Energy Secretary Chris Wright made the rounds on network TV Sunday to reassure viewers that the sharp rise in oil and gas prices due to the Iran war – which Trump has no problem sticking US consumers with for a while – would prove short-lived, and has downplayed the spike as a transient “fear premium” vs. a fundamental supply issue.

In conversations to CBS, CNN, and Fox News, wright emphasized that global energy markets remain well-supplied despite disruptions to tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz – the narrow waterway that carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s seaborne crude.

“This is a disruption on the way to a much better place to end a 47-year war against America,” he told Fox.

“The world is not short of oil today or natural gas,” Wright told CBS’ “Face the Nation,” adding “You’re seeing a little bit of fear premium in the marketplace.”

Energy Secretary Chris Wright says that the war with Iran, which is pushing up oil and gasoline prices, will last for “weeks, not months,” even in a worst case.

On gas prices, he says that “they shouldn’t go much higher than they are here because the world is very well supplied… pic.twitter.com/HYOZqeHon3

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) March 8, 2026

Wright also projected that gasoline prices could fall below $3 per gallon “relatively soon,” and that any worst-case disruption would only last “weeks, not months” – a line he gave to both CBS and CNN. 

The comments come as Brent crude futures have risen sharply in recent days, pushing U.S. pump prices higher and raising concerns about inflationary pressures ahead of midterm elections. The administration has framed the military operation – dubbed by some officials as aimed at neutralizing long-term threats from Tehran – as ultimately beneficial for global energy stability.

Wright also highlighted early signs of progress in restoring flows through the Strait of Hormuz. “A large tanker went through the Strait of Hormuz 24 hours ago,” he said, adding that U.S. and allied efforts are “massively attriting” Iran’s ability to launch missiles and drones.

He indicated that naval escorts could be provided for initial tankers to ensure safe passage, with normal commercial traffic expected to resume “relatively soon.”

Energy Secretary Chris Wright says the Strait of Hormuz will see normal traffic levels again “relatively soon,” but naval escorts might be necessary.

“We’re in engagement right now with people that want to get tankers moving out of the Gulf,” he says. “So, yes, there could be —… pic.twitter.com/nrf6PH43Vy

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) March 8, 2026

He repeated the “one large tanker has already gone through” talking point to Fox. 

To address immediate supply pressures, Wright disclosed diplomatic efforts to reroute stranded cargoes. He said the U.S. had coordinated with India to divert Russian oil tankers originally bound for China, describing the move as pragmatic and temporary. “A lot of Russian oil hanging out on Asian waters,” he noted, adding that India – already increasing imports from the U.S. and Venezuela – had proven “a great partner.” Wright stressed no change in U.S. policy toward Russian oil sales, framing the rerouting as a way to quickly bring barrels to market and ease refining bottlenecks in Asia.

Wright also justified the Iran was as a necessary step to end Tehran’s decades-long disruption of energy markets.

“Iran has terrorized America, the neighborhood, and energy markets for 47 years,” he said with a straight face. “We believe this is a small price to pay to get to a world where energy prices are returned back to where they were.” 

Meanwhile, he confirmed that there’s no actual plan for what post-conflict Iran will look like (shocker!). 

“We don’t know what regime will be in place at the end of this conflict,” he told CBS. “What we do know is that regime will not have a massive weapons arsenal…and will no longer be a massive threat to Americans and to the Middle East and the global oil supplies.”

When asked if the U.S. will employ a strategy in Iran similar to Venezuela, working with members of a deposed regime, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright says “we don’t know what regime will be in place at the end of this conflict.”

“What we do know, that regime will not have a… pic.twitter.com/7mrne54PQ0

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) March 8, 2026

And there you have it, the talking points are officially OUT. 

Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times,

U.S. President Donald Trump said March 8 that the Cuban government is negotiating a deal with him and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Speaking at his “Shield ​of the Americas” gathering of Latin American leaders in Miami, ​Florida, Trump said that Cuba is “at the end of the line” due to Venezuela cutting off oil deliveries after the U.S. capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

“As we achieve a historic transformation in Venezuela, we’re also looking forward to the great change that will soon be coming to Cuba,” Trump said. “They have no money. They have no oil. They have a bad philosophy. They have a bad regime that’s been bad for a long time.”

The president said Cuba is currently negotiating with himself, Rubio, and “some others.”

“And I would think a deal would be made very easily with Cuba,” Trump added.

Trump has urged the Cuban government to strike a deal with his administration since early this year, and has increased pressure after Maduro’s capture. Previously, Venezuela was overwhelmingly Cuba’s largest source of oil.

Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez responded to Trump at the time by saying his nation was “ready to defend the Homeland to the last drop of blood.”

“Those who blame the [communist] Revolution for the severe economic shortages we suffer should hold their tongues in shame,” he said on Jan. 11.

By late last month, Trump was floating the possibility of a “friendly takeover of Cuba” by the United States.

“The Cuban government is talking with us,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Feb. 27.

“They’re in a big deal of trouble. We could very well end up having a friendly takeover of Cuba after many, many years. We’ve had a lot of years of dealing with Cuba.”

He also indicated that Rubio was negotiating with Cuban leaders “at a very high level.”

“They have no money, they have no oil, they have no food, and it’s really right now a nation in deep trouble, and they want our help,” Trump said.

The loss of Venezuelan oil and financial support worsened Cuba’s already dire economic crisis that has been gripping the island for nearly a year and a half. Catastrophic fuel shortages have driven frequent blackouts and disrupted transportation.

Large-scale shortages of food and medicine have also impacted the nation’s nearly 11 million residents.

Cuba has been under communist rule since Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution. For decades, Havana’s leaders have resisted calls for change from the United States and among its population of exiles who have fled in the years since Castro’s takeover.

But now that the United States is engulfed in a war with Iran that the Trump administration says is largely about kneecapping and replacing Tehran’s theocratic regime, some U.S. lawmakers have questioned whether Cuba will become another target for the U.S. military.

Speculation began weeks before the joint U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iran’s senior leadership.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) asked Rubio during a Jan. 28 Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing if the U.S. secretary of state “would make a public commitment” that the U.S. government would not get involved in regime change in Cuba.

“Oh, no. I think we would like to see the regime there change. That doesn’t mean that we’re going to make a change, but we would love to see a change,” Rubio said at the time.

A change in Cuba’s regime “would be of great benefit to the United States,” Rubio added.

He referred to the Helms–Burton Act of 1996, which requires a democratic transition in Cuba before a U.S. president can normalize relations with the island.

“It was codified in law, and it requires regime change in order for us to lift the embargo,” Rubio said.

Russia says it stands with its ally Iran, at a moment Washington officials are outraged at reports that Moscow is supporting Tehran with targeting intelligence related to US bases and Pentagon assets in the region amid Operation Epic Fury. That allegation was first reported by The Washington Post days ago.

President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, the Kremlin had announced late Friday, amid the escalating US-Israeli attacks on Iran. In the call Putin expressed “deep condolences” over the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, members of his family, other senior political and military officials, as well as the civilian victims. Putin, it must be remembered, has been hosted in Tehran on several occasions and has been photographed in friendly conversations with the slain Khamenei over the years.

The Kremlin indicated further Putin reaffirmed Russia’s position that there must be an immediate halt to the conflict, and that diplomacy must prevail over use of military force. He said he’s in contact with leaders of countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as the crisis unfolds, countries which have come under Iranian missiles and drones over the past week of war.

Pezeshkian for his part thanked Russia for what he described as solidarity with the Iranian people and briefed Putin on developments in the current phase of the conflict, the Kremlin said.

Meanwhile, Russian diplomats are sending a clear signal on which side of the global divide they stand concerning the rapid events of the Iran war:

“We are not neutral. We support Iran.”

This was the response with Russia’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom was asked if Moscow is neutral regarding the Iran war…

Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom:

“We are not neutral. We support Iran.

We take the current situation very badly and we do not understand the Western logic that consists of holding Iran responsible for everything.”
pic.twitter.com/0mtIJFJkZf

— ADAM (@AdameMedia) March 8, 2026

Still, Russia and China are not expected to get deeply or directly involved, and may be more content to wait and see if Washington gets sucked into a new Vietnam or Iraq-style quagmire. 

The question of Iranian oil exports to China still looms large, however, and there have been reports that Beijing could be mulling some kind of military escort operation for its tankers in the Strait of Hormuz – but this reporting appears speculation at this moment, and could be premature.

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

In a development that sounds like a Black Mirror script, Australian biotech firm Cortical Labs has taught clusters of human brain cells – grown in a lab – to interact with the iconic video game Doom.

With roots in earlier work that had these “mini-brains” mastering Pong, the leap to Doom signals rapid progress in biological computing. Critics worry this tech, backed by agendas that prioritize efficiency over ethics, might pave the way for dytopian nightmare scenarios where values of self-reliance and human dignity fall by the wayside.

The breakthrough involves roughly 800,000 to one million living human neurons clustered in a petri dish, forming what the company calls “mini-brains.” These cells, stimulated by electrical signals from a computer, learn to respond in ways that control actions in the game.

