Unlike in 2003, today’s Iraqi resistance is proving capable of successfully combating American forces and it appears to be adapting tactics used in the Russia-Ukraine war.

A force, born out of the disastrous rise of Daesh (ISIS) in Iraq, is now turning its guns on another invading army, reviving bad blood between Washington and Baghdad that spans decades. The Iraqi front in the ongoing regional war could prove to be one of the most decisive, as the Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU/PMF/Hashd al-Sha’abi) could muster up to 250,000 fighters if fully mobilised.

Following Iran’s March 1st announcement of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei’s assassination, a series of Iraqi armed factions began launching drone and missile attacks against a broad range of US military targets throughout the country. Most prominent amongst them have been Saraya Awilya al-Dam (Guardians of the Blood Brigades) and an umbrella group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.

Awliya al-Dam emerged back in 2020 and only began to advertise itself publicly in the months leading up to the US-Israeli assault on Iran; publishing videos of its fighters operating in underground tunnel systems, displaying its arsenal of drones and rockets. It was once described as a “minor facade group” by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) pro-war think tank, but has since debunked this characterisation.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq declared itself on October 17, 2023, before launching attacks on US forces stationed at Ain al-Assad air base in the nation’s Anbar Province, followed by a string of attacks on US and Israeli targets, declaring its operations in support of Gaza. Notably, it claimed responsibility for the downing of a US KC-135 refuelling aircraft, “using appropriate weapons”, that killed 6 American crewmembers.

By March 14, when the second successful missile attack against the US embassy in Baghdad had taken place, Washington had officially called upon all Americans to flee Iraq. The remaining military personnel in the country, most of whom appear to be located inside the Baghdad embassy Greenzone and the Victoria base, with the rest concentrated in the northern Iraqi-Kurdistan region, are being hunted by Iraqi armed groups.

On March 20, hailed as a major achievement by the Iraqi resistance factions, NATO forces declared a full departure from Iraq due to the ongoing war. Only a week prior, a French soldier had been killed and Italian troops also came under fire, as Iraqi drone strikes targeted NATO-affiliated military sites.

Some of the more shocking military developments have been the successful utilisation of drones to penetrate American military bases and effectively take out air defence radars. For example, one of the most powerful groups within the PMU, Kataeb Hezbollah, used FPV Drones to attack a warehouse located at the Victory Base in Baghdad, doing so unchallenged by any air defence fire.

FPV drones, which are credited with inflicting a large percentage of battleground casualties during the Russia-Ukraine war, were also used by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq to destroy an American AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel radar, along with a UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter.

To make things worse on Washington, following a series of US strikes that killed 15 PMU members, Baghdad’s National Security Council chair, Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani, officially authorised the group to act in “self defence”. This was broadly interpreted as a greenlight for Iraqi operations against US forces in the country. 

Yet it is not only the Iraqi arena in which the PMU and its affiliates are a factor. For example, this Tuesday the Secretary General of the Sayyed al-Shuhada Brigades in Iraq, Abu Ala’ al-Walai, openly proclaimed that “should American forces use Kuwaiti territory as a launching point for an attack on Iran, the Axis of Resistance, within the framework of the “Unity of Fronts”, will consider this a breach of regional security borders.”

“Reports are circulating regarding Al-Jolani’s intention to cross borders and move within Lebanese territory in a manner that serves Zionist forces against Lebanon. Accordingly, if either of these two scenarios materializes, it will inevitably compel the Axis of Resistance to take similar steps, according to the equation of reciprocal response in breaching regional borders”, the Iraqi armed group leader also asserted.

Later that same day, Syrian President Ahmed al-Shara’a (otherwise known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani), stated publicly that he will not interfere in Lebanon, adding the caveat that such action would not take place unless Syria comes under attack first. This announcement also came amidst growing speculation that Damascus would order an assault due to US pressure.

The disastrous Iraq War ended up costing the United States around $728 billion between 2003 to 2012, according to Pentagon estimates. Around 4,492 US servicemembers were also killed in Iraq, with another 32,292 having been wounded. In total, around 1 million deaths are often cited to have occurred as a result of the conflict. 

As part of the war’s blowback and the rise of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, later came the scourge of Daesh that again justified the US’s direct re-entrance to the nation’s conflict in 2014. It was the expansion of ISIS and its pure brutality that triggered the necessity of an Iraqi ground force capable of confronting it, which is when the PMU was formed with the help of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

It will be 23 years, come May 1, since former US President George Bush Jr. declared “mission accomplished”, yet American soldiers are still coming under fire in Iraq today, all as President Donald Trump insists that his similarly illegal war of aggression has already also “been won”. 

The post Iran War Blowback: Iraqi Resistance Targets U.S. Forces in Biggest Escalation Since 2003 appeared first on MintPress News.

Roughly 20% of global oil flows through Hormuz. By restricting access to Western and Gulf Arab states assisting the US and Israel in the war and attaching conditions to transit, Iran is not just disrupting supply — it is directly challenging the foundation of U.S. global economic dominance: the petrodollar system. This was a major underestimation by the Trump Administration. 

For decades, Washington’s power has rested on its ability to control oil flows and ensure that energy is traded in U.S. dollars. This system has guaranteed global demand for the dollar and given the United States immense leverage over international trade. Iran’s move threatens both. If oil passing through Hormuz begins shifting away from dollar-based transactions, it could accelerate the erosion of one of the key pillars of American influence.

Even U.S. President Donald Trump appeared caught off guard by the scale of Iran’s response. In recent remarks, he admitted he “didn’t think they would react this strongly,” while also acknowledging that Iran has proven to be “very strong” under pressure.

That admission points to a deeper miscalculation.

The immediate consequences are already visible.

Oil prices have surged sharply – up to $120 per barrel of oil– with markets warning of further increases if disruptions continue. But the ripple effects extend far beyond fuel. Energy is embedded in nearly every sector of the global economy — from transportation and manufacturing to agriculture.

As energy costs rise, so do the costs of producing fertilizers, transporting goods, and maintaining supply chains. The result is a cascade effect that ultimately lands on consumers, particularly through rising food prices. Analysts warn that households across Western economies could face significant increases in grocery costs of up 20% as these pressures build.

Economist Richard Wolff has described the current moment as part of a broader historical shift away from U.S. dominance.

“We are witnessing the decline of an empire,” Wolff has argued, pointing to Washington’s growing inability to dictate global economic outcomes as it once did.

That shift is being accelerated by the alignment of major global powers.

China and Russia have both deepened their economic and strategic ties with Iran, forming part of a broader bloc of countries seeking alternatives to U.S.-led financial systems. This alignment strengthens the position of BRICS nations and signals a move toward a multipolar world where economic power is more widely distributed.

For many countries in the Global South, this represents an opportunity to reduce dependence on the dollar and gain greater control over their own economic policies.

But while some stand to gain, others are being exposed.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the Gulf Arab states.

Countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have long been portrayed as pillars of wealth and stability. Yet their economic models are deeply dependent on global supply chains, imported food, and security arrangements tied to the United States.

Many of these states import the vast majority of their food — in some cases as much as 80 to 90 percent — much of which passes through maritime routes now under threat. Any prolonged disruption to the Strait of Hormuz risks not only rising prices, but potential shortages.

At the same time, these countries host U.S. military bases and major Western corporate infrastructure inlcuding Amazon, Cisco, HP, Oracle Intel, META and others – technology platforms that play a central role in global data and surveillance systems. Far from being neutral actors, they are deeply embedded within the architecture of U.S. power and military warfare.

