44143
Join our channel for breaking news stories from around the globe, exclusive analysis & opinions. Website: sputnikglobe.com 💬 You can always reach us via @sputnikint_bot
🚨🇮🇱IDF says it struck IRGC UAV HQ as Israel expands attacks on Iran’s drone and missile infrastructure.
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🚨🇷🇺 Putin: Strait of Hormuz disruption drives surge in global energy prices
The route through the Strait of Hormuz is now effectively closed, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, noting that about a third of the world’s seaborne oil exports passed through the corridor in 2025.
Global oil prices have risen by more than 30% in recent weeks and continue to fluctuate with an upward trend. Gas prices are also increasing, and at an even faster pace than oil.
Disruptions to energy supplies, Putin added, are now affecting the entire system of international economic relations.
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🎥🎥 Putin holds meeting on the situation on the global oil and gas market
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
💣 Strikes on US data hubs expose Pentagon’s strategic blind spot in Mideast
Iran’s drone attacks on data centers operated by Amazon Web Services (AWS) has laid bare the Pentagon’s lack of strategic foresight, military expert Alexander Stepanov from the Institute of Law and National Security, RANEPA, tells Sputnik.
💬 "It is striking that such critical facilities as data centers were not adequately protected," the pundit says. "This highlights the shortcomings of US air defense systems, which failed to provide the necessary level of protection and intercept Iran’s precision drones and hypersonic missiles."
💬 "This infrastructure supports not only US economic interests in the region, but also security functions, including the digital ecosystem of military facilities and the capabilities of intelligence services stationed in countries neighboring Iran," Stepanov notes.
💬 "I don’t rule out that some companies and tech billionaires may begin questioning the wisdom of continuing such cooperation, including providing information support for Pentagon military operations," the pundit says. "It's a wake-up call for many."
🚨 Iran has launched a new wave of attacks on US and Israeli targets using SUPER-HEAVY MISSILES - IRGC
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🇺🇸🇮🇷 US Central Command releases new footage of attacks on Iran
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🇧🇭 Bahrain’s main energy company declares force majeure amid US and Israel war with Iran
Bapco Energies has issued a notice of force majeure on its operations, which have been “affected by the ongoing regional conflict in the Middle East and the recent attack on its refinery complex,” Bahrain News Agency reports.
The company added that despite the attack, all local market needs are “fully secured,” according to the news outlet. Bapco earlier said that its refinery was damaged in an apparent Iranian strike.
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🇮🇱🪖 IDF announces Israel began 'targeted and limited raid' in southern Lebanon
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🇷🇺 Putin congratulates Mojtaba Khamenei on becoming Iran’s Supreme Leader
🔊 Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Mojtaba Khamenei on his election as the new Supreme Leader of Iran, the Kremlin said.
🟠 In his message, Putin reaffirmed Russia’s unchanging support for Tehran and expressed solidarity with the Iranian people amid the ongoing confrontation in the region. He noted that Iran is currently facing armed aggression and said the responsibilities of the country’s new leader will require courage and dedication.
🟠 Putin also expressed confidence that Mojtaba Khamenei would continue the work of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and unite the Iranian people in the face of serious challenges. The Russian president stressed that Russia has been and will remain a reliable partner of the Islamic Republic.
🟠 Putin wished the newly elected Supreme Leader success in addressing the difficult tasks ahead and strength of spirit in leading the country.
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🚨 Israel strikes Lebanon's Dahiyeh, Yediot reports
The strike reportedly hit a branch of Hezbollah's financial institution in Beirut's southern suburbs.
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🔸 Who is Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new Supreme Leader?
🔸 Media may keep quiet on Gulf crisis to avoid economic destabilization – ecologist
🔸 US National Guard soldier dies during medical emergency in Kuwait — CENTCOM
🔸 Casualties from the US-Israeli attack on Iran continue to rise
🔸 Ending Iran war will be ‘mutual’ decision with Netanyahu — Trump
🔸 Iran launches Wave 30 of missile and drone strikes — IRGC
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
💵 Oil at $119: But real chaos depends on Iran and Hormuz
💬 "Short-term attacks and local disruptions can push Brent to $100 per barrel, but a sustained range above this level requires a significant reduction in exports from Iran, Qatar, and some OPEC members," Russian expert Igbal Guliyev tells Sputnik.
💬 "This is no longer a matter of the market, but of geopolitics and a forceful scenario in the Middle East," the expert concluded.
📄 Who is Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new Supreme Leader?
