The Rest of the World Report | Day 12 — Morning Edition
Wednesday, March 11, 2026 | 6:00 AM Eastern / 12:00 PM Paris
Twice-daily briefings on the US-Israel-Iran war for Americans who want the full picture. Sourced exclusively from international and independent press.
THE NUMBERS (as of 6:00 AM Eastern)
Iran killed 1,300+ civilians (Iran’s UN Ambassador Iravani, March 11)
Iran injured ~10,000 (Iranian Health Ministry)
Iran internet blackout 264+ hours — below 1% connectivity — NetBlocks: “most severe government-imposed nationwide shutdown on record globally”
Lebanon killed 570+ (Lebanese Disaster Risk Management Unit); 780,000+ displaced (Lebanese Social Affairs Minister) Israel killed 15+ civilians, 2 soldiers; 1,929+ injured
US KIA 8 confirmed / 140 wounded (Pentagon)
Ships attacked in/near Hormuz 14+ total since Feb 28 (UKMTO) — 3 struck this morning alone Brent crude Highly volatile: $83–$94 range in 24 hours; peaked ~$120 Monday
US gas prices ~$4/gallon nationally, up ~14% in two weeks (AAA)
Strait of Hormuz Effectively closed; 17 incident reports filed with UKMTO since Feb 28
STORY 1: THE STRAIT IS A WAR ZONE
Three ships struck this morning. The CEO of the world’s largest oil company says the word “catastrophic.” No one in Washington has a plan.
Early Wednesday morning — while most Americans slept — three commercial vessels were struck by unknown projectiles in and around the Strait of Hormuz.
The Thailand-flagged bulk carrier Mayuree Naree was hit 11 nautical miles north of Oman, caught fire, and was forced to evacuate most of its crew. The Japan-flagged container ship One Majesty sustained hull damage 25 nautical miles northwest of Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE. A third vessel, a Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier, was struck roughly 50 miles northwest of Dubai. All three crews are reported safe. No one has claimed responsibility. The fires have been extinguished (Reuters, UKMTO, The National — March 11, 2026).
These are not isolated incidents. Since the war began on February 28, the UK Maritime Trade Operations has logged 17 incident reports in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Gulf of Oman — 13 of them classified as attacks. The total number of vessels hit since the conflict began is now at least 14 (Reuters/UKMTO).
The IRGC’s stated policy is unambiguous: “We will not allow a single liter of oil to leave the Middle East while US and Israeli attacks continue,” a Revolutionary Guard spokesperson told Iranian state media on Tuesday (Reuters). Shipping traffic through the strait — which in normal times carries roughly 100 vessels per day and approximately 20% of the world’s daily oil and gas supply — has dropped to near zero.
The CEO of Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, said the quiet part out loud on Tuesday. On an earnings call, Amin Nasser told investors: “While we have faced disruptions in the past, this one by far is the biggest crisis the region’s oil and gas industry has faced.” He warned of “catastrophic consequences for the world’s oil markets” and said the disruption was already having “drastic domino effects on aviation, agriculture, automotive and other industries.” Global oil inventories are at a five-year low. Aramco has activated its East-West pipeline — the only remaining export route — to bypass the strait entirely, piping crude overland to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. It cannot carry enough (Reuters, Semafor, The National — March 10, 2026).
The International Energy Agency is now recommending a coordinated release of strategic reserves exceeding 100 million barrels in the first month — a figure that would be among the largest emergency releases in history (Reuters, Times of Israel — March 11, 2026).
Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) sat in a two-hour classified briefing on the war this week. He cannot disclose classified information, but here is what he said publicly on Threads: the war goals as presented to Congress do not include destroying Iran’s nuclear weapons program — the stated purpose Trump has repeated publicly since Day 1. Regime change was also confirmed to be off the table. When senators asked what happens when the bombing stops and Iran restarts missile production, administration officials “hinted at more bombing. Which is, of course, endless war.” On the Strait of Hormuz specifically, Murphy was unambiguous: “They had NO PLAN. I can’t go into more detail about how Iran gums up the Strait, but suffice it to say, right now, they don’t know how to get it safely back open. Which is unforgiveable, because this part of the disaster was 100% foreseeable.” (Sen. Chris Murphy, Threads — March 10, 2026)
The briefings, Murphy noted, are all closed. “Trump can’t defend this war in public.”