What this war is revealing is the fragility beneath that system.

Without stable trade flows, secure shipping routes, and external security guarantees, the foundations of these economies begin to show strain. The image of self-sustaining wealth gives way to a reality of structural dependency.

This is why the stakes of the conflict extend far beyond Iran.

What is unfolding is a contest over who controls the most critical levers of the global economy: energy, trade routes, and currency systems.

For decades, the United States has used these levers to maintain its position at the center of the global order. But that position is now being challenged in a coordinated and increasingly effective way.

The response from Washington has not been restraint, but escalation — an effort to reassert control over a system that is beginning to shift beyond its grasp.

Because what is at stake is not just influence in the Middle East.It is the future of the global economic order itself. And for the first time in decades, that outcome is no longer guaranteed.

The post Global Energy Shock: Iran Turns Hormuz Into A Toll Gate Challenging Petrodollar appeared first on MintPress News.

Since March 9, HAYI has been credited with what some analysts describe as “hybrid warfare” style operations spanning multiple countries from Greece and Belgium to France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Among the most high-profile incidents was the burning of four ambulances in Golders Green, North London, on March 22.

The emergence of this group coincides with the escalation of the US-Israeli war against Iran. In parallel, media outlets and pro-war commentators have warned that Tehran could expand the conflict by carrying out attacks across Europe.

But a closer examination raises serious questions about its actual existence and the pro-Israel groups pushing this narrative. 

Several of the incidents attributed to HAYI do not appear to have directly targeted Jewish communities. Others remain murky, with limited verified information about the perpetrators. And beyond scattered claims and online statements, there is little concrete evidence that this group as described actually exists.

In the fog of war, narratives can move faster than facts. 

At the same time, governments across Europe and the UK are moving to formally designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization — a policy long pushed by pro-war, pro-Israel lobbying networks. Many of the same actors amplifying the HAYI narrative are also leading that campaign within Western media to manufacture consent for war and accelerate this political objective of proscription. While raising the possibility that unverified claims of an Iran-linked threat are being leveraged to shape public fear and justify sweeping new security measures tied to the widening war.

This investigation examines each reported attack, the sources promoting the HAYI narrative, and how claims of a coordinated campaign may be shaping public perception — fueling fears of rising antisemitism, calls for expanded security measures and proscribing the IRGC as a terrorist organisation amid an illegal war. 

But what is Ashab al-Yamin? Where did it come from and does it exist at all?

This investigation reveals that there is no such group. It appears to be a fictional cut out. Half of its reported activities simply did not occur. The other half were so amateurish, and inconsequential – with not a single injury –   One theory is that they may have been messily undertaken by hired gig criminals and/or incompetent Sayanim, the name given to Mossad’s network of little helpers in countries all over the world. This investigative analysis shows that even the Zionist regime and its assets in establishment think tanks acknowledge that so-called “gig criminals” have been involved in this series of events, in a striking parallel with similar events in Australia (fourteen of them between October 2024 and January 2025) which were similarly low impact with no casualties, declared to be “fake” by Australian police in March 2025.

What happened?

There have been ten incidents attributed to Ashab al-Yamin between March 9 – March 23rd. Of these ten incidents, as we will show, five did not happen.  Three of these were entirely fictional (Greece, 11/12 March; France, 23 March; Haarlem, Netherlands, 23 March).  One was not associated with the alleged terror group nor was it an attack on “the Jews”.(Antwerp, Belgium, 23 March). The fifth was only ever alleged to have been “planned” but nothing actually happened (Chabad Hebrew School, Heemstede, Netherlands, 23 March)

The other five events, or “attacks” if you will, did occur.  Four involved a small “explosion”, accompanied in one, or perhaps more, cases by a fire (Liège, Belgium, 9 March, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 13 March, Bank branch, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 15 March) and the final one involved the burning of four ambulances (Golders Green, London, 22 March). 

Disinformation – Fake attacks

Even the establishment think tank the International Centre for Counter Terrorism in the Hague was sceptical of several of the attacks. It reported on 23 March that “HAYI has claimed attacks against an unspecified site in Greece on 11 March, as well as in France and another in the Netherlands both on 23 March, which all likely constitute disinformation.”  The ICCT analysis “of the ‘Greek attack video’ indicates that it depicts an explosion at a residential building in Rotterdam on 3 March.” Even the Zionist regime’s  Ministry of Diaspora Affairs said  the Greek incident “may constitute disinformation”.

Of course, what the ICCT and the Ministry mean is that the disinformation was produced by the alleged terror group, on behalf of Iran. But if it is not, then who produced the disinformation?

The fourth of the fake attacks was an incident involving what was claimed by the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs to be “An arson attack targeting a vehicle in a Jewish neighborhood in Antwerp, Belgium (March 23).”  However, as the Dutch newspaper HLN reported, the owner of the car was Moroccan and not Jewish:

The car’s owner, Fatia M., was also full of praise for the emergency services and the police. “These vandals must be severely punished. I believe they first smashed the window to search the car. There were jewels inside that I received from my late father. They were stolen. After that, the perpetrators set the car on fire. Why? This is a 2005 Ford Fiesta. What a senseless act that is?”

Most mainstream media reports in English stated that the car was in the Jewish quarter.  While some accounts said that the car was “on the edge” of the Jewish district, Nieuwsblad reported the car was located “just outside the Jewish quarter” (“net buiten de Joodse wijk”). Two “minors” were arrested in relation to the alleged crime. 

The last non-attack was reported to be a possible plan to attack a Chabad school in Heemstede. The Dutch police arrested two teenagers, aged 14 and 17 on Monday 23 March “on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack”.  A Fourteen year old?  The two were allegedly in possession of “fireworks”. The police and the Public Prosecution Service “are taking into account the possibility that a synagogue near Adriaan Pauwlaan, where the two were arrested, was the target of an impending explosion.” Other reports claimed the target might have been a local Chabad Hebrew School. Chabad is, of course, an ultra genocidal Jewish supremacist cult. Even the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs was reticent about claiming this one.  The arrests they said: “may have been linked to Ashab al-Yamin; however, no confirmed connection to the group has been established at this time.”  They did however, falsely claim that the police had “foiled a planned bombing attack”.

Real events

Of the five “real” events four involved a small “explosion” with what was referred to as an “improvised Explosive Device” or IED, resulting in one, or possibly more, cases in a short lived fire. The similarity in the first four suggests one group was possibly responsible for all of them. 

In Liege a synagogue was targeted with a small incendiary device which reportedly “damaged the door and windows on the front façade.”

There was reportedly an alleged explosion at a synagogue in Rotterdam on 13 March, which caused scorching to the door. Four men aged 17-19 were arrested in relation to the Rotterdam incident.  A fifth (age 19) was picked up later and then two more (ages 20 and 23) were arrested on 27 March.

In the 14 March alleged explosion outside a Jewish school, there are hardly any images of the damage done, since it was so minimal.  Here is the best image I have found, captured from video news footage. As you can see in small print at the top, the report says that the alleged explosion reportedly “damaged a drainage pipe and charred an outer wall”.

The alleged explosion at the Atrium reportedly “targeted the Bank of New York Mellon”. In the video released by the alleged terror group  the Bank correctly noted that its office is on the fourth floor of the South Tower of the building. The homemade IED was, however, thrown at the outside door of the building on the ground floor, as can be seen in the image above.The Golders Green arson attack on the four Hatzola ambulances appears to have been carried out by three men, who can be seen in the CCTV footage supplied to news organisations. While suspects in the less serious incidents in the Netherlands are still in custody, the Metropolitan Police promptly bailed two suspects that they picked up in London, and refused to say any more than that they were UK nationals, leading to speculation about the motivations of the attack.

