Russia, China, Turkey pushing for immediate end to war against Iran

Russia, China, Turkey pushing for immediate end to war against Iran

CHRISTINE DOUGLASS-WILLIAMS

China, Russia, Iran and North Korea together comprise what has been known since the presidency of George W. Bush as the “axis of evil.” With Iran now being hammered, that axis is weakened. Turkey, meanwhile, has been termed “the new Iran” prior to the outbreak of the current war, and for good reason. See also HERE. According to the article below, “Erdogan, whose country is one of the few in that region that Iran has not fired on, condemned both sides of the conflict and said Ankara was making ‘intense’ diplomatic efforts to end it.” 

However, in an update from Reuters, “NATO air defences destroyed ‌an Iranian ballistic missile headed into Turkish airspace on Wednesday, marking the first time the alliance member has been drawn into the Middle East conflict and raising the possibility of a major expansion involving its bloc allies.”

As for Ankara’s so called “‘intense’ diplomatic efforts,” there is nothing diplomatic about Turkey, except in appearance. Its president is a deceitful, dangerous Islamic supremacist whom the EU is unwisely embracing. Turkey remains a member of NATO despite his ambitions of a revived Ottoman Empire with himself as caliph.

Russia, China and Turkey seek global expansion, and they will exploit any and every opportunity to acquire an edge.

America and Israel intend to complete a mission, and so-called diplomatic meetings are unlikely to stop them. Better efforts should have been made to contain the Iranian Islamic regime; instead, Western nations poured billions into its coffers in the fond hope that it would comply with the terms of a nuclear deal made with infidels.

“Russia, China and Turkey push for immediate end to Iran war,” Times of Israel, March 3, 2026:

Russia, China and Turkey on Tuesday called for an immediate end to the war launched by the US and Israel on Saturday against Iran, which has retaliated with missile and drone strikes across the Middle East.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is one of the few in that region that Iran has not fired on, condemned both sides of the conflict and said Ankara was making “intense” diplomatic efforts to end it.

“Attacks on Iran, and missile and kamikaze drone attacks [by Iran] on neighboring countries in the Gulf have fueled instability,” he said in a televised address. “Through peace-oriented diplomacy, we are making intense efforts to resolve issues at the negotiating table.”

Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met Washington’s Syria envoy Tom Barrack, ministry sources said.

Fidan also spoke with his UK counterpart Yvette Cooper to discuss “the current security environment in the region,” evaluating “in detail” the “diplomatic efforts that could be undertaken to end the hostilities and establish stability,” said the sources…..

US Set to Escalate War into Ground Phase with Kurdish Vanguard

US Set to Escalate War into Ground Phase with Kurdish Vanguard

Simplicius

The next phase of the Israeli-American plan for Iran has been revealed. With multiple Trump administration mentions of ‘boots on the ground’, we now see a plan forming for the initiation of sectarian and separatist uprisings to further create turmoil in Iran. Per CNN and others:

CIA working to arm Kurdish forces to spark uprising in Iran, sources say

United States seeking an armed uprising inside Iran, with ground operation expected within days

The CIA is working to arm Kurdish forces with the aim of fomenting a popular uprising in Iran, multiple people familiar with the plan told CNN.

The Trump administration has been in active discussions with Iranian opposition groups and Kurdish leaders in Iraq about providing them with military support, the sources said.

Iranian Kurdish opposition forces are expected to take part in a ground operation in Western Iran, in the coming days, the senior Iranian Kurdish official told CNN.

It is said that Kurdish groups in western Iran have been secretly armed and supplied since last year precisely for this moment:

ITV News understands that since last year, weapons have been smuggled into Western Iran to arm thousands of Kurdish volunteers. They are expected to begin a ground operation within days.

This is what the ‘boots on the ground’ possibilities likely refer to—there’s no chance of an Iraq war or Desert Storm-level mass invasion, but there could be units of American special forces embedded with these Kurd guerillas to “lead them from behind” in inciting as much havoc as possible.

The ultimate plan is of course not for such Kurdish units to march all the way to Tehran like some kind of Napoleonic grand army, but rather to demoralize and destabilize the state as much as possible in order to effect a mass popular uprising against “the regime”. This entire war is as much a psychological operation as a kinetic one.

Interestingly, this was followed by reports from Iraq that “mysterious troops” were inserted via helicopter drop to the Najaf desert area of south-central Iraq:

Al-Fatlawi said in a statement seen by independent Arabia, that “a force believed to be American carried out a rapid landing operation in the Najaf – Karbala desert in southwestern Iraq, at six o’clock on Tuesday evening, according to what was reported to us, the force entered from Syria, with a number of four to seven helicopters, accompanied by The deployment of Hummer-type military vehicles in an area about 40 kilometers from Al-nukhayb,”he said.

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Gulf food strategy tested as Iran war snarls shipping routes

Gulf food strategy tested as Iran war snarls shipping routes

Sarah El Safty and Maha El Dahan

 Wealthy Gulf states are facing their biggest food security challenge since the 2008 global food crisis, as the Iran conflict threatens ports and disrupts shipping through the Strait Of Hormuz

The war is testing strategies adopted after ​2008, when soaring food prices prompted Gulf nations to shift toward import-dependent policies reliant on pouring cash into agricultural investments abroad.

That strategy did away with prior expensive programmes that sought to ‌raise domestic production of strategic grains but ran up against the region's brutal climate and lack of water. Saudi Arabia, for example, began to scale back a domestic wheat-growing programme in 2008 to become almost exclusively reliant on imports.

Now with global shipping disrupted and airspace closed in many countries in a region that is 80%-90% dependent on food imports, price surges and scarcity of some goods are expected.

