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Spain decides to remove ambassador to Israel Sondos Asem on Wed, 03/11/2026 - 12:10 Spanish embassy in Tel Aviv to be led by a charge d'affaires in the latest sign of rift with Israel over its war on Iran Off Spain has decided to remove its ambassador to Israel, the official state gazette said on Wednesday. The Spanish embassy in Tel Aviv will be led by a charge d'affaires, a source at the foreign ministry told Reuters. This comes as Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has been Europe's most vocal opponent of Israel's genocide in Gaza and its war on Iran, which it is waging alongside the US. More to follow... War on Iran News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

Turkish arms subsidiary rebrands after sales to Israel sparks Iran war backlash Ragip Soylu on Wed, 03/11/2026 - 11:05 Repkon’s US subsidiary will now be known as Paligen Technologies following public backlash over ammunition sales to Israel Repkon's logo can be seen at the Eurosatory Defense and Security expo in the Paris-Nord Villepinte exhibition centre on 21 June 2024 (Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Reuters) Off When the Turkish arms company Repkon announced that it was entering the US market in late 2024, the move was hailed by both the Turkish government and the defence industry. At the time, Turkey's public news agency said the struggling US arms industry, long dominated by American corporations, had found relief through Turkish defence companies signing agreements to build production lines for 155mm artillery rounds.  The agreements saw Repkon's US subsidiary, Repkon USA, sign separate deals to design and build a production line for 155mm artillery combustible cartridge cases in Texas. A year and a half later, however, the once-heavy praise heaped on Repkon USA by Turkish officials and agencies appears to have evaporated, with many now seeking to distance themselves from the company.  On Tuesday, Repkon USA announced that it had changed its name and would now be known as Paligen Technologies, Inc., describing itself as a US-based defence contractor. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The abrupt name change came days after the US State Department said that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was bypassing congressional review to approve a munitions sale to Israel.  Repkon USA was listed as the principal contractor for 12,000 BLU-110A/B general-purpose 1,000-pound bomb bodies, with an estimated total cost of $151.8m. BLU-110 bombs have been widely used by Israel during its war on Gaza, which Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem and a United Nations commission have concluded amounts to genocide or genocidal acts. Friday's announcement sparked an immediate backlash on Turkish social media, with critics lamenting that a Turkish subsidiary was now supplying weapons to Israel during its war on Iran. 'Let's just say a US company that refuses a US government sale won't stay in business long' - US defence industry expert Protesters demonstrated outside the company's headquarters in Istanbul, accusing it of being an accomplice to the "murderous USA and Israel". Turkish opposition MPs filed official inquiries with the government to determine whether the company’s March 2025 purchase of General Dynamics-Ordnance and Tactical Systems, known as GD-OTS Garland Operations - which produces the bomb bodies destined for Israel - had been approved by or coordinated with the Turkish government. While Ankara has so far remained silent on the issue, it has also made no supportive statements about the company, suggesting a degree of discomfort.  There also appear to be mixed feelings about a private company that excelled in arms production in line with government ambitions for the defence industry, only to become embroiled in a sale to Israel. Repkon's parent company in Turkey then went on the defensive. In an official statement, the company said it had no say in the transaction and denied responsibility. Could Turkey have refused the sale? Many in Turkey have now questioned whether the company could have refused the sale to Israel. The picture is somewhat complicated. Rich Outzen, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and an expert on military affairs, said a company cannot be forced to sell ordnance through a foreign military sale. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); He said subsidiaries, in this case Repkon USA, make their own decisions, and most companies prefer to sell. "If [the] Repkon mothership objected to a Repkon USA deal, it would depend on the management rules between the two. But generally speaking, subsidiaries make their own business decisions,' he added. A Repkon official told MEE that business decisions were largely taken by its subsidiary, whose management consists almost entirely of US citizens. The official said the proposed sale was a transaction for bomb bodies conducted with the US military, and that the end user was "the US military," not Israel. The official also argued that, as a matter of procedure, one cannot simply say no to the US government. Hakan Fidan reveals failed Turkish attempts to stop Iran war Read More » As this was an emergency sale, it may be true that the transaction was rushed by the US government. However, another sale announced by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in February 2025 indicates that Repkon USA, along with Boeing, was a sole contractor for a large munitions and guidance kit sale to Israel worth $675.7m. The deal included 201 units of MK 83 MOD 4/MOD 5 general-purpose 1,000-pound bomb bodies and 4,799 units of BLU-110A/B general-purpose 1,000-pound bomb bodies, which were produced by Repkon USA.  The remaining guidance kits were to be manufactured by Boeing. Deliveries were scheduled to begin in 2028. The Repkon official said the company acquired Garland Operations in March and that the latest transaction had already been arranged by General Dynamics before the takeover. Asked about the sudden name change this week, the official said the company wanted to underline the fact that it is an American corporation operating under US law. The official also argued that anti-boycott laws in the US prevent the subsidiary from refusing sales to Israel. Several US laws do indeed prohibit boycotts of Israel, including regulations enforced through the Office of Antiboycott Compliance. A US defence industry expert, speaking on condition of anonymity, said while Repkon USA could theoretically reject transactions involving Israel, the consequences of saying no to the US government under the Foreign Military Sales system would likely be severe. "Let's just say a US company that refuses a US government sale won't stay in business long," the expert said. War on Iran Ankara News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

