TOP STORIES
Iran Targeted Diego Garcia Base with Ballistic Missiles | Wall Street Journal
Iran fired two intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia, a joint U.S.-U.K. military base in the middle of the Indian Ocean, according to multiple U.S. officials. Neither of the missiles hit the base, but the move marked Iran’s first operational use of IRBMs and a significant attempt to reach far beyond the Middle East and threaten U.S. interests. One of the missiles failed in flight, and a U.S. warship fired an SM-3 interceptor at the other, according to two of the people. It couldn't be determined if an interception was made, according to one of the officials. Iran’s targeting of Diego Garcia, about 2,500 miles from Iran, implies its missiles have a greater range than Tehran has previously acknowledged. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said last month that Iran has deliberately limited the range of its missiles to around 1,250 miles.
President Donald Trump has extended his deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, saying the U.S. will hold off on power plant strikes for five days. Trump made the announcement on his Truth Social site Monday, hours ahead of a deadline later in the day.
U.S. Lifts Sanctions on Some Iranian Oil to Get More to Market | New York Times
The Treasury Department on Friday temporarily lifted sanctions on Iranian oil that is currently at sea, authorizing it to be sold to most countries. The license applies to oil loaded on vessels as of March 20 and extends until April 19. . . . “Iran will have difficulty accessing any revenue generated and the United States will continue to maintain maximum pressure on Iran and its ability to access the international financial system,” [Treasury Secretary Scott] Bessent said.
UANI IN THE NEWS
Ex-US ambassador Mark Wallace, now CEO of United Against Nuclear Iran, told The Sun: “We have long said that Iran’s ballistic missile programme threatened an area much wider than conventional wisdom had us believe. “The attack on Diego Garcia is the first instance of the demonstration, albeit unsuccessful.”
Images and video footage of large crowds – holding Islamic Republic flags, Hezbollah banners and images of the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei—are being continuously aired on Iranian state-TV propaganda channels. These videos have then been regurgitated by parts of the mainstream media in the West and used to criticise Donald Trump on the basis that the US-led war has supposedly “rallied Iranians around the flag”. This couldn’t be further from the truth. This is not to suggest the videos we are witnessing are AI (though some have no doubt been manipulated). The people we are seeing on the streets are certainly real, but they represent a very narrow and extreme segment of Iranian society, what is known as the “hard base” (hasteyeh sakht) of the regime. . . . The hard base does not represent the broader Iranian population, which overwhelmingly not only opposes the regime but also seeks to topple it. . . . The regime was genuinely concerned that ordinary Iranians would use the military operation as an opportunity to take to the streets to topple the Islamic Republic. To mitigate this, the IRGC not only declared domestic martial law from the moment the war began, but worked closely with the regime to deploy its hard base onto the streets to deny space for dissenting Iranians to take part in anti-regime protests. . . . If anything, therefore, pro-regime rallies are not an indication of the Islamic Republic’s strength or support. They are a clear sign of a weak and vulnerable regime—one that can and must be toppled.
Jason Brodsky, the policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News Digital, “The Trump administration, in citing Iran’s missile threat as a rationale for Operation Epic Fury, was therefore justified in its decision to undertake military action as Iran has consistently refused to negotiate over its missile program. It also shows how dangerous it is to solely rely on Iranian nuclear weapons fatwas and the supreme leader’s public rhetoric in formulating U.S. policy. As long as Iran retains the technical capability beyond public pronouncements, it is a threat.” According to Brodsky, “I think it’s a message that the IRGC is in charge in Iran after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s death. When Khamenei was alive, he limited the range of Iran’s missile program to 2000 km.”
Jason Brodsky, policy director at UANI, warned, however, any sort of revolution would not happen overnight – and will be complicated. “There would need to be a convergence of labour and political protests and mass defections among the armed forces and security services,” he told The Sun.
Taking aim at the UK’s lacklustre interception capabilities, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran Jason Brodsky said: “European powers can’t kick the can down the road any longer.” He also said that following the attack on Diego Garcia, European officials had to revisit assumptions they had previously made about Iran’s potential power to strike the continent.
Kasra Aarabi, director of IRGC research at United Against Nuclear Iran, described Naini’s death as “a significant blow to the regime’s psychological warfare and propaganda operations — an increasingly central pillar of the IRGC’s current war strategy.”
UANI Research Director Daniel Roth Comments on the Strait of Hormuz Crisis | NewsX
Roth: “It’s ludicrous to suggest that the U.S. military brains didn’t consider that [the Strait of Hormuz closure] was a very, very likely response from the Islamic Republic of Iran. . . . Iran has threatened to [close the strait] multiple times every single decade . . .”
