🇮🇷🇺🇸🇮🇱🔥 Iran, US and Israel trade blows as war escalates

Latest updates from the region:

🔸 The death toll from the Israeli bombing of a school in Minab, Iran, has risen to 153. Iran accuses the US and Israel of hitting the girls’ primary school in Hormozgan province and the Foreign Ministry says the number of dead could reach 160.

🔸 The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claims it fired four ballistic missiles at the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) denies the carrier was hit.

🔸 CENTCOM confirms three US service members killed and five others seriously wounded.

🔸 The Emirati Defense Ministry says two Iranian drones targeted the Al-Salam military base in Abu Dhabi, adding that it reserves the right to respond.

🔸 Kuwaiti air defenses reportedly have intercepted 97 missiles and 283 drones. Separate reports say a French military base in Kuwait was struck by an Iranian Shahed drone.

🔸 Tankers have reportedly been hit in the Strait of Hormuz, with maritime traffic largely halted. The US claims it has sunk the Iranian frigate Jamaran.

🔸 The Israeli Defense Forces say Israel and the US struck targets in Tehran, including an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base and a military hospital.

🔸 The Russian Foreign Ministry calls for urgent de-escalation and condemns what it calls “political assassinations.”

🔸 US Senator Tom Cotton says the US has no plans for a large-scale ground operation but is weighing limited actions, including pilot rescue missions.

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🇮🇳 Mass protests erupt in India’s Jammu and Kashmir following the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei

A Sputnik correspondent reports from Srinagar

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📈 Forget crude: natural gas prices are about to go through the roof if Hormuz isn’t reopened soon

💬 “Gas prices may rise, because approximately 20% of the world’s LNG transits through the Strait of Hormuz, including all of Qatar’s production,” Igor Yushkov, a top Russian energy expert, told Sputnik, commenting on the Persian Gulf crisis.

🗣 “Qatar is one of the largest producers of LNG in the world, second only to Australia and the US. If there’s a shortage of LNG on the global market…the exchange price could easily exceed $1k or even 1.5k. We’ve seen similar prices in Europe even without such a shortage. So the price could skyrocket.”

📍 According to Yushkov, “everything will depend on how long the tension in the Strait of Hormuz lasts,” including not only Iran’s readiness to reopen it, but gas producers’ willingness to resume transit.

👉 “In any case, we will see higher shipping costs, higher insurance costs for ships,” with the situation “further exacerbated” by the fact that the Northern Hemisphere is still in the heating season, with Europe’s underground gas storage facilities being gradually depleted.

💬 “Even though Qatar gas physically goes primarily to Asian markets, the exchange price will rise everywhere,” same as oil, Yushkov clarified. Qatar itself also has no alternative to Hormuz. “Therefore, if it is unable to export LNG, Qatar will simply have to stop production.”

📨🇨🇳 Message to China

🗣 The present crisis is also “a major wake-up call for China,” Yushkov says.

🟠 “China is being shown that anything coming from the south is unsafe. Passage through the Strait of Hormuz may be interrupted today as part of the current conflict, but tomorrow the Americans could close it off to Qatari LNG supplies to the Chinese market.”

🟠 “Or they could close the Strait of Malacca, through which all the hydrocarbons going to China from Africa and the entire Middle East flow. Therefore, this is a signal to China that anything coming from the north is much safer, and much more difficult to shut down,” the observer summed up.

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🚨Ahmadinejad's spokesman denies death reports

Press secretary for former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a comment to Sputnik, refuted reports of his death:

"News that the respected Ahmadinejad has been killed are false. He is healthy and safe."

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🇺🇸⚔️ Trump seems to prefer launching his military campaigns on weekends

🔶 On February 28 — a Saturday — the US struck Iran, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

🔶 On January 3 2026, also on a Saturday, US forces kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

🔶 In October 2019, overnight from Saturday to Sunday, US special forces killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria.

🔶 On April 13 and 14 2018, Friday night into Saturday, the US, UK and France launched joint strikes on Syrian targets.

🔶 In January 2020, the US drone attack that killed Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps General Qasem Soleimani took place late on a Thursday — not the weekend, but timed as markets were closing.

📍 One viral theory suggests Trump deliberately attacks when oil markets are closed, letting traders’ nerves cool off before trading resumes.

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🚨 New footage shows Israeli strikes on Tehran

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🇺🇸Trump says the US has destroyed and sunk nine Iranian naval ships and largely destroyed Iran’s naval HQ, vowing to target the remaining vessels

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🇮🇶 Protests resume in Baghdad’s Green Zone amid Iran escalation

🛰 A Sputnik correspondent in Iraq reports that protests have resumed at the gates of the suspension bridge leading into Baghdad’s Green Zone.

The demonstrations come as supporters of Iran protest against the US-Israeli attack on the country.

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🇮🇷💥 IRGC strike in UAE allegedly hit CIA officers’ residence - report

🔸 A missile strike by the IRGC in the UAE targeted a residence housing CIA officers, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reports, citing defense sources.

🔸 As a result, six senior officers were reportedly killed and two were wounded.

🔸 Earlier reports had claimed that a CIA facility in the United Arab Emirates was hit in the attack.

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