🇺🇸🤝🇮🇱 Gavin Newsom clarifies he is a “proud Zionist” who “reveres Israel.”

He said he “regrets” calling Israel an “apartheid state”, only meaning to describe Netanyahu’s leadership.

🔗 AF Post (@AFpost)

⚖️ Judge releases a 12 year old accused of pinning a 12-year-old girl down and shoving rocks in her mouth so his friends could rape her

Miami-Dade Judge Richard Hersch ruled that Nelson Nunez, 13, the alleged ringleader of the gang rape, must remain in jail

Jusiah Jones, 12, was released but placed on strict house arrest. He has had prior run-ins with the law and was out of juvenile detention.

Xavier Tyson, 15, is out of custody but is required to appear in court soon; he was 14 when the alleged attack occurred

Jones’ lawyer argued that his client acted under duress and that the victim’s statements suggested he was remorseful but was seen smiling as soon after he heard the judge let him go with essentially a slap on the wrist.

🔗 Unlimited Ls

📝Many people still insist that this war is not primarily driven by Israeli foreign policy goals. It's possible to argue against this by sifting through media reports about who called who in the lead up to the war, and this is the tack most people take. But I'd like to build a case for Israeli strategic primacy through a different route.

Place yourself in the shoes of an Israeli strategic planner and assume that your principal strategic goal is Israeli hegemony over the Middle East. It should be uncontroversial to assert that eliminating Iran is a necessary (and perhaps the most important) component of this goal.

The IDF consists of 170k active duty personnel, and is suffering recruitment and retention issues. The IAF packs an outsized punch considering Israel's size, but it's ultimately a mid-tier air force with ~250 fighter airframes (most of which are F-16s and F-15s), no bombers, and only 11 refueling tankers. The Israeli Navy is a souped-up coastal defense force and can't be expected to operate in the Persian Gulf.

Compare this to Iran, which has a manpower pool an order of magnitude larger, tens of thousands of drones and thousands of ballistic missiles, an asymmetric naval force focused on area denial, extensive proxy forces, and hugely favorable terrain for defensive operations.

There's no chance of deploying an IDF ground component onto Iranian soil. It's an impossible prospect on a political level for any other state in the region to support this, and Iraq and Syria stand between Israel and Iran. Even if the Iranians didn't outnumber the IDF by a huge margin, sustaining some kind of invasion simply isn't on the table.

The best you can do in terms of direct offensive operations is the following:

• Launch a short campaign (remember you're limited by refueling aircraft) of aerial attacks using standoff munitions like ALBMs
• Insert agents into Iran and have them launch drones from within the country
• Try to arm and support proxy forces within Iran, or organize multiple small invasions
• Orchestrate political violence, protests, terrorist attacks, etc

The Israelis have attempted all of these, and so far none of them have seemed to fundamentally shift the strategic picture. This leaves one option on the table: get the United States to fight Iran for you. Considering this has been an Israeli goal for decades, and one administration after another has balked at the prospect, it's not an easy task.

You'll draw vast sums of money out of a network of American Zionist billionaires to influence an election. You'll need the closest possible connections to US leadership, ideally agents within the executive's own family. You'll want to have your people involved in the US foreign policy apparatus, putting them in between the US government and Iran, so you can control negotiations. You'll need people within the Department of War, though having an agent as Secretary of War would draw too much attention. Once all of this is achieved, you'll stand a chance of orchestrating events to suck the US gradually into direct combat with Iran.

You start off by provoking the Iranians into attacking you. Hit some embassies, assassinate IRGC personnel, launch airstrikes on Tehran. Keep pushing about the dangers of an Iranian nuclear weapon, make sure the US treats it like a red line. Pressure the administration into participating in a limited strike. Bide your time when necessary, then suddenly escalate again. When it seems like an off-ramp might be coming up, find a red line and cross it. Keep going until American hegemony itself is on the line. The sunk cost fallacy will ensure events unfold in your favor until American boots hit the ground.

