Iran War Update 6
Events from the last 24 hours
The US-Israeli attack on Iran is fast-moving and it’s not easy to stay on top of the volume of interconnected events. Here’s what happened in the last 24 hours…
How badly is the war going for Trump? Very badly indeed as he showed in a panicked, incoherent press conference last night. Oil prices are soaring, inflation is going to hit the US public hard very shortly, munitions are running out, American soldiers are dying and Trump and Netanyahu haven’t come close to reaching the endgame (not that they have any idea what that might be). The Iranian regime remains in place and there’s no sign of the people rising up. The complete disarray was captured in one reporter question: Reporter: “You said the war is “very complete.” But your Defense Secretary says “this is just the beginning.” So which is it?” Trump: “You could say both.”
At the start of the day The FTSE 100 dropped 1.4% in the first 2 minutes of trade - investors reacting to the surge in oil prices. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed down by more than 5%. In South Korea, the Kospi index triggered the circuit breaker, a 20-minute halt to trading to curb panic selling. Things calmed a little after Trump’s assertion that the war was “very complete”, but oil prices are still high.
France’s former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has called for sanctions against Israel and the US over their attacks on Iran: “We say clearly to the United States that their war against Iran is illegal, illegitimate, and dangerous.”
A seventh US service member has died - they were injured in Saudi Arabia on 1 March.
Qatar Minster of education Lolwah bint Rashid Al Khater demanded of the US: “…we just need you to leave us alone. To stop igniting wars so that weapons’ companies can make more money. We need you to Stop Bombing Schools, to stop trafficking and raping little kids.”
Jared Kushner and Trump envoy Steve Witkoff cancelled their planned trip to Israel scheduled for today.
Iran struck the BAPCO Energy Company’s fuel tanks in Bahrain.
The US ordered non-essential staff and families to evacuate the Adana consulate in southern Turkey.
Iran fired a ballistic missile towards NATO member Turkey.
France plans a “purely defensive” mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Macron: French deployment in the Mediterranean, Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz will include eight warships, an aircraft carrier, and two helicopter carriers.
It is apparent that Trump and his circle are completely out of their depth. They have not the remotest idea of what they are trying to achieve. The cost to the American people may be, so far, low in terms of casualties or deaths, but the financial costs will be enormous. And the costs for the Middle East of destruction, death, and further de-stabilising are beyond imagination. I suspect that, long-term, only China will profit from it all.