Arash Azizi on the Kurdish insurgency plan, the groups involved (notably heavy on nominally left-wing factions), and highlighting the extremely obvious risk of things descending into sectarian civil war. Good thing that has never been a problem in the middle east before!
Also notes Iran is already carrying out preemptive strikes in Iraqi Kurdish territory
As this AP story points out, there is also substantial risk of spillover into Iraq, given the large presence of Iran-friendly groups there
https://apnews.com/article/kurdish-dissident-groups-iran-war-iraq-f76efe372becb7d80d3ed026791e67ba
Kurdish Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq are preparing for a potential cross-border military operation in Iran, and the U.S. has asked Iraqi Kurds to support them, Kurdish officials have told The Associated Press. Kurdish party leaders have also discussed the Iran crisis with President Donald Trump, according to Iraqi Kurdish officials. One official says Trump has asked them to open the border and back the groups militarily. Iraqi Kurdish leaders fear Iranian retaliation. Recent drone and missile strikes have already hit the region, damaging homes, and disrupting electricity. Iraq also reinforces the border and the Iraqi government has vowed to stop infiltrations.
Israel's take on the end game: "If we can have a coup, great. If we can have people on the streets, great. If we can have a civil war, great. Israel couldn’t care less about the future . . . [or] the stability of Iran" - Which even leaving aside disregard for millions of human lives seems short sighted. The impacts of Iran becoming a failed state would extend far beyond its borders, likely for decades
https://www.ft.com/content/dd070ee7-7021-4f90-86ec-690fe6aa34e6
OK, they're not exactly friends, but you'd think Iran would have higher priority targets than Azerbaijan these days.
I'd say someone got their coordinates mixed up, but hitting a major airport by chance would be incredibly bad luck 🤔
I Can't Believe It's Not Regime Change™
"I’m not going through this to end up with another Khamenei. I want to be involved in the selection. They can select, but we have to make sure it’s somebody that’s reasonable to the United States"
The most unpopular US war in the Middle East (so far)
https://www.gelliottmorris.com/p/polls-us-iran-attack-2026-03-06
Who could have predicted that an all-out war in the Persian Gulf would affect gasoline prices?!
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/05/iran-energy-prices-trump-wiles-00813710
Sean Parnell wants you to know that on the 6th day of America's SMO in Iran, everything is going according to plan
https://xcancel.com/SeanParnellASW/status/2030067692477239807
Totally unsurprising Russia is supplying Iran with intel (would be surprising if they weren't!) and geopolitically symmetrical with the west in Ukraine (though likely less effective in practice), so I wouldn't really expect a big reaction from Washington, but… can you imagine the shitstorm if the Obama or Biden admin had said "it does not really matter?"
https://kyivindependent.com/russia-reportedly-provides-iran-intelligence/
Cycling through the various purported goals, we've reached "There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!"
"In conversations with their US counterparts, Arab and European officials say they haven’t detected what exactly Trump’s endgame looks like, or if it exists at all"
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/07/politics/donald-trump-iran-war-endgame-demands
Backing up much earlier reporting* Belingcat finds additional evidence the Minab girls schools strike was US
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/03/08/video-shows-us-tomahawk-missile-strike-next-to-girls-school-in-iran/
* NYT https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/world/middleeast/iran-school-us-strikes-naval-base.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Q1A.iDYk.Q91DlPE9JfKc&smid=url-share (email-walled #GiftLink)
NPR https://www.npr.org/2026/03/04/nx-s1-5735801/satellite-imagery-shows-strike-that-destroyed-iranian-school-was-more-extensive-than-first-reported
Reuters https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-investigation-points-likely-us-responsibility-iran-school-strike-sources-say-2026-03-06/
BBC https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yqqyly9n0o
New video footage shows a US Tomahawk missile hitting an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) facility in Minab, Iran, on Feb 28, showing for the first time that the US struck the area. The footage, released by Mehr News and geolocated by Bellingcat, also shows smoke already rising from the vicinity of the girls’ school […]
Trump 'then said that Iran “also has some Tomahawks” and he didn’t rule out that they struck the school'
Well that would certainly be big if true! I suppose we are overdue for an Iran / Contra reboot
It also seems kinda absurd the US officials leaking on background are sticking to the "likely" line. While the investigation into the details may be ongoing, one would expect all the targets for pre-programmed munitions like Tomahawk to recorded and (absent a deliberate coverup involving a bunch of people) relatively easy to retrieve
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-iran-war-bombing-girls-school-assessment/
The preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment suggests that the U.S. is "likely" responsible for the bombing of the girls' school in Iran on Feb. 28.