Engineers at Cortical Labs translated Doom’s digital environment into patterns the neurons could process. The cells’ firing patterns then dictate moves like shooting or navigating.

“So we showed that biological neurons could play the game Pong,” Cortical Labs chief scientific officer Brett Kagan explained in a video announcement. “This was a massive milestone because it demonstrated adaptive, real-time, goal-directed learning.”

Building on that 2022 achievement, the team tackled a tougher challenge. “Doom was much more complex,” Kagan added. “It’s 3D. It has enemies. It needs to explore, its an environment, and it’s hard.”

🚨Nobody wants to hear this but it needs to be said.

> Scientists put human brain cells in a petri dish. No body. Just neurons on a chip.

> It learned to play DOOM in under a week.

> 800,000 neurons figured out how to navigate, shoot, and survive a video game without ever… https://t.co/RRsC0MwE1k

— Tuki (@TukiFromKL) March 7, 2026

The system, dubbed the CL1 biological computer, allows remote interaction with these living neurons via an online platform. For now, the cells perform like novices, but the learning curve is evident.

“If the neurons fire in a specific pattern, the Doom guy shoots,” said Cortical Labs chief technology officer David Hogan. “If they fire in another pattern, he moves right.”

Back in 2022, Cortical Labs grabbed headlines with their Pong-playing neurons, proving biological systems could adapt in real time. Now four years later, the same tech has evolved to handle Doom’s demands, with reports confirming around 200,000 neurons fused with silicon chips enabling gameplay.

Other sources highlight the CL1 as a “code deployable biological computer,” shipped since last year, blending human cells with traditional computing. Developers access it remotely, hinting at scalable applications.

Yet, as this tech matures, questions arise. Proponents tout potential for AI or robotics, but skeptics see echoes of transhumanist fantasies peddled by global elites at forums like Davos.

Imagine neural networks powering drones or surveillance tools – a dream for deep state operatives, a nightmare for privacy advocates.

Cortical Labs insists the neurons are learning basics, far from expert level. But the trajectory is clear: from petri dish games to real-world control systems.

As biological computing gains traction, it’s crucial to demand transparency. Who funds these labs? What safeguards prevent misuse in areas like military AI or population control?

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA,

Former President Joe Biden made a rare public appearance Friday and drew criticism over what some observers described as a racially insensitive remark. 

Speaking at the funeral of civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, Biden told attendees — including prominent civil rights figures and other notable guests — “I’m a hell of a lot smarter than most of you.” 

Biden made the comment during a roughly 20-minute speech honoring Jackson while recounting a story about his childhood and how he was mocked for having a stutter. 

“I, as a kid, was a relatively good athlete and pretty good student, but I stuttered — to talk like that,” Biden said, while mimicking his childhood stutter.

The crowd responded with laughter. 

“Now, if I told you all earlier, when I was a kid, I had a cleft palate or club foot, none of you would have laughed,” Biden continued.

“But it’s okay to laugh at stuttering. I’m not being critical of you, but think about it. It’s the one place where people think you’re stupid. Oh, really? I’m a hell of a lot smarter than most of you.” 

Biden then added, “All kidding aside, it makes you feel really small. It makes you feel really small.” 

On X, some conservative critics pointed out that Biden made the remark while speaking at the funeral of a civil rights leader before a crowd that included several well-known black leaders and public figures. 

Among those in attendance were former President Barack Obama, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and former Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Other notable black figures present included filmmaker and actor Tyler Perry, leftist activist Cornel West, NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas and singer Jennifer Hudson. 

Several other political figures also attended the funeral, including former President Bill Clinton, twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. 

Notably, Gavin Newsom also came under fire last week after telling a crowd in Atlanta — a predominantly black city — that he was “just like you” because he had received a below-average SAT score. 

An NYPD spokeswoman said two counterprotesters, identified as 18-year-old Amir Balat and 19-year-old Ibrahim Nick, threw improvised devices at demonstrators participating in a “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City” protest. Both suspects were arrested shortly after the incident.

BREAKING: NYPD ID’S both suspects after attempted bomb attack on outside Gracie Mansion.

Device is Jar wrapped in black tape with NUTS BOLT AND SCREWES and fuse inside.

