War in Iran/Middle East/Gulf and beyond
(AFP/Al Arabiya) More than 20 countries on Saturday said they would contribute to efforts ensuring safe passage in the Strait of Hormuz, condemning Iran’s closure of the vital waterway. “We condemn in the strongest terms recent attacks by Iran on unarmed commercial vessels in the Gulf, attacks on civilian infrastructure including oil and gas installations, and the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian forces,” said the 22 countries, mostly European but also including the UAE and Bahrain. – Over 20 nations say they want to contribute to efforts to secure Hormuz shipping
(Al Arabiya) Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi arrived in Saudi Arabia on Saturday as part of a Gulf tour aimed at discussing developments in the regional war and reaffirming Egypt’s solidarity with Gulf states. The Egyptian president is currently on a regional tour that has also included visits to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. – Egyptian president arrives in Saudi Arabia on Gulf tour amid regional war
(Al Arabiya) The Jordanian army said on Saturday that 240 missiles and drones had targeted Jordan since the US-Israeli war with Iran began last month, most of which were intercepted. “The total number of missiles and drones fired towards the kingdom since the start of the war has reached 240,” the army said in a statement. – Jordanian army says 240 missiles, drones fired at Jordan since start of Iran war
(Al Arabiya) The Iran-backed Hezbollah group said its fighters clashed with Israeli forces in two south Lebanon border towns on Saturday, in the third week of the latest war between the foes. Lebanon was pulled into the broader Middle East war when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on March 2 to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei in Israeli-US attacks. – Hezbollah says clashing with Israeli troops in two south Lebanon border towns
(AFP/Al Arabiya) Gas resumed flowing from Iran, Iraq’s electricity ministry said Saturday, after a strike on an Iranian facility caused a three-day stoppage. Iraq has been unwillingly drawn into the conflict triggered by the US-Israel attack on its neighbor Iran on February 28. – Limited Iranian gas imports to Iraq resume: Ministry
(Joseph Ataman, Isobel Yeung, Brice Laine and Sarah Dadouch – CNN) Lebanon is a nation that’s no stranger to war, but this conflict feels different. Just 18 months ago, Israeli bombs rained down across the country for weeks. Intent on defanging the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah and uprooting it from its strongholds, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) invaded the country’s south. Now, the country is wracked by the terror of a new, heavier bombardment, with more than 1,000 dead since March 2, when Hezbollah fired projectiles into Israel to avenge the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, sparking Israeli retaliation. In the capital Beirut, walls bear the scars of conflicts past. Although much of the city lives under an uneasy calm, the conflict is impossible to miss. – Lebanon: It’s been 18 months since the last war. This time it’s different | CNN
(Courtenay Brown – Axios) The Iran war’s economic consequences risk outlasting the conflict itself. Any swift ceasefire or arrangement allowing safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz won’t undo supply shocks that could linger for months — and in some cases, years. Oil markets “have so far faced logistics disruptions, not true supply destruction,” Matt Bauer, a commodity strategist at Ned Davis Research, wrote in a client note on Friday. “But attacks on South Pars and Iran’s retaliation raise the risk that the conflict is shifting toward physical damage of production capacity.” – Iran war’s economic shocks could reverberate for a while
(Barak Ravid – Axios) The CIA, Mossad and other intelligence agencies around the world were watching during Nowruz on Friday to see whether Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei would follow his father’s tradition and give a new year’s address. When the holiday passed with only a written statement from Mojtaba, the mystery around his physical condition, whereabouts and role in Iran’s war effort deepened. It’s hardly surprising that Mojtaba has remained in the shadows. Since killing his father, Israel has made clear Mojtaba is now at the top of its target list. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also claimed Mojtaba was “wounded and likely disfigured” in the strike that killed his father. But after three weeks without even a prerecorded video statement, Mojtaba’s silence is growing louder. The U.S. and Israel have intelligence that suggests Mojtaba remains alive — for example, evidence of Iranian officials trying to schedule in-person meetings with him (unsuccessfully, due to security concerns). – The Mojtaba mystery: CIA searches for signs of Iran’s new leader
(Kian Sharifi – RFE/RL) The Strait of Hormuz, a 33-kilometer-wide chokepoint through which roughly a third of the world’s seaborne oil passes, is effectively closed to normal commercial traffic. Iran has not blockaded the strait with a chain or a fleet. Instead, it has made the waterway ungovernable through a combination of kinetic strikes, mines, electronic warfare, and market fear — creating a closure that is arguably harder to reverse than a conventional blockade. “I can think of no way to reopen and keep open Hormuz militarily and easily,” Richard Allen Williams, a retired US Army colonel and former NATO Defense Investment Division official, told RFE/RL. – Iran’s Chokehold On Hormuz And The Limits Of Military Force
(RFE/RL) The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reiterated its call for restraint as Iran reported that its Natanz uranium enrichment facility had been hit on March 21, as US and Israeli strikes continued despite US President Donald Trump saying the day before that the war could be “winding down.”. No increase in radiation levels had been reported outside the Natanz facility, the IAEA said. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said in a statement that “no leakage of radioactive materials has been reported in this complex and no danger threatens the residents of the areas surrounding this site,” it said in a statement. IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi, in a post on X, reiterated his call for “military restraint to prevent a nuclear accident.” – IAEA Urges ‘Military Restraint’ As Iran’s Natanz Facility Hit, More Ground Troops Travel To Region
(Kian Sharifi – RFE/RL) Iran for years maintained that it had capped its ballistic missile range at 2,000 kilometers. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s then-supreme leader, said in 2021 that he had imposed the limit despite protests from military figures, framing it as a deliberate choice. That choice, according to Iranian military officials, was a signal to Europe that it was not in Iran’s crosshairs. On March 21, within weeks of Khamenei’s assassination in the US-Israeli war with Iran, Tehran fired two ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia, a joint US-British base in the Indian Ocean some 4,000 kilometers from Iranian territory. The cap, it appears, is gone. – Iran’s Missile Cap Died With Khamenei, Putting Europe Within Reach
(Anne McElvoy – Politico) United Nations Secretary General António Guterres is defending the U.N.’s role as the world’s multilateral organization for responding in times of crisis, but acknowledges he is cooperating “actively” with President Donald Trump’s rival Board of Peace in Gaza — even though Guterres brands the board “a personal project” of the U.S. president. In an exclusive interview with POLITICO this week, Guterres said he welcomed the Board’s aim of funding and delivering the basics of a Gaza reconstruction plan to rebuild Palestinian homes and infrastructure. “There is an objective there that was defined, approved by the Security Council, and we are cooperating actively with structures created by the Board of Peace,” Guterres said. But he questioned the wider ambitions of the organization, which Trump described as an alternative to “failed” international institutions when he launched it in September 2025, declaring himself chairman for life of what he asserted could “prove to be the most consequential international body in history.” – UN secretary general says he’s cooperating with Trump’s Board of Peace in Gaza but doesn’t want it in Hormuz – POLITICO
(Ellen O’Regan – Politico) Switzerland said it won’t allow weapons exports to the U.S. as long as Washington is involved in its ongoing military campaign against Iran. The Swiss government said on Friday that it will not sign off on any new licenses for the export of war materiel to countries involved in the conflict, citing Switzerland’s commitment to neutrality. – Switzerland halts weapons exports to US over Iran conflict – POLITICO
Czech Republic
(RFE/RL) Czech authorities have launched a probe into a fire that broke out at a warehouse of a company that makes drones and other military equipment, including a new cruise missile it was reportedly planning to test in combat in Ukraine this year. Officials say the predawn fire at a facility owned by arms producer LPP Holding in the city of Pardubice, some 100 kilometers east of Prague, was deliberately set, and are treating it as a terror attack. A group calling itself Earthquake Faction said on Telegram that it was responsible for the March 20 fire at the facility, which it called a “key production center” for Israeli weapons and linked to what it said was “genocide against Palestine, Iran, and Lebanon.” – Fire At Czech Arms Producer With Ukraine Ties Investigated As Terror Attack
France
(Clea Caulcutt – Politico) The prospect of the hard-left France Unbowed party taking control of Toulouse, France’s fourth-largest city and home to Europe’s best-known airplane maker, is putting industry on edge. It’s not just that a win in the second round of local elections Sunday could give the party’s anticapitalist leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a major boost ahead of next year’s presidential election. That’s a concern for later. The immediate fear is that if France Unbowed makes history here — the party has never come close to controlling such a big metropolis — it will heap taxes on local icons like Airbus to pay for a generous manifesto that includes water subsidies, free public transport for residents under 26 years old, and free school meals and educational supplies. – French election: Far-left surge in Airbus’ hometown scares big business – POLITICO
Germany – Indo Pacific
(Chris Lunday – Politico) German Defense Minister Boris Pistorus will spend next week touring the Indo-Pacific with a passel of corporate chiefs in tow to make deals across the region. It’s part of an effort to mark a greater impact in an area where Berlin’s presence has been minor, but whose importance is growing as Germany looks to build up access to natural resources, technology and allies in a fracturing world. “If you look at the Indo-Pacific, Germany is essentially starting from scratch,” said Bastian Ernst, a defense lawmaker from Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats. “We don’t have an established role yet, we’re only just beginning to figure out what that should be.” – Berlin’s Indo-Pacific strategy blends arms deals and alliances – POLITICO
Israel/West Bank
(AFP/Al Arabiya) Diplomats from 13 European countries and Canada on Saturday slammed growing “terror” by settlers against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, after a surge in deadly attacks. Since the start of March, six Palestinians have been shot dead in settler attacks in the West Bank, according to a tally of data from the Ramallah-based health ministry. – European nations decry ‘increasing settler terror’ in West Bank
