Iran and beyond
(Clea Caulcutt and Laura Kayali – Politico) French President Emmanuel Macron said the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran that began Saturday and killed the country’s supreme leader were conducted “outside of international law” and that Paris “cannot approve of them.”. Though Macron laid the blame for the current conflagration in the Middle East squarely on Iran during an address on national television Tuesday night, his criticisms could land him in hot water with Washington. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s decision to publicly slam the war as illegal and bar American military planes from using Spanish bases in attacks on Iran prompted U.S. President Donald Trump to threaten to cut off trade with Madrid at a press conference Tuesday. – US strikes on Iran ‘outside international law,’ says Macron – POLITICO
(Ben Munster, Elena Giordano and Martina Sapio – Politico) The United States and Israel’s attacks on Iran have brought chaos to one of the world’s most oil-rich regions, with far-reaching implications for the global energy supply. Shipping traffic has all but stopped through the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, a chokepoint for a fifth of the global oil and gas trade. That has left governments panicking over supply chains and searching for alternatives. Where does that leave Europe? While less dependent on the Gulf’s oil and gas than Asia, it’s facing pressure as prices rise and key transit routes become squeezed. And if the conflict drags on for a long time — as U.S. President Donald Trump warned it might — it risks turning into a full-blown crisis. – 5 ways the Iran conflict is upending Europe’s energy plans – POLITICO
(Gabriel Gavin – Politico) European countries are already in the crosshairs for Iran’s aggression and should drop their insistence on finding diplomatic solutions to the crisis, Israel’s top envoy to the EU said. The continent “is in a war with Iran,” and has been for a long time, Avi Nir-Feldklein, Israel’s ambassador to the EU, told POLITICO in an interview, calling on Europe to unambiguously back military efforts to bring down the regime. After Israel and U.S. struck Iran on Saturday, prompting retaliation from Tehran, European governments have broadly urged restraint and diplomacy while seeking to avoid being drawn into a wider war. Iran said Tuesday if European countries join the U.S.-Israeli strikes, it will consider them as having entered the conflict. – Europe is at war with Iran whether it likes it or not, Israel’s EU ambassador says – POLITICO
(RFE RL) US President Trump says “the big-scale hitting comes” as Iranian defensive assets are destroyed. US commander says initial attack on Iran nearly double the 2003 “Shock and Awe” campaign against Iraq. Streets of Tehran — a city of 10 million people — appear deserted amid the US-Israeli air strikes. – US, Israel Vow No Letup And ‘A Lot Of Hurt’ As Campaign Against Iran Intensifies
(RFE RL) The White House has outlined four objectives of its ongoing aerial assault against Iran, carried out in tandem with Israel, now in its fourth day. Announcing the aims of Operation Epic Fury, as the campaign has been named, the White House wrote on X on March 3 that “America will win. The terrorist Iranian regime will be defeated.”. It listed the steps to this goal as being to “destroy the Iranian regime’s missiles,” “Annihilate their Navy,” Ensure their terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the world,” and “Ensure Iran can NEVER obtain a nuclear weapon.” – US Announces War Objectives As Trump Says ‘Something Had To Be Done’ About Iran
(Marc Caputo, Barak Ravid – Axios) Last Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called President Trump with a stunning tip: Iran’s supreme leader and his top advisers were all set to meet at one location in Tehran on Saturday morning. They could all be killed in a single devastating airstrike, Netanyahu told Trump and his team, according to three sources briefed on the discussion. Why it matters: The Feb. 23 call — held from the White House Situation Room and unreported until now — was a pivotal moment that set the Iran war in motion. – Exclusive: Inside Trump, Netanyahu call on Iran that changed Middle East
(Josephine Walker – Axios) President Trump’s claim that America has a “virtually unlimited” munitions stockpile and could fight a war “forever,” could soon be tested as counterattacks target military bases and U.S. Embassies across the Middle East in what has become a rapidly-widening conflict. Why it matters: Reporting suggests that the U.S. stockpile and that of key allies, such as Israel and Gulf nations, are dwindling faster than production can replace the weapons. The problem is particularly notable given that other countries are considering whether to jump into the war. – Trump says US has “unlimited” munitions amid weapon shortage concerns
(UN News) On the fourth day of Israeli and United States airstrikes against Iran and amid growing violence and instability in the Middle East, the UN urgently called for protection of civilians and warned of growing displacement and humanitarian needs. UN human rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani also recalled the horror of a strike on Saturday which reportedly killed and injured dozens of girls in a primary school in Minab in the south of Iran. “Children, little girls…at the beginning of the school day being killed in this manner, backpacks with bloodstains on them – this is absolutely horrific,” she said. “If there is any image that captures the essence of the destruction, despair and senselessness and cruelty of this conflict, those are the images.”. Ms. Shamdasani said that UN rights chief Volker Türk had been “deeply shocked” by the impacts of the hostilities on civilians and civilian infrastructure, and called for a “prompt, impartial and thorough investigation” into the circumstances of the Minab attack. “The onus is on the forces that carried out the attack to investigate it. We call on them to make public the findings and to ensure accountability and redress for the victims,” she insisted. Ms. Shamdasani also stressed that if attacks are found to be directed against civilians or civilian objects or indiscriminate attacks, they are “serious violations of international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes.” – Iran crisis: Schoolgirls killed, thousands displaced and aid compromised | UN News
