Thursday, March 19, 2026

Russia And China Are More Involved In The War In Iran Than Most People Realize


Michael Snyder


It appears that Iran is quietly getting quite a bit of help from Russia and China. As you will see below, it is being alleged that China is mass producing drones for the Iranians, and one report is claiming that hundreds of Chinese military and technical personnel are “feared dead or slowly suffocating” because they were hiding in underground bunkers that have been destroyed by U.S. and Israeli airstrikes. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal is claiming that Russia has been sharing technology with the Iranians and has been providing targeting information for their drone and missile strikes. It seems that Russia and China are more involved in the war in Iran than most people realize, and that should deeply alarm all of us.

I am about to share some information with you that absolutely shocked me when I first came across it.

Independent journalist Jennifer Zeng claims to have access to intelligence that comes from a former senior Chinese official that still has high level access. According to this source, hundreds of military and technical personnel that had been sent to help the Iranians defeat the U.S. and Israel are “now trapped in underground bunkers with zero communication”. The following is the complete report that Zeng has posted on X

Fresh intelligence from inside the Chinese Communist regime reveals a far larger disaster than previously known: at least seven technicians from Chinese drone maker DJI were killed in U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran, while 300 to 400 Chinese military and technical personnel are now trapped in underground bunkers with zero communication — many feared dead or slowly suffocating.

The information comes directly from a former senior CCP official, relayed through Canadian writer and dissident Sheng Xue @ShengXue_ca. The bunkers, which Beijing and Tehran had touted as “absolutely safe,” were hit with devastating precision after Iranian insiders leaked their exact coordinates to Israel. What was meant to shield key assets has become a mass grave for Chinese advisors embedded deep in Iranian military sites.

Adding to the confirmed deaths of three elite radar experts from CETC’s 14th Research Institute in Nanjing — whose bodies were completely vaporized in the opening U.S. bombing wave — the scale now points to a catastrophic failure of Xi Jinping’s covert support for Iran. These three specialists, Beijing’s self-proclaimed “best” for countering American F-35 and F-22 stealth fighters, died alongside Iranian personnel with no remains recoverable.

Families of the Nanjing trio have been summoned to the CCP’s Organization Department for “post-incident handling.” Compensation is promised, though the figure is still undisclosed. The regime’s standard playbook — large hush-money payments to buy silence — is already in motion.

No official statement has come from China’s Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry, or state media. The blackout is total, as Beijing refuses to admit its personnel are dying in a foreign war it publicly denies involvement in.

This unfolding tragedy is a brutal public humiliation for Xi. President Trump’s strikes have exposed China’s reckless proxy role in propping up Iran’s collapsing defenses, while European elites — protecting their vast hidden stakes in Iranian oil — seethe at the disruption to their globalist networks.

Hundreds of Chinese lives hang in the balance, buried alive in foreign bunkers, paid off in silence money, and erased by the world’s most efficient censorship apparatus. Xi’s gamble has turned deadly — and the body count is still rising.

(Solely based on updated, firsthand information from Sheng Xue via her CCP-regime source — a former senior official with current access. No speculation or invention.)


Of course she is not the only one that is talking about the help that China has been providing to the Iranians.

The Sun has published an article that discusses shocking new video footage that appears to show a Chinese factory mass producing Iranian suicide drones…

CHINA has been accused of helping Iran build its suicide drone armada after a video appearing to show a Shahed production line emerged.

Footage shared by a factory on Douyin, Beijing‘s domestic TikTok, shows UAVs being assembled at a workshop.

Other clips show multiple drones – resembling Tehran‘s lethal Shaheds – lined up in a warehouse before being shipped out.



Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal is claiming that Russia has been “providing satellite imagery and improved drone technology to aid Tehran’s targeting of U.S. forces in the region”…

Russia has been expanding its intelligence sharing and military cooperation with Iran, providing satellite imagery and improved drone technology to aid Tehran’s targeting of U.S. forces in the region, people familiar with the matter said.

Russia is trying to keep its closest Middle Eastern partner in the fight against U.S. and Israeli military might and prolong a war that is benefiting Russia militarily and economically.


If this is true, this makes Russia a party to the war in Iran just like we are a party to the war in Ukraine because of the assistance that we have been giving to the Ukrainians.

Thanks to the technology that the Russians have shared, the Iranians have reportedly been able to improve the navigation and the targeting of their drones

The technology provided includes components of modified Shahed drones, which are meant to improve communication, navigation and targeting, the people said. Russia has also been drawing on its experience using drones in Ukraine, offering tactical guidance on how many drones should be used in operations and what altitudes they should strike from, said the people, who included a senior European intelligence officer.

Without a doubt, Iranian drones are being more effective than they have in the past.

How much credit should the Russians get for that?

