would not target Iranian energy infrastructure, but seemingly downplayed the Israeli strikes, saying they had targeted “local fuel depots to fill up the gas tank.”“The US is targeting zero energy infrastructure. There are no plans to target Iran’s oil industry, their natural gas industry, or anything about their energy industry,” Wright said.Iran’s military warned that it would begin targeting oil sites in the region if Israel continued to strike its energy infrastructure.“The governments of Islamic countries are expected to warn the criminal America and the savage Zionist regime of such cowardly, inhumane actions as soon as possible,” Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesman for Iran’s central military command, told state TV.“Otherwise, similar measures will be taken in the region, and if you can tolerate oil at more than $200 per barrel, continue this game,” he said.The war has all but shut down the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly 20 percent of the world’s crude oil and about 20% of liquefied natural gas usually transit.Energy markets have been disrupted, and oil prices have surged. West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark for oil, rose 12% just on Friday and is up 36% in a week.Iran accounts for about 4% of world oil production, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Its oil industry is subject to international sanctions, but some oil is still exported, mainly to China, oil industry data shows.Diana Bletter contributed to this report.
Trump: Next Iranian supreme leader ‘not going to last long’ without US approval-US president says he’s open to new leadership from within current regime; Iranian FM says Tehran won’t surrender or negotiate a truce, will ‘continue to resist as long as it takes’By Lazar Berman and ToI Staff 8 March 2026, 10:14 pm
US President Donald Trump said Sunday that Iran’s next leader “is not going to last long” without Washington’s approval, as the Islamic Republic prepared for the succession of its slain supreme leader.“He’s going to have to get approval from us,” Trump told ABC News, a week after Israel killed Ali Khamenei in the opening strikes of the ongoing war with the US against the regime.“If he doesn’t get approval from us, he’s not going to last long. We want to make sure that we don’t have to go back every 10 years, when you don’t have a president like me that’s not going to do it,” Trump said.“I don’t want people to have to go back in five years and have to do the same thing again, or worse, let them have a nuclear weapon,” he added.The US president has said repeatedly in recent days that he expects to play a major role in the selection of Iran’s next leadership, while declining to clarify what form that leadership will take.Asked by NBC whether he would approve of new leadership from within the current regime, Trump said: “I would, in order to choose a good leader, I would, yeah, I would. There are numerous people who could qualify.”Though the Islamic Republic is yet to publicly name a successor to its slain supreme leader, reports have said that the regime’s so-called Assembly of Experts was likely to elect Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the assassinated ayatollah.On Sunday, Hosseinali Eshkevari, who sits on the assembly, said that a new leader has already been selected and will soon be announced by officials, adding that “the name of Khamenei will continue.”Trump has dismissed Mojtaba Khamenei as “unacceptable” and a “lightweight,” and said he was previously not considered for the role because he was thought “incompetent.”Trump made similarly disparaging remarks on Sunday about Ali Larijani, a top Iranian official who serves as secretary of the regime’s Supreme National Security Council.On Saturday, Larijani posted on X, “We will relentlessly avenge the blood of our Leader and our people. Trump must pay and will pay.”“I have no idea what he’s talking about, who he is. I couldn’t care less,” Trump told CBS News. He added that Larijani has “already been defeated.”The US administration has given varying justifications for the war in Iran, emphasizing long-term threats to the US posed by Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, while also condemning Tehran’s deadly crackdown on mass anti-government protests earlier this year, and speaking positively about the prospect of toppling the regime altogether.On Friday, Trump declared on social media: “There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”He said that after “the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s),” the US would work to “bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better and stronger than ever before.”Iranian FM: ‘No surrender,’ we will ‘continue to resist’Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday said Tehran will “allow nobody to interfere with our domestic affairs,” and that the regime will provide “no surrender,” but rather “continue to resist as long as it takes.”Araghchi said that not only will Iran not surrender, but it is not open to a ceasefire, either, the way it was during the 12-day war in June 2025 that ended with a US-brokered truce.“Last time, we accepted the ceasefire, but this time is quite different,” Araghchi told NBC’s Meet the Press. “After attacking a second time in a year, they want to ask for a ceasefire again? It doesn’t work like this. There should be a permanent end to the war. Unless we get to that, I think we need to continue fighting.”Araghchi also rejected the assertion that Iran was attacking its neighbors, and said the regime was only targeting American forces who happened to be stationed within the territory of those countries.Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Saturday, “I should apologize to the neighboring countries that were attacked by Iran, on my own behalf.”Araghchi said this was merely an apology to “the peoples of the region for the inconveniences they have faced because of this aggression by the United States and retaliation by us.”“As a matter of fact, it is the president of the United States who should apologize,” the diplomat added.