"With over 70% of GCC foodstuffs being imported through the Strait of Hormuz, Gulf states face shortages if the war persists," said Neil ​Quilliam, associate fellow at think tank Chatham House.

"While GCC countries have taken steps to diversify suppliers and ensure sufficient stores to withstand disruption, this can only last several months. At this point, price increases ​and longer lead times will start to hit the markets."

HORMUZ CHOKE POINT

Analysts warn that even temporary blockages in Hormuz that force rerouting from major ports to smaller ones will ⁠create strains.

Most major Gulf ports, including Dubai's Jebel Ali and primary ports in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the Saudi Gulf coast, are located where most incoming traffic would have to pass through the Hormuz waterway.

Iranian attacks struck ​many of those lifelines including Jebel Ali, the region's largest container port, this week, suspending operations for hours.

"The biggest immediate effect will be due to the blockade of Jebel Ali, serving about 50 million people," Ishan Bhanu, lead agricultural ​commodities analyst at Kpler, said about the Dubai port that also serves as a re-export hub to the region and beyond.

UAE ports outside the strait have limited capacity. Khorfakkan can handle 5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and Fujairah less than 1 million and would be hard-placed to make up for capacity lost at Jebel Ali or Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa Port.

"Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Iraq effectively become landlocked and will depend on overland routes through Saudi Arabia," Bhanu added, warning of costly congestion.

'CRAZY' PRICE SPIKE ON BANANAS, OTHER ​PERISHABLES

Those bottlenecks are yet to show and the UAE has said its strategic reserves of vital goods cover four to six months of needs. It urged residents to report unjustified price increases through a dedicated hotline.

Supermarket staff ​told Reuters shelves remain largely stocked, though suppliers are taking longer to replenish certain products. Dubai this week temporarily relaxed truck-movement restrictions to maintain the flow of goods.

The start of Iran's strikes on the Gulf on Saturday prompted many to hoard and ‌caused a ⁠temporary dip that further fueled panic, a dry run for what could come.

"It is worth noting that perception risk matters and even if stocks are sufficient now, public runs on supermarkets can spook the public," Quilliam said.

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Dozens of IRGC officers reportedly flee Lebanon over fears they could be targeted

Dozens of IRGC officers reportedly flee Lebanon over fears they could be targeted

Times of Israel is liveblogging Friday

Iranian Guards claim to launch missiles at Tel Aviv, though IDF has issued no alerts

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps announces a wave of missile launches on the commercial hub of Tel Aviv, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA.

“Missiles headed toward Tel Aviv,” IRNA says, reporting an IRGC statement on “a combined missile and drone attack… targeting locations in the heart of Tel Aviv.”

Despite the IRGC statement, there are no immediate warnings from the Israel Defense Forces of an incoming missile attack.

Qatar says it thwarted drone attack on US airbase

Qatar’s defense ministry says that a drone attack on Al Udeid airbase, the biggest US base in the Middle East, has been thwarted.

Iran has been launching drones and missiles toward US bases in the region after Israeli and US strikes on the Islamic Republic since Saturday killed its top leaders.

Dozens of IRGC officers said to flee Lebanon over fears they could be targeted

Dozens of officers in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have fled Lebanon in the past two days over fears they could be targeted by Israel, according to Axios.

Citing senior Israeli defense officials and a third source with knowledge of the matter, the news site says most of the officers are from the Quds Force — the overseas branch of the IRGC — and serve as military advisers to Hezbollah, with significant sway over the Iran-backed Lebanese terror organization’s operations.

“We expect the IRGC exodus from Lebanon to continue over the next several days,” one of the Israeli defense officials is quoted as saying.

The report adds that a small group of Iranian officers are expected to remain in Lebanon to main the Quds Force’s presence and liaise with Hezbollah

IDF launches ‘broad wave’ of Tehran strikes on ‘Iranian terror regime infrastructure’

In an overnight statement, the military announces that it has launched a “broad wave” of strikes in Tehran on “infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime.”

Iranian state TV reports explosions in several parts of the city.

Rocket alerts repeatedly sound in northern towns

Several rocket alerts have sounded in northern towns in the last few minutes, indicating incessant cross-border fire overnight.

From 2:14 a.m. to 2:39 a.m. seven separate alarms sounded in towns near the Lebanon border, including Kiryat Shmona, Metulla and Misgav Am.

There are no immediate reports of impacts or injuries.

Meanwhile, the IDF appears to be pressing a wave of strikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs, with several explosions heard over the last two hours.

The army earlier ordered an evacuation warning for the area, a stronghold of the Hezbollah terror group, and announced that it had begun a wave of strikes against Hezbollah infrastructure there.

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Rare magnitude 4.9 earthquake rattles rural Louisiana, marking strongest in state’s history

Rare magnitude 4.9 earthquake rattles rural Louisiana, marking strongest in state’s history

Olivia Stephens

 Residents across parts of Louisiana were rattled by a 4.9 earthquake on March 5, marking it the strongest earthquake ever in the state’s history.

The U.S. Geological Survey said that the earthquake struck at 5:30 a.m. CT about 36 miles southeast of Shreveport, Louisiana at a depth of 3.1 miles.

With more than 1,100 reports of shaking so far, the USGS says residents as far north as Shreveport, along with some in southern Arkansas and western Texas, have felt the tremors.

It’s unknown at this time if any damage, injuries or deaths have been reported.

The Red River Parish Sheriff's Office highlighted the strength in a Facebook video reiterating the record as the "largest recorded earthquake on Louisiana soil." 

Officials said, in recent years, the area has experienced several small earthquakes. While most have been minor, events like this serve as a reminder that earthquakes can occur unexpectedly at any time.