Three ships are burning in the Strait this morning. Aramco says “catastrophic.” A US senator says there is no plan to reopen it. And the administration that started this war has not held a single public hearing on its goals.
🌍 TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: The international financial and energy press — Reuters, Bloomberg, The National, Semafor — has been covering the Hormuz crisis as an existential economic emergency since Day 1. The Aramco CEO’s “catastrophic” warning made front pages across Asia, Europe, and the Gulf. In the US, it ran as a business item.
🇺🇸 WHAT AMERICAN READERS NEED TO KNOW: The Strait of Hormuz is not a foreign policy abstraction. It is the pipe through which one-fifth of the world’s energy supply moves every day. It is also the thing a US senator — with access to classified briefings — just confirmed the administration has no plan to reopen. The ships burning there this morning are cargo vessels. Their crews are civilian sailors. That is the world your gas price lives in right now.
STORY 2: THE GAP — WHAT TRUMP SAYS VS. WHAT IS HAPPENING
“Pretty much over.” “Ultimate victory.” “Little excursion.” Meanwhile: Day 12.
On Monday, President Trump told CBS News: “I think the war is very complete, pretty much.” He said Iran’s military had been wiped out. Hours later, at a separate event with Republican lawmakers, he said: “We haven’t won enough. We go forward more determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory.” On Tuesday, he called it a “little excursion” that would conclude “soon” — while simultaneously threatening Iran with “death, fire and fury” if they kept blocking Hormuz (NBC News, NPR — March 10, 2026).
Iran’s response was equally direct. The IRGC said Tuesday: “Iran will determine when the war ends.” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told PBS NewsHour that negotiating with the US would not “be on the table” again. “We have a very bitter experience of talking with Americans,” he said — noting that indirect nuclear talks were underway last June when the US attacked Iran the first time, and again in February 2026 when the US attacked a second time (PBS NewsHour, NPR — March 10, 2026).
On Wednesday morning, the IRGC announced what it described as its “most intense and heaviest operation yet” — three hours of continuous missile launches including Khorramshahr medium-range ballistic missiles targeting US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Erbil, and Israeli cities including Tel Aviv, Haifa, and West Jerusalem. Sirens sounded across central Israel. Air defenses in Saudi Arabia intercepted six ballistic missiles aimed at Prince Sultan Air Base and 24 drones overnight (Al Jazeera, ABC News, Times of Israel — March 11, 2026).
Defense Secretary Hegseth said Tuesday would be “the most intense day of strikes — the most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes.” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent went on Fox Business and said “tonight will be our biggest bombing campaign.” Both statements were made publicly, on the record, on the same day the President called the war a “little excursion.”
Germany’s Chancellor Merz, after meeting with Trump at the White House, offered a different assessment: “An endless war is not in our interest.”
🌍 TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: The disconnect between Trump’s public statements and his own cabinet’s statements has been covered with open alarm by the international press — not as partisan criticism, but as a factual risk to allied coordination and market stability. When a head of government calls an active war a “little excursion,” the rest of the world notices.
🇺🇸 WHAT AMERICAN READERS NEED TO KNOW: The gap between “pretty much over” and “most intense day ever” is not a communications problem. It is a strategic problem. And the senator who sat in the classified briefing this week says the war goals as presented behind closed doors don’t match what the President is saying in public. Americans deserve to know which version is true.
STORY 3: THE SUPREME LEADER NO ONE HAS SEEN
Iran has a new leader. He was wounded on Day 1. He has not appeared in public since.
Mojtaba Khamenei — son of the assassinated Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, selected to succeed him by Iran’s Assembly of Experts — has not made a public appearance since the war began twelve days ago.
The New York Times reported Wednesday, citing both Israeli and Iranian officials, that Mojtaba was wounded in his legs in the opening US-Israeli strikes on February 28 (NYT — March 11, 2026). Israeli intelligence assessments shared with Reuters corroborate the injury. The Iranian president’s son responded Wednesday that Khamenei is “safe and sound.” The PMO has not released footage of him.
