The Rest of the World Report
Day 10 Evening Edition | Monday March 9, 2026
Twice-daily international briefing on the US-Israel-Iran war — telling you what the American press isn’t.
📊 THE NUMBERS
As of 6:00 PM Eastern, Monday March 9, 2026
Iran killed 1,300+ confirmed — likely significantly higher
Lebanon killed 394+ (Lebanese Health Ministry, incl. 83+ children)
Israel killed 11 civilians + 2 soldiers
US service members KIA 8 (Sgt. Benjamin Pennington, 26, KY — 7th ID’d Monday)
US strikes on Iran 3,000+ targets (CENTCOM)
Brent crude Peaked at $119.50 — whipsawed to ~$90 on SPR talk, settling ~$100–108
US gas price Approaching $4/gallon — up 14% in one week (GasBuddy/AAA)
Hormuz tanker traffic Effectively zero for non-Chinese/non-Iranian vessels
Iran attacks ongoing Fresh missile/drone barrages overnight, targeting Israel + Gulf states
1. “WTF” — THE FIRST CRACK IN THE US-ISRAEL ALLIANCE
For nine days, the US and Israel have presented a unified front. On Day 10, that front cracked — publicly, on the record, and in language you don’t often see in diplomatic dispatches.
Israel struck 30 Iranian fuel depots on Saturday. Large fires erupted across Tehran, burning through Sunday, blanketing the capital in black smoke visible from miles away, with drainage systems reportedly exploding in the aftermath. It was a dramatic escalation — the first time oil infrastructure had been directly targeted since the war began.
The problem: the US had no idea it was coming at that scale.
Axios broke the story Sunday, sourcing a US official, an Israeli official, and a third source with direct knowledge. Israel had notified Washington before the strikes — that part is not in dispute. But the scope of what followed was, by multiple accounts, far beyond what the US expected. The American message to Israel, per an Israeli official who received it: simply, “WTF.”
A senior US official told Axios the US military was caught off guard and “did not think it was a good idea.” A Trump adviser went further: “The president doesn’t like the attack. He wants to save the oil. He doesn’t want to burn it. And it reminds people of higher gas prices.” Neither the White House nor the IDF has publicly commented on the report.
The US concern is twofold — and both parts matter for understanding what’s happening at the strategic level. First, burning civilian fuel depots could rally ordinary Iranians around the regime at exactly the moment Washington is hoping for popular revolt. Strikes on military targets degrade the regime. Strikes that shut off home heating fuel in a city of 10 million people can galvanize it. Second, the footage of burning Tehran fuel tanks spooked global oil markets directly — a Trump adviser explicitly said the president doesn’t want images of burning oil, because they send prices higher, and the American consumer feels it at the pump within days.
The Israeli rationale is also coherent, even if Washington disagrees with it: IDF stated the depots supply military consumers, and the strikes were intended to signal that continued Iranian attacks on Israeli civilian infrastructure would bring escalating costs. Different theory of the war, different acceptable risks.
This is the first documented public rupture between Washington and Jerusalem in this conflict. It raises a question that international analysts have been asking since Day 1 that American media has largely avoided: who is running this war? The US and Israel have overlapping but distinct strategic objectives — and on Day 10, those differences became visible.
And there is a new wrinkle that makes the stakes higher. Iran’s military spokesperson warned on Saturday that if attacks on oil infrastructure continue, Tehran may respond in kind — targeting regional energy infrastructure it has, until now, deliberately left alone. An Iranian parliamentary official put a number on it: oil prices could reach $200 a barrel if Iran retaliates against Gulf energy facilities. That is not a ceiling anyone wants to test.
🌍 TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: Outside the US, this story is being read as evidence of exactly what many international observers have suspected — that Israel is pursuing a strategy of societal breakdown in Iran while the US is pursuing a strategy of targeted regime change. Those are not the same war. The Axios scoop has been widely picked up across Gulf, European, and Asian press as the first concrete sign that the alliance has a fault line. The question now is whether Israel tests it further.
🇺🇸 WHAT AMERICAN READERS NEED TO KNOW: Trump ran on lower energy prices. Gas is approaching $4 and rising. The president’s own adviser confirmed he is angry that an ally’s military decision is making that number worse. If Iran follows through and retaliates against Gulf energy infrastructure — which it has explicitly threatened — you could be looking at $150–200 oil. The US has a say in how this war is fought. On Saturday, its ally didn’t listen. That matters.