Video shows second suspect pass bomb along to another,
second suspect being arrested by the NYPD outside… pic.twitter.com/7AITGeggwc

— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) March 7, 2026

“Let’s import 30,000,000 million more mongrel Muslims from the 3rd world” 😳😳

These poor NYPD officers also had their lives flash before their eyes!!!! pic.twitter.com/srH1qpngVw

— Jake Lang – January 6 Political Prisoner 🇺🇸 (@JakeLang) March 7, 2026

“Then, at approximately 12:38 p.m., a counterprotester identified as 18-year-old Amir Balat lit and threw an ignited device toward the protest area. It landed in the crosswalk at East 87th Street and East End Avenue. Witnesses reported seeing flames and smoke as it traveled through the air. It struck a barrier a few feet from police officers and extinguished itself,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference on Saturday evening.

🅱️ BREAKING: Two identified suspects, 18-year-old Amir Balat and 19-year-old Ibrahim Nick, allegedly threw a shrapnel-packed explosive device while shouting “Allahu Akbar” at Jake Lang’s anti-Muslim protest outside Gracie Mansion, but the bomb failed to detonate. pic.twitter.com/NSwf481fLD

— Bella (@stockbella) March 8, 2026

Tisch said Balat targeted right-wing activist Jake Lang with “devices smaller than a football, which appeared to be jars wrapped in black tape containing nuts, bolts, and screws, along with a hobby fuse that could be lit.”

NYPD says two suspects — Amir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Nick, 19 — were identified after two improvised devices were thrown during a protest outside Gracie Mansion, the NYC mayor’s official residence, in Manhattan.

One device contained nails and bolts but failed to detonate. No… pic.twitter.com/DuVZ2mZ22F

— Olga Nesterova (@onestpress) March 8, 2026

She continued, “At this time, we do not yet know whether these were functional improvised explosive devices or hoax devices. The bomb squad is analyzing them further.”

MUSLIMS IN NYC TRIED TO ASSASSINATE ME WITH A FUCKING NAIL BOMB!!!!!! 😳😳😳

Zoom in and look at all the NAILS, SCREWS, BOLTS!!!

We need TOTAL REMIGRATION NOW!! pic.twitter.com/D9tEFOCoME

— Jake Lang – January 6 Political Prisoner 🇺🇸 (@JakeLang) March 7, 2026

Far-left Mayor Zohran Mamdani blasted the protest as “despicable and Islamophobic,” but there was no condemnation of the two suspects who threw a shrapnel-packed explosive device while shouting “Allahu Abar.”

The Atlantic was forced to come to this realization last fall. 

And now we know why. 

“There seems to be much confusion about yesterday’s event where two Muslim teenagers yelled “Allahu Akbar” and threw bombs at right wing protesters in front of Zohran Mamdani’s Gracie Mansion. Had these bombs detonated, it would have clearly fit the textbook definition of Islamic terrorism. Unfortunately, the majority of NYC politicians and journalists are so far-left that they cannot acknowledge such facts, so the reporting either focuses on the right-wing extremist protest, leaves out that the bomb-throwing Muslim men yelled “Allahu Akbar,” or twists the story into a complete lie that right-wing protesters brought a bomb to Gracie Mansion because Islamophobia,” an NGO researcher with focus in the NYC ecosystem told us.

This is the face of open borders.
This is the face of terrorism.
This is the face of radical Islam in America.
This is what Joe Biden did to our country.

Radical Islam is not compatible with Western Civilization. pic.twitter.com/8WvPjwDAFS

— J (@JayTC53) March 8, 2026

Let’s recall that one week ago, a nationalized citizen with a “Property of Allah” shirt opened fire at an Austin, Texas bar, killing 3 and wounding 14 others.

Authored by Darlene McCormick Sanchez via The Epoch Times,

Individuals identified as North Texas Antifa members testified in a landmark domestic terrorism case that social justice and anti-government ideology influenced their involvement with the group.

The trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas follows President Donald Trump’s executive order on Sept. 22, 2025, designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization.

The Fort Worth trial completed its second week in what is expected to be a three-week trial.

​Members of Antifa, short for “anti-fascist,” have not faced terrorism-related charges until now, although they have been involved in organized protests across the country that have at times turned violent.

In the landmark case, the government alleges that an Antifa cell launched a coordinated attack against the Prairieland Detention Center housing illegal immigrants outside Dallas on July 4, 2025.

The prosecution claims Benjamin Song ambushed law enforcement at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility outside Dallas, firing 11 shots at police and detention officers, wounding one officer in the neck.

‘Charismatic’ Leader

Two cooperating government witnesses, Lynette Sharp and Seth Sikes, both pleaded guilty to one count of providing material support to terrorists and testified against Song.

Sharp alleged Song admitted to shooting someone when she helped him evade law enforcement after the officer was shot.