4 killed in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait as Iran says it’s attacking Gulf because it can’t reach US-Riyadh says projectiles hit residential area, killing an Indian and a Bangladeshi; 2 Kuwaiti border guards killed-By AFP and ToI Staff 8 March 2026, 8:50 pm
Two people were killed on Sunday and 12 were injured after a projectile fell in a residential location in Saudi Arabia’s Al-Kharj governorate, marking the first reported casualties in the oil-rich nation as Iran kept up its relentless assault on the Gulf states.Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi defended the strikes, saying that Tehran was targeting the Gulf as its missiles cannot reach the United States.The deaths, the first reported by Saudi Arabia since fighting began a week ago, occurred as Iran struck targets across the region, including fuel tanks in Kuwait and a desalination plant in Bahrain.The Saudi civil defense said an Indian and a Bangladeshi were killed by an unspecified “military projectile” that hit a residential area in Al-Kharj, south of Riyadh, according to the statement, which did not mention Iran by name.Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said earlier on Sunday that they targeted radar systems in locations including Al-Kharj.Gulf countries have borne much of Tehran’s response after the US and Israel launched a massive air campaign against Iran, killing the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, on February 28. Since then, 18 people, 10 of them civilians, have been killed in the Gulf states, according to an AFP tally, in addition to 10 people in Israel.Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian warned Sunday that the Islamic Republic “will be forced to respond” against its neighbors if their territory was used to attack it, despite having apologized a day prior to those hosting US military bases for attacks on their land.“It is Americans who started this war against us, attacking us, and we are defending ourselves. So it is obvious that our missiles cannot reach the US soil,” Foreign Minister Araghchi told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”“What we can do is to attack American bases and American installations around us, which are unfortunately in the soil of our, you know, neighbor countries.”Gulf countries have said their territory has not been used in attacks against Iran, and before the war began, they repeatedly said they would not allow such a move.Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait all reported new attacks on Sunday.In Kuwait, two border guards were killed “while performing their national duty,” the interior ministry said, without elaborating on the circumstances.Fuel tanks at Kuwait’s international airport were targeted in a drone attack, the military said, and the official Kuwait News Agency said a fire at the airport was brought under control, without any “significant injuries.”The military called the drone attack “a direct targeting of vital infrastructure.”A separate statement said “some civilian facilities sustained material damage as a result of falling fragments and debris from interception operations.”‘Drone threats’Kuwait’s national oil company announced a “precautionary” cut to its crude production, as the country’s military said Sunday that it had responded to several drone and missile attacks.Authorities said Kuwait’s main building for social security was targeted, causing material damage, and that it would not receive visitors there on Sunday.Bahrain’s interior ministry said Sunday that an Iranian drone attack damaged a water desalination plant, accusing Tehran of “randomly” targeting civilian infrastructure.The IRGC claimed on Saturday that it had struck the United States’ Juffair base in Bahrain, adding it had been used to attack an Iranian desalination plant earlier in the day.Bahrain’s national communication office later said the Iranian attack on the desalination facility had no impact on water supplies or network capacity.Falling missile debris also injured three people and damaged a university building in the Muharraq area, the interior ministry said in a separate statement.Saudi Arabia’s defense ministry said on Sunday that it intercepted 33 drones, adding there were no reports of damage or casualties from the attacks.Among them was a drone aimed at Riyadh’s diplomatic quarter, also thwarted with no material damage or civilian injuries, the ministry’s spokesman said, adding the capital and surrounding areas were targeted by 26 drones.One drone targeted the Shaybah oil field in the southeast of the country, according to the Saudi defense ministry.‘At the disposal of the enemy’The United Arab Emirates said its air defenses detected 17 ballistic missiles on Sunday — destroying 16, while one fell into the sea — and intercepted 113 of 117 drones detected, with four falling inside the country.Despite the Iranian president’s apology to the Gulf countries for earlier strikes, hours later, its judiciary chief said strikes would continue on sites in Gulf countries that were “at the disposal of the enemy.”UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said in a rare televised address that the Emirates were in “a period of war” and “will emerge stronger” from it.Dubai briefly closed its main airport — the world’s busiest for international traffic — on Saturday after authorities said an unidentified object was intercepted nearby.A witness told AFP of a loud explosion in the area followed by a cloud of smoke. Footage verified by AFP recorded the sound of a drone followed by a loud explosion and plumes of smoke close to an airport concourse.The government said there had been “a minor incident resulting from the fall of debris after an interception”, without directly mentioning the airport. It said there were no injuries.
HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER
JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.(IN 1 HR THE STOCK MARKETS WORLDWIDE WILL CRASH)
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed:(CONFISCATED) their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.
REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, (SLAVE) to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM
I KNOW THIS MARK WILL BE A MICROCHIP IMPLANT UNDER THE SKIN. LETS LOOK UP WHAT THE WORD MARK SAYS IN REVELATION 13:16-18, 14:9,11, 15:2, 16:2, 19:20, 20:4-ALL THESE VERSES FROM THE BOOK OF REVELATION SPEAK OF THIS DICTATORS MARK. NOW LETS SEE WHAT IT MEANS FROM STRONGS EXAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE OF THE BIBLE. UNDER MARK PAGE 684.MARK UNDER MARK. THE OLD TESTAMENT IS UNDER HEBREW AND THE NEW TESTAMENT IS UNDER GREEK. SO WHEN WE LOOK UNDER REVELATION 13:16-17 WE SEE IT IS UNDER GREEK, SO WE GO TO GREEK IN THE BACK SECTION AND GO TO 5480 TO SEE WHAT IT SAYS THIS MARK WOULD BE. SO LETS GET TO IT.MARK IN STRONGS GREEK 5480 XAPAYUA CHARAGMA, KHAR-AG-MAH: FROM THE SAME AS 5482: A SCRATCH OR ETCHING, I.E STAMP (AS A BADGE OF SERVITUDE), OR SCULPTURED FIGURE-(STATUE):-GRAVEN, MARK FROM 5482 XAPAE CHARAX, KHAR-AX; FROM XAPAOOW CHARASSO (TO SHARPEN TO A POINT; AKIN TO 1125 THROUGH THE IDEA OF SCRATCHING); A STAKE, I.E (BYIMPL.) A PALISADE OR RAMPART (MILITARY MOUND FOR CIRCUMVALLATION IN A SIEGE): - TRENCH FROM 1125 YPAPOE GRAPHO, GRAF-0; A PRIM. VERB; TO "GRAVE", ESPEC. TO WRITE; FIG. TO DESCRIBE:-DESCRIBE, WRITE (-ING, -TEN).G5516-GO TO G4742-666 - STRONGS NT 4742: στίγμα - στίγμα, στιγματος, τό (from στίζω to prick; (cf. Latinstimulus, etc.; German stechen, English stick, sting, etc.; Curtius, § 226)), a mark pricked in or branded upon the body. According to ancient oriental usage, slaves and soldiers bore the name or stamp of their master or commander branded or pricked (cut) into their bodies to indicate what master or general they belonged to, and there were even some devotees who stamped themselves in this way with the token of their gods (cf. Deyling, Observations, iii., p. 423ff); hence, τά στίγματα τοῦ (κυρίου so Rec.) Ἰησοῦ, the marks of (the Lord) Jesus, which Paul in Galatians 6:17 says he bears branded on his body, are the traces left there by the perils, hardships, imprisonments, scourgings, endured by him for the cause of Christ, and which mark him as Christ's faithful and approved votary, servant, soldier (see Lightfoots Commentary on Galatians, the passage cited). (Herodotus 7, 233; Aristotle, Aelian, Plutarch, Lcian, others.)