IRGC say targeted US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Wednesday that it had targeted several US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain during the war with the United States and Israel. "Key infrastructure at the US base at Mina Salman port, the nerve centre of the US Fifth Fleet... was hit by Iranian missiles and drones," the IRGC said on its website Sepah News, referring to US installations in Bahrain. "At the same time Camp Patriot (in Kuwait), including equipment hangars, accommodation and assembly centres for American soldiers at the Mohammed al-Ahmad and Ali al-Salem naval bases, also suffered heavy losses," it said, adding that it also attacked the Camp Buehring base in Kuwait.

TEHRAN, Mar. 11 (MNA) – A massive funeral procession is underway in Tehran on Wednesday for senior military commanders and other fallen soldiers martyred during the ongoing war, with thousands of mourners participating.

Iran says will hit economic targets in the region Iran's military on Wednesday vowed to strike US and Israeli banks and economic centres in the region, after overnight attacks hit a bank in Tehran. "Last night, the American and Zionist terrorist army, after failing in their military objectives, targeted one of the country's banks," a spokesperson for the military's central operational command, Khatam al-Anbiya. "People in the region should not be within a one kilometre radius of the banks." Air strikes hit an administrative building linked to ⁠Bank Sepah, one of ​Iran's largest public banks, in the capital, killing an unspecified number of employees, according to the ​semi-official Mehr news agency. Earlier on Wednesday, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it would launch a barrage of missiles towards Israel that would be the "most violent" and heaviest since the start of the war on 27 February. Read more: Iran says will hit economic targets in the region An image of the skyline in downtown Dubai on 3 March 2026, two days after war broke out in the region (AFP/Giuseppe Cacace)

US could use Romanian bases for defensive equipment during Iran missions, president says American refuelling planes, monitoring equipment and satellite communications could use Romanian military bases during the US offensive in Iran, Romanian President Nicusor Dan said on Wednesday. The American request was approved during a meeting of the EU and Nato states' top defence council, with approval from parliament expected later on Wednesday.

Since the commencement of US and Israeli airstrikes against Iran, at least five Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank

Anti-government protesters will be treated as an “enemy” as US-Israeli attacks continue, says Iran’s security chief.

'Incoherent' aims and 'unforgiveable' lack of foresight mean Trump administration has 'no plans' on how to re-open Strait of Hormuz or exit war

Unlike the truce from last year's 12-day war, "decapitation" strikes have locked US and Israel in a war of attrition.

Iran accuses US, Israel of hitting maritime ambulance in Strait of Hormuz, report says Iran on Wednesday accused the United States and Israel of striking a maritime ambulance boat at an island in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, local media reported. "Following the US-Zionist attacks this afternoon, a maritime ambulance stationed at the dock of Hormuz Island was hit by missiles," Mehr news agency reported, showing footage of the boat on fire. It said the vessel transports emergency patients from the island to Bandar Abbas in Iran's southern Hormozgan province. Other media carried similar reports.

By Pesha Magid and Ali Sawafta ABU FALAH, West Bank, March 11 (Reuters) - Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank are taking advantage of curbs on movement imposed during the war on Iran to attack Palestinians, with military roadblocks preventing ambulances reaching victims quickly, rights groups and medics say.

