Show notes
For review:
1.Two oil tankers were struck in the Gulf, killing one person, as Iran continued its attacks on targets across the region and the IDF reported hitting a “critical” nuclear site near Tehran, amid ongoing US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic.
2. Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has yet to appear in public, ostensibly vowed on Thursday to avenge the deaths since the start of the war with the US and Israel, in a statement read out by a presenter on state TV.
3. UN Security Council on Wednesday adopted a Bahrain-led resolution condemning Iranian attacks on several regional states, while a separate draft resolution introduced by Russia on the wider crisis failed to pass.
4. Spain permanently withdrew its ambassador to Israel on Wednesday as a diplomatic standoff worsened between the two countries over Spain’s opposition to Israeli policies.
Israel’s embassy in Spain is also run by a charge d’affaires after Israel in May 2024 recalled its ambassador, Rodica Radian-Gordon, in protest of Spain's decision to recognize a Palestinian state.
5. Israel and the US appeared Wednesday to be increasingly at odds over the time frame for the war with Iran, with US President Donald Trump saying the conflict would end “soon” as there was “practically nothing left to target” and Israel’s defense minister meanwhile insisting there was no time limit to the US-Israeli operation against Iran.
6. There is no guarantee that the Iranian people will rise up after Israel “creates the conditions” for them to topple the regime in Tehran, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“You can lead someone to water, you cannot make him drink,” says PM Netanyahu. “We will create optimal conditions to do this, including airstrikes as we did yesterday, as we are doing these days, to try to give them the space needed to take to the streets.”
7. The IDF said it continued to strike key strategic targets across Iran, while the US military said it had struck around 6,000 targets since the start of the war. Among the targets hit by US forces were more than 90 Iranian vessels — around 60 ships and 30 minelayers — according to US Central Command,
Targets struck by Israel included members of Iran’s Basij paramilitary force as well as its drone operations and capabilities.
8. At least 25 Iranian attacks have targeted US sites or locations housing American military personnel in the Middle East since the start of the war, according to an AFP analysis.
Of Iran’s attacks, recorded between February 28 and March 11 at 5 p.m. in Israel, four targeted US embassies or consulates in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq.
The other 21 Iranian missiles or drone attacks targeted 13 different military sites housing American personnel.
9. The US Central Command on Thursday said a KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq in an apparent accident involving another tanker.
“The incident occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury, and rescue efforts are ongoing. Two aircraft were involved in the incident. One of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
10. Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday he has warned Lebanon that if it does not stop the Hezbollah terror group’s continuing rocket and drone attacks, Israel will “take the territory and do it ourselves.”
On Wednesday, Hezbollah launched some 200 rockets and around 20 drones at Israel over a period of several hours. The vast majority of the rockets were intercepted or struck open areas.
11. The International Energy Agency agreed Wednesday to release the largest volume of emergency oil reserves in its history, in a bid to counter the effects on energy markets of the war in the Middle East.
The Paris-based organization said it will make 400 million barrels of oil available from its members’ emergency reserves
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
Stay Connected