While Trump continues to throw shit at the wall* trying to calm markets, Iran seems to have a coherent theory of victory: Hang on and drive up the economic cost until Trump gives up
Not that it will necessarily succeed, but using air power alone to stop them from hitting oil infrastructure and ships in the Straits of Hormuz seems like a pretty tall order
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/09/middleeast/iran-long-war-kamal-kharazi-interview-intl
A top Iranian official has warned that the government is prepared for a long war with the US and signaled that it is willing to continue attacking Gulf countries in an effort to persuade them to convince President Donald Trump to step back from the conflict.
Ignatius reports some senior Israeli officials (not Bibi) are getting twitchy about the lack of clear exit strategy
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/03/09/israel-us-iran-war-trump-netanyahu-endgame/
Energy secretary Chris Wright posts the Navy escorted a tanker through the Strait of Hormuz: "Crude prices tumbled below $80 a barrel on Wright’s announcement before jumping again after it was deleted" - Incompetence or market manipulation? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
White House says didn't happen but "will absolutely utilize if and when necessary"
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/10/oil-hormuz-iran-tanker-wright-00821041
Meanwhile, Navy says industry has been begging for escort, and also, hell no
The U.S. Navy has refused near-daily requests from the shipping industry for military escorts through the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the war on Iran, saying the risk of attacks is too high for now, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The head of Iraq’s ports company said that 38 crew members of two foreign oil tankers were rescued after an Iranian attack set them ablaze in Iraq’s territorial waters in the Gulf. Also, three vessels were hit by projectiles near the Strait of Hormuz, according to the UK’s maritime agency. Follow for live news updates.
The mysterious Persian-language transmission began about 12 hours after the start of the US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran. It was jammed five days later. Is it a coded message for US agents in Iran? Iranian sleeper cells? Israeli operatives? That’s what experts are trying to decipher.
dafuq "Top Trump officials acknowledged to lawmakers during recent classified briefings that they did not plan for the possibility of Iran closing the strait in response to strikes … The reason, multiple sources said, was administration officials believed closing the strait would hurt Iran more than the US — a view that was bolstered by Iran’s empty threats to act in the strait after US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last summer"
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/12/politics/hormuz-trump-administration-underestimated-iran
The Pentagon and National Security Council significantly underestimated Iran’s willingness to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to US military strikes while planning the ongoing operation, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
Donald: "We have already destroyed 100% of Iran’s Military capability, but it’s easy for them to send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close range missile somewhere along, or in, this Waterway, no matter how badly defeated they are" - I dunno man, if it's still "very easy" for them to blow up ships with drones, mines or missiles, maybe you have not actually destroyed 100% of their military capability
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
https://www.nbcnews.com/world/iran/trump-wants-countries-help-reopen-strait-hormuz-rcna263537
U.S. allies and rivals responded cautiously after President Donald Trump said they should police the Strait of Hormuz, as Iranian threats to strike shipping on the vital trade route continue to cause chaos in global markets.“Many countries, especially those who are affected by Iran’s attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships” to secure the shipping route, he posted Saturday on Truth Social, listing China, France, Japan, South Korea, the U.K. and “others” among the nations he hoped would provide support.“The U.S. will also coordinate with those Countries so that everything goes quickly, smoothly, and well.