THE INVENTOR OF THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT-CARL SANDERS MICROCHIP ENGINEER LEADER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgH9D6n4ZWo
OIL IS OVER $100.00 A BARREL ALREADY.
Crude oil prices spike above $115 a barrel as Iran conflict disrupts production, shipping-Asian stock markets plunge as several nations cut oil production amid attacks by Iran and threat to export routes, including key Strait of Hormuz-By AP Today, 9:58 am-MAR 9,26
Oil prices spiked near $120 per barrel before falling back slightly on Monday as the Iran war intensified, threatening production and shipping in the Middle East and pummeling financial markets.The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, surged to $119.50 per barrel but later was trading at $112.98.West Texas Intermediate, the light, sweet crude oil produced in the United States, spiked at $119.48 per barrel but fell back to $110.17.The war’s toll on civilian targets grew as Bahrain accused Iran of striking a desalination plant vital to drinking water supplies, and oil depots in Tehran smoldered following Israeli strikes. Iran also fired three salvos of missiles at Israel overnight, sending millions of civilians running for shelter.Oil prices have surged as the war, now in its second week, ensnares countries and places that are critical to the production and movement of oil and gas from the Persian Gulf.Roughly 15 million barrels of crude oil — about 20% of the world’s oil — typically are shipped every day through the Strait of Hormuz, according to independent research firm Rystad Energy. The threat of Iranian missile and drone attacks has all but stopped tankers from traveling through the strait, which is bordered in the north by Iran, carrying oil and gas from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Iran.Iraq, Kuwait and the UAE have cut their oil production as storage tanks fill due to the reduced ability to export crude.Iran, Israel and the United States also have attacked oil and gas facilities since the war started, exacerbating supply concerns.The surge in costs for oil and natural gas is pushing fuel prices higher, cascading through other industries and jolting Asian economies that are especially vulnerable due to the region’s heavy reliance on imports from the Middle East.The last time Brent and US crude futures traded near the current level was in 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine.Higher energy costs push inflation higher, straining household budgets and denting the consumer spending that is a main driver of many big economies.Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index plunged more than 7% early Monday, while other markets also foundered.In the US, a gallon of regular gasoline rose to $3.45 on Sunday, about 47 cents more than a week earlier, according to AAA motor club. Diesel was selling for about $4.60 a gallon, a weekly increase of about 83 cents.US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” said US gas prices would be back under $3 a gallon “before too long.”“Look, you never know exactly the time frame of this, but, in the worst case, this is a weeks, this is not a months thing,” Wright added.If oil prices stay above $100 per barrel, some analysts and investors say it could be too much for the global economy to withstand.Iranian authorities said strikes by Israel on oil depots in Tehran and a petroleum transfer terminal early Sunday killed four people. Israel’s military said the depots were being used by Iran’s military for fuel to launch missiles. Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, warned that the war’s impact on the oil industry would spiral.Iran exports roughly 1.6 million barrels of oil a day, mostly to China, which may need to look elsewhere for supply if Iran’s exports are disrupted, another factor that could increase energy prices.The price of natural gas also has climbed during the war, though not by as much as oil. It was selling for about $3.33 per 1,000 cubic feet late Sunday. That’s 4.6% higher than its Friday closing price of $3.19, after rising about 11% last week.US stock index futures fell early Monday, pointing to likely losses for Wall Street’s main indexes when they open.On Friday, the S&P 500 dropped 1.3% and the Dow plunged as many as 945 points before finishing with a loss of roughly 450. The Nasdaq composite sank 1.6%.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Equities plunge as energy prices soar on Mideast crisis.