Primary sources: Axios (Ravid/Caputo), Jerusalem Post, CNBC, Al Jazeera, Athens Times, Madhyamam Online
2. THE ISLAND TRUMP HASN’T TOUCHED — AND WHAT HAPPENS IF HE DOES
Thirty kilometers off the Iranian coast in the northern Persian Gulf sits a five-mile strip of land with a name most Americans haven’t heard: Kharg Island. On Day 10 it became one of the most-discussed pieces of territory in the world — because a Wall Street bank put hard numbers on what happens if the US decides to take it.
Kharg handles roughly 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports. It collects oil via pipeline from Iran’s three largest producing fields and loads it onto supertankers. Without Kharg, Iran has no oil economy. Without oil revenue, the IRGC — the primary pillar keeping the regime in place — loses its funding. This is, as one analyst put it, Iran’s economic jugular.
Iran knew it was coming. In the two weeks before the February 28 strikes, Iran preloaded over 3 million barrels per day out of Kharg — nearly triple its normal export pace — stockpiling reserves ahead of the anticipated blockade. Kpler estimates roughly 18 million barrels are currently stored on the island: about 10–12 days of exports under normal conditions.
Axios reported on March 7 that the US administration had formally discussed seizing the island. On Monday, JP Morgan weighed in with the consequences: if US and Israeli forces seized the port, Iran’s oil exports would stall entirely and output would be cut in half. JP Morgan called the downstream result “severe retaliation in the Strait of Hormuz or against regional energy infrastructure” — exactly the scenario that could push oil past $150.
The analysts who spoke to international press this week gave three reasons the US hasn’t moved, and none are reassuring. First: escalation risk. Ellen Wald of the Atlantic Council described the current standoff as a kind of mutually assured economic destruction — as long as Iran can export oil, it won’t try to destroy anyone else’s ability to do the same. Strike Kharg, and that logic collapses. Second: market consequences — with oil already near $120 at its peak today, seizing the island would require a ground troop operation and trigger immediate further price volatility. Third: boots on the ground. Eurasia Group’s Marc Gustafson — a former White House Situation Room director — said any such operation would be “fraught with risk” and requires exactly what this administration has signaled it is reluctant to do.
History offers no comfort. During the 1980s Iran-Iraq Tanker War, Iraqi forces struck terminals and tankers repeatedly — but Kharg remained largely operational each time, damage repaired quickly. JP Morgan noted that permanently disabling it would require sustained, large-scale attacks. Even Carter and Reagan left it alone.
The counterargument — being pushed hard by hawks inside and outside the administration — is leverage. RUSI’s Petras Katinas argued that seizing Kharg gives the US negotiating power regardless of which regime ends up in power. Former National Security Advisor Keith Kellogg was blunter on Fox News: “You basically shut them off economically. They cannot support China. They cannot support Russia.”
The decision hasn’t been made. But the conversation is no longer private.
🌍 TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: International financial and defense press — Reuters, JP Morgan, RUSI, Politico, CNBC — treated this as one of the lead strategic stories of the day. The framing outside the US is not “will Trump be bold enough?” It is: “what happens to the world economy if he does?” That is a materially different question, and it reflects how exposed every country that depends on Gulf oil is to a decision being made in a Florida golf resort conference room.
🇺🇸 WHAT AMERICAN READERS NEED TO KNOW: Kharg Island is the decision point that turns this war from expensive into catastrophic for the global economy — or ends it quickly. The administration is actively discussing it. Congress has not been consulted. You have roughly 10–12 days of Iranian oil stockpiled on that island before it becomes moot either way. The clock is running.
Primary sources: JP Morgan (Reuters), CNBC, Daily Sabah (Baird Maritime), Politico/E&E News, Axios, Eurasia Group/Gustafson, RUSI/Katinas
3. TRUMP’S PRESSER: FIVE CLAIMS, FOUR CONTRADICTIONS
President Trump held his first press conference since the war began on Monday at Trump National Doral in Miami — not Mar-a-Lago, for the record — and delivered a series of assertions about the war’s progress that the day’s news directly tested. Here, in plain language, is what he said and what the record shows.