Artificial Intelligence
(UN News) Secretary-General António Guterres told the inaugural meeting of a new independent group of experts on Artificial Intelligence convened by the UN that they have a huge responsibility to help shape how it is used “for the benefit of humanity”. “Individually, you come from diverse regions and disciplines, bringing outstanding expertise in AI and related fields. Collectively, you represent something the world has never seen before,” The UN chief told scientists on Tuesday at the first meeting of the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI. The 40 experts aim to help close “the AI knowledge gap” and assess the real impact the frontier technology will have across economies and societies so that countries can act with the same “clarity” on a level playing field. – ‘The world is looking to you for clarity’, UN chief tells AI experts | UN News
Europe – China
(Ellen O’Regan – Politico) TikTok on Tuesday began a defense of how it handles Europeans’ privacy and data in a court case that will define how Chinese-owned companies in Europe deal with Beijing’s spying laws. The popular social media app is going head to head with the Irish Data Protection Commission — Europe’s most powerful privacy regulator, which oversees tech giants including Meta, X and Google. At stake in the Irish court battle is whether TikTok is allowed to transfer personal data of Europeans to China. – TikTok starts court battle to save China ties – POLITICO
Germany – US
(James Angelos and Nette Nöstlinger – Politico) German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has worked hard to curry favor with U.S. President Donald Trump. But their Oval Office meeting on Tuesday begged two important questions: How far is Merz willing to go to stay on Trump’s good side — and at what political cost? The conservative German chancellor sat deferentially and mostly silent as Trump threatened to “embargo” Spain for not spending more on defense and for condemning U.S. strikes on Iran. Nor did Merz respond when Trump attacked British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on an array of issues — “this is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with” — and threatened to escalate his trade war with Europe. – Germany’s Merz sits powerless as Trump attacks European allies in Oval Office – POLITICO
Russia – Ukraine
(Mike Eckel – RFE RL) For the first time in at least two years, Russian forces appear to have lost territory in Ukraine, according to battlefield experts and open-source researchers, as Ukrainian forces eke out small battlefield gains and push back Russian troops. The findings, reported by DeepState, an open-source group with ties to the Ukrainian military, and Black Bird Group, a Finnish research organization, do not appear to signal a wholesale turning of the tides in the Ukraine war, now in its fifth year since Russia’s full-scale invasion. But they do highlight a growing consensus that Russia’s war has ground to a near stalemate, with Moscow unable to decisively achieve its goals and Kyiv unable to push out Russia’s invading forces. – On Ukraine’s Battlefield, Russia Has Lost Ground, Experts Say. But Don’t Expect A Major Reversal For Kyiv.
US
(Julianna Bragg – Axios) Half of Americans now support abolishing ICE, compared with just 39% who oppose eliminating the agency, according to a new YouGov poll. Why it matters: It’s the first time in YouGov’s polling history that support for abolishing ICE has reached 50%, capping a steady rise since January amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. – Half of Americans support abolishing ICE in record poll
US – Ecuador
(Rebecca Falconer – Axios) U.S. and Ecuadorian forces announced drug-trafficking military crackdown operations in Ecuador on Tuesday. The big picture: U.S. Southern Command in a Tuesday night statement said the operations targeted “Designated Terrorist Organizations,” hailing the cooperation as “a powerful example of the commitment of partners in Latin America and the Caribbean to combat the scourge of narco-terrorism.”. SOUTHCOM’s commander, Marine Gen. Francis Donovan, met in Quito with senior Ecuadorian officials including President Daniel Noboa on Sunday and Monday “to discuss security cooperation” and reaffirm the U.S. “commitment to supporting the nation’s efforts to confront narco-terrorism and strengthen regional security,” per an earlier statement. – US. Ecuadorian military operations in Ecuador target drug traffickers
US – Europe
(Mathieu Pollet – Politico) Washington will retaliate if Europe imposes measures that favor its own satellite companies over American ones, the head of the United States’ communications regulator Brendan Carr told POLITICO. He was responding to the EU’s push to promote homegrown firms over foreign competitors in a series of laws covering defense procurement, space technology, digital supply chains and green tech. Carr joins a growing chorus of U.S. officials railing against the plans in recent weeks, including the U.S.’s EU and NATO ambassadors Andrew Puzder and Matthew Whitaker. The U.S. will not hesitate to push European satellite firms out of the American market if it finds that Europe is doing the same, the Federal Communications Commission chairman warned EU officials. – Top Trump ally threatens retaliation over EU space tech law – POLITICO