Pope laments death of children in Iran war, pledges closeness to Lebanon Pope Leo on Wednesday lamented the death of numerous civilians in the Iran war and also expressed closeness to people in Lebanon, saying the country, targeted by Israeli strikes, was going through a "great trial." Leo, who has appealed several times for an end to the expanding conflict and warned that the violence could spiral out of control, called on pilgrims in his weekly audience in St Peter's Square to pray for peace. "Let us continue to pray for peace in Iran, and throughout the Middle East, especially for the many civilian victims, including many innocent children," said the pontiff, as the war continued into its 12th day. Leo also lamented the death of a priest who was killed on Monday in strikes on southern Lebanon, where Israel is attacking the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, which has fired into Israel from Lebanon in solidarity with the government in Iran. Pope Leo waves to the crowd during the weekly general audience at St Peter's Square in the Vatican on 11 March 2026. (Tiziana FABI / AFP)

UK's Shabana Mahmood approves police request to ban pro-Palestine march MEE staff on Wed, 03/11/2026 - 09:57 Home secretary cites 'threats to public disorder' as she warns against taking part in annual 'Al-Quds day' that was first marked in Iran over four decades ago British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is pictured with Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a visit to a mosque in southern England, on 23 October 2025 (Peter Nicholls/AFP) Off The British home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has approved a request by the Metropolitan Police to ban this year's Al-Quds Day protest in London. Mahmood cited the threat to public disorder in a post she made on social media platform X on Wednesday. The Al-Quds Day event was first held in Iran after the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and is billed as a global day of solidarity in support of Palestine. This year's event comes amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, which has prompted pro-war and anti-war protests in western capitals. Justifying her reasons for banning the march, Mahmood wrote: "I am satisfied doing so is necessary to prevent serious public disorder, due to the scale of the protest and multiple counter-protests, in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); "Should a stationary demonstration proceed, the police will be able to apply strict conditions.  "I expect to see the full force of the law applied to anyone spreading hatred and division instead of exercising their right to peaceful protest." Responding to the decision to ban the march, the Islamic Human Rights Commission, which organises Al Quds Day protests in the UK, said it "strongly condemns the decision by the Metropolitan Police to ban the Al Quds Day March".  Shabana Mahmood: The new UK home secretary on Palestine Read More » It added: "If it was not clear already, the police have brazenly abandoned their sworn principle of policing without fear or favour, and have capitulated to the pressure of the Zionist lobby." The group said that it was taking legal advice and that a static protest, which has not been proscribed, will proceed on 15 March. This year's protest is set to take place just a fortnight after the start of the war on Iran, which began with the assassination of the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini and the bombing of a school in the southern Iranian city of Minab, which killed at least 180 people, the vast majority of them schoolchildren. Mahmood's cabinet colleague, the Courts Minister Sarah Sackman, refused to describe the latter attack as a war crime, calling it the "realities of war". "I'm not going to speculate on whether this is a war crime, but what it is is a war, and in that context devastating things can happen," Sackman told Sky News. UK Politics News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

Americans skeptical of the Iran war, poll says. And, DOJ gives guns back to felons  NPR

Opinion: Could a GCC energy embargo halt the US-Israel war on Iran? The US-Israel war on Iran has rapidly deteriorated into a regional crisis, dragging the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states into a war they did not seek. As the fighting intensifies, the GCC countries - Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman - find themselves caught in the crossfire. With Israel pushing the United States into the conflict and Iran adopting a strategy of attrition, the Gulf states are bearing the brunt of the economic and security fallout. In this precarious situation, traditional diplomacy and defensive measures are proving insufficient. However, the GCC possesses a radical, unconventional, and highly effective tool to force an end to the hostilities: a collective and complete halt of all oil and gas exports under force majeure situation. The current dynamics of the war offer no incentives for the primary belligerents to cease fighting. For Israel, the costs remain minimal, as the United States shoulders the heavy lifting of military operations. Read more: Could a GCC energy embargo halt the US-Israel war on Iran? Opinion by Ali Bakir Smoke rises following a strike on the Bapco Oil Refinery, amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, on Sitra Island Bahrain on 9 March, 2026 (Reuters)

Iran has threatened to destroy any ships, including oil tankers, that pass through – but some vessels are still transiting the strait

