Europe/Ukraine/Hungary
(Sebastian Starcevic – Politico) The European Commission has proposed sending a fact-finding mission to a contested Soviet-era pipeline in an attempt to resolve a bitter row between Kyiv and Budapest and unlock a major tranche of financial support for Ukraine. “We have proposed a mission to inspect the pipeline to Ukraine,” Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen told reporters Thursday, adding that Ukraine had yet to respond to the request. For weeks, Hungary has refused to approve a €90 billion EU loan for Ukraine over the Druzhba pipeline, which transports oil from eastern Russia to Central Europe and has been offline since early January. – EU proposes fact-finding mission to Ukrainian pipeline at center of €90B loan drama – POLITICO
US/Czech Republic
(Laura Kayali – Politico) Washington has harshly criticized the Czech Republic for not spending enough on defense after Czech lawmakers passed a budget for 2026 that allocates only 1.7 percent of GDP to military expenditures. “All allies must bear their share of responsibility and uphold The Hague commitment on defense,” the U.S. embassy in Prague posted on X Thursday. “These numbers are not arbitrary. It is about responding to the current situation — and that situation requires 5 percent to be the standard. No excuses, no exceptions.”. NATO allies agreed a new defense spending target at last year’s alliance summit in The Hague. The new goal was set at 3.5 percent of GDP for purely military expenditures and 1.5 percent for related outlays such as on cybersecurity. The 1.7 percent figure for 2026 places Prague among NATO’s lowest defense spenders. – US slams Czech Republic over low defense spending – POLITICO
War in the Middle East/Gulf and beyond
(Al Arabiya) Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who is yet to appear in public, said on Thursday that his country’s forces must keep the strategic Strait of Hormuz closed, in a statement read out by a presenter on state TV. “The lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must definitely be used,” Khamenei said of the strategic waterway through which a fifth of global oil passes. It was his first statement since he was proclaimed as Iran’s new supreme leader on Sunday and after the killing of his father and predecessor in US and Israeli strikes. – Iran’s new supreme leader calls for keeping Strait of Hormuz closed
(AFP/Al Arabiya) Israel renewed its strikes on Beirut on Thursday, as it threatened to expand operations and seize territory in Lebanon if Hezbollah did not stop its attacks. The Israeli military issued a call to evacuate ahead of the Beirut attack, after having also widened its evacuation warning for residents in southern Lebanon to include areas below the Zahrani river, around 40 kilometers north of Israel. – Israel strikes Beirut after threatening to expand Lebanon operations
(Al Arabiya) A fire broke out on one of the two US aircraft carriers in the Middle East on Thursday, the US Navy said, adding that the cause of the fire was not combat-related. “There is no damage to the ship’s propulsion plant, and the aircraft carrier remains fully operational,” according to a statement from the US Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT). – Fire breaks out aboard USS Gerald Ford in Red Sea: US Navy
(Al Arabiya) Lebanon has summoned Iran’s chief of mission, the foreign minister said Thursday, a day after Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a joint attack on Israel. – Lebanon summons Iran envoy after joint IRGC-Hezbollah attack on Israel
(Al Arabiya) The US military said Thursday it has struck about 6,000 targets in Iran since the start of the joint US-Israeli war, according to US Central Command (CENTCOM). – US military hit over 6,000 targets in Iran, including 30 minelayers: CENTCOM
(Al Arabiya) The White House on Thursday accused ABC News of spreading false information after the network reported that the FBI had warned California police departments about a potential Iranian drone threat to the US West Coast. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the report should be retracted, arguing that it was based on unverified information and had unnecessarily alarmed the public. – White House denies Iranian drone threat to California after media report
(AFP/Al Arabiya) The International Maritime Organization (IMO) will convene an “extraordinary session” next week to discuss threats to shipping in the Middle East and particularly in the Strait of Hormuz, the agency said Thursday. The meeting, scheduled for March 18-19 at the IMO headquarters in London, was requested by six of IMO’s 40 members: Britain, Egypt, France, Morocco, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. – International maritime body calls emergency talks on Hormuz
(Al Arabiya) The White House on Thursday accused ABC News of spreading false information after the network reported that the FBI had warned California police departments about a potential Iranian drone threat to the US West Coast. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the report should be retracted, arguing that it was based on unverified information and had unnecessarily alarmed the public. – White House denies Iranian drone threat to California after media report
(AFP/Al Arabiya) Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani threatened on Thursday to target power grids in the region if the United States attacked the Islamic Republic’s electricity supplies. – Iran’s Larijani threatens reciprocal attacks in region if US targets electricity