This matters beyond the obvious. Iran’s political structure requires a visible, functioning supreme leader. Mojtaba was a largely unknown figure before the war — a mid-ranking cleric with no military command experience, elevated in extraordinary circumstances while his father’s compound was still burning. An injured, invisible supreme leader in the middle of the country’s biggest military crisis in four decades is a significant variable.
Meanwhile, Reza Pahlavi — the son of the last Shah, and Iran’s most prominent opposition figure in exile — released a video message Wednesday morning calling on Iranians to stay home, stock supplies, and await his “final call.” “We have now reached a very sensitive stage of the final struggle,” he said. He called for continued nightly rooftop chants as a sign of unity and appealed directly to Iranian police and military to “join the people” (Newsweek, multiple sources — March 11, 2026).
🌍 TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: The international press has covered the question of who is actually governing Iran — and whether anyone is — since Day 3. A wounded, invisible supreme leader during active war is the kind of leadership vacuum that can produce both capitulation and escalation unpredictably. The rest of the world is watching this closely.
🇺🇸 WHAT AMERICAN READERS NEED TO KNOW: Iran still has nuclear material, still has missiles, and still has a chain of command — but the man now nominally at the top of that chain has not been seen in twelve days. If the goal is regime change, no one has explained what comes next. If the goal is something else, no one has explained that either.
STORY 4: WHILE THE CAMERAS POINT AT TEHRAN
Six Palestinians were killed in the West Bank last week. Almost no one covered it.
Under the cover of the Iran war, settler violence in the occupied West Bank has surged to levels that Palestinian human rights organizations are calling among the worst since October 2023.
Six Palestinians were killed by Israeli settlers last week alone. Three of them — Thair Farouk Hamayel, 24; Fara Jawdat Hamayel, 57; and Mohammad Hasan Murara, 55 — were shot in the head in the village of Abu Falah on Sunday. Seven others were wounded, four with bullet wounds. The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed the deaths (The National, The Intercept — March 10-11, 2026).
Palestinian-Israeli politician Ayman Odeh described the situation directly: “In the shadow of Netanyahu’s war of survival [with Iran], gangs of settlers move from village to village, sometimes alongside the army, and murder Palestinians simply because they are Palestinians. All of this is happening under the auspices of the army and with the encouragement of the government. This is an official and deliberate policy, whose goal is ethnic cleansing in the West Bank.” (The National — March 11, 2026)
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir simultaneously issued an order making 300,000 Jewish-Israeli Jerusalem residents eligible for gun licenses — nearly the entire Jewish population of the city, regardless of military service. Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, numbering roughly 350,000 people — 38% of the city — are not eligible (The National — March 11, 2026).
Diab, a Palestinian farmer in the northern Jordan Valley, told The National: “Settlers are using the fact that there are fewer eyes on what they are doing to carry out whatever they want.”
Messages circulating in Israeli settler WhatsApp groups called for violence against Palestinians to “match” the airstrikes on Iran. One graphic read: “It is time to launch a preemptive attack in all arenas, until the enemy is expelled from the country.” (The Intercept — March 10, 2026)
Le Monde correspondent reporting from the West Bank described the situation as a systematic escalation deliberately timed to the war (Le Monde — March 10, 2026).
🌍 TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: The international press — Le Monde, The National (UAE), Al Jazeera, The Intercept — has reporters on the ground in the West Bank right now. The story is not difficult to find. It has simply not been considered a lead story in American media while Tehran is burning.
🇺🇸 WHAT AMERICAN READERS NEED TO KNOW: Three people were shot in the head in a Palestinian village on Sunday. The US provides military and political cover for the government whose minister is arming the population around them. This is happening now, in the same war, funded in part by American taxpayers — and it is not on the front page.