“We’ve wiped every single force in Iran out, very completely.” Iran launched a fresh wave of missile and drone attacks overnight into Monday, targeting Israel and multiple Gulf states. Bahrain, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia all reported new strikes. The IRGC commander told state television on Monday that Iran retains the capacity to sustain “considerable attacks for at least six months.” Both things cannot be true simultaneously.
“The war will end very soon” and oil prices will drop. Brent crude peaked at $119.50 this morning — the highest since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. It pulled back to around $90–100 on speculation about strategic petroleum reserve releases, before settling near $108. G7 finance ministers met Monday and explicitly declined to release reserves, saying they were “not there yet.” The energy minister meeting is Tuesday. Markets are not reflecting Trump’s confidence.
“Most of Iran’s missiles are now destroyed.” Iran launched new missile barrages overnight. The IRGC said it is using 60% of its offensive capabilities against US assets and 40% against Israel. “We consider the Americans the main enemy in this war,” an IRGC spokesperson said. A military firing 60/40 split across two fronts with “considerable” capacity for six months is not a military whose missiles are mostly destroyed.
“I’m disappointed in Iran’s choice of Mojtaba Khamenei.” This is the most revealing contradiction — not a factual dispute but a strategic one. The stated US objective includes regime change. Iran just installed a new supreme leader with deep IRGC ties who signals maximum continuity with his father’s policies. Trump’s disappointment is real, but the outcome he’s disappointed about is the one his war produced: a harder-line successor, confirmed under military pressure, backed by the IRGC within hours of announcement.
On the Minab school strike: Asked directly whether the US bears responsibility for the strike that killed at least 165–175 children at a girls’ school in Minab on February 28, Trump said — and this is a notable shift from his prior outright Iran-blame — “I will say that the Tomahawk, which is one of the most powerful weapons around, is sold and used by other countries. Whether it’s Iran, who also has some Tomahawks — they wish they had more.” Iran does not have Tomahawk missiles. They are a US-manufactured precision weapon not exported to Iran under any known program. Bellingcat published new analysis Monday saying recently released video “appears to contradict” Trump’s Iran-blame claim. Six senior Senate Democrats called the strike “appalling and unacceptable” and demanded a full Pentagon investigation.
🌍 TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: International press — particularly in Europe and the Gulf — covered the Doral presser with open skepticism, noting the gap between Trump’s assertions and the day’s events. NPR noted the administration has offered “varied and conflicting reasoning” throughout the war. The Minab school story is being reported as an unresolved scandal across European, South Asian, and Arab press that the US domestic conversation has largely moved past.
🇺🇸 WHAT AMERICAN READERS NEED TO KNOW: Trump claimed victory from a golf resort while Iran launched new missile barrages, oil touched $120, and his own advisers were privately furious at an Israeli strike he couldn’t control. The gap between the president’s words and the day’s events is not a matter of interpretation — it is a matter of public record. The school strike question isn’t going away. Bellingcat, satellite imagery, NPR, and now six Senate Armed Services Committee members are all pointing the same direction. The administration needs to answer for it.
Primary sources: NPR, CNBC, CNN, Bellingcat, Al Jazeera, The Hill, CBS News, Haaretz
4. OSLO. LIÈGE. THE PATTERN NOW HAS A NAME.
On Sunday morning at 1 AM, an explosive device detonated outside the entrance to the US Embassy in Oslo. A Khamenei video appeared on the embassy’s Google profile simultaneously, posted from an Iranian-based Instagram account. Norwegian police released surveillance images of a hooded suspect carrying a backpack. No injuries. Minor structural damage.
On Monday morning, a bomb exploded at a synagogue in Liège, Belgium. No injuries. Broken windows. Forensic teams are on the scene. No arrests.
In Strasbourg, the President of the European Parliament opened the March plenary session with remarks that addressed both incidents directly, calling the Liège attack “antisemitic” and saying: “Europe must be a place where Jewish people can live openly, freely and without fear.”
Two incidents in two countries in two days. No confirmed Iran link in either case. But European security services — and the analysts covering them — are treating these as one story.