Yes, regime change - in Washington and Israel - can end the Middle East wars Joe Gill on Tue, 03/10/2026 - 13:01 Only the cutting of US support sparked by America’s growing revulsion at the Israel-linked Epstein class will end Israel’s drive for regional domination This video grab taken from UGC images posted on social media on 7 and 8 March 2026 shows fire erupting at an oil depot in Iran's capital Tehran (AFP) On The skies over Tehran were black with oil smoke last weekend, and the streets were on fire after Israel bombed oil storage depots in the capital. These attacks put toxic fumes into the air that clung to the throats and lungs of millions of Tehran’s citizens. The consequences in terms of illness, cancer and premature death in the coming years are immeasurable (remember, more died of dust-related cancers over subsequent years following 9/11 than in the initial attacks).  The scenes were apocalyptic, reminiscent of the first US-led Gulf war 35 years ago when Saddam Hussein’s retreating forces set fire to Kuwait’s oil wells, turning day into night over the skies of the Gulf. But that act of environmental destruction was not in the centre of a city of ten million.  Operation Epic Fury is a war of choice that began with the assassination of the head of state, Ali Khamenei, and dozens of senior officials, and a double tap strike on a girls school that killed 165 schoolchildren. This is not a new kind of atrocity for the US: in the 1991 Gulf war the US bombed a shelter killing 400 children and their parents.  (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); This is a war on major cities and civilians. Pete Hegseth, the US secretary of war, has proudly dismissed any rules of engagement, describing with great relish “Iranian leaders looking up and seeing only US and Israeli air power… B52s, B2s, B1s, Predator drones, picking targets, death and destruction from the sky, all day long.” Israel is meanwhile waging war against the entire civilian population of south Lebanon and the capital Beirut, forcing 700,000 people from their homes. Close to 600 have been killed in only a week, including around 100 children. If Iran or Hezbollah had caused so much death and suffering, the western media would be in uproar. Instead Israel’s relentless bombing is normalised, as was Israel's genocidal war on Gaza. 'We are going to make a tonne of money' Trump claimed to have ended seven wars in his first year of office, forming a Board of Peace that he said would bring peace to the world. But the truth is that the genocide in Gaza did not end last October. Neither did the war on Lebanon end with the ceasefire of November 2024. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); And now Trump has joined with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an unprovoked war on Iran, one that the Israeli leader has been planning for decades. Finally he has a US president who will do everything he asks. Why Trump and Netanyahu are the most dangerous men on the planet Read More » “When this regime goes down, we are going to have a new Middle East, and we are going [to] make a tonne of money,” pro-war Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said this week. “Venezuela and Iran have 31 percent of the world’s oil reserves. We’re going to have a partnership with 31 percent of the known reserves. This is China’s nightmare. This is a good investment,” said Graham. His remarks show clearly that the US abduction of former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, and the Iran war were part of a strategy to gain control over global oil supplies and deny them to their chief rival, China.  The domestic US context that preceded this war is summed up in one word: Epstein. Trump is all over the Epstein files, as members of Congress who have seen them confirm. He launched the war in a week when previously suppressed testimonies were released from a witness who said Trump and Epstein sexually abused her when she was a young teenager. Trump denies all allegations. This is a fatally compromised president, whose poll position is cratering and whose very weakness pushes him towards ever more reckless actions, now culminating in the US equivalent to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Like that invasion, the goal is regime change, and like that attack, it has radically destabilised the global order. Unlike Trump, Putin doesn't need to worry about the mid-terms when he sends Russian men to die in the Donbas.  If you look at a map of the world, there is an arc of war that rises in Sudan, passing through the Bab El Mandab strait into Yemen, through the Gulf states, to Iran, then to Israel, Lebanon and Gaza If you look at a map of the world, there is an arc of war that rises in Sudan on Africa’s east coast, passing through the Bab El Mandab strait into Yemen, through the Arab Gulf states, to Iran, west to occupied Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, then north over the Black Sea to Russia and Ukraine. To the east, an Iranian ship was sunk by US torpedo thousands of miles from the war zone off the coast of Sri Lanka. In the western hemisphere, Cuba is under US siege. The wars that Israel and the US have fought since 7 October 2023 have now escalated to embroil the whole region and the world, thanks to the critical impact of