Iran is fighting a different war: Older, slower, and in some ways more dangerous. Iran doesn't need to shoot down an F/A-18. It only needs to make the Strait of Hormuz feel dangerous long enough for insurance markets, shipping companies, and oil futures traders to do the rest. Prem Panicker continues his must-read daily blog on the war in the Middle East.
India has condemned the escalating attacks on commercial shipping in West Asia, particularly after a Thai-flagged vessel en route to India's Kandla Port was targeted in the Strait of Hormuz. The attacks have disrupted global oil and gas supplies, impacting India's energy imports.
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, has been chosen to assume control of the country.
China has condemned the attack on an elementary school in Iran and pledged USD 200,000 in emergency humanitarian assistance.
Far from it; the country's resistance to the US, its nuclear ambitions, and its pursuit of influence and proxies across the Middle East are driven by a constant search for independence and security. Thus, Iran will never capitulate. Trump will learn this home truth ultimately, and it is going to be a humbling personal experience that may even destroy his presidency, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'American stature has been reduced because they have not been able to achieve their aims.'
Donald Trump has issued a stern warning to Iran, threatening massive retaliation if it attacks Qatar again, following reports of an Israeli strike on Iran's South Pars gas field and an attack on Qatar's LNG facilities.
The LPG squeeze on India's restaurant sector is the quotidian face of a deeper crisis.
Falling debris from an intercepted Iranian drone caused a 'limited fire' at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura refining facility in Saudi Arabia, Saudi Defence Ministry spokesperson Turki Al-Maliki said, according to Al Arabiya.
The intriguing bit is that Trump is likely to attend the talks in Islamabad this weekend -- if he does, it will be the clearest signal yet that the US is ready to exit the war with some sort of win to show, since he cannot afford to go for the talks and return empty-handed, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War
Taking Kharg would give the US control over virtually all of Iran's oil exports and thus provide significant leverage, notes Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War. It would also put American troops within range of Iran's remaining missiles, drones, and artillery on a piece of real estate that is just eight square miles in size, and just 15 miles from the Iranian mainland.
Popularly known as 'Little India', Dimona has a large Indian-Jewish population, and the community members, mostly from the state of Maharashtra, maintain strong links with India and have consistently put efforts to solidify them.
The purge in Washington does not pause the war. Strikes continue, Hormuz remains closed, and Brent crude is still dancing around $109 a barrel. For India, the command chaos in the Pentagon is another layer of uncertainty piled on five weeks of conflict that was already straining every buffer Delhi has.
As days turn into weeks and America loses more planes, as the destruction of trillions of dollars worth military assets piles up, and dead bodies of soldiers return in ever greater numbers in coffins, Trump will have to answer some very difficult questions to save his presidency, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Iranian state media reports that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's son, Mojtaba Ali Khamenei, has been appointed as Iran's new Supreme Leader by the Assembly of Experts, a move criticised by US President Donald Trump.
The 'rescue' operation occurred within kilometres of Iran's underground tunnel complex at Isfahan, assessed by the IAEA and US intelligence as holding a substantial portion of the country's 60 per cent enriched uranium stockpile. Retired senior US military officers have highlighted that the mission's footprint -- hundreds of special operators, multiple heavy-lift aircraft deep inside Iran -- appears outsized for recovering a single airman. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
The USS Abraham Lincoln has been operating in the Arabian Sea since the end of January.
A joint attack by the United States and Israel on Iran has triggered a massive military confrontation in the Middle-East.
'In such a scenario, Iran could proclaim itself victor, rebuild, re-enforce its diminished regional proxies to further destabilise neighbouring nations and take control of the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.'
He also criticised the possible succession of the son of the late supreme leader of the Islamic Republic, Mojtaba Khamenei, who is widely viewed as a leading contender for the position.
Israel has for more than two decades and several US presidencies worked to draw the United States into a full-scale war with Iran. Having finally achieved that, the last thing it wants is Trump declaring victory and going home, as he is prone to do. Ali Larijani was the figure most capable of handing Trump a negotiated exit with something to show for it. Without Larijani, the road to an exit gets considerably narrower. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
'The next two to three weeks will not be decided in Washington.' 'They will be decided in Tehran, in whatever calculation Iran makes about the costs of continued resistance against the costs of appearing to have yielded.'
The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Defence has announced that the air force and air defence forces have successfully intercepted a significant number of aerial threats following a large-scale Iranian attack that commenced on February 28.
'What we have yet to see on either the US or the Iranian side is willingness to compromise on their ultimate demands and the flexibility to reach an agreement to end the war.
'Was the five-day pause ever meant to hold, or was it simply another instrument of signaling, of positioning, of buying time in a war where even the pauses are tactical?' asks Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
Let us start with ourselves. If we can reduce our LPG consumption by half, the problem is solved. Reduce wastage. Alter eating styles. Diversify methods of food preparation, suggests Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta (retd).
Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey met in Islamabad in what analysts say is the formal opening of a new diplomatic formation that could reshape the post-war regional order. Their immediate goal is a ceasefire; their larger ambition is to ensure that neither Iran nor Israel emerges from this war in a dominant position. Pakistan's foreign minister then flew directly to Beijing and mooted a Chinese role as guarantor of any eventual agreement. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
To be sure, Trump is furious, as the trajectory of the war is in a state of Zugzwang, as chess players call it. Trump and Netanyahu stare at two choices -- retreat in humiliation and concede Tehran's demands -- recognition of its rights, reparations, and binding security guarantees -- or perish in a quagmire, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has affirmed that the United States and his administration have achieved nearly total dominance over Iranian airspace following a series of coordinated military strikes.
Amidst ongoing conflict, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signals a potential de-escalation by apologising to neighbouring countries while firmly rejecting US President Donald Trump's demand for unconditional surrender.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed in a US-Israeli attack, sparking celebrations in Iran and raising questions about the future of the regime.
The pause gives the US time to breathe, to regroup, to move its expeditionary force into position without risk of interception along the way. It gives Iran nothing -- on the ground, attacks against its infrastructure continue apace. Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
'Without ground troops the US will not be able to oust the Iranian Islamic regime. Political change does not happen just by using bombs or planes.'
Fight on toward goals that keep receding, or exit with most objectives unmet. Trump is agitated, his poll numbers falling below the Plimsoll line, his base fractured between those who back the war and those who remember that he campaigned on ending them.
When everyone has footage and no one can verify it, the loudest voice wins, notes Prem Panicker who begins a daily blog on the War in the Middle East.
What we are watching is something different: A fog manufactured and maintained by the people who started the war, so that the question of why it was started never has to be answered, observes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the war in the Middle East.
United States President Donald Trump said on Friday that the situation in Iran is being monitored very closely and hoped for the protestors in the country to be safe.
A large fire was reported on Saturday night at a strategic complex near Haifa in northern Israel after Iran launched a barrage of missiles and drones, MEHR News Agency reported, citing local media.
Iran on Sunday vowed to avenge the United States bombing of three of its major nuclear facilities saying the American strikes will have 'everlasting consequences'.
India has said it will take all steps to protect its national interests and ensure comprehensive national security in all domains after Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a strategic defence pact.