The analytical framework comes from prior documented Iranian proxy activity in Scandinavia. The Foxtrot gang — a transnational drug trafficking network with documented ties to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security — has been used before by Tehran to carry out harassment operations against Israeli and Jewish targets in Stockholm and Copenhagen. The gang recruits minors, who cannot be charged as adults under Scandinavian law. Its leader, Rawa Majid, is under US Treasury sanctions specifically for facilitating Iranian operations. The Oslo blast has what CEPA analyst and former US diplomat Sharon Hudson-Dean called “the hallmarks of an Iranian-ordered Foxtrot gang proxy attack.” Swedish terrorism researcher Magnus Ranstorp at the Swedish Defence University told The National the pattern is “entirely feasible” — and noted the simultaneous Khamenei video hack as consistent with IRGC Unit 840’s psychological warfare playbook.
British counter-terrorism police separately arrested four Iranian men on March 6 who were suspected of surveilling Jewish sites. German authorities had already warned of Iranian sleeper cell networks potentially active across the continent.
Two incidents is a pattern. Three is a campaign.
🌍 TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: This story is getting more sustained coverage in European press than in the US. The European Parliament address today was significant — it elevated what might otherwise be a crime-beat story into a formal political statement by one of Europe’s most senior institutions. The war in the Gulf is also, now, a security problem on European streets, and European governments are being forced to say so out loud.
🇺🇸 WHAT AMERICAN READERS NEED TO KNOW: Iran has a documented history of using criminal proxy networks — not military assets — for harassment operations in countries it cannot reach directly. The Oslo and Liège incidents follow an established pattern. No confirmation yet. But if a third incident occurs in the next seventy-two hours, the question will no longer be whether Iran has activated its European networks — it will be what comes next.
Primary sources: CNN, PBS NewsHour, The National, CEPA/Hudson-Dean, Swedish Defence University/Ranstorp, European Parliament press room, Pravda Norway
5. WHITE PHOSPHORUS IN LEBANON — HRW CONFIRMS IT
Human Rights Watch published a formal report Monday confirming that the Israeli military fired artillery-delivered white phosphorus munitions over residential areas in the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor on March 3 — in violation of international humanitarian law.
HRW verified and geolocated eight images showing airburst white phosphorus munitions deployed over a residential neighborhood, with civil defense workers responding to fires in at least two homes and one vehicle. The smoke cloud’s shape was consistent with the M825-series 155mm artillery projectile — a US-manufactured munition containing white phosphorus. Fires broke out in at least two homes.
White phosphorus ignites on contact with oxygen and cannot be extinguished with water. It causes what HRW researcher Ramzi Kaiss described as “death or cruel injuries that result in lifelong suffering.” Its use in airburst form over populated areas is considered indiscriminate under international humanitarian law and does not meet the legal requirement to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm. Israel had previously used white phosphorus across Lebanon’s southern villages between October 2023 and May 2024.
The Israeli military’s statement: it is “currently unaware and cannot confirm use of shells that contain white phosphorous in Lebanon as claimed,” adding that any weapons containing white phosphorus are used “in line with international law.” HRW explicitly called on Israel’s key allies — including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany — to suspend military sales and impose targeted sanctions on officials credibly implicated in grave crimes.
Lebanon’s overall death toll now stands at 394+, with more than 500,000 people displaced.
🌍 TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: HRW’s report was given prominent coverage across Lebanese, Turkish, South Asian, and European press. The call to suspend arms sales — directed at Washington, London, and Berlin — will not be ignored by European parliaments already under pressure from their publics over the scale of civilian casualties. This is not a fringe accusation from a partisan source. HRW is one of the most rigorously documented human rights organizations in the world, and its verification methodology is respected across the political spectrum.
🇺🇸 WHAT AMERICAN READERS NEED TO KNOW: The US manufactures the M825-series munition. That is the specific shell type HRW identified in its report. American weapons are in the supply chain. American allies are using them in ways that international law experts say are unlawful. That is a sentence American readers are not seeing enough in US coverage.
Primary sources: Human Rights Watch, Al Jazeera, PBS NewsHour, Daily Sabah, Express Tribune, L’Orient Today
👁 WATCH LIST
G7 Strategic Petroleum Reserve — Decision Tuesday. G7 finance ministers met Monday but could not reach agreement. French Finance Minister Roland Lescure: “We are not there yet.” Energy ministers convene Tuesday morning. The IEA’s Fatih Birol confirmed member nations collectively hold more than 1.2 billion barrels of public emergency reserves. The US wants a 300–400 million barrel coordinated release — roughly a quarter of the total. Even if approved, analysts note it represents less than five days of disrupted Hormuz volume. It buys time. It does not solve the problem.