(AFP/Al Arabiya) European countries have stepped up domestic security since US-Israeli strikes on Iran sparked the Middle East war, with fears Tehran could be plotting “terrorist” attacks as part of its retaliation. The Islamic Republic has been accused of seeking to orchestrate incidents in the past, and three such attacks have occurred in the United States and Europe since the start of the war on February 28. – Mideast war sparks worries of Iran ‘terror’ attacks in Europe
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) Russia condemned on Thursday what it called blackmail and threats by US President Donald Trump to initiate a “takeover” of Cuba, a traditional ally of Moscow. – Russia condemns Trump comments on ‘takeover’ of Cuba
(Kian Sharifi – RFE/RL) The United States and Israel have largely destroyed Iran’s conventional naval fleet in a massive bombing campaign since February 28. But Tehran’s threat to the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important shipping routes, has not diminished. Iran has effectively closed the narrow waterway, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil supplies flow, by using asymmetric warfare tactics. Besides Iran’s conventional navy, the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the elite branch of the country’s armed forces, has its own naval units that continue to hound and attack shipping in the Persian Gulf. “While I think the Iranian Navy is largely combat ineffective at this point, the IRGC navy remains able to harass shipping,” said Sascha Bruchmann, a military and security affairs analyst at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. “That maintains a specter of danger that most civilian shipping lines and insurers will find unacceptable,” Bruchmann added. – Iran’s Navy Is Largely Gone. The Threat To The Strait Of Hormuz Is Not.
(Frud Bezhan – RFE/RL) The United States and Israel are bombing Iran’s critical energy and civilian infrastructure, marking an escalation in the military campaign against the Islamic republic, experts say. Israel has struck at least four oil depots around Tehran, Iran’s sprawling capital, since the joint US-Israeli air campaign began on February 28. Other civilian infrastructure, including a commercial airport and a water treatment plant, has also been hit. “The aim of the US-Israeli attacks on Iran’s economic and energy infrastructure is not primarily economic,” said Steve H. Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. “It is strategic. The objective is to weaken Iran to the point of regime collapse or state fragmentation.” – US-Israeli Bombing Of Iran’s Energy Infrastructure Marks New Escalation In War
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Thursday that oil prices are unlikely to reach $200 a barrel, with President Donald Trump touting US gains from higher prices as the war with Iran disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. With the US-Israeli war on Iran widening, two crude tankers blazed in an Iraqi port after a hit by suspected Iranian explosive-laden boats, while scores of other oil-laden ships remained stranded with the strait still shuttered. – Oil unlikely to hit $200 a barrel, US energy chief says
(Alex Raufoglu – RFE/RL) With tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz down sharply since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran and oil prices up amid fears of Iranian attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure, analysts increasingly warn that global energy flows themselves are becoming part of the strategic battlefield. Iran produces only a small share of global oil supply but sits beside one of the world’s most important maritime energy choke points. That has raised questions about whether Tehran is attempting to exploit global dependence on Gulf oil to raise economic costs for its adversaries. In an interview with RFE/RL, Ariel Cohen — senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, managing director of energy, growth, and security at the International Tax and Investment Center, and founder of the advisory firm International Market Analysis — discussed Iran’s long history in oil geopolitics, the limits of its ability to disrupt global markets, and why he believes the structural advantages remain on the side of the US and its partners. – Ariel Cohen: Iran’s Energy Pressure Campaign ‘Ultimately Unsustainable’
(Ferdinand Knapp – Politico) Iran’s foreign ministry on Thursday accused the European Union of “complicity” in the U.S.-Israeli war against Tehran. “The European Union’s indifference and acquiescence in the face of U.S. and Israeli aggression, brutalities and atrocities amounts to nothing less than complicity,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a post on X Thursday. “The world is watching.”. To support his claim, Baqaei shared a video of left-wing Belgian lawmaker Marc Botenga speaking in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday, where Botenga said: “Most of you don’t condemn, you even support Trump’s and Netanyahu’s war on Iran … Your bombs never brought democracy and never will.” Botenga did not immediately respond to a request for comment. – Iran accuses EU of ‘complicity’ in war – POLITICO
(Gregory Svirnovskiy – Politico) The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has triggered the largest supply disruption in global oil market history, according to a Thursday report from the International Energy Agency, as tensions escalate along a critical waterway for international trade. The Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway responsible for carrying roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil supply, has seen oil and product flows plunge from around 20 million barrels a day to “a trickle,” the agency wrote. The price of oil has also “gyrated wildly” since the start of the war, the report read. – Iran war is the largest oil supply disruption in history, report finds – POLITICO