WATCH LIST FOR THIS EVENING
UN Security Council vote — GCC-sponsored resolution demanding Iran stop attacking Arab neighbors; vote expected today; Russia/China veto likely (Al Jazeera)
IEA strategic reserve release — 100M+ barrel recommendation; G7 decision expected; no confirmation yet (Reuters/Times of Israel)
Reza Pahlavi “final call” — exile opposition leader signaling imminent action; watch for follow-up from inside Iran
Mojtaba Khamenei — no public appearance since Day 1; injury now confirmed by NYT and Israeli intelligence; watch for any footage
82nd Airborne — headquarters element still on standby at Fort Liberty; no deployment orders issued; Pentagon declining comment
Iran sleeper cells — US intelligence warning of possible “operational trigger” signal; Trump confirmed Monday US forces are tracking this
THE REST OF THE WORLD REPORT publishes twice daily — morning and evening — for the duration of the conflict. Every source is labeled by country and funding. Translator’s notes explain what the international framing means for American readers. No advertising. No agenda. Just what the rest of the world already knows.
THE REST OF THE WORLD REPORT
Day 12 Morning — Source Cheatsheet with Links
NUMBERS BLOCK
Iran killed 1,300+ / 10,000 civilian sites / 65 schools (Iran UN Ambassador Iravani, March 11):
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/11/iran-war-what-is-happening-on-day-12-of-us-israel-attacks
Internet blackout 264+ hours / below 1% connectivity (NetBlocks, March 11):
https://abcnews.com/International/live-updates/iran-live-updates/?id=130893022
Lebanon 570+ killed / 780,000+ displaced (Lebanese Social Affairs Minister):
https://www.newsweek.com/iran-war-latest-live-updates-cargo-ships-struck-strait-hormuz-minelayer-destroyed-donald-trump-11656673
US KIA 8 / wounded 140 (Pentagon):
https://www.npr.org/2026/03/10/nx-s1-5742828/iran-war-us-trump
17 UKMTO incident reports since Feb 28 / 13 attacks / 14+ ships hit (Reuters, March 11):
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-03-11/cargo-ship-hit-by-projectile-in-strait-of-hormuz-crew-evacuates
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STORY 1: THE STRAIT IS A WAR ZONE
Mayuree Naree struck twice / engine room fire / 20 rescued / 3 missing (Bloomberg, March 11):
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-11/thai-cargo-ship-hit-near-strait-of-hormuz-20-crewmen-rescued
Mayuree Naree — Royal Thai Navy statement / Omani navy rescue at Khasab (Khaosod English, March 11):
https://www.khaosodenglish.com/featured/2026/03/11/thai-flagged-cargo-ship-attacked-after-passing-the-strait-of-hormuz/
One Majesty + Star Gwyneth + Mayuree Naree — all three vessels / UKMTO (Reuters via US News, March 11):
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-03-11/cargo-ship-hit-by-projectile-in-strait-of-hormuz-crew-evacuates
Three vessels / The National — vessel details and map (March 11):
https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2026/03/11/three-vessels-struck-by-unknown-projectiles-in-strait-of-hormuz/
CNBC — 17 UKMTO reports / “Iran still presents a very real threat to shipping” (Verisk Maplecroft analyst):
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/11/cargo-ship-struck-strait-of-hormuz-uk-iran-war.html
Aramco CEO Amin Nasser — “catastrophic consequences” / “biggest crisis ever” (Reuters via Yahoo Finance):
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/aramco-sees-catastrophic-consequences-oil-073639590.html
Aramco CEO — full earnings call detail / East-West pipeline / 5-year low inventories / domino effects (The National):
https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/energy/2026/03/10/aramco-chief-warns-of-catastrophic-hit-to-oil-market-if-strait-of-hormuz-stays-closed/
Aramco CEO — Reuters wire / “not exporting oil from the Gulf” / Yanbu reroute (RTE):
https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2026/0310/1562530-aramco-posts-drop-in-annual-profit-announces-buyback/
IEA recommending 100M+ barrel reserve release (Reuters / Times of Israel, March 11):
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-march-11-2026/
IRGC: “will not allow one liter of oil” (Reuters):
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/aramco-ceo-warns-catastrophic-consequences-oil-hormuz-remains-blocked-2026-03-10/
Sen. Chris Murphy classified briefing thread — no nuclear goal / no regime change / no Hormuz plan / “endless war”:
https://www.threads.net/@senchrismurphy
Murphy: “They had NO PLAN” / “100% foreseeable” (Threads, March 10, 2026 — screenshot on file)
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STORY 2: THE GAP
Trump “pretty much over” / “little excursion” / “ultimate victory” — contradictions in one day (NPR, March 10):
https://www.npr.org/2026/03/10/nx-s1-5742828/iran-war-us-trump
Trump “death, fire and fury” on Hormuz (NBC News, March 11):
https://www.nbcnews.com/world/iran/live-blog/live-updates-iran-war-oil-prices-trump-hormuz-israel-rcna262670
IRGC: “Iran will determine when the war ends” (NPR):
https://www.npr.org/2026/03/10/nx-s1-5742828/iran-war-us-trump
Araghchi / PBS NewsHour — “very bitter experience of talking with Americans” / no negotiations:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/iran-wars-targets-widen-dangerously-into-civilian-infrastructure-and-saudi-arabia-reports-first-deaths
IRGC “most intense and heaviest operation” — 3 hours / Khorramshahr missiles / Kuwait, Bahrain, Erbil, Israel (Al Jazeera, March 11):
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/11/iran-fires-missiles-drones-at-gulf-nations-as-ship-hit-in-strait-of-hormuz
Hegseth “most intense day” / Bessent “biggest bombing campaign” (NPR / Daily Signal):
https://www.npr.org/2026/03/10/nx-s1-5742828/iran-war-us-trump
Merz: “An endless war is not in our interest” (Daily Star / wire):
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/world/middle-east/news/iran-war-tehrans-mehrabad-airport-hit-strikes-4122681
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STORY 3: THE SUPREME LEADER NO ONE HAS SEEN
Mojtaba Khamenei wounded in legs on Day 1 — NYT (Times of Israel, March 11):
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-march-11-2026/
Israeli intelligence corroborates injury / Iranian president’s son: “safe and sound” (Times of Israel, Reuters):
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-march-11-2026/
Reza Pahlavi “final call” / “very sensitive stage” / rooftop chants / appeal to military (Newsweek, March 11):
https://www.newsweek.com/iran-war-latest-live-updates-cargo-ships-struck-strait-hormuz-minelayer-destroyed-donald-trump-11656673
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STORY 4: WEST BANK UNDER COVER OF WAR
The National — six killed last week / Abu Falah three shot in head / Ben-Gvir gun licenses (March 11):
https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2026/03/10/israels-far-right-rises-in-jerusalem-and-west-bank-under-cover-of-iran-war/
The Intercept — settler WhatsApp groups / “preemptive attack in all arenas” / West Bank lockdown (March 10):
https://theintercept.com/2026/03/10/israel-iran-war-west-bank-lockdown/
Le Monde — systematic escalation timed to the war (March 10):
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2026/03/10/jewish-settlers-escalate-west-bank-terrorist-attacks-under-the-guise-of-war-with-iran_6751307_4.html
Al Jazeera — on-the-ground settler violence / “terror on the ground” (March 5):
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2026/3/5/under-cover-of-iran-war-israeli-settlers-terrorise-palestinian-communities
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WATCH LIST SOURCES
UN Security Council GCC resolution vote (Al Jazeera, March 11):
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/11/iran-fires-missiles-drones-at-gulf-nations-as-ship-hit-in-strait-of-hormuz
82nd Airborne canceled exercise / “preparing for something” (Washington Post / Army Recognition, March 6-9):
https://www.armyrecognition.com/news/army-news/2026/u-s-halts-82nd-airborne-paratrooper-drill-to-keep-rapid-deployment-force-ready-amid-iran-tensions
Iran sleeper cell “operational trigger” signal / US intelligence warning (NewsNation, March 11):
https://www.newsnationnow.com/world/live-updates-iran-war-us-israel-strait-of-hormuz-strikes/
Iran military: banks and financial institutions now targets / 1km warning to public (Asharq Al-Awsat, March 11):
https://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5249910-three-vessels-hit-projectiles-strait-hormuz
Erdogan: “war must be stopped before it engulfs the entire region in flames” (Reuters via Asharq Al-Awsat, March 11):
https://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5249910-three-vessels-hit-projectiles-strait-hormuz
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