Mojtaba Khamenei — still silent. The IRGC pledged full allegiance Monday and vowed to “fully obey and sacrifice” for the new supreme leader. The IRGC commander told state TV Iran can sustain “considerable attacks for at least six months.” Mojtaba himself has made no public statement. The “shadow prince” who has never held formal public office and rarely speaks in public is now the third supreme leader of the Islamic Republic. The world is waiting for his first words.
Minab school investigation. Bellingcat published new analysis Monday saying recently released video “appears to contradict” Trump’s Iran-blame claim. Six Senate Armed Services Democrats demanded a full Pentagon investigation. Trump’s own explanation on Monday — that Iran might have Tomahawk missiles — was immediately contradicted by the factual record. Hegseth continues to say the Pentagon is investigating. Watch for any CENTCOM statement or classified briefing request from the Senate Armed Services Committee.
POW claim — debunked by silence. Iran has still produced no photos, no video, no state media broadcast of any captured US personnel, now ten days into the war. Historical precedent is unambiguous: Iran broadcast footage of detained US Navy sailors on state television within hours of their capture in January 2016. Hamas and Hezbollah follow identical doctrine. Absence of any visual proof after ten days is, by the standards of Iranian information warfare, closer to a denial than a confirmation. The Larijani claim stands unconfirmed. CENTCOM denial stands firm.
Lebanese parliament extends term two years. Voted 76-41 to postpone scheduled May elections, citing the ongoing war. Hezbollah’s 13-member bloc voted in favor. More than 500,000 people are displaced across the country.
Trump-Putin call confirmed. The Kremlin confirmed Monday that Trump and Putin spoke by phone. No readout released yet. Context: Russia has been confirmed as providing intelligence to Iran throughout the conflict. Watch for any diplomatic signaling in the aftermath.
THE REST OF THE WORLD REPORT is published twice daily — morning and evening — for the duration of the US-Israel-Iran war. Sources are labeled by country and funding. Every claim is attributed. We tell you what we don’t know as clearly as what we do.
If you find this useful, share it. If something is wrong, tell us.
THE REST OF THE WORLD REPORT — DAY 10 EVENING
SOURCE CHEATSHEET
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NUMBERS
- US KIA (Sgt. Pennington, 7th ID’d): https://www.npr.org/2026/03/09/nx-s1-5742327/us-israel-iran-war-new-supreme-leader
- Brent crude spike to $119.50: https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2026/3/9/oil-soars-past-100-a-barrel-amid-iran-war
- Lebanon death toll 394+: https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/03/09/lebanon-israel-unlawfully-using-white-phosphorus
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STORY 1: US-ISRAEL “WTF” RIFT
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Axios scoop (Ravid/Caputo) — primary source:
https://www.axios.com/2026/03/08/us-dismayed-israel-iran-fuel-strikes
Jerusalem Post confirmation:
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-889346
Iran $200/barrel threat + IDF rationale:
https://sundayguardianlive.com/world/iran-oil-field-strike-us-reportedly-sent-wtf-message-to-israel-after-tehran-energy-facilities-hit-oil-prices-surge-above-100-watch-video-175117/
Athens Times (Axios roundup):
https://athens-times.com/axios-u-s-israel-rift-over-oil-depot-strikes-in-tehran/
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STORY 2: KHARG ISLAND
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JP Morgan warning (Reuters/US News):
https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2026-03-09/oil-shock-to-worsen-should-us-israel-seize-irans-kharg-island-jp-morgan-says
CNBC — analysts, RUSI, Eurasia Group:
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/09/iran-war-us-israel-conflict-oil-prices-kharg-island.html
Politico/E&E News — strategic overview:
https://www.eenews.net/articles/the-oil-island-that-could-break-iran/
Daily Sabah / Baird Maritime — JP Morgan note detail:
https://www.dailysabah.com/business/energy/seizure-of-irans-kharg-island-would-worsen-oil-shock-jpmorgan
https://www.bairdmaritime.com/shipping/ports/oil-shock-to-worsen-should-us-israel-seize-irans-kharg-island
Kellogg Fox News quote / ZeroHedge analysis:
https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/will-president-trump-destroy-or-seize-irans-oil-export-island
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STORY 3: TRUMP DORAL PRESSER FACT-CHECK