Likewise, Sikes alleged that Song said, “Get to the rifles,” and testified he heard gunshots coming from behind him where Song was and turned to see a muzzle flash.

Sharp met Song in 2022, and Sikes met him in 2024 while Song was teaching martial arts at a Fort Worth community center.

Both witnesses testified that they became friends with the defendants.

“I love them,” Sharp said on the stand, after wiping tears.

Sikes testified he and others trusted Song, whom he described as a “very charismatic person” that people would follow.

Cameron Arnold (also known as Autumn Hill), Zachary Evetts, Bradford Morris (also known as Meagan Morris), Maricela Rueda, and Song face the most serious charges of attempted murder, discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, and providing material support to terrorists.

Other defendants facing lesser charges include Savanna Batten, Elizabeth Soto, Ines Soto, and Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada.

All have pleaded not guilty.

Protest Culture

Sharp and Sikes said group members considered themselves victims of society or those who wanted to protect “marginalized” people.

This ideology led them to become caught up in protest culture, offering a rare glimpse into the inner workings of protestors known as Antifa.

Antifa is modeled after a group that worked as the violent arm of the Communist Party in Germany in the 1930s. Some symbols from the original group are still used by the movement today, such as the logo and the raised-fist salute.

Song, who received an “other than honorable” discharge from the Army, recruited Sharp and Sikes to train with the Socialist Rifle Association (SRA), often described as a left-wing alternative to counter the National Rifle Association (NRA).

Sharp and Sikes said they learned gun safety and practiced marksmanship. Various defendants in the Antifa case frequently trained with AR-style weapons, they said.

They described practicing shooting together at an outdoor range in Ferris, Texas, before the July 2025 ICE protest, targeting images depicting the Ku Klux Klan.

Sharp labeled herself an anti-fascist.

Under cross-examination, she argued that socialism wasn’t anti-American. Instead, she described it as the belief that some people can be wealthy, but no one should be poor. She distinguished it from communism, in which no one could be wealthy.

She painted anarchy as a benign political ideology where the community took care of itself in the absence of a formal government.

Sharp and Sikes described themselves as gay rights supporters who slowly developed a relationship with Song, also known as “Champaign.”

They discussed wearing black bloc, which is all-black clothing, to protests, including face coverings that hide their identities.

Sharp testified that ideological beliefs related to LGBT and minority rights, along with opposition to ICE, fostered friendships among the defendants.

Some participants formed an “affinity group” that she said was organized by Song. She said group members would watch tactical YouTube videos on clearing a building occupied by adversaries.

Sikes, who comes from a military family, testified he attended a Dallas No Kings protest against Trump’s immigration policies with Song. Sikes testified that he and the other defendants thought ICE was too aggressive and strongly disagreed with their tactics.

He said Song was “not entirely friendly to police.”

Sikes told the jury he was uncomfortable with Song’s belief that showing up to demonstrations with assault-style rifles could intimidate police and make them back off.

Sikes described his political beliefs as left-wing, aligning more closely with socialism, while noting that others identified more with anarchists. Other beliefs in the group included democratic socialism, anarchy, and communism.

He referred to Antifa as an umbrella term encompassing various left-wing groups, and that they referred to themselves as Antifa in a “tongue in cheek” fashion.

According to Sharp, the group believed that society was breaking down and that the federal government would eventually fail.

Karaoke and Anti-Capitalism

Group members began inviting Sharp to the “big gay house” where transgender defendants Morris and Hill lived with others.

They would hold karaoke nights and recite poetry on Thursday nights, Sharp said.

Sharp testified that she and other defendants attended Emma Goldman Book Club monthly meetings to discuss articles, book excerpts, and self-published materials known as zines, with an anti-capitalist perspective.

Goldman, the book club’s namesake, was a Russian-born Jew and revolutionary who advanced an anti-capitalist, anarchist ideology in the United States in the early 1900s until she was deported.

At the discussions, minorities and women were given deference when speaking, because white people already “took up too much space,” according to Sharp.

She described herself as anti-fascist, but denied being an Antifa member despite signing a plea deal with the government, which characterized anti-fascists as Antifa.

The group also discussed anarchy during their time together, she testified.

“Some people believed that was a solution,” she said. “Some people didn’t.”

Iran officially announced Sunday that it has chosen its next supreme leader, though the identity of the successor remains under wraps for now, given that already the Assembly of Experts had last week paused the selection process amid the ongoing heavy US-Israeli bombing campaign. The other big concern is that the next Ayatollah of the Islamic Republic will have big target on his back while under the bombs.