Roth: “A good nuclear deal would look something opposite to the JCPOA. The issue really is it cannot be constrained only to the nuclear file. It has to address the ballistic missiles, because there is obviously this incredible tie between ballistic missiles and the fact that every single ballistic missile that Iran has is inherently capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.”
MILITARY/INTEL MATTERS
Trump and Iran Trade Threats over Energy Targets as War Escalates | Reuters
[President] Trump on Saturday threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if Tehran did not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, a significant escalation barely a day after he talked about “winding down” the war, now in its fourth week. Iran warned on Sunday it would attack U.S. infrastructure, including energy facilities in the Gulf, if Trump carried out his threat, which he made as U.S. Marines and heavy landing craft continue to head to the region.
Trump Threats, U.S. Troop Build-up Raise Specter of Battle for Hormuz | Washington Post
A surge of additional U.S. forces to the Middle East and President Donald Trump’s threat to “obliterate” Iran’s energy infrastructure have set the stage for what U.S. and Israeli security officials increasingly see as the war’s possible endgame: a battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz and key energy installations.
The United States and Iran threatened to target critical infrastructure Sunday as the war in the Middle East, now in its fourth week, puts lives and livelihoods at risk throughout the region. Iran said the Strait of Hormuz, crucial to oil and other exports, would be “completely closed” immediately if the U.S. follows up on President Donald Trump’s threat to attack its power plants. Trump late Saturday set a 48-hour deadline to open the strait.
Safe Houses Struck in Several Tehran Districts | Iran International
Several safe houses in Tehran were targeted in attacks early on Monday, Iran International has learned. The strikes hit sites in different parts of the capital, including Aghdasieh, Majidiyeh and Chizar. It was not immediately clear who had been staying in the buildings at the time of the attacks.
US Carried Out Strike on Natanz Enrichment Facility Using ‘Bunker Buster’ Bomb | Times of Israel
Today’s strike on Iran’s Natanz enrichment facility was carried out by the United States, the Kan public broadcaster reports, citing unspecified sources. According to the report, the US used “bunker buster” bombs to target the site.
Trump Is Strategizing Means to Seize Iran’s Nuclear Stockpiles, Sources Say | CBS News
The Trump administration has been strategizing methods and options to secure or extract Iran's nuclear materials, according to multiple people briefed on the discussions . . . [P]lanning has centered on the possible deployment of forces from the secretive Joint Special Operations Command, the elite military unit often tasked with the most sensitive counter-proliferation missions, two of the sources told CBS News.
Iranian Missiles Injure 160 in Towns Near Israeli Nuclear Site | BBC News
More than 160 people have been injured—some seriously—in Iranian missile strikes on two southern Israeli towns close to a nuclear facility, Israeli emergency officials say. . . . The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says it is not aware of any damage to the nuclear research facility located about 13km (eight miles) outside Dimona. Iranian state TV earlier said the strikes were in response to an attack on Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility on Saturday. On Sunday, at least seven people were injured in an Iranian missile attack on Tel Aviv, emergency services say.
“The Israeli Army announced on March 22 that Iran has fired more than 400 ballistic missiles at Israel since the start of the war, about 92 percent of which have been intercepted.”
Why Iran Does Not Appear Ready to Give In, Despite Heavy Losses | Washington Post
As the war in Iran enters its fourth week, with U.S. operations increasingly focused on global energy flows, Tehran is rebuffing efforts to identify a diplomatic off-ramp from the war launched by the United States and Israel, according to officials in the region. Instead, Tehran is escalating attacks on its neighbors, betting it can ratchet up global economic pain faster than the Trump administration can relieve it with military force, according to an Iranian diplomat, two European diplomats stationed in the region and a senior Arab official . . . Iran’s leaders see their ability to control the strait and withstand the U.S. and Israeli onslaught as a short-term victory, the Arab official and European diplomats said. But as the war expands, with Iran’s critical infrastructure increasingly threatened, the country’s leadership is also deeply concerned about their ability to recover in the long term, they said. “As long as the regime is there, they can create terror in the region, they terrorize international markets with the oil and gas prices. Yes, that’s what winning is for them,” said one of the European diplomats, who is based in the Persian Gulf. “They don’t feel any pressure to negotiate.”
Trump Considers “Winding Down” Iran War Without Opening Hormuz Strait | Axios
“We are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East with respect to the Terrorist Regime of Iran,” [President] Trump wrote on Truth Social. . . . A U.S. official said he doesn’t think Trump’s post signals an imminent end to the war. “He just said we are getting close. In the meantime, the U.S. military is striking hard and continuously. It will be a couple of weeks.”
UK Allows US to Use Bases to Strike Strait of Hormuz Targets | BBC News
The UK has agreed to allow the US to use British bases to launch strikes on Iranian sites targeting the Strait of Hormuz. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer previously allowed US forces to use the bases only for defensive operations to prevent Iran firing missiles that put British interests or lives at risk.