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CNBC — Trump “war will end very soon,” oil prices:
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/09/trump-iran-war-end.html
NPR — contradictions, varying war objectives:
https://www.npr.org/2026/03/09/nx-s1-5742591/trump-press-conference-as-u-s-israel-led-iran-war-enters-second-week
CNN live updates — Tomahawk/school claim, IRGC 6-month capacity:
https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/iran-war-us-israel-trump-03-09-26
Bellingcat school strike analysis:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/03/09/iran-war-strike-school-minab-us/0b034c36-1b9d-11f1-a29c-fd43da9a479a_story.html
Senate Democrats condemn school strike (Al Jazeera):
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/9/us-senators-demand-probe-into-appalling-attack-on-girlss-school-in-iran
Senate Democrats condemn school strike (NPR):
https://www.npr.org/2026/03/09/nx-s1-5742327/us-israel-iran-war-new-supreme-leader
Sen. Murphy “unforgivable”:
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5773806-murphy-criticizes-iran-school-strike/
IRGC “60/40 split” / 6-month capacity (CNN Day 9):
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/07/middleeast/us-israel-iran-middle-east-war-what-we-know-intl-hnk
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STORY 4: OSLO / LIÈGE — THE PATTERN
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CNN — Oslo embassy blast:
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/07/europe/explosion-hits-us-embassy-oslo-intl-hnk
PBS NewsHour — Oslo backpack device detail:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/police-investigate-an-explosion-outside-the-u-s-embassy-in-oslo-norway
The National — Khamenei video hack, Foxtrot/Unit 840 analysis, Ranstorp:
https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/europe/2026/03/09/hackers-post-khamenei-video-on-us-embassys-social-media-page-after-oslo-explosion/
CEPA — Hudson-Dean analysis, Foxtrot connection:
https://cepa.org/article/and-so-it-begins-irans-terror-proxies-emerge-from-the-shadows/
Liège synagogue bomb + Oslo same-day context:
https://yournews.com/2026/03/09/6632299/belgian-authorities-investigate-explosion-outside-liege-synagogue-as-possible-terror/
European Parliament opening remarks — Metsola:
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20260306IPR37517/
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STORY 5: HRW WHITE PHOSPHORUS
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HRW primary report:
https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/03/09/lebanon-israel-unlawfully-using-white-phosphorus
Al Jazeera:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/9/israel-unlawfully-used-white-phosphorus-in-lebanon-hrw
PBS NewsHour — Lebanese parliament extension + HRW:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/lebanese-parliament-extends-term-by-2-years-as-israel-intensifies-attacks-on-lebanon
Daily Sabah:
https://www.dailysabah.com/world/mid-east/hrw-finds-proof-israel-used-banned-white-phosphorus-in-s-lebanon
L’Orient Today (Beirut):
https://today.lorientlejour.com/article/1498175/hrw-accuses-israel-of-unlawfully-using-white-phosphorus-in-new-lebanon-attacks-1.html
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WATCH LIST SOURCES
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G7 SPR — finance ministers “not there yet” / energy ministers Tuesday:
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/09/iran-war-g7-energy-minister-oil-reserves.html
https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/03/09/g7-not-there-yet-on-releasing-oil-reserves-as-iran-war-drives-price-surge
IEA Birol statement / G7 joint communique:
https://yournews.com/2026/03/09/6632670/g7-weighs-emergency-oil-reserve-release-as-iran-war-drives/
Mojtaba / IRGC allegiance + 6-month claim:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/9/irans-authorities-showcase-continuity-as-they-back-new-leader-during-war
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/mar/9/islamic-revolutionary-guard-corps-said-backing-irans-newly-selected/
Mojtaba profile / IRGC pressure on Assembly of Experts:
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202603083539
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iranian_Supreme_Leader_election
Trump-Putin call confirmed:
https://www.britannica.com/event/2026-Iran-Conflict
Lebanon parliament 2-year extension:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/03/09/lebanon-israel-hezbollah-hrw-white-phosphorus/23c45b22-1b7d-11f1-a29c-fd43da9a479a_story.html
POW claim / CENTCOM denial — no new evidence (background):
Previous sessions — Larijani claim unconfirmed