Meanwhile, footage has begun to appear of pro-Iran forces in Iraq using (likely Russian-origin) FPVs. The Russians produce thousands per day, so it would be quite easy for them to provide enough to make things very, very unpleasant for any American or allied interests in Iraq or other places where Iran has a substantial network
https://apnews.com/live/iran-war-israel-trump-03-16-2026#0000019c-f9bd-dac0-ab9f-ffff363e0000
So, about that little laundry fire on the USS Ford: "The fire, according to two officials, began in the vent of a dryer in the ship’s laundry facilities and quickly spread. Sailors battled the blaze for more than 30 hours, officials and sailors said"
"Britain’s national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, attended the final talks between the US and Iran and judged that the offer made by Tehran on its nuclear programme was significant enough to prevent a rush to war"
"Israeli officials told U.S. counterparts they hope for an uprising even though it would lead to a massacre, according to a State Department cable reviewed by The Post"
LOL
(axios claims the the Israeli strike was approved by the US, but it's a clown show no matter which version is true https://www.axios.com/2026/03/19/iran-war-trump-israel-strike-gas)
"We’re over here just grinding away on banger memes, dude" - I'm sure American families everywhere will be comforted by the fact their loved ones died for banger memes
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/18/white-house-iran-game-online-00834373
Claimed location of that Persian numbers station to… "a shortwave transmission facility within a US military base in Böblingen, 15 km southwest of Stuttgart, Germany - in the forest between Panzer Kaserne and Patch Barracks, inside a restricted area marked as a training field" - consistent with the report that Iran tried to jam it. Unclear whether it's transmitting anything meaningful or just a psyop
Jeffery Lewis' Middlebury gang concludes a reported drone strike on a residential area in Bahrain was likely a failed US-operated Patriot intercept. Many similar incidents have happened with Russian/Soviet SAMs in Russia and to a lesser extent Ukraine
https://www.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/1221525/analysis-of-patriot-incident-in-bahrain/
Luce: "The truth inside Donald Trump’s tornado of piffle is that he wants to get out of the mess he created"
https://www.ft.com/content/2656f791-c17c-4b44-8a1e-1892fef5374a
"Iranian representatives have let the Trump administration know it does not want to re-enter negotiations with special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and would prefer to engage with Vice President JD Vance" - How good a Middle East envoy are you when the other party says they'd rather talk to JD Vance?
https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/iran-war-us-israel-trump-03-24-26
Who could have predicted that repeated bolt-from-the-blue attacks while negotiations were supposedly ongoing would lead to this? 'Iranian officials have told the countries trying to mediate peace talks with the U.S. that they have now been tricked twice by President Trump and "we don't want to be fooled again"'
https://www.axios.com/2026/03/25/iran-war-trump-peace-talks-tehran-suspicious
"[Trump] is getting a little bored with Iran … Not that he regrets it or something — he’s just bored and wants to move on"
https://www.ms.now/news/trump-iran-war-messaging-white-house-divide
Shot*: "No, we don't need (Ukraine's) help in drone defense. We know more about drones than anybody. We have the best drones in the world, actually"
Chaser: -1 AWACS and 5 tankers
https://www.twz.com/air/images-purportedly-show-e-3-sentry-totally-destroyed-from-iranian-strike
(not clear whether damage in this case was from missiles, drones or some combo)
Welp, small price to pay for protecting Donald's ego, I guess: "On Sunday Iran's IRGC-linked Fars news agency said a Shahed drone had struck the E-3 aircraft"
"To be honest with you, my favourite thing is to take the oil in Iran but some stupid people back in the US say: ‘why are you doing that?’ But they’re stupid people … Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options … I don’t think they have any defence. We could take it very easily"- Kharg is 30-40 km from shore, a stretch for rotor FPVs but well within range of fixed wing strike drones like Molinya which Russia produces in vast quantities
https://www.ft.com/content/3bd9fb6c-2985-4d24-b86b-23b7884031f5
The Molniya (Lightning) is a simple, low-cost attack drone capable of operating dozens of kilometres deep into enemy territory. Russian Molniya drones are gradually pushing back what was until recently considered a relatively safe distance from the front lines.
Meanwhile "a source with knowledge of Iran’s oil accounting, who spoke to The Economist on condition of anonymity, confirms the country is currently exporting 2.4m-2.8m [b/d] of oil and petroleum products per, including 1.5m-1.8m b/d of crude. That is the same, if not more, than it did on average last year. It also sells at much higher prices" - Trump could mostly stop this by seizing Kharg, but he only gets oil if Iran decides to keep pumping
NYT finds a school and sports hall were hit with US PrSM ballistic missiles at the start of the war
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/29/world/middleeast/us-precision-strike-missile-iran-lamerd.html?unlocked_article_code=1.XFA.wIvW.m2XCMt8F4wRY&smid=url-share
Reed Mideke