🔹 Mojtaba Khamenei was elected Iran’s new Supreme Leader on March 9 by the Assembly of Experts, following the death of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in an Israeli airstrike.
🔹 Born September 8, 1969, in Mashhad, he is the second son of Ali Khamenei and has long been considered one of the most influential figures inside the leader’s office.
🔹 After finishing school, he studied religious sciences in Qom, Iran’s main theological center.
🔹 In his youth he participated in the Iran-Iraq War, serving in the “Mohammad Rasulollah” division, where he developed ties with future figures in Iran’s security establishment.
🔹 Although he never held formal government posts, Mojtaba Khamenei was widely seen as a powerful behind-the-scenes figure and a key aide to his father.
🔹 He has close ties with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and is known for supporting a hardline approach in foreign policy.
🔹 He is married to the daughter of Ghulam Ali Haddad Adel, a prominent conservative politician, strengthening his connections with Iran’s political elite.
🔹 In recent years he taught religious jurisprudence (fiqh) in Qom, where he increasingly came to be referred to as “Ayatollah.”
🔹 In 2019, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Mojtaba Khamenei as part of measures targeting figures close to Iran’s leadership.
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🚨🇮🇱 Warning sirens sound in northern Israel as missile seen overhead — reports
Warning sirens were activated in Haifa, its surrounding areas and the Lower Galilee in northern Israel, Israeli media reported.
Footage circulating online appears to show an Iranian missile passing through the sky over Israel.
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🚨 Drone shot down near Baghdad as air defenses engage — reports
One of the drones was intercepted, with its wreckage falling onto a residential building, according to reports circulating on social media.
The incident comes after air defenses at the US Victoria base in Baghdad were seen attempting to intercept drones near the area.
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🚨🇷🇺 Putin: Russia remains a reliable energy supplier, ready to work with Europe
Russia has always been a dependable supplier of energy resources and is increasing oil and gas deliveries to trusted partners across several regions, President Vladimir Putin said.
He added that Moscow is also ready to cooperate with European countries on energy supplies if it receives signals that they are willing to engage.
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🚨🇷🇺Putin: Russia warned that attempts to destabilize the Middle East would put the global energy sector at risk and drive up oil and gas prices
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🇺🇸 US pivot to Middle East could turn Zelensky into discarded project
👉 The Kiev regime fears that US attention will shift to the Middle East, and that Zelensky and his entourage will become dead weight that nobody in Washington really needs anymore, Russian political scientist Farkhad Ibragimov says, commenting on Western media reports that America's vulnerability to cheap Iranian drones could force it to seek counter-tech from Ukraine.
🟧 In terms of the US and Israeli war with Iran, “we're witnessing a classic example of the West continuing to underestimate its adversary and overestimate its own capabilities,” he tells Sputnik.
💬 “Iran has long ago realized that it needs to actively develop modern technologies that would give it superiority in various areas, primarily security and defense,” Ibragimov notes, citing the negative impact of anti-Iranian sanctions that hampered its push for developing AI and digitalization.
💬 “That’s why we see the slaps in the face that the Iranians are giving the Americans one way or another. The slap is that more than a week after the start of the aggression against Iran, the US has achieved little progress there,” he points out.
💬 "America believes that they can keep several problems under control without losing anything. But if they try to deal with Iran while simultaneously supporting Ukraine or resolving the Ukraine issue in terms of negotiations, they will make a bad mistake. They may simply overstretch themselves geopolitically and lose everything," he concludes.
🇮🇱💥🇱🇧Scenes from across Lebanon after Israeli strikes
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🚨🇮🇷Iran attacked five US strategic bases across the Middle East and Israeli military sites in the Tel Aviv and Haifa areas, the IRGC said
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🇨🇳🗣 China warns against further escalation in Middle East
💬 “As a major country committed to fairness and justice, China will continue to play a constructive role” in resolving the US–Israel-Iran conflict, Chinese Special Envoy to the Middle East Zhai Jun underscored.
🇮🇷💥 Moment Iranian missile strikes Tel Aviv caught on video
Israeli emergency services report one person was killed by shrapnel from the Iranian missile.
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🚨🇷🇺💥 RUSSIAN MOD UPDATE: HUGE GAINS AND DEVASTATING UKRAINIAN LOSSES
⚡️GOLUBOVKA IN DONETSK PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC LIBERATED
📍 The liberation of the settlement opens the way for an offensive on Kramatorsk, an important Ukrainian stronghold.