Hong Kong, March 9 (AFP) Mar 09, 2026-Stock markets plunged Monday as oil and gas prices soared on fears about supplies from the Middle East with the US-Israeli war against Iran continuing into a second week with no sign of letting up.Investors, already spooked by concerns over extended tech valuations and the huge spending on AI, ran for the hills as crude rocketed to its highest level since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.Fears grew that the Middle East conflict could last for some time after US President Donald Trump said only the "unconditional surrender" of Iran would end the war.He added at the weekend that the spike in prices was a "small price to pay" to eliminate Iran's nuclear threat, reiterating the White House's insistence that the rise is temporary.Both main contracts, which had surged more than a quarter last week, spiked as Iran carried out retaliatory strikes against crude-producing Gulf nations.West Texas Intermediate and Brent both jumped around 30 percent to hit peaks just short of $120 a barrel. European gas prices also soared 30 percent on Monday.Since the beginning of the war, WTI rose more than 75 percent and Brent more than 60 percent before easing on the G7 news.However, the surge was pared as French officials confirmed a Financial Times story that finance ministers from the Group of Seven industrialised nations would discuss tapping emergency reserves to ease the supply strain.Attacks on oilfields were reported in southern Iraq and in the northern autonomous Kurdistan region, which forced a US-run oilfield to cease production, while the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have started reducing output.That came with maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz -- through which a fifth of global crude passes -- halted since the war began on February 28.The prospect of high energy prices for a sustained period has fanned fears of a fresh spike in inflation that could hit the global economy while preventing central banks from cutting interest rates to support growth.With the prospect of the global economy taking a blow from the crisis, equity markets extended last week's losses, though they pared some of the early retreat.Seoul, which had been the best performer this year thanks to a tech rally, tumbled more than eight percent at one point before closing six percent down, while Tokyo shed more than five percent and Taipei fell more than four percent.Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Manila, Bangkok, Mumbai, Jakarta and Wellington were also sharply lower.London, Paris and Frankfurt opened on the back foot."Stocks continue to face stiff headwinds, with markets in Europe and Asia, specifically Japan, more vulnerable in the short-term given that those are heavy energy importers, and with those markets having vastly outperformed the US year to date, until the Iran war begun," wrote Pepperstone's Michael Brown.- 'Very small price to pay' -Futures for all three main indexes on Wall Street were down more than one percent, while the dollar jumped against its peers as traders sought out its safe haven status.The prospect of interest rates being kept elevated, or even raised to combat inflation, saw gold prices sink more than one percent to around $5,100 an ounce."The deeper shock is spreading across the production chain," said SPI Asset Management's Stephen Innes."Gulf producers are scaling back output because storage hubs are filling up and export flows are seizing. Qatar has halted liquefaction at key gas facilities, a move that will take weeks to reverse even if the conflict cools tomorrow."In other words, the market is not dealing with a headline shock. It deals with a physical disruption of oil molecules."Oil above $100 is not just a commodity rally. It becomes a tax on the global economy."However, Trump sought to offer reassurance that the spike in crude would not last long."Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace," he wrote on social media Sunday evening Washington time."ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!"Michael O'Rourke at JonesTrading warned that the pain for investors could last for some time."The worst is yet to come in the stock market reaction" he said. "I would expect more of a risk-off mood until we get some tangible positive news."Compounding the downbeat mood was news Friday that the US economy unexpectedly lost jobs in February, while unemployment edged up.Another report also pointed to a drop in US retail sales.- Key figures at around 0815 GMT -West Texas Intermediate: UP 13.7 percent at $103.31 per barrel-Brent North Sea Crude: UP 16.3 percent at $107.83 per barrel-Seoul - Kospi: DOWN 6.0 percent at 5,251.87 (close)-Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 5.2 percent at 52,728.72 (close)-Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.4 percent at 25,408.46 (close)-Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.7 percent at 4,096.60 (close)-London - FTSE 100: DOWN 1.4 percent at 10,145.62-Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1560 from $1.1604 on Friday-Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3343 from $1.3385-Dollar/yen: UP at 158.40 yen from 157.88 yen-Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.66 pence from 86.67 pence-New York - Dow: DOWN 1.3 percent at 47,501.55 (close)-jug-stu-dan/mtp
G7 to discuss releasing strategic oil reserves, Macron says.