This is, of course, exactly what we're seeing. You can make a case that this war is really about China, or energy markets, or defense industry profits. There are sound arguments that some US interests overlap with Israeli goals. But it is *very* hard to make a case that this war isn't significantly the result of decades of Israeli soft power, influence operations, and espionage.

🔗 Amerikanets

🇮🇱🤝🇩🇪 Volkswagen reportedly is working with Israeli defense company, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to convert the Osnabrück car factory into a missile plant and build interceptors for the Iron Dome.

@CIG_telegram

🇮🇱🇺🇸⚔️🇮🇷 Israeli and/or American standoff munitions targeted a garbage truck parking lot in Tehran a few days ago, destroying several garbage trucks and killing a worker.

Why would the IAF or USAF target garbage trucks when Iran's capacity to launch drones and missiles hasn't been degraded at all? Why would the IAF and USAF choose to terrorize the population of Tehran by disrupting garbage collection instead of degrading the Iranian missile program which American and Israeli politicians keep claiming is one of the major war goals?

The goal of this strike and the war goals of Israel especially are to turn Iran into a failed state and degrade the Iranian state's ability to provide essential public services like garbage collection, to increase the misery which Israel hopes would lead to regime change or an all-out civil war.

Targeting civilian infrastructure is considered a war crime under the Hague Conventions.

@CIG_telegram

🇺🇸🇸🇦❌🇮🇷 — Answering to a reporter that asked him about it, US President Donald J. Trump says that Saudi Arabia is fighting alongside United States against the Iranian Regime

📰 Reporter:

Is MBS encouraging you to do certain things related to Iran?

🇺🇸 Trump:

He does.

He is a warrior.
He is fighting with us, by the way.

🇯🇵🛢 Japan to release national oil reserves from Thursday

Japan will release another part of its strategic oil reserves from Thursday and will tap into joint stockpiles held by producing nations in the country by the end of the month, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Tuesday.

“In order to secure the necessary amount for the whole of Japan … we will release the state (oil) reserve from 26th March,” she said in a post on X.

“Furthermore, a release from the joint reserve of oil-producing countries is expected to begin in March,” Takaichi added.

The announcement comes after Tokyo started releasing 15 days’ worth of private-sector petroleum reserves last week.

Takaichi previously said that a month’s worth of government stockpiles would also be released.

Japan depends on the Middle East for 95 percent of its oil imports.

Its strategic oil reserves are among the world’s largest and stood at more than 400 million barrels as of December.

A joint reserve is held in the country by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, according to the Petroleum Association of Japan.

🔗 https://insiderpaper.com/japan-to-release-national-oil-reserves-from-thursday/

🇰🇷🚫🚙 South Korea will begin enforcing a 5-day car rotation system, banning certain cars from driving on certain days.

Starting Wednesday, the move is part of the government's energy-saving measures to mitigate the impact of global energy shortages, Seoul-based Yonhap News reported, citing the Climate Ministry.

The government will strengthen monitoring of the public sector's compliance with the license plate-based rationing system, under which cars are divided into five groups based on the last digit of their license plate numbers, and each group is prohibited from driving on a designated weekday.

Electric and hydrogen vehicles are exempt from such restrictions.

The system has been in place but was previously run loosely.

Some 1.5 million vehicles will be subject to the stricter rules, with the measure expected to help the country save about 3,000 barrels of crude oil every day.

South Korea's daily crude oil consumption stands at around 2.8 million barrels, with about half of the volume used for transportation.

The government will also ease restrictions on coal-fired power generation on days with low fine dust levels, in addition to pushing for five nuclear reactors currently under maintenance to swiftly resume operation as part of efforts to reduce consumption of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is also affected by the Mideast conflict.

🔗 https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/south-korea-to-enforce-5-day-vehicle-rotation-system-as-mideast-conflict-hits-energy-supplies/3877074

🇻🇳🚫✈️ Vietnam Airlines to Suspend Some Routes as Jet Fuel Risks Rise

Vietnam Airlines will temporarily suspend flights on some domestic routes as jet fuel shortages and rising fuel prices caused by the conflict in the Middle East start to impact the nation’s air travel.

