Foreign Affairs

For years, U.S. strategy has relied on the assumption that sanctions, economic pressure, and military force would weaken adversaries and trigger internal collapse. But as economist Michael Hudson has argued, that logic misunderstands how nations respond under existential threat. “This war will decide whether the U.S. controls the global oil trade — or whether the world becomes independent of it,” Hudson said, framing the conflict as a turning point in the global economic order.

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The U.S.–Israel war on Iran has reignited a long-simmering front in Iraq, where resistance groups like Kataeb Hezbollah and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq are launching coordinated drone and missile attacks on American targets, including Ain al-Assad airbase and facilities inside Baghdad’s Green Zone. What Washington once declared finished in 2003 is rapidly unraveling into a new phase of war — one defined by blowback, as battle-hardened Iraqi factions degrade U.S. defenses and push American forces out of Iraq.

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Behind The Headlines – The F-15E rescue Iran operation, sold by the Trump administration as a ‘biblical’ triumph, stands exposed as one of the most costly and contradictory failures in modern military history. Not only did it set back the US taxpayer over $300 million dollars, Iran now claims that they foiled an attempt to […]

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“We are Iranian Jews and we are always ready to sacrifice our lives for our homeland,” Bihdad Mikhail, managing director of the Tehran Jewish Association, told MintPress News as he held back his tears while carrying Jewish religious books that were destroyed by Israeli airstrikes.

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It is unlikely that the Lebanese Army would remain intact if they were ordered to attack Hezbollah, as a large component of its fighters are speculated to sympathise with the Party that is resisting Israeli aggression. Although there is no census allowed, it is speculated that the Lebanese Army itself could be composed of between 25% to 50% Shia Muslims, the same sect as Hezbollah.

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Many stores and markets are empty, not because the island does not produce food, but because there is no way to transport it from the countryside to the cities. The United Nations has warned of a possible “humanitarian collapse,” due to the economic war. Havana-based journalist Luis de Jesus Reyes labeled it an attempted genocide in the making. 

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News that the move to free up 140 million barrels of oil was aimed at preventing China gaining from the situation. “That’s about 10 days to two weeks of supply that the Iranians had been pushing out that would have all gone to China,” he said. “In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against the Iranians to keep the price down for the next 10 or 14 days as we continue this campaign.”

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Yet despite the intensity of Israel's bombardment, Hezbollah has not collapsed. On the contrary, the group continues to demonstrate significant military capability. Reports indicate that just in the last three weeks, 50 Israeli tanks have been destroyed, and Hezbollah units remain active across multiple fronts. Far from being diminished, the organization is widely believed to retain a force numbering in the tens of thousands—potentially exceeding the size of the Lebanese army itself.

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“Right now, the United States is tightening its siege on Cuba,” said political streamer Hasan Piker, explaining his decision to join the convoy, adding: “Fuel shipments are blocked. Flights grounded, critical supplies cut off. Donald Trump has even threatened a ‘friendly takeover’ of the island. For Washington, the message is simple: submit – or suffer.”

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Great strategic importance has been attached to the islands, with Iran deciding to develop their military capabilities there since at least 2008. In particular, Abu Musa, the largest of the three islands, is home to a broad range of Iranian military capabilities. Former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, credited as one of the architects of Tehran’s “Mosaic Defence” strategy, even labelled Abu Musa Island as “Iran’s beating heart” in the Persian Gulf at the beginning of 2019. 

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