Boeing has signed a $289 million contract with Israel to supply up to 5,000 air-launched smart bombs.

Deliveries are expected to begin in about 36 months and are not linked to the current U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iran.

The weapons are likely Boeing’s Small Diameter Bomb, a guided munition that can strike targets over 40 miles (64 km) away.

Source: Reuters

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer:

Trump claims that Iranian Tomahawk missiles were responsible for the bombing of an all-girls school that killed 170 people, including many children.

Iran doesn’t have Tomahawk missiles, Donald Trump. The claim is beyond asinine.

He says whatever pops into his head, no matter the truth.

CENTCOM:

U.S. forces eliminated multiple Iranian naval vessels, March 10, including 16 minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was reportedly injured—possibly in the legs—during the first day of Israeli-U.S. attacks on Feb. 28, according to Iranian and Israeli officials. The extent of his injuries remains unclear.

Officials say he is alert but hiding in a highly secure location with limited communication, partly to avoid revealing his whereabouts.

Source: NYT

Iran has placed fewer than 10 mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

Source: WSJ

A now-deleted post from Energy Secretary Chris Wright briefly sent oil prices plunging Tuesday. The message claimed the U.S. Navy had escorted a tanker through the Strait of Hormuz, suggesting oil flows were secure.

Markets reacted instantly: crude, diesel and gasoline futures dropped while stocks jumped. Minutes later the post was removed after officials said it had been incorrectly captioned, and that the military isn’t currently escorting commercial ships.

During the brief window, U.S. crude futures fell as much as 19%, and an oil-linked ETF lost $84 million in market value. Prices later stabilized but still closed down 12% at $83.45 a barrel, the steepest one-day drop in four years.

Source: WSJ

Before launching military strikes on Iran, Trump and several advisers believed the conflict would not seriously disrupt global oil markets.

They expected any rise in oil prices to be brief and assumed Iran would respond similarly to the limited reaction during the previous year’s short war.

As a result, warnings that Iran might try to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for about 20% of the world’s oil supply, were largely dismissed.

Source: NYT

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has proposed the largest oil reserve release in its history to ease soaring crude prices caused by the U.S.–Israel War with Iran and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.

IEA member countries will decide Wednesday whether to approve the plan.

The release would exceed the 182 million barrels deployed in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Source: WSJ

New photo shows the B-21 Raider refueling from a KC-135R tanker over the Mojave Desert during flight testing.

Source

Senator Ted Cruz:

I could tweet this morning, “Good morning,” and hundreds of anti-Semitic responses would immediately fill my social media.

Turns out, I’ve seen many times an image of myself in a bikini with the flag of Israel.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett:

We need to ensure that Erdogan doesn’t create a new alliance of radical Sunni Islam — an axis between himself, Julani, Qatar, and Hamas.

We have been facing radical Shiite Islam for many decades, and I hope Türkiye does not choose to foment terror and Islamism in its pursuit of power.

Ultimately, the choice is up to Türkiye. If they seek peace, we definitely want peace. But if they try to surround us with terror, we will not sit idle.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett:

I’ve been pushing for this for about a decade now — that we shouldn’t be fighting the tentacles, we should go to the head of the octopus — and now we’re doing it.

Canadian PM Mark Carney on Iran:

Canada is not participating in the offensive operations of Israel and the United States, and will not ever.

Jesse Watters on Mojtaba Khamenei:

He’s like Iran’s Hunter Biden.

Q: Why are we at war with Iran?

Senator Chris Murphy: Israel made us do it.

Pakistan says it would support Saudi Arabia militarily if needed as Iran continues strikes on Gulf states during the US-Israel war with Iran.

A spokesperson for Pakistan’s Prime Minister said there is “no question we might — we will” come to Saudi Arabia’s aid “no matter what and no matter when.”

Serbia has integrated Chinese CM-400AKG hypersonic/supersonic missiles onto its MiG-29SM fighter jets.

The missiles (≈240–400 km range, up to ~Mach 5–6) greatly boost Serbia’s long-range strike capability.

The integration was done using a Chinese WZHK-1 “plug-and-play” pylon system, which lets aircraft fire Chinese weapons without modifying the jet’s avionics, enabling quick deployment on Russian-made MiG-29s.

Senator Graham on Iran:

You worry about gas prices. Let me tell you what the world would be like if Iran had 10 nuclear weapons.

It would be miserable.

They'd hold us all hostage and eventually they would destroy the state of Israel.

Ukrainian MoD shared this:

Patriot systems fired ~600 interceptors over 1,460+ days against Russia in Ukraine, but ~800 interceptors in just 3 days against Iran.

The United States said it destroyed 16 Iranian minelaying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz as tensions escalated in the region. Iran warned it would block oil exports to its enemies, raising fears over the security of a key global energy route.

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UN Officials Warn of Possible War Crimes in South Sudan

The officials said more than 160 civilians have been killed in South Sudan in 17 days as fighting between government forces & opposition groups intensifies, warning some acts may amount to war crimes.

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