Paris, France, March 9 (AFP) Mar 09, 2026-French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday the G7 will discuss a possible release of strategic oil reserves, as finance ministers of the world's leading industrialised nations prepared to meet for crisis talks on the Middle East war.Macron, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Group of Seven advanced economies, said that "the use of strategic reserves is an option being considered."A possible meeting of G7 heads of state and government could take place this week, Macron told journalists on his way to Cyprus."A coordination among G7 heads of state and government this week on the issue of energy is being examined," he added.French Finance Minister Roland Lescure will chair a video meeting of G7 finance ministers at 1:30 pm Paris time (1230 GMT).The gathering will "review the situation in the Gulf from an economic point of view" and the "events of recent days," the ministry said.The Financial Times reported earlier that the finance ministers of G7, which also includes Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, were scheduled to discuss a joint release of strategic oil reserves coordinated by the International Energy Agency (IEA).- 'Need to coordinate' -"We will discuss, we will listen to the feedback from the field, from businesses, from economists in these different parts of the world," Lescure had said earlier."We obviously need to coordinate."Asian stock markets plunged Monday as oil prices soared 30 percent on fears about supplies from the Middle East as the US-Israeli war against Iran stretched into a second week with no sign of letting up.The surge was pared after the Financial Times report, which said three G7 countries, including the United States, had so far backed the idea.The Nikkei daily reported Monday that the Japanese government had instructed domestic oil reserve bases to prepare to make releases. The Japanese government said that no decision had been taken.Japan's strategic oil reserves were more than 400 million barrels as of December, and are among the world's largest. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on March 2 that the reserves were equivalent to 254 days of domestic consumption.US President Donald Trump said the spike in prices was a "small price to pay" to eliminate Iran's nuclear threat, repeating the White House's insistence that the rise is temporary."ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY," he wrote on his Truth Social platform.The IEA was created to coordinate responses to major supply disruptions after the 1973 oil crisis.In order to ensure energy security, the IEA imposes on its members an obligation to hold emergency oil stocks equivalent to at least 90 days of net oil imports. These stocks are either controlled directly by the state or by private companies.France holds 118 days of stocks, the economy ministry told AFP on Monday.- 'Temporary fix' -Investors are concerned about Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which separates Iran from the United Arab Emirates and is a key route for maritime trade.Nearly 20 percent of the world's crude oil and about 20 percent of liquefied natural gas (LNG) usually transit through the key shipping lane.Iran's Revolutionary Guards claim they have "complete control" of the strategic waterway and warned that any vessels seeking to use it risk damage from missiles or stray drones."The Strategic Petroleum Reserve release would offset around 2 to 3 weeks of normal Strait of Hormuz flows if it remains effectively closed," said Lee Hardman, a senior currency analyst at Japanese bank MUFG."It would be a temporary fix to help prevent an even more disruptive surge in the price of oil in the coming weeks," he said in a note to clients.G7 will have to find common ground in the face of diverging interests."One reading of what is currently ongoing is that the United States wants to increase its dominance in global fossil fuel markets," said Guntram Wolff, an economist at the Bruegel think tank."And so that's a certain division between Europe and the United States," he added.slb-od-vl-nal-jul-as/pdw
Iran war's effects already a reality in Europe: EU chief.
