🚨🇮🇷IRGC launches 26th wave of True Promise 4 operation, uses drones and new missiles to strike targets, claims all hits successful as enemy radar systems destroyed - Tasnim

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🇮🇷❌ IAEA never had reasons to forgo talks with Iran — Russian MFA Spox

💬 "Throughout all these years, there has not been a single instance where the IAEA stated that there is a reason to confirm a claim or accusation against Iran," Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Zakharova said.

While the issue was "handled politically" and there were public and behind-the-scenes intrigues, not a single report, speech or fact-based document from the agency contained any accusations against Iran, she added.

The IAEA never stated Iran had a nuclear bomb, only noting the fact of uranium enrichment, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on March 5. The Iranians started boosting the enrichment process only after the US withdrew from the agreements on Iran’s nuclear program, he added.

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🚨🇮🇷IRGC says it targeted US forces at Bahrain’s Jufair base in retaliation for a US strike on a desalination plant on Iran’s Qeshm Island - state media

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🇮🇷Meeting to select the country’s next Supreme Leader will take place within the next 24 hours, Iran’s Assembly of Experts member Ayatollah Mozaffari says

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🇷🇺Damage from Kiev regime crimes in Donbass reaches $6.3B

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Investigative Committee Chairman Alexander Bastrykin on Saturday, who reported that the damage caused by crimes of the Kiev regime in Donbass has been estimated at 580 billion rubles (about $6.3 billion) following extensive forensic assessment.

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📹Thousands rally in London against US and Israeli strikes on Iran, chanting 'Hands off Iran!' and holding signs reading 'Stop bombing Iran' and '168 little schoolgirls killed by USA and Israel'

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🇮🇷Peace in the Middle East will remain impossible as long as US military bases exist in the region, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X.

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🗣 Iranian crisis becomes embarrassment for US military that can’t protect anyone – MidEast analyst

🔊 Prior to the arrival of the United States, the Persian Gulf was essentially the domain of the British Empire which ended up handing over its holdings to the US to ensure that the latter would be at the forefront of any major war in the region, Middle East affairs analyst Mais Kurbanov tells Sputnik.

👉Currently, the US controls a network of military installations that don’t just serve as military garrisons – these are all elements of a system of control of the Gulf ‘gas station,” Kurbanov remarks.

🇮🇱 This defensive network was never meant to protect the Arab states of the Gulf – it’s real purpose was to protect Israel.

💬“This entire shield was created to keep Israel safe and to intercept missiles. They were more or less able to intercept them during the previous conflicts, before Iran started targeting their radars. And now they got nothing to intercept because Iran destroys the early warning system itself,” notes Kurbanov.

📍 The US is unwilling and unable to defend the Gulf states – it only cares about its own interests. And all of the Gulf states besides Iran are now vulnerable because they don’t have any air defense systems, he adds. The US focuses on protecting only its own assets in the region.

💬“The US has embarrassed itself in front of the entire world. Everybody now knows that the Americans are no protectors,” says Kurbanov. “They used to mock Russia when Ukraine scored some hits, acting as if they are invincible. Now Iran keeps pummeling them, and US ships have to flee two thousand kilometers into the ocean to escape Iranian missiles.”

🗣“It means the US has no meaningful air defense. Neither Israel’s Iron Dome nor the US’ vaunted Patriots can do anything. Consider this: such weapon system costs a billion dollars and an Iranian Shaheed, this dirt-cheap drone worth twenty thousand, just takes it out.”

🔊“All of the weapons the US peddled across the world – stealth aircraft, MQ-9 Reaper drones they were so proud of – turned out to be useless,” he points out.

Meanwhile, Iran keeps demonstrating the kind of new missiles that maybe two other leading world powers beside them possess.

💬“The US should just leave. There will be no negotiations with them and they know it,” argues Kurbanov.

Though the US does possess an extensive global network of military installations – several hundred facilities in dozens of different countries – even it cannot ensure an immediate stabilization of the situation. He points out that Russia and China haven’t yet become actively involved in the current crisis, and that without their involvement the US would be hard-pressed to deal with global issues.

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🔥 Day 8 in the Middle East escalation: Explosions shake Tehran as the US and Israel continue strikes, while Iran retaliates against American bases — our correspondent reports from the ground

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🇺🇸🛢 US official admits Washington wants Iran's oil

💬 "This is a long-term game because what we want to do is get such massive oil reserves in Iran," Executive Director of the White House's National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC) Jarrod Agen told Fox News.

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🚨 Hezbollah launches rocket barrage toward northern Israel — reports

Footage circulating online shows Hezbollah firing rockets from southern Lebanon toward Israel, according to reports.

Israeli media say around 40 rockets were launched in the latest barrage, with Haifa reportedly among the targets.

Hezbollah also said it had launched rockets and drones at several Israeli targets, including the Haifa oil refinery, military sites, and defense industry facilities.

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🚨 US-Israel strikes on Iran leave hundreds dead

Explore Sputnik’s infographic for a breakdown of the key developments as of March 7 ☝️

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