Here is the the English language version of a communique from the alleged new terror group:

The Machzike Hadath Synagogue in London is one of the important centers of Orthodox Judaism, and its deepest connection to Israel is through Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook, the first Chief Rabbi of Israel and one of the most influential thinkers of Religious Zionism, who served at this synagogue before immigrating to the Land of Israel. This historical bond continues to this day, and the synagogue has become one of the main bastions of support for Israel in Britain, so much so that in June 2024, Rishi Sunak, the former British Prime Minister, visited this site amidst the Gaza war to affirm, alongside his expression of solidarity with the Jewish community, his country’s unwavering support for Israel.

This is oddly written. First of all, the attack was on four ambulances belonging to Hatzola Northwest, not on the synagogue beside which the ambulances were parked. Did the crack team dispatched by the IRGC confuse the ambulances with the synagogue? Note also the use of the term “land of Israel” a decidedly zionist turn of phrase. The Machzike Hadath Synagogue is hardly an “important center” of Orthodox Judaism (note the US/Israeli spelling of “centre”).  Rabbi Kook, though an important figure in the history of Religious Zionism, is hardly a top target of Palestinians  (or Iranians), given he has been dead for over ninety years. His association with the Synagogue is something likely known only to very few, including, most obviously, congregants of the Synagogue itself. 

The Synagogue is not one of the “main bastions” of support for “Israel” in Britain.  There are hundreds of Zionist organisations that are more important. While the Synagogue is a Jewish supremacist institution, it is not explicitly Zionist, especially by comparison with hundreds of other synagogues, Jewish schools, youth groups and indeed formal affiliates of the Zionist movement.  Its origins are in the so-called Litvac or ‘Misnagdim’ community – from Lithuania.  

It is a member of the Federation of Synagogues which gathers together both Hasidic and Central-orthodox synagogues.  While several synagogues from the genocidal ultra-Zionist Chabad cult are members, the Z word is nowhere mentioned on the website of the synagogue. This is a contrast to the many others affiliated with the largest and avowedly Zionist United Synagogue movement. At best this claim is an unconvincing statement either written with AI or possibly by someone with close knowledge of the synagogue.

On the “real” attacks

The first thing to say about the “real” events is how low impact they have been.  There were no casualties and barely a smashed window (with the exception of the ambulance arson). The Islamic Republic of Iran is currently defending itself against US-Israeli strikes with the most sophisticated missiles and a stockpile of underground cities as the Islamic Republic destroys US military bases and radar systems worth billions of dollars in the region. At the same time, the European and British public are asked to believe that Iran sent sloppy individuals, some of them children/teenagers, to set small fires at or near Jewish venues (or in some cases venues with no Jewish or Zionist connection) some of which were put out by a fire extinguisher?

It looks like Ashab al-Yamin is not all it is claimed to be and what the media would us to believe.  So, lets look at the sources of data used to convince us that an IRGC cut out was in play.  That alleged evidence were claims that Telegram channels allegedly associated with the Axis of Resistance and then with the alleged group HAYI itself had issued claims of responsibility for the attacks. 

The three sources of data on alleged Telegram posts.

It is widely reported in the mainstream media that these incidents were (mostly) claimed by the new group via Telegram groups aligned to the Axis of Resistance and from its own Telegram channel.  This tale falters a little when one learns that the group’s alleged Telegram channels only became operational after five of the “attacks” had taken place.  It is alleged there were two Telegram Channels  – one created in 2023 but not active until the 16 March or thereabouts, after five of the alleged attacks had taken place. The other was created only on 21 March just before the other five alleged attacks took place. 

Claim videos were posted there, so it is claimed,  only after they had already circulated on pro-Iran/axis-of-resistance Telegram channels. These claims first appeared on Telegram on 11 March for example on Sabereen News which posted the video showing an incendiary device being placed on the front step of the synagogue in Liege on 9 March.

It is also claimed that it had “a few dozen followers” at the time of activation. Referred to generically as “an allegedly official Telegram account of HAYI” or “the Telegram channel that HAYI uses to claim its attacks.” No specific Arabic/English username was published and nor were any links given.

Second HAYI Telegram Channel

A second Telegram account was reportedly created on 21 March 2026, two days before the Golders Green Hatzola ambulance arson on 23 March. It, reportedly, became immediately operational upon creation and was used for the London attack claim, which included a QR code in the video linking directly to this channel. The Telegram accounts are only described generically by the ICCT as “another Telegram account, likewise posing as an official mouthpiece of HAYI” or “a second HAYI-affiliated channel.” No t.me handle or exact name is disclosed, though the Ministry of Diaspora affairs published a screenshot of one of the alleged channels. That channel has now been deleted.

It is claimed that the first organisation to amplify the claims made on this second Telegram channel from 21 March was the SITE Intelligence Group. SITE is a well known Zionist intel cut out run by the daughter of a Zionist spy executed in Iraq in 1969, Rita Katz. It’s involvement – rather late in the day – following the previous interventions of the FDD and the Zionist regime itself.

So, who is it that has made these claims about Telegram channels and messages?  There are only three sources.  

Foundation for Defense of Democracies

The first source was on 12 March, when Joe Truzman wrote a short article posted both on the site of the Long War Journal, which he edits and on the site of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies where he works and which publishes the journal.  He was the first to claim the possibility of an Iran link: “The claimed attacks could signal that Iran or Iran-aligned actors are executing acts of terrorism in Europe”. FDD is a Likudnik cut out, and as we famously admitted by the then Director General of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, Sima Vaknin-Gil, FDD is used by the regime to gather information:  ‘we have FDD. We have others working on this.’

The FDD’s intervention though, saw limited traction. It was cited by the regimes Ministry of Foreign Affairs on X and some pro-Israel accounts, and niche sites. But there was no major mainstream media pickup. Social media mentions were low-volume. Clearly bigger guns were needed.

The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs

The second source, on 16 March was none other than the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs based in Apartheid Israel.  Almost all of the coverage in English and in other languages took its cue from this intervention.  The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs has absorbed international hasbara operations from the downgraded Ministry of Strategic Affairs, now funding overseas cutouts and churning out propaganda materials to shape narratives abroad. The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs assumed responsibility for Israel’s international propaganda efforts when the Ministry of Strategic Affairs was downgraded. Minister Amichai Chikli’s department rebooted the former Concert project as Voices of Israel post-October 2023, directing it to go “on the offensive” against critics.

The ministry funds overseas cutouts to evade foreign-agent scrutiny while producing propaganda content. It allocated $2 million to STOIC for covert social-media campaigns targeting US lawmakers and spent millions on campus operations and media kits. It also issues calls for proposals that channel shekels into settler outreach and “struggle against delegitimisation” videos. Israel’s hasbara machine now operates under one roof, quietly scaling influence operations worldwide.

The International Centre for Counter Terrorism

The third source claiming a link to Iran was an establishment think tank in the Hague. It published a piece on its website on 23 March the same day as the London attack. It was only after this that big mainstream media like the BBC (24 March) started to mention Iran links, though it appears not to have ever been mentioned on CNN.  

But what is the International Centre for Counter Terrorism?  It is  based in the Hague receives a ‘core subsidy’ from the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It also advertises the following partners all of which are affiliated with the Western imperial complex and have presumably provided funding of some sort: NATO, Global Counterterrorism Forum, RUSI Europe, Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs and USAID.

One of its Junior Research Fellows, Julian Lanchès, authored the ICCT briefing on Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia. Lanchès previously worked at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) a well known asset of Apartheid Israel and is well networked with Zionist and groups It was created Lord Weidenfeld, the publishing magnate, and former adviser to Chaim Weizmann when he was the first president of the entity in 1949. The ISD is overseen by a board and a team of advisors. The board is stuffed with figures from the financial sector. These include some who have other connections such as the former chief of staff of the British Army Charles Guthrie, who has also had advisory roles with neoconservative think tanks and pro-Zionist groups such as the Jewish National Fund. Guthrie also, is an advisor to the haute neocon lobby group United Against a Nuclear Iran.178

A wide range of western government departments has funded the ISD including from Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Canada, Australia as well as the UK Home Office (parent of propaganda group RICU) and Foreign Office, the US State Department and the EU itself. Also of note is the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at Kings College. The Eranda Rothschild Foundation, one of the the family foundations of the UK branch of the Rothschild family, has also supported it, as well as funding neoconservative think tanks such as the Henry Jackson Society and the Jerusalem Foundation, which is engaged in illegal occupation activities in East Jerusalem.

Lanchès also studied at the King’s College in War Studies which is run by the International Centre for Study of Radicalisation (ICSR). The ICSR was created as a result of attempts by pro-Israel figures to combat Boycott Divestment and Sanctions in relation to Israel/Palestine and is financially supported by foundations that also fund pro-Israel, indeed pro-settler activities, including from foundations created by the following Zionist families: Atkin, Wolfson, Sacher, Clore, Ronson, Pears and Sieff.

When the terrorism experts at the ICCT do talk about Israel or Zionism, it is clear that it is Israel centric talking points that they spout.  The image above shows Bibi van Ginkel appearing on Dutch TV to spout lies about the Jewish supremacist thugs who spread terror throughout Amsterdam when they arrived for a Maccabi Tel Aviv game in November 2024.  The ICCT reported that she: “spoke on the possible qualification of the attack as terrorism or vigilant terrorism.” Incredibly she was not referring to the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans but to the brave Muslims who fought back.  Back in December 2023 she perjured herself by saying on NPO, the Dutch public broadcasting organisation, that “Hamas itself now also has a network here, that had planned attacks against Jewish institutions. And that really is a new development.” The ICCT is, therefore, one step down the food chain from its masters in the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs.

History of False Flags

Of course this would not be the first time that the Zionists have indulged in False Flag operations.  Such operations go way back, as anyone familiar with the Lavon Affair (Code named Operation Susannah)  knows. Israeli Defense Minister Pinchas Lavon organised a plan to use Egyptian Jews and undercover Zionist agents to bomb American, British, and Egyptian buildings in Cairo. Lavon’s goal was to blame the bombings on Arabs, creating the impression of an anti-Western atmosphere and helping convince the British and Americans of the need to have the British stay in the Suez Canal zone.  Instead there was a public trial and conviction of eight Egyptian Jews who carried out the covert operation, two of whom were subsequently executed; this led to a chaim of events culminating in the Suez invasion and then, as Leonard Weiss writes:  “France expanded and accelerated its ongoing nuclear cooperation with Israel, which eventually enabled the Jewish state to build nuclear weapons.” As this cautionary tale indicates false flags can be effective motors of human history.

It’s also known that the Zionists created a fake terror group in Lebanon: The Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners (FLLF).  It operated in Lebanon between 1980 and 1983. While it claimed to be a Lebanese resistance movement, it was actually a covert terrorist organisation run by the Zionist regime. It was established on the orders of Rafael Eitan, then Chief of Staff of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), and was overseen by Israeli General Avigdor Ben-Gal and Meir Dagan, who later became the director of Mossad. Its primary goal was to “cause chaos among the Palestinians and Syrians in Lebanon” without leaving an Israeli fingerprint. The group engaged in car bombings and other terrorist activities targeting Palestinian and Syrian interests, often under the guise of Lebanese sectarian infighting. 

But have they operated false flags in Europe?  As is widely known an MI5 whistleblower, Annie Machon, has claimed that MI5 concluded that the Zionists bombed their own embassy in London in 1994. It’s also known that Zionists executed the famous Palestinian cartoonist Naji El Ali in Knightsbridge in London in 1987 using Palestinians to carry out the act to cover their tracks. In 1988  Margaret Thatcher – yes Margaret Thatcher – expelled the whole Mossad station from the country as a result. 

More recently an apparent rash of “antisemitic” attacks in Australia was revealed by the New South Wales Police to have been a hoax in March 2025.  The alleged attacks were reportedly undertaken by an organised crime network.  Zionist regime sources pushed this line in Australia:

• Peter Wertheim Executive Council of Australian Jewry – “low-level local criminals paid to provide crime as a service… a web of local and off-shore criminal intermediaries.” (27 August 2025)
• Mossad (official statement released via Israeli Prime Minister’s Office) – “terror without Iranian fingerprints, high compartmentalization, recruitment of foreigners, use of criminals, and covert communications,” (26 October 2025).

This alleged use of criminal networks was a key element in the saga of Ashab al-Amin, the ones that actually happened at least.

The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs  claimed that the attacks might involve “Contracted operatives – local criminals or youth recruited and paid through intermediaries, similar to models previously used by Iranian networks in Europe.” 

The ICCT ludicrously tried to explain away the anomalies by claiming (links in original): 

Another relevant development is the emergence of a new crime–terror nexus, whereby hostile state actors increasingly cultivate ties with criminal networks, ranging from organised crime groups to local petty criminals, and leverage them for hybrid activities. Iran, for instance, has reportedly commissioned criminal gangs such as Foxtrot and Rumba in Sweden, including for the aforementioned grenade attack against the Israeli embassy, as well as groups such as the Hells Angels for attacks against synagogues in Germany.

Is this a new Mossad Modus Operandi? Employing “gig criminals” to carry out fake terror plots to pursue particular foreign policy objectives?  If so, as millions have now discovered: when it comes to Zionism – every accusation could be a confession.

The post How A Fake Iranian Terror Group Was Invented To Proscribe IRGC in Europe – The story of Ashab al-Yamin appeared first on MintPress News.

The human toll has already been severe. Nearly 2,000 people in Iran have reportedly been killed, with more than 24,000 injured from U.S. and Israeli strikes.  Yet rather than capitulate, Iran has responded with force—downing U.S. aircraft, striking American bases across the region, and launching attacks on Israeli military infrastructure. Most consequentially, Tehran has moved to close the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for global energy and trade.

The closure of the strait represents a potential economic shock of historic proportions. While Iran has allowed select allied nations to continue limited passage, the broader disruption has sent panic through Western and Gulf economies heavily dependent on uninterrupted oil flows. At the same time, Tehran’s decision to conduct oil transactions in Chinese yuan signals a deeper geopolitical shift—one that could accelerate the erosion of dollar dominance in global energy markets.

The war is also exposing fractures in long-standing assumptions about security in the Gulf. For decades, regional states believed that hosting U.S. military forces guaranteed protection. Now, those same bases appear to function as liabilities, drawing retaliatory strikes and placing critical infrastructure—from desalination plants to airports—within immediate range of Iranian missiles. The notion that proximity to U.S. power ensures safety is being fundamentally challenged.

Meanwhile, contradictory messaging from Washington underscores the uncertainty surrounding the conflict. While U.S. officials have at times claimed success in achieving regime change, reports also indicate growing concern within the administration, including signals from Donald Trump himself calling for de-escalation. Despite this, discussions of a potential ground invasion—an operation that would dwarf the scale of Iraq—remain on the table.

Analysts warn that such a move would be extraordinarily risky. Iran’s geography, military capabilities, and regional alliances present a far more formidable challenge than previous U.S. wars in the Middle East. Over the past weeks, Tehran has demonstrated not only resilience but also an ability to project power across multiple fronts.

At the same time, emerging alignments with global powers such as China and Russia point toward a broader transformation in the international order. The conflict is no longer confined to a regional struggle—it is increasingly tied to the rise of a multipolar world.

What began as a calculated show of force is now raising a far more uncomfortable question: has Washington fundamentally misjudged both Iran’s strength and the consequences of this war?

The post Trump’s Iran Gamble Is Spiraling Out of Control: From Shock & Awe to Strategic Failure appeared first on MintPress News.

Understanding the costly price of attempting to physically take all of south Lebanon militarily, both Washington and Tel Aviv have been attempting to devise strategies that would help achieve Israel’s war goals of weakening Hezbollah. 

One possible option that has been placed on the table is the use of Syria’s military to invade Lebanon’s border and attack Hezbollah, aiming to go after what is labelled critical infrastructure belonging to the Lebanese group. According to reports, the US Trump administration has directly put pressure on Syrian leader Ahmed al-Shara’a to do just that.

In the event of such an assault, the Beka’a Valley would be the target territory. The Beka’a is what Israel’s Alma Research and Education think-tank calls “Hezbollah’s strategic depth”, which it argues is the group’s “operational and logistical center of gravity”. If Tel Aviv truly seeks to degrade Hezbollah’s capabilities, a ground incursion into this region is the only way to truly achieve such a goal.

Another plausible option is that Israel itself will use Syrian territory in order to invade Lebanon’s eastern border. This would appear possible, as the current Hayat Tahrir al-Sham administration in Damascus has allowed Israel to use Lebanese territory on two occasions so far. 

Although al-Shara’a doesn’t grant direct permission, he refuses to deploy his forces to prevent the Israelis from violating Syria’s sovereignty. Earlier this year, the leadership in Damascus agreed to setting up a soft normalisation understanding with the Israelis. According to US State Department press release, the following was agreed upon:

“Both Sides have decided to establish a joint fusion mechanism—a dedicated communication cell—to facilitate immediate and ongoing coordination on their intelligence sharing, military de-escalation, diplomatic engagement, and commercial opportunities under the supervision of the United States.”

It suffices to say that Syria’s current leader, who once spoke of conquering occupied Jerusalem, has clearly aligned himself with the United States and now openly states he will pose no threat to Israel. Instead of fighting back against Israel’s ever growing occupation of more Syrian lands, or responding to civilian massacres inside his territory, he has instead sought to disarm those Syrians who are threatened by the belligerent occupying force in the south. 

Despite this, Israel has continually attacked Syrian territory, including bombing the ministry of defence in Damascus. Recently, it also attacked Syrian military positions in the Damascus countryside, citing renewed sectarian clashes between Israeli-aligned Druze separatists and HTS allied forces.

In December of last year, parades were held in Damascus and other Syrian cities, where armed factions making up the country’s new armed forces held marches in the streets to mark the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Notably, these soldiers chanted in solidarity with Gaza and issued threats to Israel.

Some groups belonging to the new Syrian security forces, also burned Israeli flags and expressed solidarity with the village of Beit Jinn, where a group of locals had organised an ambush against Israeli invading forces. Israel then bombarded the village, which is home to both Palestinians and Syrians, murdering at least 13 civilians.

A series of Syrian Resistance groups have also popped up in the country’s south, occasionally carrying out rocket attacks or opening fire on Israeli soldiers with light weapons. The most prominent group has been ‘Jabhat al-Moqowameh al-Islammiya Fe Souriya’ [The Islamic Resistance Front In Syria].

The newest group to emerge is called ‘Kataeb Jund al-Karrar Fe Balad as-Sham’ [Soldiers of  the Karrar Brigades in the Levant] also emerged on March 8, publishing a video of themselves firing rockets at US military positions in Syria’s Palmyra. The group has additionally claimed attacks on Israel. 

If Syrian President Ahmed al-Shara’a orders an attack on Lebanon, this could immediately trigger an incursion into Syria by the powerful Iraqi groups aligned with Hezbollah. An official statement issued by The Islamic Resistance Coordination Committee in Iraq explicitly threatened that:

“We see the treachery of the new authority in Syria and are monitoring its coordination with the enemy. We say clearly: if you dare violate the sovereignty of Lebanon and its patient, resisting people, we will turn your land into an open arena of fire. He who warns has given fair notice.”

On the other hand, due to the fragile security situation inside Syria, if the Israeli military does attempt to launch an offensive from inside Syrian territory, there is always a chance that they will come under attack from a whole myriad of forces. It is possible that what currently constitutes the Syrian Army, may even break ranks and refuse to listen to the leadership in Damascus.

On March 6, a botched Israeli special forces raid targeted the Lebanese village of Nabi Cheet, located east of Beirut. In order to conduct this infiltration operation – which was successfully repelled due to a joint effort from Hezbollah, local militias and the Lebanese Army – it used Syrian territory. Notably, it launched its assault from an area located north-west of Damascus.

Israel has so far displaced over a million people in Lebanon, openly declaring its intent to expand what it calls a military “buffer zone”. Israeli defence minister Israel Katz doesn’t mince his words however, openly declaring that he is seeking to occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River.

To this effect, the Israeli military has not only ordered the entire population of southern Lebanon to evacuate the territory, but also bombed five primary bridges connecting the south to the rest of the country. And yet, on the ground, the Israeli army is having a difficult time simply passing the border villages, where Hezbollah has damaged or destroyed around 70 Merkava tanks so far.

If the Israelis come under attack from forces inside Syria itself, they could be dragged into a painful quagmire there. This could also come about in the event that Syria’s al-Shara’a decides to seize the opportunity of Israel being distracted in Lebanon, to launch an offensive against the Druze separatist militias in Sweida. In order to save their Druze militia allies from suffering a major defeat, the Israeli army itself could get roped into direct clashes with Syrian forces.

Therefore, if the Israeli leadership makes the decision to escalate the Lebanon conflict by making a move towards the Bekaa Valley, they could very easily find themselves dealing with a totally new reality inside Syria too. 

The post Failing to Defeat Hezbollah, Israel & US Pressure Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa to Join War appeared first on MintPress News.

Israeli airstrikes have pounded civilian areas across the country, following a familiar pattern seen in Gaza: widespread destruction of infrastructure and residential neighborhoods under the justification of targeting militant positions. 

Critics argue that this approach is designed not only to weaken Hezbollah but to depopulate large parts of southern Lebanon, fundamentally altering the region’s demographics.

Yet despite the intensity of the bombardment, Hezbollah has not collapsed. On the contrary, the group continues to demonstrate significant military capability. Reports indicate that just in the last three weeks, 50 Israeli tanks have been destroyed, and Hezbollah units remain active across multiple fronts. Far from being diminished, the organization is widely believed to retain a force numbering in the tens of thousands—potentially exceeding the size of the Lebanese army itself.

This resilience has complicated Israel’s ground invasion plans. What was expected to be a rapid advance into southern Lebanon is now shaping up to be a prolonged and costly confrontation. Hezbollah’s entrenched positions, combined with its experience from previous conflicts, have turned the battlefield into a war of attrition.

The broader regional context has only added to the complexity. The removal of the Syrian government in late 2024 disrupted long-standing supply lines and alliances that once supported Hezbollah. However, rather than collapsing, the group appears to have adapted, maintaining operational capacity even as regional dynamics shift.

Meanwhile, political tensions inside Lebanon are rising. The country’s leadership—widely seen as aligned with U.S. interests—is under increasing pressure to confront Hezbollah internally. Washington has pushed for the group’s disarmament, raising fears that Lebanon could be drawn into internal conflict at the very moment it faces external invasion. The possibility of a renewed civil war is no longer unthinkable.

Israel, for its part, faces mounting questions about sustainability. Over the past year, it has engaged in military actions across multiple countries, stretching its resources and testing its economic limits. While U.S. support continues to provide critical backing, the long-term viability of sustaining simultaneous conflicts remains uncertain.

At the heart of the crisis is a fundamental miscalculation that has defined much of the region’s recent history: the belief that overwhelming force can quickly neutralize deeply rooted resistance movements. In Lebanon, as in other theaters, that assumption is being tested once again.

As the war grinds on, one reality is becoming clear—what was intended as a decisive campaign risks evolving into another protracted conflict with no easy exit.

The post Hezbollah Destroys 50 Israeli Merkava Tanks in Three Weeks As Israel Fails to Occupy South Lebanon appeared first on MintPress News.

Last week, the official Terror Alarm Twitter account posted a direct threat to Professor Seyed Mohammad Marandi, writing: 

“We are crowdfunding $1 million for a bounty for the capture of Mohammad Marandi, advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader and frequent IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps]-aligned propagandist. We want him alive.”

Not only was it not taken down, despite hundreds of users attempting to alert Twitter to the post, it was also promoted as “paid partnership,” meaning that the platform itself was profiting from the incitement.

A Shady, Contradictory Company

Founded in 2016, Terror Alarm publishes low-quality, A.I.-generated news across social media. It has built up a significant global following, including over a quarter of a million followers on Twitter (where it has changed its name four times already), and a Telegram channel with 36,000 subscribers. 

Its dealings, including its funding, are kept shrouded in secrecy. However, it has previously advertised in-house software jobs based in Denmark, Romania, and Spain, which, they note, require a degree from a European technical university, fluency in English, and to have lived in a NATO member state for the past seven years. 

Another posting on Telegram noted that, “TV Studio jobs available in Romania, Ukraine, Denmark, Sweden and Lithuania.” To qualify, it states, “You need to be Pro-Israel, Zionist, and speak fluent English.”

Although at first glance, the group appears to be simply another low-quality content farm, searching through archived versions of the company’s (now offline) website via the Internet Wayback Machine reveals that Terror Alarm is far more than that. 

The company has gone through a number of facelifts. It began as a supposedly anti-terror app, before rebranding as a private security firm, and then, finally, becoming an E.U.-registered NGO. 

Describing itself as a “highly accredited private security firm that not only alerted authorities about terrorist attacks as they happened but also helped thwart many acts of terror at the height of the 2014-2017 ISIS attacks in Europe,” it offers a variety of security services, including private bodyguarding, background checks, legal service, brand protection, and evidence compilation.

Terror Alarm has removed its website from the Internet. But according to a previous version accessed via the Wayback Machine, the group has three core missions:

1. Intelligence sharing with Free World governments,
2. Combating antisemitism through A.I.-driven monitoring and response,
3. Preventing terrorist attacks through predictive A.I. analysis.

The third of these missions is particularly controversial, and amounts to a Minority Report-style judgment on pre-crimes. As the company itself explains, its technology scours the internet and “continuously scans digital activity using predictive A.I. to detect early signs of radicalization or extremist association.” It then alerts authorities and initiates a “pre-configured ‘digital lockdown’” to “enable proactive counter-radicalization.”

In short, Terror Alarm promotes itself as a service that can predict who will carry out attacks, based on their social media posts, and can share that information with governments and police forces. However, its own source code, netizens have exposed, dictates which groups are considered worthy of support and which are “opposed entities.” While the UAE, Turkey, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Israel and “Jews and Zionists worldwide” are considered positive groups, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, the Chinese Communist Party are all placed on their own private terrorist list. 

Defending and Supporting Israel, From Denmark

As the list suggests, Terror Alarm is a fundamentally pro-Israel organization, and it clearly has strong ties to the Ethno-Jewish state. To begin with, the contact details displayed on an archived version of its website includes a +972 (Israeli) phone number. It also used to post an inordinate amount of content relevant only to Israelis, such as articles titled “Israeli tourists detained indefinitely in Turkey for photographing the city!” and “Hanukkah 2021 and what it means for the IDF.” Indeed, in one Archive.org capture, the company’s strapline was “Counter-Terrorism and Breaking News from Jerusalem, Israel.” Moreover, the company only allows Jews to be appointed to its board. 

However, the organization is not registered in Israel, but in Denmark. Journalist Freddie Ponton found that local records list businessman René Rønneberg as Terror Alarm’s official representative. Rønneberg has been a director of a number of small Danish businesses, including BEZH Denmark ApS, a company partially owned by Avi Simonsen, a man who, despite his name, was born in Iran in 1977, just before the Islamic Revolution. 

Little is known about either of these characters, who both keep an extremely low profile online. Yet their political outlook can be guessed at from looking at Terror Alarm’s output. 

Strangely, for such an overtly political organization, it insists that it is entirely neutral. “We have no ‘agenda’ except to prevent acts of terror. Most of the tweets on our @Terror_Alarm Twitter feed are AI-generated and as such, they are technically mostly agenda-free tweets,” it writes, as if A.I. is a purely neutral tool, adding that:

“We report only the facts and not a personal attitude toward the facts. We do use our connections to get the news but we will not be on either side of any argument and we normally do not disclose the sources.”

And yet, it openly announced its enthusiastic support for the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, or what it called Israel’s mission to “transform Gaza from a war-torn region into a place of peace and prosperity.” It also calls for the United States to “deploy troops to assist in the humanitarian mission of relocating Palestinians to countries willing to offer refuge (Most Palestinians are originally from Jordan and Egypt).”

Media Blackouts and Propaganda Wars 

The public response to Terror Alarm’s attempts to kidnap a well-known Iranian-American academic was overwhelmingly one of outrage. 

“This is a reprehensible post for X to allow, targeting Marandi and putting a bounty on him. It is also a ‘Paid partnership.’ Imagine the outcry if a pro-Palestinian or pro-Iranian group did this with Israelis or Americans. Criminal charges would be filed,” wrote Drop Site News’ Jeremy Scahill. “Try to do one of these about an Israeli or American professor tied to the war and see how long it takes before your post or even account is banned,” reacted journalist Glenn Greenwald. Hundreds of people attempted to contact Twitter, but the company has not responded. 

Despite the incident going viral, it has been entirely ignored by corporate media. A search for “Marandi” or “Terror Alarm” into the Dow Jones Factiva news database elicited zero relevant results in The New York Times, CNN, Fox News, CBS News, The Washington Post, or any American news outlet. As of March 26, only The Canary and 21st Century Wire – two small independent online sites – have covered the story. 

This cannot be because Professor Marandi is not known to journalists at big networks. Born in the United States and rising to become professor of English Literature and Orientalism at Tehran University, Marandi’s excellent command of the English language and his sharp debating skills have made him a regular guest on big networks such as the BBC or CNN. 

A military veteran and an advisor to the Iranian government’s nuclear negotiation team, he has become the go-to face on television espousing Iran’s point of view in English. This has earned him widespread notoriety, with supporters enjoying his wit and his ability to dress down oppositional interviewers, and detractors seeing him as the spokesperson for a dictatorship.

Marandi has become a particularly common face on TV news across the world since the most recent U.S./Israeli attack on Iran. On February 28, coordinated American and Israeli attacks hit Iran and assassinated its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Western missiles pounded the country, hitting government and military installations, as well as schools and hospitals. 

Iran fired back, targeting American bases across the region, and closed the Strait of Hormuz, effectively crippling the global economy. The result was chaos. Much of the world’s oil and gas supply has been halted, leading to fears of electricity and food shortages, as well as a prolonged global depression. 

President Trump appeared blindsighted by the response, and immediately called on his NATO allies to join the U.S. in a mission to reopen the narrow sea passage between Iran and Arabia. Their response, however, was far from enthusiastic. And with Washington’s Gulf allies sounding the alarm about the dire economic and social consequences of a prolonged engagement, it appears Trump might be forced into a humiliating climb down. 

Washington can still rely on support from big social media platforms such as Twitter, however. The company was bought in 2022 by Elon Musk, a tech mogul and Pentagon contractor who made his money partnering with the U.S. national security state. Musk’s companies have secured billions in contracts with the C.I.A. and U.S. military. In 2023, he signalled his full support for Israel in its campaign against its neighbors, flying there to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and tour kibbutzim hit by Hamas during the October 7 attacks. 

In January, he changed the Iranian flag emoji on Twitter to feature the lion and the sun, a design associated with the dictatorship of the shah. As such, this represented a clear statement of intent to use his platform as a tool to overthrow the current government, as it has been used before under previous ownership. 

Twitter has also partnered with AU10TIX, forcing all users who wish to use the site’s premium services to hand over their identities, including their passports and face scans, to the company. AU10TIX is an Israeli company founded and staffed by former spies from elite IDF surveillance group, Unit 8200. 

Thus, while many expressed outrage that the platform was not only allowing Terror Alarm to place a bounty on the head of a prominent academic, but was also promoting it as a paid partnership, a closer inspection of Twitter’s close ties to Israeli intelligence makes this revelation much easier to believe. 

Marandi himself was far from shocked by the decision to allow the Terror Alarm paid partnership to continue. “Elon Musk and his employees support terrorism, but no one should be surprised. After all, they support the slaughter of women and children across West Asia,” he said. 

The post Terror Alarm: Inside the Shady Israeli Group Crowdfunding the Kidnapping of Dr. Marandi appeared first on MintPress News.

On March 13, US President Donald Trump officially announced the bombing of Kharg Island, Iran’s most critical oil export terminal. Only a day prior, the idea of invading the island was advocated by Jesse Watters, one of the American leaders’ favourite Fox News hosts. 

This week Axios News would go on to cite four anonymous sources, who told them the US was considering a land invasion of the island. This Tuesday, another sign came that the deployment of ground troops to fight on Iranian territory could be afoot, as the Wall Street Journal revealed that the Pentagon was preparing to order 3,000 82nd Airborne service members to the Middle East.

From the sources of the New York Times, the soldiers chosen to embark upon such a mission would be the 82nd Airborne Division’s “Immediate Response Force”, capable of being deployed anywhere within 18 hours. These forces could hypothetically be deployed alongside the some 2,500 additional US Marines who were recently deployed to the region, along with amphibious assault ships like the USS Boxer or USS Tripoli.

A potential assault on Kharg Island could prove costly to Iran’s ability to ship oil, however, an American military takeover of its territory is highly unlikely to impact Tehran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, there are three other islands that may be viewed as more viable options to attack and seize.

These are the islands of Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb, as well as Abu Musa. Geographically, these islands are both further away from mainland Iran than Kharg Island, located adjacent to the Emirati Province of Ras al-Khaimah. A simple look at a map of the region reveals that while Kharg Island is in the north of the Persian Gulf, with the closest major city to it being Bushehr, the three islands are actually located right next to the Strait of Hormuz.

The islands are also considered by the United Arab Emirates to belong to them, but have been controlled by Iran since 1971- prior to the birth of the Islamic Republic in 1979. Since 2018, the UAE has been escalating its rhetoric surrounding its claims to the islands, even lobbying for international intervention to end what it calls the “Iranian occupation” of the disputed territories.

Great strategic importance has been attached to the islands, with Iran deciding to develop their military capabilities there since at least 2008. In particular, Abu Musa, the largest of the three islands, is home to a broad range of Iranian military capabilities. Former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, credited as one of the architects of Tehran’s “Mosaic Defence” strategy, even labelled Abu Musa Island as “Iran’s beating heart” in the Persian Gulf at the beginning of 2019. 

Since the beginning of the US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28, a number of developments have also occurred that culminated in direct threats against the United Arab Emirates and the use of its territory to fire upon Iran. On March 7, a significant escalation occurred when an Iranian water desalination plant was bombed on Qeshm Island, located along the Strait of Hormuz, an attack suspected to have originated from UAE territory.

Things then began coming to a head on March 21, after the Three Islands came under direct attack, triggering major announcements from Iranian officials. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, the spokesperson for Khatam Al-Anbiya Central Command [Iran’s unified military command], who stated:

“We warn the United Arab Emirates if any further aggression originates from its territory against the Iranian islands of Abu Musa and Greater Tunb in the Persian Gulf, Iran’s powerful armed forces will subject Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE to heavy strikes”

These threats were paired with an Iranian warning to the residents of Ras al-Khaimah, urging them to evacuate the city, due to military actions that would be taken against the area in the near future.

All indications point towards Tehran anticipating some kind of future military action against these islands, which are smaller than Kharg Island and are likely more simple to seize in a ground operation.

The appetite for a ground invasion is certainly there amongst personalities with known influence over President Trump. So much so that Republican Senator Lindsey Graham made an appearance on Fox News, where he referenced the WW2 battle to take Iowa Jima from Imperial Japan. This was the bloodiest battle in US Marine Corps history, resulting in around 26,000 casualties amongst American forces.

Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, a former Trump administration official, also took to the President’s favourite news channel to advocate for boots on the ground, labeling himself a “big believer” in a ground strategy. “The fact is, over time, over history, the only way you solve a solution is to put boots on the ground and control the environment. You can do certain things from the air, you can do certain things from the sea, but there’s a time you have to occupy land,” argued Kellogg.

If the ground operation is to either include or solely target the Three Islands, there is a high likelihood that the Emiratis may directly become involved in the war. It is also of note that the UAE has escalated its rhetoric against Iran over the past days, with its foreign ministry even branding the Iranian leadership in Tehran as “terrorists”.

No ground operation will render guaranteed results and is likely to escalate the conflict, rather than secure the passage of ships through the Gulf of Hormuz. Last year, Yemen’s Ansarallah managed to successfully uphold its blockade of the Red Sea, defeating a US military operation aimed at breaking the siege. The Red Sea is notably a much vaster area than the Strait of Hormuz and Yemen’s military capabilities are considerably less than those of Iran.

The post US May Sieze Three Iranian Islands, Including Kharg, Targeting Critical Oil Routes & Military in Hormuz appeared first on MintPress News.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News that the move to free up 140 million barrels of oil was aimed at preventing China gaining from the situation. “That’s about 10 days to two weeks of supply that the Iranians had been pushing out that would have all gone to China,” he said. “In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against the Iranians to keep the price down for the next 10 or 14 days as we continue this campaign.”