Iran Says Hormuz Open to All but ‘Enemy-Linked’ Ships | Reuters
The Strait of Hormuz remains open to all shipping except vessels linked to “Iran’s enemies,” Iranian media reports published on Sunday quoted Iran’s representative to the U.N. maritime agency as saying.
Lawmaker Says Iran Is Charging Some Ships $2 Million to Pass Hormuz | Iran International
An Iranian lawmaker said the Islamic Republic is charging some vessels $2 million to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, describing it as the start of a new approach to control over the waterway. . . . [He] also referred to Donald Trump’s warning that the United States could target Iran’s power infrastructure if the strait is not reopened within 48 hours, saying Israel’s energy infrastructure would be within Iran’s reach and could be destroyed “within a day.”
The Mojtaba Mystery: CIA Searches for Signs of Iran’s New Leader | Axios
The CIA, Mossad and other intelligence agencies around the world were watching during Nowruz on Friday to see whether Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei would follow his father's tradition and give a new year's address. . . . When the holiday passed with only a written statement from Mojtaba, the mystery around his physical condition, whereabouts and role in Iran's war effort deepened. . . . The U.S. and Israel have intelligence that suggests Mojtaba remains alive—for example, evidence of Iranian officials trying to schedule in-person meetings with him (unsuccessfully, due to security concerns). . . . Trump's national security team is still working to assess who is actually in charge in Tehran, a U.S. official said. “We have no evidence that he is really the one giving orders,” a senior Israeli official told Axios of Mojtaba.
Katz Says Israel Will Send Iran Back Decades if It Keeps Hitting Cities | Times of Israel
[Israeli] Defense Minister Israel Katz says Israel will send Iran decades backwards in response to its attacks, accusing it of purposely targeting civilians.
IRGC Aerospace Chief Faces Internal Criticism over Battlefield Absence | Iran International
Revolutionary Guard Aerospace Force commander Majid Mousavi has come under criticism from senior IRGC officials for being absent during ongoing clashes and leaving his forces without leadership, sources with knowledge of the matter told Iran International.
DIPLOMACY
Trump’s Team Game Planning for Potential Iran Peace Talks | Axios
After three weeks of war, the Trump administration has begun initial discussions on the next phase and what peace talks with Iran might look like, according to a U.S. official and a source with knowledge. . . . “Our view is we've stunted Iran’s growth,” said one U.S. official who believes the Iranians will come to the table. The official said the U.S. wants Iran to make six commitments: 1. No missile program for five years. 2. Zero uranium enrichment. 3. Decommissioning the Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow nuclear facilities that the U.S. and Israel bombed last year. 4. Strict outside observation protocols around the creation and use of centrifuges and related machinery that could advance a nuclear weapons program. 5. Arms control treaties with regional countries that include a missile cap no higher than 1,000. 6. No financing for proxies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen or Hamas in Gaza.
The Top Iranian Diplomat Who Says He’s in No Mood to Talk | Wall Street Journal
After strikes that decimated much of Iran’s leadership, the country’s top diplomat has become the chief messenger of a regime that says it won’t negotiate. Abbas Araghchi, 63 years old, has long been known in Western diplomatic circles as the lead negotiator, resisting pressure to accept strict limitations on Iran’s nuclear program. Now, with much of Iran’s leadership in hiding or dead, he is the most prominent voice of a government refusing to be cowed by the U.S. and Israeli military campaign.
TERRORISM
Germany Says Iran-Linked Threat Level ‘Very High’ | Iran International
Germany’s Interior Ministry assessed the threat posed by the Islamic Republic and its operatives as “very high” and said security agencies are on full alert.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Head of Tehran Girls’ Rehab Center Arrested After Opposing IRGC Takeover | Iran International
The head of a Tehran rehabilitation center for orphaned girls with disabilities was arrested after objecting to a demand by IRGC forces to house 50 of their personnel at the facility, informed sources told Iran International. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces sought to take over part of the Hamdaman rehabilitation institute. The head of the center objected to the request but was assaulted by the officers and subsequently detained, the sources said. The director’s whereabouts and condition remain unknown.
Grieving Father from Viral Tehran Morgue Video Arrested at Slain Son’s Grave | Iran International
In January, a video of an Iranian father’s agonized search among the corpses of slain protesters in a Tehran morgue, looking for his son Sepehr, seared viewers with the enormity of the state’s mass killings. Now, HRANA reports that the father, Esmail Shokri was violently arrested on Saturday night while visiting his son’s grave in Tehran’s Behesht-e Zahra cemetery and taken to an undisclosed location.
Striker Sardar Azmoun was omitted from the Iran squad announced for two soccer World Cup warm-ups after Iranian media reports that he had been expelled from the national team for a perceived act of disloyalty to the government. . . . Azmoun, who plays for Shabab Al-Ahli in the United Arab Emirates, upset the Iranian authorities this week by posting a picture on his Instagram feed of a meeting with Dubai's ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
HOSTAGES
Iran Releases 1 of 2 Japanese Who Were Recently Detained | NHK News
Japan's Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu says a Japanese national who was detained in Iran last June has been released. Two Japanese citizens were recently detained by Iranian authorities. His ministry says one of them returned to Japan at around 8:30 Sunday morning and was in good health. The other was detained in January.
British Couple in Iran Prison Say Situation is 'Life-Threatening' | BBC News
A British man jailed with his wife in Iran on espionage charges has said they feel frightened by the war and abandoned by the British government. It marks the first time that Craig and Lindsay Foreman have released a public statement via their family since the start of the conflict on 28 February.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
US CENTCOM Chief Says Iran Targeting Civilians Out of ‘Desperation’ | Iran International
The commander of US Central Command said Iran has increasingly targeted civilian sites across the Middle East out of "desperation" as its military capabilities deteriorate in the third week of the war.
RUSSIA & IRAN
Putin Tells Tehran: Russia Stands by Iran | Reuters
[Russian President Vladimir] Putin sent congratulations to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the Iranian new year, the Kremlin said. “Vladimir Putin wished the Iranian people to overcome the harsh trials with dignity and stressed that in this difficult time Moscow remains a loyal friend and reliable partner of Tehran,” the Kremlin said. Russia says the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran have thrust the entire Middle East into the abyss and triggered a major global energy crisis, while Putin condemned the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader as a “cynical” murder.
EUROPE & IRAN
Iranian Among Two Charged over Alleged Attempt to Enter UK Nuclear Submarine Base | Guardian
Two people have been charged, one of them Iranian, after they allegedly tried to enter HM Naval Base Clyde in Scotland, which houses the UK’s nuclear Trident submarines.
No Assessment Iran Could Strike London, UK Minister Says | BBC News
There is "no assessment to substantiate" Israel's claim that Iran has long-range missiles capable of reaching London, a UK cabinet minister has said. Housing Secretary Steve Reed told the BBC there was "no specific assessment that the Iranians are targeting the UK - or even could if they wanted to", after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Saturday that Tehran had weapons that could reach up to 4,000km (2,485 miles).
GULF STATES & IRAN
Saudi Arabia Expels Iranian Military Attaché, Three Diplomats | Iran International
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said it has declared the Iranian embassy’s military attaché, his deputy, and three diplomats persona non grata, giving them 24 hours to leave the country. . . . “Iran’s continued aggression means further escalation and will have a significant impact on relations now and in the future,” the statement said.
MISCELLANEOUS
Bloody NYC Khamenei Vigil Reveals Anti-US Protest Network Linked to Iran | Fox News
A small group of New Yorkers lined candles beneath a portrait of Iran’s late leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at a recent a “vigil” in Manhattan's Washington Square Park, and within minutes, a confrontation turned violent, then viral. As Jewish rapper Rami Even-Esh approached the March 6 vigil, he noticed something was missing in the pro-regime gathering, which drew only a few dozen people from five far-left groups, including the socialist “Workers World Party.” “I looked around for images of the regime’s victims,” Even-Esh told Fox News Digital, referring to tens of thousands of protesters the Iranian regime reportedly killed earlier this year. “I looked for Iranians who supported the regime, and I didn’t see any.” Slowly, Even-Esh, who performs under the moniker “Kosha Dillz,” picked up the Khamenei photo, video footage shows, prompting several vigil organizers to quickly tackle him, punch him in the head and kick him as he fell to the ground. He emerged bloodied, and New York Police Department officers arrested both him and one of his assailants. . . . A new report by the Network Contagion Research Institute, a think tank based in Princeton, New Jersey, finds that the vigil—along with a follow-up “Al-Quds Day” protest a week later on March 13—was organized, promoted and amplified by a well-connected network of far-left U.S. activist groups with documented ties to Iranian state media.
Families of Iran’s Elite Live Lavishly Abroad While Ordinary Citizens Suffer at Home | Fox News
“The Islamic regime in Iran is corrupt to its core,” Kasra Aarabi, director of IRGC research at United Against Nuclear Iran, told Fox News Digital. “While regime clerics and IRGC commanders violently Islamize Iranian society and export anti-Americanism globally, their sons and daughters live lavish lifestyles on blood money in Western capitals.” . . . “The problem is even more visible in Europe,” Aarabi said, “Governments, not least the U.K., have turned a blind eye.”