In addition, the Russians have apparently been “providing satellite imagery directly to Iran” that has allowed the Iranians to hit targets throughout the Middle East with a very high level of precision…

Russia has been providing Iran with the locations of U.S. military forces in the Middle East as well as those of its regional allies, The Wall Street Journal has reported. That cooperation has deepened in early days of the war, with Russia recently providing satellite imagery directly to Iran, said two of the people, the officer and a Middle Eastern diplomat.

The assistance is similar to intelligence the U.S. and European allies have given to Ukraine in recent years, analysts say. In the Gulf, Moscow’s aid is believed to have helped Iran with recent strikes on U.S. radar systems in the region, said the people. Those strikes have included an early warning radar for a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or Thaad, system in Jordan, as well as other targets in Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman.


It appears that we are far closer to war with both Russia and China than most people in the western world ever imagined.

Since Iran has been such a close ally, Russia and China would both love for the regime in Iran to survive.

The regime has certainly been weakened, but it is not done yet.

In fact, missiles that were just launched by the regime have hit the largest natural gas facility in the entire world…

Missiles caused ‘extensive damage’ in Qatar tonight hours after Iran threatened to wage a ‘full scale economic war’ by attacking energy facilities across the Middle East.

Video showed huge explosions in Ras Laffan – the world’s biggest natural gas plant – as well as Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh.

Energy sites in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar were evacuated after Tehran warned it would hit them with strikes in ‘the coming hours’.


This facility in Qatar produces approximately 20 percent of the world’s natural gas.

If it is shut down, we will immediately be facing a global natural gas shortage.

In Saudi Arabia, a “bright orange fireball lit up the sky” after the capital city of Riyadh was struck by Iranian missiles…

Striking video shows the moment Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh was targeted by missiles.

A bright orange fireball lit up the sky as huge explosions rocked the city.

It comes just hours after Iran threatened to wage a ‘full scale economic war’ by attacking energy facilities across the Middle East.


Saudi Arabia possesses 17 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves, and before the war started it was producing nearly 10 million barrels of oil per day.





Wednesday, March 18, 2026

The Countries Most In Danger Of Running Out Of Oil


The Countries Most In Danger Of Running Out Of Oil



Before the war, 40 tankers carrying 20 million barrels of crude oil and refined petroleum products traversed the Strait of Hormuz every day. This week Iran has allowed just a handful of tankers to slip through Hormuz, including ships flagged to India and China. Amid oil rationing and shortages, which countries are most in danger of winning the race to empty? 

This week analyst Mike Haigh and his team of commodities market analysts at Societe Generale figure that for now the trickle through the Strait will average 500,000 barrels per day, on Iran’s whim. 

Incredibly, much of the rest of the pent-up oil is still getting to market, or at least filling up storage tanks. The Saudis have turned to their long-planned and expanded East-West pipeline, which will be pushed to its limits in carrying 7 million barrels per day to the Red Sea port at Yanbu. Likewise, the United Arab Emirates has been able to move some oil east around the Strait via pipeline to the port of Fujairah, though Iran has reportedly attacked that infrastructure.

Analysts at Jefferies see 6.7 million barrels per day of Gulf oil production now shut-in. Energy Aspects figures that the Hormuz-related outages will peak at 10 million bpd, with total OPEC crude oil production now down 7 million bpd to 22.3 million. That’s 7% of the world’s daily crude oil diet of 100 million barrels per day. 

The United States, as the world’s biggest oil and natural gas producer, is somewhat insulated from supply shocks. Prices for gasoline and diesel may surge here, but there is little chance of outright shortages.

Other countries don’t have that comfort. MyanmarVietnam and thePhilippines, according to the SocGen commodities team, source upwards of 80% of their oil via cargoes that pass through Hormuz, and only have about a month of oil in storage before they’ll run out — or need to find alternate supplies. 

The situation is also acute in Singapore, which usually receives 680,000 bpd of trans-Hormuz crude oil and has just 40 days of inventory “cover.” Thailand is in only a little better position, with 50 days of cover on its 400,000 bpd from Hormuz.

Taiwan, which imports 525,000 bpd, can last about 100 days. Bangladesh too can last about 100 days, and has already instituted fuel rationing and shuttered fertilizer plants. It doesn’t import much crude, but all of it usually passes through Hormuz.

Bigger countries tend to have more options. South Korea imports about 3 million bpd, with 2 million of that coming via Hormuz. Its inventories can cover 50 days of no imports or about 70 days just making up for Hormuz shipments. That’s about the same as India which has a 175 million-barrel strategic petroleum reserve to balance 5 million bpd of total needs, 45% of which comes via Hormuz. Indonesia has sufficient resources to withstand a Hormuz closure for 160 days. Japan, with large strategic reserves, can get by for 200 or so days without shipments via Hormuz. 