He also noted that the U.S. government was considering a unilateral release of its oil reserves, in order to calm the market, which has seen prices almost double from $53 per barrel in January to $97 today. 

“When we go through, as we plan, to unsanction the Iranian oil, that oil will go up to a market price, and it will end up in places other than China. It can flow into Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, India, who have been good actors in this,” Bessent added.

No matter how the Trump administration spins their move, there is no doubt that this represents an embarrassing climb down – one which drew mockery on social media. “This is literally the dumbest war in human history. No hyperbole,” said Aaron Bastani of Novara Media. “Next up: US asks Iran to join anti-Iran coalition,” joked satirist Karl Sharro. 

In response to U.S. and Israeli attacks that killed its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz on March 2. The narrow sea passage between the Islamic Republic and Arabia is a major choke point of global trade, through which around one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply flows. 

The result has been economic and political pandemonium, which Trump administration officials appeared not to have anticipated. “Iran War Will Lower Energy Prices” ran the headline of a March 12 Wall Street Journal article penned by Peter Navarro, Trump’s Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing. 

Trump appears to have believed that his Iran attack could be completed within hours, and with little blowback or fallout. Instead, the Islamic Republic has been able to hit American bases across the region, spread panic throughout the Gulf States, and create shockwaves in the global economy. 

In response, Trump demanded his NATO and Asian allies come to his aid, and send their armed forces to the region to forcibly open the strait. Declaring it a “very small endeavor,” he stated: 

“I really am demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is the place from where they get their energy. And they should come and they should protect it. You could make the case that maybe we shouldn’t be here at all, because we don’t need it.” 

Instead, however, his allies responded with a resounding “no.” “Canada is not participating in the offensive operations of Israel and the United States, and will not, ever,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius was equally adamant; “This is not our war. We have ⁠not started it. What does Donald Trump expect a handful or two handfuls of European frigates to do in the Strait of Hormuz that the powerful U.S. Navy cannot do?” he asked. 

Most alarmingly for Trump, however, was the reaction from Belgian prime minister, Bart De Wever. In an interview with local newspaper, L’Echo, he stated that Washington’s Iran attacks will force Europe to come to a quick and independent agreement with Russia, in order to avoid financial ruin amid an impending energy crisis. 

“We must normalize relations with Russia and regain access to cheap energy. That is common sense,” he said, adding, “In private, European leaders agree with me, but no one dares to say it out loud. We must end the conflict in the interest of Europe, without being naïve towards Putin.”

Trump has said that he is not worried that this war will turn into another Vietnam. Yet, with oil prices surging, public resentment mounting, a global economy potentially on the brink, and key allies openly rebelling against his dictates, it is quite possible that this conflict could spiral out of Washington’s control and do similar damage to the American empire. 

The post Embarrassing Pivot: US Considers Dropping Iran Oil Sanctions Amid War appeared first on MintPress News.

Traveling by land, sea, and air, this internationalist brigade, known as the Nuestra América Convoy to Cuba, is converging on Havana on Saturday in order to defy the Trump administration’s regime change attempts, and show solidarity with the Cuban people.

“Right now, the United States is tightening its siege on Cuba,” said political streamer Hasan Piker, explaining his decision to join the convoy, adding: “Fuel shipments are blocked. Flights grounded, critical supplies cut off. Donald Trump has even threatened a ‘friendly takeover’ of the island. For Washington, the message is simple: submit – or suffer.”

Climate activist Greta Thunberg is also traveling to Havana, in order to stand up for what she calls “the right of the Cuban people to build their own society, free from siege and economic sabotage.” “The Trump administration is waging illegitimate wars across the world, killing countless people, deliberately, openly and methodically. The pedophile Trump himself bragged about it, saying there’s an embargo, there’s no oil, there’s no money. There is no anything,” she added. 

The Swedish organizer, who was once a media darling but has fallen from favor due to her support for Palestinian liberation, also referenced Cuba’s long history of solidarity with the Global South and with oppressed peoples across the planet. “Cuba did not stay silent when the world needed it,” she said, noting how the country sends its doctors far and wide to help with pandemics and natural disasters. 

She also explained how Cuba stood up to Apartheid South Africa, even when rich countries tacitly supported the racist project. Cuba sent troops to Africa to fight the white nationalist armies, dealing them a crushing military and ideological blow from which they never recovered. “When liberation movements were fighting for independence from colonial rule across Africa… Cuba stood in solidarity. Not just in words, but in actions, with real material support. Cuba stood up for the world, and now, it is time for the world to stand up for Cuba,” she said. 

Sensing an opportunity, the Trump administration is attempting to crush the Cuban Revolution once and for all. On January 29, President Trump declared the island an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security, and declared that any nation selling it oil would receive giant tariffs. 

The result has been an energy blackout in the Caribbean nation. With no oil, both public and private transport has ground to a halt. With little electricity, businesses have shuttered and public services have been suspended. Even Cuba’s famous healthcare system is sputtering, starved of the medicines, products, and machines it needs to function. 

“I think something will happen with Cuba pretty quickly,” Trump predicted. Luis De Jesus Reyes, a Havana-based journalist, was not so sure, however, telling MintPress that, although there are sporadic protests across the country, they are not counter-revolutionary in nature, and are more of an expression of popular frustration. The Cuban people, he said, are well-educated, and know exactly why they are suffering. But, he said, for Cubans, surrendering is simply not an option. 

“The US is suffocating the Cuban people with its criminal and inhumane blockade,” former U.K. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is also joining the convoy, said. “We cannot sit idly by. That’s why we are mobilizing to Cuba, bringing critical humanitarian aid for its people.” The humanitarian aid in question consists of tens of tons of urgently-needed drugs, medical supplies, generators, and other essential items. 

Other prominent figures traveling to Cuba with the Nuestra America Convoy include Irish hip-hop band, Kneecap, union organizer Chris Smalls, Spanish political leader, Pablo Iglesias, and journalists such as Katie Halper, Owen Jones, and Nathan Robinson. 

Washington’s obsession with destroying Cuba began immediately after the 1959 Cuban Revolution, which saw Fidel Castro and Che Guevara overthrowing the U.S.-backed dictator, Fulgencio Batista. 

Since then, despite extraordinary hardships, and a 66-year U.S. blockade that the State Department itself described as an attempt to bring about “hunger, desperation and overthrow of government,” Cuba has achieved remarkable successes, including full literacy, a world-class healthcare system, sustainable agriculture, and perhaps the highest standard of living in a poor country anywhere in the world. 

Part of the country’s Communist ideology is to help others. Cuban doctors have Ebola in West Africa, battled the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe and Latin America, and restored the sight of some two million people in 35 countries for free. They have also trained tens of thousands of foreign doctors for free, on the proviso that they return to their home countries and care for underprivileged communities. This includes dozens of Americans, many of whom spoke to MintPress News for a 2020 article on the country’s famous medical system. 

For many around the world, despite the hardships it endures, Cuba stands as a ray of light, an example of what a better world could look like. For the U.S. government, the island is a threat for the same reason; a dangerous idea that must be stamped out. While it is unclear if Trump will get his wish, or merely be able to make the Cuban people suffer unnecessarily, what is evident is that Cuba is not alone in its struggle.

The post Hasan Piker, Greta Thunberg Head Massive Cuba Convoy Aimed At Breaking US Blockade appeared first on MintPress News.