According to Iran’s ISNA news agency, the Assembly of Experts reached their decision following emergency deliberations triggered by the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the opening hours of the war which kicked off early on February 28. “The most suitable candidate, approved by the majority of the Assembly of Experts, has been determined,” Mohsen Heydari, a member of the body, declared Sunday.

Fars News further cited another member, Mohammad Mehdi Mirbagheri, who confirmed that “a firm opinion reflecting the majority view has been reached” –  but again, the name has not yet been publicly disclosed.

Israeli officials have made clear they will strike any figure chosen to replace Khamenei, raising the prospect that Iran’s new supreme leader could face assassination almost immediately after going public and assuming power. But presumably there are command bunkers hidden deep underground, and all across the country.

Saturday and overnight saw the war expanding into a new phase, with US and Israeli forces now hitting Iranian oil depots and refining facilities in Tehran for the first time – also what’s said to be fuel storage for the country’s armed forces, which has sent thick clouds of black smoke all over the densely-packed city of Tehran, which is comparable in size and population to New York City.

Oil-soaked rain even came down, and massive oil depot fires have burned through the night into Sunday…

JUST IN 🇮🇷🇺🇸: The fires in Tehran keep burning into the morning after last night’s airstrikes on the oil depots.

Teh air quaility is usually bad in tehran but this is making it much worse. Pray for the people that have to breathe this air. https://t.co/bjWup2DYN6 pic.twitter.com/4OsHeM2TT5

— Ryan Rozbiani (@RyanRozbiani) March 8, 2026

Currently there are reports that the US is contemplating seizing control of Iran’s largest oil export terminal on Kharg Island. Per regional reports:

A senior US official vowed to take control of Iran’s oil on Friday as the devastating regional conflict triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran neared its second week.

“What we want to do is to get such massive oil reserves in Iran out of the hands of terrorists,” White House advisor Jarrod Agen said in an interview with Fox Business.

Iranian officials are also warning of environmental fallout from the expanding attacks on energy infrastructure. Foad Izadi, a professor at the University of Tehran, claimed in an interview with Al Jazeera that the strikes were timed deliberately ahead of rainfall.

The future of the vital Kharg Island looms large as China is still getting (some of) its oil.

PHOTO OF THE DAY: China is still getting (some of) its oil.

Nine days into the war, Iran continues loading oil supertankers from Kharg Island.

Tehran has sent some of them across the Strait of Hormuz into the high seas wihthout any problem.

Photo @CopernicusEU March 7th 2026 pic.twitter.com/uzSkzntOOB

— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) March 8, 2026

“And I think they have done it purposely. They wanted to hit these oil facilities so they could create this huge smoke, and with all this contaminated rain, it looks like black ink,” he said.

He warned that runoff from damaged facilities could contaminate drinking water supplies in and around Tehran. “So people are going to get sick if these types of attacks continue, and we don’t have any signs that Trump and Netanyahu are stopping their war against Iran,” Izadi said. “So I think we are facing a serious environmental disaster.”

March 8, 2026 – Tehran at sunrise today. But the sun is hidden behind a sky filled with smoke. After a night of intensive strikes on oil facilities, thick black clouds now hang over the city, turning morning into something that feels like night. pic.twitter.com/7MghBnWRRw

— RKOT (@RKOTOfficial) March 8, 2026

Iran’s retaliation across the region continues, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) having taken a far harder line as the conflict slides, warning regional governments that Tehran will continue striking if US or Israeli forces operate from bases on their soil – strikes which appear to have continued – though the extent of damage on US bases appears to currently be censored by the Pentagon and some compliant entities like foremost commercial satellite imaging company Planet Labs.

Gulf states including Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates reported new missile and drone activity, despite Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian having earlier ‘apologized’ for strikes hitting neighboring countries and pledging to halt attacks if their territory is not used for operations against Iran. But there’s evidence that the IRGC and military apparatus is overriding any potential ‘olive branch’ offered to the Gulf or US. Israel too appears to still be getting hit by Iranian missiles and drones, and also Hezbollah rockets on the north.

An interesting live coverage moment on NBC News…

Notable contrast between some drooling American “expert” talking about installing a “pragmatic” leader in Tehran and Tehran delivering a missile to its target in Tel Aviv.

Our elites manifestly do not understand this country we’re at war with.pic.twitter.com/1SqJ1I1JoL

— Andrew Day (@AKDay89) March 8, 2026

For example, as we reported previously an Iranian drone strike caused material damage to a desalination plant in Bahrain, according to the country’s interior ministry. The incident follows Iranian accusations that US forces bombed a freshwater desalination facility on Qeshm Island days earlier, which Tehran described as setting a “precedent”.