The national flag carrier will cut around 23 flights per week from April 1 over tightened supplies of jet fuel, according to a statement from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam. VietJet Aviation JSC is also reducing flights on some routes, according to schedules on its booking website.

Bamboo Airways will strive to maintain flights during peak travel periods, though frequencies may be lower than last year if oil prices stay high, the airline said in a statement. It also called on the government to offer more support to airlines, including further reductions in environmental protection tax and aviation fuel taxes.

The aviation agency warned earlier this month that jet fuel shortages could emerge from early April as suppliers are delaying deliveries or may invoke force majeure clauses to terminate contracts. Around 70% of Vietnam’s jet fuel is imported, primarily from China and Thailand.

🔗 https://archive.ph/VjO0y

🇦🇺⛽️ More than 100 gas stations across the Australian state of Victoria have run out of gas to sell

The Victorian government has confirmed that as of 8am Tuesday, 101 service stations across Victoria had run out of unleaded petrol while 83 service stations had run out of diesel.

Energy and Resources Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the shortages were split evenly between metropolitan and regional areas.

Metropolitan areas had 52 of the service stations out of petrol and 41 out of diesel, compared to 49 regional service stations being out of petrol and 42 out of diesel.

🔗 https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/more-than-100-victorian-petrol-stations-confirmed-to-have-run-out-of-fuel-as-prices-surge-across-the-state/news-story/ecb7549e8ca46b6ea45e68c5bdce2ae2

🌍📈 Goldman Sachs: brace for a worldwide inflation surge

@CIG_telegram

🇮🇳⛽️ Major cities in India, particularly Hyderabad is currently experiencing a severe Compressed Natural Gas CNG shortage, forcing thousands of auto-rickshaws and cabs off the roads or into long, hours-long refueling queues

🔗 S.M. Bilal (@Bilaljourno)

🌏 Asia is highly exposed to the Iran War energy shock:

The Philippines and Vietnam source ~95% and ~90% of their crude oil imports from the Middle East.

This is followed by Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Thailand, each importing ~70% from the region.

India and China, the two largest oil buyers in Asia, rely on the Middle East for ~55% and ~50% of their crude imports, respectively.

By contrast, EMEA nations like Turkey, South Africa, Tunisia, and Central and Eastern Europe import less than 20% of their oil from the region.

Asia's energy crisis is rapidly accelerating.

🔗 Kobeissi Letter

🇪🇺🛢🇷🇺 The European Commission has postponed the proposal to ban the import of Russian oil on January 1st 2027.

A spokeswoman for the Commission stated that the institution is determined to ban the import of Russian oil but will do so at a later date.

Hungary and Slovakia have been fighting the European Commission over this matter but they had little success until the U.S. decided to throw the global energy market into disarray.

@CIG_telegram

🇮🇷🇹🇷 Iran Gas Flow to Turkey Said to Stop After South Pars Strike

Iran has stopped natural gas exports to Turkey following an Israeli strike on the giant South Pars gas field last week, according to people familiar with the matter.

Ankara is still importing gas from Russia and Azerbaijan, its main suppliers, and can use gas held in storage, the people said, asking not to be named because the information is private.

When asked about the halt in Iranian gas flow, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said “there is no such thing,” state-run broadcaster TRT reported. Turkey has no gas supply issues and storage facilities are 71% full, TRT cited the minister as saying after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

The Turkish Energy Ministry declined to comment earlier.

It’s unclear how long the halt in Iranian supplies will last or if it will force Turkey to seek additional sources of liquefied natural gas. European benchmark gas futures pared losses following the news.

Turkey sourced about 13% of its total natural gas imports — 7 billion cubic meters — from Iran in 2024, according to the latest annual data from the energy regulator in Ankara. Turkey consumed an average of 230 million cubic meters of gas per day in March last year, according to the energy regulator.

🔗 https://archive.ph/Qadkd