Perhaps surprisingly, China can withstand 300 days of no oil shipments from Hormuz and more than 100 days of no exports at all, thanks to its 1.3 billion barrel strategic petroleum reserve--despite the fact that 45% of China’s more than 11 million bpd of total oil imports pass through the strait. “China has intentionally capped Middle Eastern dependence near 50% and built substantial shock absorbers through diversified oil sourcing, pipeline gas, domestic production, and large inventories,” says analyst Lloyd Byrne at Jefferies.

How will all these countries make ends meet? The International Energy Agency intends to help them on the margins by releasing 400 million barrels over the next few months, but that alone won’t fill the gap, and only pushes demand out into the future (because reserves need to be refilled). 

Reducing demand helps somewhat. Vietnam has ordered people to work from home. In Thailand civil servants are ordered to take the stairs. In Sri Lanka the government instituted a four-day work week. 

A better option is to diversify energy sources. South Korea has decided to pause on its phase out of coal-fired power plants and ramp up its nuclear reactors to help make ends meet.

China too has ample capacity to ramp up coal burning. According to Bernstein Research China’s coal plants are operating at just half of their potential. What’s more China has been building so much wind and solar power that this year it will add about 500 terawatthours of new renewable generation. That’s an important tipping point because it means China is adding more renewable power than the entirety of its electricity demand growth — helpful for offsetting missing oil and LNG from Hormuz. 

Time will bring relief. Energy Aspects consultancy believes that even if Hormuz is closed to U.S.-affiliated tankers, Iran will likely be back to exporting 3 million barrels per day by the end of the year. And within 18 months expect Venezuela to ramp up by 1 million barrels to about 1.3 million bpd.

In the U.S. meanwhile, oil drillers have begun to reactivate mothballed drilling rigs, adding back two last week to bring the operating total to 553. That’s still 39 rigs below this time last year. Expect America’s drillers, currently pumping a record 13.6 million barrels per day, to boost that towards 14 million by the end of the year.




Rumors Of War: DNI Tulsi Gabbard Unleashes Explosive 2026 Threat Assessment


FULL TRANSCRIPT: DNI Tulsi Gabbard Unleashes Explosive 2026 Threat Assessment — Warns Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and Pakistan Building Nuclear Missiles Capable of Striking U.S. Homeland


Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard delivered a sweeping and unapologetically direct assessment of the threats facing the United States during her 2026 Annual Threat Assessment briefing.

While legacy terrorist organizations like ISIS and al-Qaeda have been weakened, the threat has evolved, not disappeared.

According to the intelligence assessment:

  • “Lone wolf” attackers are now the top threat to the U.S. homeland
  • Terror plots are increasingly decentralized and digitally inspired
  • Islamist ideology continues spreading globally, including into Western nations

Gabbard warned that extremist networks are now focused on propaganda, recruitment, and remote radicalization, making detection more difficult than ever.

The report outlines a rapidly destabilizing world where America faces multiple adversaries simultaneously.

China

  • Rapid military modernization
  • AI dominance ambitions
  • Strategic goal: capability to seize Taiwan

Russia

  • Hypersonic weapons
  • Nuclear escalation risks
  • Expanding “gray-zone” warfare tactics

Iran

  • Regime “intact but degraded” after U.S. strikes
  • Likely to rebuild missile and drone programs
  • Ongoing hostility toward U.S. and allies

North Korea

  • Expanding nuclear arsenal
  • Stole $2 BILLION in crypto to fund weapons programs
  • Deepening ties with Russia and China

Meanwhile, the intelligence community warns the total missile threat to the U.S. homeland could explode to 16,000+ missiles by 2035.

More...


US strikes Iranian missile site in Strait of Hormuz using 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions


US strikes Iranian missile site in Strait of Hormuz using 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions

The United States on Tuesday attacked Iranian missile sites stationed along the Strait of Hormuz coastline as part of Operation Epic Fury, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.

"Hours ago, US forces successfully employed multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz," CENTCOM posted on X/Twitter.

"The Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles in these sites posed a risk to international shipping in the strait," the statement added.

Hours ago, U.S. forces successfully employed multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles in these sites posed a risk to international shipping in the strait.

The strikes come as sources told The Jerusalem Postthat operations at the Strait of Hormuz could prolong the war for "weeks, if not months."

“This could extend the war by as much as two months,” one source familiar with the discussions said. 

Ships avoid Strait of Hormuz amid fears of Iranian attack

At present, following Iranian threats to target ships, many vessels are avoiding the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for the global energy market, through which about 20% of the world’s oil supply passes.

Satellite images from the Persian Gulf show numerous ships waiting outside the strait to avoid potential attacks.

Within the Trump administration, ensuring safe navigation through the strait is now being incorporated into its war objectives. Officials are even considering the possibility of a ground operation on Iran’s Kharg Island, located in the center of the strait, after the US military struck targets there over the weekend.

With this in mind, the US military announced that 5,000 Marines will be deployed to the region.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that following a phone call with Trump, the two agreed to cooperate on the Strait of Hormuz issue. “There is coordination between our air forces and navies. We will assist both through indirect actions that place immense pressure on the Iranian regime and through direct operations. There are many more surprises ahead.”

At this stage, an Israeli source told the Post that Israel’s assistance regarding the strait is limited to intelligence support rather than kinetic action. “But that can always change,” the official added


IDF Severing Connection Between Iran And Hezbollah


IDF Severing Connection Between Iran And Hezbollah
YAAKOV LAPPIN



The Israel Defense Forces is destroying the operational linkage between Iran and Hezbollah, military sources stated, while stressing that the main effort in the war remains focused on further severely degrading the Islamic Republic's offensive and defensive capabilities.

As part of this effort, Israel is actively working to sever the connection between Hezbollah and its Iranian sponsors by targeting the Quds Force, the expeditionary arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which coordinates between Tehran and Hezbollah in Lebanon, arming, activating and funding it. 

"We put out a warning for them that any Quds Iranian official who is conducting or promoting or directing attacks against Israel from Lebanon, we will find them and carry out strikes against them," said IDF International Spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani.

Speaking during a briefing to journalists on the 13th day of "Operation Roaring Lion" and the 12th day since Hezbollah joined the conflict, he revealed that most Iranian Quds Force leaders in Lebanon had now either left the country or been eliminated.

On Thursday, the IAF said that, with the guidance of Military Intelligence, it struck and eliminated a commander of the Imam Hussein Division, a force used by the Quds Force to strengthen the Iranian axis and launch attacks on Israeli forces and civilians. It named the commander as Ali Muslim Tabaja. 

"The division is composed of thousands of terrorists across the Middle East and it serves as a force-employment method, providing Hezbollah with significant capabilities," said the military.

"During Operations Roaring Lion [June 2025] and Northern Arrows [September to November 2024], the division took an active part in the fighting, carrying out multiple terrorist attack plans from Lebanese territory in coordination with the Hezbollah terrorist organization. This included the launch of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and missile fire toward communities in northern Israel."

Tabaja, it said, was a key figure within the division "for the Hezbollah terrorist organization. He joined the Hezbollah terrorist organization and, over the years, held a series of military roles both within Hezbollah and within the division, including serving as the deputy commander of the division."

The previous commander of the division was eliminated in 2024. The strike also eliminated several additional terror operatives, including the division's deputy commander and its drone officer. 

The IDF confirmed that on Tuesday, it eliminated a commander in the IRGC's missile unit within Hezbollah in Beirut, responsible for key coordination efforts between Hezbollah and Iran. 

Combined Hezbollah-Iranian attack

In his briefing to reporters, Shoshani described Wednesday night's combined Hezbollah-Iranian attack against Israel. "Last night, Hezbollah timed a simultaneous attack with Iran, firing rockets and drones at towns and communities across Israel," Shoshani said.

He noted that the barrage included approximately 200 rockets and 20 UAVs, combined with ballistic missiles fired from Iran.

"These attacks aren't Hezbollah protecting the people of Lebanon. It's Hezbollah protecting a terrorist regime that is 2,000 kilometers away, based on a shared conviction that Israel must cease to exist," Shoshani stated.


Shoshani added that Israeli intelligence had indications of the impending attack, allowing the military to prepare aerial defense systems and the home front. This preparation enabled the IDF to precisely strike more than 50 percent of the launchers used in the first wave, in some cases eliminating the terrorists as they fired.

The rapid response resulted in minimal casualties in the north of Israel, with only two or three direct hits and a few civilians lightly injured.

Since joining the war, Hezbollah has launched over a thousand UAVs, missiles, and rockets at Israel, according to IDF data. Shoshani highlighted that while Hezbollah's capabilities have been diminished in recent years, it remains a dangerous terror force requiring decisive action.

"We've seen hundreds of [elite] Radwan forces attempt to move south again," Shoshani warned, referring to Hezbollah's commando unit. "We've seen Hezbollah try to expand its fire towards us. We've seen Hezbollah try and send terrorists down towards the border area. And that is why it's essential that our troops are in the border area for defensive measures, holding the defense lines, preventing any type of attack towards Israeli civilians."

The IDF has responded with intense airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in the Dahiyeh suburb of south Beirut and throughout southern Lebanon.

It said that since March 2, Israeli forces have eliminated more than 100 Hezbollah terrorists and 60 Radwan force command and control centers.  

Turning to the primary arena in Iran, Shoshani provided staggering statistics regarding the scale of the ongoing aerial campaign. Over 4,200 sorties have been flown across Iran so far, with Israeli and American aircraft conducting non-stop strikes for 13 days.