Brussels, Belgium, March 9 (AFP) Mar 09, 2026-The ripples from war in the Middle East are already being felt in Europe, with rising energy prices and NATO allies targeted, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Monday.Oil prices soared Monday peaking just short of $120 a barrel as the US-Israeli war against Iran continued into a second week, with Tehran launching fresh retaliatory strikes in the Gulf."We are now seeing a regional conflict with unintended consequences. And the spillover is already a reality today," the European Commission president told EU ambassadors, ahead of a midday call with Middle Eastern leaders."Our citizens are caught in the crossfire. Our partners are being attacked," she said, citing an Iranian-made drone hitting a British base on EU-member Cyprus, trade disruptions and the "displacement of people".While Iran has not officially shut off the Strait of Hormuz -- through which a fifth of the world's crude supplies and a substantial amount of gas run -- shipping through the critical waterway has all but dried up.European gas prices also jumped as much as 30 percent Monday, albeit remaining well below the peaks reached in the aftermath of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.Von der Leyen stressed that "there should be no tears shed for the Iranian regime"."The people of Iran deserve freedom, dignity, and the right to decide their own future -- even if we know this will be fraught with danger and instability during and after the war".The "longer-term impact" of the war posed "existential questions" on the future of an international rules-based system and the 27-nation's bloc place in the world, she told the annual gathering of European Union diplomats in Brussels."The idea that we can simply retrench and withdraw from this chaotic world is simply a fallacy," she said.Von der Leyen also addressed the Ukraine conflict and assured the gathering that Brussels will see through a vital 90 billion euro ($104 billion) loan to Kyiv that is being blocked by Hungary."We will deliver on our commitments, because our credibility -- and more importantly, our security -- is at stake," she said.
Iran targets Gulf energy installations as oil prices surge.
Manama, March 9 (AFP) Mar 09, 2026-Iran launched fresh strikes on energy installations in the Gulf on Monday including a petroleum complex in Bahrain, as oil prices soared on fears over supply disruptions due to the Middle East war.Bahrain's sprawling Al Ma'ameer oil facility was hit, causing a fire and damage, with the country's state-owned energy firm Bapco declaring force majeure -- the latest Gulf producer to activate the legal clause.Energy producers in Qatar and Kuwait earlier made similar declarations, which are a warning that events beyond their control may lead them to miss export targets.Bapco said it "hereby serves notice of force majeure on its group operations which have been affected by the ongoing regional conflict in the Middle East and the recent attack on its refinery complex", according to a statement posted by the company.Asian stock markets plunged on Monday as oil prices surged, with investors running for the hills as crude rocketed to its highest level since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.The market instability came as Iran continued to target the Gulf with missile and drone barrages, with authorities scrambling to contain the fallout.In Qatar, authorities arrested more than 300 people for sharing images and what they described as "misleading information" during days of attacks by Iran, according to the interior ministry.The arrests echo measures across the Gulf as Iran targets airports, military bases, energy installations and residential areas with daily drones and missiles.- Evacuation order -The latest strikes came after Washington ordered embassy staff to leave Saudi Arabia, following a rash of attacks targeting the kingdom.The State Department said in a travel advisory it had "ordered non-emergency US government employees and US government employee family members to leave Saudi Arabia due to safety risks".Drones hit the US embassy in the Saudi capital Riyadh last week, and drones have also caused damage at the US diplomatic missions in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.On Monday, Bahrain said another Iranian drone attack on the island of Sitra had injured 32 people overnight.All of the wounded were Bahraini citizens and there were four "serious cases", including children, the health ministry said in a statement carried by the state news agency.They included a 17-year-old girl who suffered severe head and eye injuries, and a two-month-old baby, according to the ministry.Bahrain said the attack on its Al Ma'ameer oil facility had caused a fire but the blaze had been brought under control.Several explosions were also heard Monday in the Qatari capital Doha, AFP journalists said, as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait all reported new attacks.Doha has been targeted by waves of drones and missiles since Iran launched a retaliation campaign across the Gulf in the wake of US and Israeli attacks against the Islamic republic.Qatar's defence ministry said on Monday that its forces had intercepted a new missile attack.Saudi Arabia's defence ministry said the kingdom took down and destroyed two waves of drones heading towards the Shaybah oil field in the southeast of the country.In the UAE, authorities said in a statement on X that air defences responded to "a missile threat".Kuwait, which was targeted by seven missiles and five drones on Sunday according to authorities, announced another missile and drone attack on Monday. The defence ministry said air defences were working to intercept the attack.Gulf countries have borne much of Tehran's response after the United States and Israel launched a massive aerial campaign against Iran on February 28.A total of 21 people have been killed in the Gulf since Iran began its attacks, including 10 civilians and seven US service members.Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has warned that the Islamic republic "will be forced to respond" against its neighbours if their territory is used to attack it.burs-ds/axn