the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz and strikes on Gulf oil and gas. Russia has denied reports that it was supplying intelligence to Iran to assist in its missile strikes, while Ukraine is now sending experts to help Gulf states take down Iranian Shahed drones that were earlier sent to Russia and used against Ukraine. Some commentators, such as Columbia University's Jeffrey Sachs, see this latest escalation in the Gulf as the early stages of a third world war. No way out How does this end? Nobody knows, although the Iranians sound remarkably confident that the US has started a war that it cannot finish. Iranian military and Islamic Revolutionary Guard chiefs say that they are prepared for a long war of attrition, with one IRGC spokesperson saying they have stocks for a 10-year war. “Even as we use our missiles and drones, our depots and stockpiles are full, overflowing and brimming.” It took two months for George W Bush to claim mission accomplished in Iraq in May 2003. It was a false claim, as the war continued long after Saddam Hussein was captured six months later, leaving hundreds of thousands dead, including thousands of US troops. Trump now says this war is nearly over. Another lie. The Nato Libya air campaign of 2011 in support of a rebel uprising took seven months until Muammar Gaddafi was killed. “We came. We saw. He died," Hillary Clinton infamously joked in October 2011 about the US-led overthrow of Gaddafi. But Libya fell into civil war and split into two. Only now, 15 years later, have US and French oil majors signed a $20bn dollar deal to extract Libyan oil profits. Regime change may be coming. But to end this expanding conflict, it should be those in Washington and Israel that fall The Islamic Republic is not Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, nor Gaddafi’s Libya - two regimes dominated by a ruling family, as was Syria until December 2024. Iran has huge institutional depth that can survive the killing of its supreme leader. It is a vast nation of 90 million people. Netanyahu and Trump seemed to believe the regime would crumble after Khamenei’s death with people rising up at their command to overthrow their rulers, rather like the fantasy that was promoted before the invasion of Iraq 23 years ago. Regime change wars tend to devolve into brutal struggles that unleash ethnic, tribal and sectarian tensions through the destruction of state institutions. This is actually what the Israelis want to see in Iran. Not so much the Americans, who just want the oil. Regime change may be coming. But to end this expanding conflict, it should be the reckless regimes in Washington and Israel that fall. Trump is in deep trouble. A new breed of anti-war Democrats are coming in November (although there seems to be no real attempt to break with the pro-war Republican-Democrat duopoly). Between Epstein and this disastrous war, it is hard to see Trump serving out his second term. Still, President JD Vance is not a prospect to savour.  As for Netanyahu, unlike Trump, he has the backing of three-quarters of Israelis for his wars on Gaza, Lebanon, Iran and who knows where next. Israel is in the grip of a messianic war fever. Only the cutting of US support, sparked by America’s growing revulsion at its political capture by the Israel-linked Epstein class, will end Israel’s drive for regional domination. That, or a catastrophic defeat. The new leader of Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei, has very personal reasons to wish revenge on the US and Israel: they killed his father, his wife Zahra Adel, his mother, his son and his sister last Saturday. Iran is no longer seeking to avoid conflict - instead it aims to inflict a decisive blow. As parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said: ”The Zionist regime sees its ignoble existence in perpetuating the cycle of 'war-negotiation-ceasefire and then war again' in order to consolidate its domination. We will break this cycle." The question is which regime change comes first, and what price in blood and treasure will be paid. War on Iran Regime change in Washington and Israel is one way to end the forever wars Opinion Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:29 Update Date Override 0

The Iranian Red Crescent Society says nearly 20,000 civilian buildings affected, along with 77 healthcare facilities.

IEA to recommend record release of strategic oil stocks because of Iran war, sources say The International Energy Agency (IEA) is to recommend the release of 400 million barrels of oil, the largest such move in IEA history, three sources said on Wednesday, to try to restrain soaring crude prices amid the US-Israeli war with Iran. One of the sources said the release would be spaced over at least two months, while Spain's energy minister said countries would have up to 90 days to release that volume. Three sources said the Paris-based IEA would publish its recommendation on Wednesday, ahead of a meeting of G7 leaders chaired by France. In 2022, IEA member countries released 182.7 million barrels over two months, which was then the largest in IEA history, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This video grab taken from UGC images posted on social media on 7 and 8 March 2026 shows fire erupting at an oil depot in Iran's capital, Tehran after the US-Israeli strikes (AFP)