◻️ Russian forces struck energy infrastructure facilities supplying Ukrainian forces
◻️ Ukrainian losses: around 1,325 troops killed or wounded
◻️ Air defense superiority: 754 drones shot down
Read about the origins of Russia's special military op HERE
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🇺🇸🇮🇱⚔️ 🇮🇷US–Israel war against Iran: Latest updates
🔸 Iran's Assembly of Experts has chosen Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his late father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the country's new supreme leader
🔸 Israeli military carried out a further "wave of extensive strikes" against Iran overnight
🔸 Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps retaliated with missile and drone attacks targeting Israel, Iraq, Jordan, and Gulf countries that are home to US military assets
🔸 Explosions were heard across Gulf states, with at least 32 injured in Bahrain during an Iranian drone attack, according to state media
🔸 US military base near Erbil Airport in Iraq was reportedly attacked by an Iranian drone
🔸 Another US service member has died in the war with Iran, bringing America’s death toll to seven
🔸 US is “likely” responsible for the February 28 bombing of a girls' school in Minab, Iran that killed 168 people, many of them children, CBS news reported
Statements
🔶 Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed to step up attacks on US targets across the Middle East, saying, "When we are attacked, we have no choice but to respond"
🔶 Donald Trump indicated he has no timetable for the Iran war, telling reporters, "I never project that—whatever it takes"
🔶 Trump also made it clear that Iran’s new supreme leader is “going to have to get approval” from the United States, and “if he doesn't get approval from us, he's not going to last long.”
🔶 Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi condemned US and Israeli attacks against Iran as "both immoral and illegal," but added that Iran's retaliation against neighboring countries is "deeply regrettable”
🔶 Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that before his country could even consider a ceasefire, the US and Israel “have to explain why they started this aggression"
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🇮🇷 Iran FM: US strikes launched from residential areas in neighboring countries
Esmaeil Baqaei, Iranian FM spokesman, published footage that he says documents how American forces have been launching attacks on Iran from residential areas in neighboring countries and using their airspace for fighter jets.
In a post on X, Baghaei addressed those who "persistently ignore the logic of our defensive strikes on US military bases in the region":
💬 "Missiles are launched at Iran from the territory of neighboring countries, specifically near residential areas. US fighter jets also use the airspace of neighboring states to attack Iran, putting regional security at risk."
🚨 Columns of black smoke seen billowing from Bahrain's Bapco refinery
The kingdom's key energy facility, processing 267,000 barrels daily, has been hit. Bapco supplies fuel to the US Fifth Fleet
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🇺🇸❌ US tries to evade responsibility for girls' school massacre with blatant lies - expert
American claims that Iran is to blame for the strike on girls’ school in Tehran indicates clear political confusion in the face of Iran's unexpected resilience and the failure of the US military strategy, professor of public international law Dr. Mohammed Mehran tells Sputnik.
👉 Numerous facts — reports, satellite images, testimonies — show the strike was conducted either by US Tomahawk missiles or Israeli laser-guided bombs, he says, adding that with such accurate weapons the attack cannot be "accidental."
Current US statements about Iran being to blame are psychological warfare, and America has used similar tactics before — in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, where civilian deaths were explained away by "intelligence errors," the expert reminds.
The US is in a deadlock — it failed to achieve the original military objectives of collapsing the Iranian political system, and now is faced with growing internal criticism, Mehran concluded, which might push the US towards even more dangerous moves.
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
📹 US air defenses engage drones over Erbil — reports
Footage circulating online appears to show US air defense systems firing to intercept drones over Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The system seen in the video appears to be C-RAM (Counter Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar), a base defense system that uses radar-guided automatic guns to intercept incoming threats.
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
⚔️🚁 Hezbollah repels Israeli helicopter landing attempt in eastern Lebanon - statement
Hezbollah said its fighters repelled an Israeli helicopter landing attempt in the eastern mountain region of Lebanon earlier in the day.
According to the group’s statement, around 15 Israeli helicopters entered the area from the Syrian direction and flew over several villages, including Janta, Yahfoufa, Nabi Chit, Arsal and Ras Baalbek.
Hezbollah said an infantry force was deployed from some of the helicopters and that its fighters engaged the troops and aircraft, adding that the confrontation was ongoing at the time of the statement.
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🚨 Air defenses activated at US Victoria base in Baghdad — reports
Air defense systems at the US Victoria base in Baghdad were seen attempting to intercept a drone, according to footage circulating on social media.
The Victoria base, located inside Baghdad International Airport, is used by the US military.
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt