War in Iran/Middle East/ Gulf and beyond
(AFP/Al Arabiya) The United States may need to “escalate” its attacks against Iran to be able to wind down the war, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday, after President Donald Trump gave seemingly contradictory trajectories for the US military campaign. Trump on Saturday threatened to “obliterate” Iranian energy plants if Tehran did not fully open the pivotal Strait of Hormuz, just a day after saying US objectives were “very close” and that he was considering “winding down” the war. Asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” if Trump was winding down or escalating the war, Bessent said: “They’re not mutually exclusive. Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate.” – US may ‘escalate to de-escalate’ against Iran: Treasury chief
(AFP/Al Arabiya) Iran’s military threatened on Sunday to completely shut down the strategic Strait of Hormuz if US President Donald Trump acts on threats to target the country’s power plants. Trump has given Iran 48 hours to reopen the strait which has been effectively closed since the start of the war sparked on February 28 by US-Israeli bombardment of Iran. The war has since spread across the Middle East, with Iran responding with drone and missile attacks on Israel and US interests in the region. – Iran threatens to completely close Strait of Hormuz if US targets power plants
(Al Arabiya) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday to pursue senior commanders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) “personally,” during a visit to a town struck by an Iranian missile the previous day. “We’re going after the regime. We’re going after the IRGC, this criminal gang,” Netanyahu said, as he inspected the damage in the southern Israeli town of Arad. – Netanyahu visits Israeli town hit by Iran strike, vows to target IRGC leaders
(Al Arabiya) Israel’s military struck a key bridge in south Lebanon on Sunday, an AFP correspondent said, after Israel’s defense minister said the army had been ordered to destroy more bridges over the Litani River. The AFP correspondent saw smoke rising from the site north of the city of Tyre after the bombardment of the Qasmiyeh bridge, located on a main highway linking villages in the Tyre district with others further north, after Israel had said the bridge was being used by Hezbollah. – Israeli military strikes bridge in south Lebanon after warning
(AFP/Al Arabiya) Iran’s critical water and energy infrastructure have suffered extensive damage due to US and Israeli strikes, the country’s energy minister said on Sunday. Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran on February 28, killing the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader and sparking a war that has since spread across the Middle East. – US, Israeli strikes caused ‘heavy damage’ to water, energy infrastructure: Iran minister
(AFP/Al Arabiya) The Middle East war has reached a “perilous stage” with strikes around nuclear sites in Iran and Israel, the World Health Organization warned Sunday, as it called for maximum restraint. – Middle East war at ‘perilous stage’ with strikes around nuclear sites: WHO
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas held a phone call with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday, an EU official told Reuters. – EU’s Kallas spoke with Iran’s foreign minister on Sunday, official says
Cuba/US
(Cheyanne M. Daniels – Politico) The Cuban deputy foreign minister issued a blunt warning to the U.S. on Sunday: His island’s military is “prepared” for any U.S. aggression as the Trump administration continues to push for regime change in the country. Speaking to NBC’s Kristen Welker in a sometimes tense interview, Carlos Fernández de Cossío said he doesn’t understand why the U.S. would attack the island — but added, “our military is always prepared. And in fact it is preparing these days for the possibility of military aggression.” – Cuban military is ‘prepared’ for potential US aggression, deputy foreign minister says – POLITICO
Russia/Ukraine
(Linda Hourani – The Kyiv Independent) Ukrainian drones struck two Buk air defense systems in Russia’s Bryansk Oblast on March 22, amid a broader wave of strikes on additional air defense and military targets, the Ukrainian military said. A Buk-M3 surface-to-air missile system and a transporter-loader vehicle of a Buk-M2 system were destroyed, said Robert Brovdi, known as “Madyar,” commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces. The commander shared a video purportedly showing footage of the drone attack. The Buk systems were struck by drone operators from the 413th Raid Unmanned Systems Regiment, Brovdi noted. Operators from the 1st Separate Center of the Unmanned Systems Forces also destroyed a radar of the advanced S-400 Triumf air defense system in the occupied part of Donetsk Oblast, according to the commander. – Ukraine destroys Russian Buk air defenses in flurry of strikes, military says, shows footage
(Tim Lister, Daria Tarasova-Markina – CNN) Russian forces have begun a spring offensive in eastern Ukraine, including the use of dozens of tanks and armored vehicles, according to the Ukrainian military and analysts. The assault is gathering pace as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he has a “very bad feeling” about the consequences of the Middle East conflict for his country. “You see that our diplomatic meetings, trilateral meetings, are constantly postponed. There is one reason: war in Iran,” he told the BBC in an interview Sunday. “Putin will want a long war. For Putin, a long war in Iran is a plus,” he said – as rising oil prices and the suspension of US sanctions on some Russian crude benefit the Russian economy. – Russian forces begin offensive in Ukraine as Zelensky worries about impact of Iran conflict | CNN
(RFE/RL) Russian deadly air strikes across Ukrainian regions continue as trilateral negotiations between Kyiv, Moscow, and Washington to end the war, now in its fifth year, are effectively paused amid the conflict in the Middle East. At least three people were killed and more than a dozen injured in Ukraine on March 22 after Russian forces launched missiles and nearly 140 drones toward the country’s territory. – Russia Continues Deadly Strikes On Ukraine Amid Stalled Peace Efforts
