War in Iran/Middle East/Gulf and beyond
(Al Arabiya) Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday that it detected three ballistic missiles that were launched toward the Riyadh Province. – Saudi Arabia says three ballistic missiles launched targeting Riyadh Province
(UN News) More than 1,000 people have been killed and 2,584 injured in Lebanon since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran, UN officials said Saturday. “Recent escalation has killed or wounded the equivalent of one classroom of children every day,” said Ted Chaiban, deputy chief of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Deaths from Israeli strikes in Lebanon include 31 healthcare workers, according to the latest flash update issued by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Meanwhile, ongoing displacement orders are driving repeated population movements, with over 1.2 million people displaced, including 134,439 internally displaced in 636 collective shelters mainly in Beirut and Mount Lebanon amid growing shelter shortages and protection risks. – War in the Middle East: Iran nuclear facility hit as equivalent of ‘one classroom of children’ killed, wounded daily in Lebanon | UN News
(RFE/RL) US President Donald Trump has given Tehran 48 hours to “fully open” the crucial Strait of Hormuz or the United States will “obliterate” Iran’s power plants, a major escalation of tensions in a war that already threatens to spin out of control. The deadline threat came at 7:44 p.m. Washington time on March 21 and was posted on his Truth Social platform: “If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP”. He did not specify the power plants that would be targeted by the United States and it comes one day after Trump said he was considering “winding down” military operations. Even as he spoke, the Pentagon was sending thousands of additional ground forces to the region aboard US Navy ships to bolster military assets in the war with Iran, multiple media outlets have reported. The Pentagon hasn’t commented officially on the reported deployments. – Trump Gives Tehran 48 Hours To Open Hormuz Or US Will ‘Obliterate’ Iran’s Power Plants
(Brad Lendon – CNN) As President Donald Trump looks at ordering US Navy ships to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, for naval analysts and historians, there’s a distinct feeling of “been there, done that.”. Almost 40 years ago, US Navy warships were facing the same enemy they’d be facing now, the navy and the sea forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The so-called Tanker War of the late 1980s saw some of the same weapons and problems a US escort force would face today, and provides lessons on how, in war, things can go wrong quickly in unexpected ways – with deadly consequences. – The Tanker War: How history is repeating itself on the Strait of Hormuz | CNN
Cuba/US
(Patrick Oppmann – CNN) Donald Trump wants us to believe that a deal with Cuba is close at hand. After this past week, I am not so sure. “They have no energy. They have no money. They’re in deep trouble,” Trump has said, explaining why he believes the Cuban government is desperate to reach an agreement to save the country. Trump is correct that Havana is under the most severe pressure at any time since the 1962 missile crisis, when a US invasion of the island seemed all but guaranteed. Now, as back then, Cuba faces a US blockade. Through military action in Venezuela and threats of tariffs on Mexico, Trump has prevented oil from entering the island, crippling an economy already hamstrung by the communist government’s own disastrous limits on private industry. – Trump aims to end the revolution that Fidel Castro started. Can the US and Cuba strike a deal? | CNN
EU/Hungary
(Jamie Dettmer – Politico) Probably not since Margaret Thatcher was in office have EU leaders been so outraged with one of their peers as they were last week when Victor Orbán again blocked a critical €90 billion loan to fund Ukraine’s war effort. Admittedly, the language wasn’t quite as colorful as sometimes used about Britain’s Iron Lady. An exasperated Jacques Chirac once was caught on a mic complaining about Thatcher: “What does she want from me, this housewife? My balls on a plate?”. Nonetheless, there was no disguising the depth of anger at last week’s European Council meeting, with Orbán the villain of the piece as the Hungarian leader stubbornly declined once again to approve the critical financial lifeline for Ukraine. He’d only do so, he said, when Russian oil flows freely to Hungary through the Druzhba pipeline, damaged in a Russian air attack. Orbán accuses Kyiv of stalling repairs to it; Ukraine’s leader denies this. – Did Orbán lure EU into a trap? – POLITICO
EU/Spain
(Aitor Hernández-Morales and Zia Weise – Politico) While the rest of Europe scrambles to find quick fixes for soaring energy prices, Spain is busy taking a victory lap. The continent’s power bills have skyrocketed since Iran blocked the flow of oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz and bombed fuel production sites across the Middle East in response to air strikes from the U.S. and Israel. At a Thursday European Council summit in Brussels, many EU leaders warned of significant pain for households and industry if the crisis doesn’t end soon. But Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was quick to note his country had been largely spared from the price hikes. – What the EU can — and can’t — learn from Spain’s low energy bills – POLITICO
Sudan
(UN News) The World Health Organization (WHO) verified on Saturday a hospital attack in war-torn Sudan that killed 64 people. The Al Deain Teaching Hospital in East Darfur’s capital, Al Deain, was struck late Friday, killing scores of people, including 13 children, two nurses, a doctor and multiple patients. “Enough blood has been spilled,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Enough suffering has been inflicted. The time has come to de-escalate the conflict in Sudan and ensure the protection of civilians, health workers and humanitarians.”. To date, the total number of fatalities linked to attacks on health facilities has now surpassed 2,000 during Sudan’s war, which began in April 2023 between rival militaries. – WHO verifies deadly hospital attack in war-torn Sudan | UN News
US
(Danya Gainor – CNN) As a shrinking number of Transportation Security Administration agents work to keep hourslong security lines moving despite not being paid, President Donald Trump stepped into the fray Saturday, announcing he will send Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to airports by Monday if Congress doesn’t agree to a plan to end the partial government shutdown. The Trump administration has not clarified what shape ICE agents’ roles would take at airports since they’re not trained to perform security screenings, and TSA screeners are required to undergo months of training. CNN has reached out to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security, which includes TSA, for comment. “The president can have (ICE agents) come there but I don’t see how that helps us in getting through this time period,” Atlanta TSA officer and union steward George Borek told CNN, reiterating the need for proper training. As leaders in both parties try to work out a deal to fund DHS, which includes 61,000 TSA employees who have been working without paychecks, there are few signs the impasse will break soon on Capitol Hill before a scheduled recess. – What’s ahead as Trump threatens to send ICE agents to airports while TSA workers go unpaid during shutdown | CNN
(Gregory Svirnovskiy and Ben Johansen – Politico) President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to send federal immigration agents to airports across the country on Monday if Democrats don’t agree to end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown, now approaching five weeks. “If the Radical Left Democrats don’t immediately sign an agreement to let our Country, in particular, our Airports, be FREE and SAFE again, I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before, including the immediate arrest of all Illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country,” he wrote. – Trump threatens to send ICE to airports amid DHS standoff – POLITICO
(Aaron Pellish – Politico) The Trump administration violated the Constitution when it sought to restrict press access to the Pentagon and limit what reporters could cover, a federal judge ruled Friday. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman granted a request from The New York Times to void the Pentagon’s press credential policy on grounds it violated the First and Fifth Amendment, rejecting the government’s argument that the restrictions were needed to prevent the disclosure of classified information. – Federal judge reverses Pentagon press restrictions – POLITICO
US/China
(Phelim Kine, Ari Hawkins and Daniel Desrochers – Politico) The Trump administration is telling foreign officials and others that it will not reschedule a summit between the president and Chinese leader Xi Jinping until the Iran war ends. A Washington-based diplomat privy to U.S.-China summit planning confirmed that the administration has made clear “the next dates for the Trump-Xi summit will only be proposed after the active part of the Iran conflict is over.” A Washington-based individual close to the administration also briefed on White House summit planning confirmed the administration shared that timeline. – Trump-Xi summit on hold until Iran conflict ends, people briefed say – POLITICO