On the question of finding a diplomatic solution, the sides don’t appear to be talking, and in fresh comments Trump brushed off threats from Iran’s top security leadership, saying, “I couldn’t care less” while signaling that the pace and scale of attacks are only set to continue. This as Pentagon billion-dollar radar systems appear to be getting degraded quick:

Spokesman for the Iranian Armed Forces: we targeted and destroyed 4 radars of the U.S. THAAD system in the past hours.

Currently, even some among Iran’s ‘professional opposition’ in exile in places like London and the United States have expressed horror and concern at the images of whole portions of Tehran on fire, with black oil-infused smoke and rain inundating the capital and sprawling civilian neighborhoods.

Told Wolf Blitzer on @cnn that many Iranian-Americans were happy to see Khamenei killed, but they are turning against the war as it is becoming clear that the country is being destroyed and that hopes that this would lead to a quick collapse of the theocracy are being dashed. pic.twitter.com/0R4SpEI4bu

— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) March 7, 2026

Over in Lebanon, which can be viewed as a second Israeli front, the whole country has been pulled deeper into the fighting as Beirut and countryside regions get bombed. An Israeli airstrike on a hotel in Beirut reportedly killed at least four people over the weekend, after hundreds have already been killed, and IDF troops have also suffered some casualties.

European powers are increasingly reacting to the widening war, with French President Emmanuel Macron scheduled to travel to Cyprus after Iranian-made drones struck the island earlier in the week. Paris has already deployed the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to the Mediterranean along with a frigate and additional air defense units. But it’s anything but clear the degree to which a country like France – which has sought to distance itself politically from Trump’s Operation Epic Fury – will directly support operations. Instead, like Italy, it looks to just be bolstering anti-air defenses of allies.

Macron is meeting wtih Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to demonstrate “solidarity” and coordinate steps to “strengthen security around Cyprus and in the eastern Mediterranean,” according to the Elysee Palace.

Trump talks of changing the map of Iran, which goes even beyond regime change… hints at dismantling the nation:

Trump now openly speaks about end to Iran’s territorial integrity.

Combined with bombings of national infrastructure tonight, many Iranians will perceive targeting of Iran as a nation-state with a military capability.

That could quickly shift sentiments inside Iran. https://t.co/iWhF74s0C8

— Mohammad Ali Shabani (@mashabani) March 7, 2026

Criticism of the US-Israeli campaign is emerging from other parts of Europe as well, with Switzerland’s defense minister Martin Pfister said the strikes violate international law, while Spain has similarly condemned the bombings as reckless and illegal.

Iran is meanwhile likely looking to impose steep enough pain and a big cost on the attacking powers in order to ensure they never so easily make the decision to bomb the country again. A fresh statement in Tasnim news agency cites the IRGC boasting of new strikes on Tel Aviv and Beersheba, as well as the Muwaffaq al-Salti airbase in Jordan – which it described as “the largest and most active offensive base of the American aggressor fighter jets.”

“The volume and depth of the attacks of the Iranian armed forces on the enemy will expand in the coming hours and days,” the IRGC statement said.

Parts of Tel Aviv increasingly looking like Gaza:

اسرائیل اور اس کے دفاع پر مامور اعلانیہ اور غیر اعلانیہ اتحادیوں پر ایرانی میزائلوں کی 24کھیپیں برسانے کے بعد تل ابیب اب تک ابیب نہ رہا، غزہ بن گیا pic.twitter.com/NUYoJhQD8k

— Shahid Hussain (@ShahidHussainJM) March 7, 2026

At this point, a full week in, the death toll has surpassed that of last June’s 12 day war. According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), at least 1,205 civilians have been killed in Iran since the US and Israel began their attacks, including 194 children. The HRANA has highlighted child deaths despite largely being seen as a Washington-friendly NGO and what might be called part of the anti-Tehran activist opposition, and based in Fairfax, Virginia.

Across the region over 1400 have been killed, including mounting casualties in Israel. As for the Pentagon it has not released a fresh US troop casualty update in several days – and official American servicemembers killed stands at six. There are Sunday reports of two more people killed in Kuwait, also as Saudi Arabia says its air defenses are active in intercepting inbound projectiles.

Update (Sunday): 

From data centers in the Gulf area to water desalination plants, the worst-case scenario is now unfolding in the Middle East conflict, with no boundaries regarding civilian infrastructure.

We warned earlier last week, after correctly predicting that data centers would be targeted, that water desalination plants would be next (see the previous update). 

Al Jazeera reports that after Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi claimed the US targeted a water desalination plant in Iran, an IRGC kamikaze drone then targeted a desalination plant in Bahrain.

Bahrain says an Iranian strike damaged a desalination plant, marking a new phase of the conflict targeting water infrastructure.

Gulf countries rely heavily on desalination.

Qatar nearly 100%, Kuwait and Bahrain ~90%, Oman 86%, Saudi Arabia 70%.

The strike came after… pic.twitter.com/XgEJ0M6YR3

— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 8, 2026

Al Jazeera also outlined the importance of water desalination plants to the Gulf region:

• GCC states hold about 60% of global desalination capacity and produce around 40% of the world’s desalinated water through more than 400 plants.

• Most GCC countries rely heavily on desalination: 90% of Kuwait’s drinking water, 86% in Oman, 70% in Saudi Arabia, and 42% in the UAE.

• Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest producer, with capacity projected to reach 8.5 million cubic meters per day by 2025 after $80 billion in investments.

Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior wrote on X, “The Iranian aggression randomly bombs civilian targets and causes material damage to a water desalination plant following an attack by a drone.” 

*   *   * 

First we warned that data centers would become drone targets, and then IRGC strikes hit Amazon AWS and Microsoft-linked AI infrastructure across the Gulf. Next, we flagged water desalination plants as another target. Now, with reports that a desalination facility in Iran has been struck, it is increasingly clear that this conflict has no boundaries when it comes to civilian infrastructure.

On Saturday morning, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi took to X and claimed that U.S. military forces had “committed a blatant and desperate crime by attacking a freshwater desalination plant on Qeshm Island.”

“Water supply in 30 villages has been impacted. Attacking Iran’s infrastructure is a dangerous move with grave consequences. The U.S. set this precedent, not Iran,” Araghchi said.

The U.S. committed a blatant and desperate crime by attacking a freshwater desalination plant on Qeshm Island. Water supply in 30 villages has been impacted.

Attacking Iran’s infrastructure is a dangerous move with grave consequences. The U.S. set this precedent, not Iran.

— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) March 7, 2026

Shortly after Araghchi’s post, a Community Note attached to his tweet read, “There is currently no independent confirmation from international media or monitoring organizations that the U.S. attacked a freshwater desalination plant on Qeshm Island.”

Whether confirmed or not, the worst-case scenario for the conflict is one in which freshwater desalination plants are targeted, either intentionally or by accident.

This risk was first raised earlier last week by Bloomberg commodities analyst Javier Blas, who said, “A lot of attention about ‘soft targets’ like hotels and airports. And about oil/gas facilities. But please keep an eye on what may prove the most strategic asset for Persian Gulf countries: water desalination plants.”

US-IRAN WAR: A lot of attention about “soft targets” like hotels and airports. And about oil / gas facilities.

But please keep an eye on what may prove the most strategic asset for Persian Gulf countries: water desalination plants.

— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) March 2, 2026

Desalination plants are critical infrastructure for many Gulf states because almost all of the region’s freshwater comes from either desalinating seawater or pumping from deep aquifers. Dependence on these plants is especially high: 90% in Kuwait, 86% in Oman, 70% in Saudi Arabia, and 42% in the UAE comes from desalination.

IRGC targeting of the data centers is another way of Tehran telling Gulf states aligned with the U.S. that the regime can turn off their AI data centers. Let’s just hope the IRGC does not become enraged enough and begin signaling to Gulf states that it can turn off the region’s water. That would be a worst-case scenario and spark humanitarian emergencies for millions of people.

Authored by ‘No1’ via Gold and Geopolitics substack,

The bombs make headlines. The economic unraveling happening quietly underneath them don’t. So before we get back to the daily carnage, let’s talk about money. It used to be funny, in a rich man’s world.

The world didn’t wake up one morning and decide to distrust the dollar. It was a process. Gradually, then suddenly, as these things tend to go.

It started with Venezuela. In 2019, Caracas asked the Bank of England to return its own gold – 31 tonnes, sitting in a vault in London, belonging to the Venezuelan central bank. The Bank of England said no. The justification was creative: London had decided to recognise a man who had never won an election as Venezuela’s “legitimate” president, so it couldn’t very well hand $2 billion in gold to the actual government. Problem solved. Maduro was a dictator, everyone agreed he was terrible, and so the consensus was essentially: who cares.

Everyone filed it under “rogue state gets what it deserves” and moved on.

Then Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and $300 billion in Russian sovereign reserves got frozen overnight. Again, the justification was airtight, the villain was obvious, and the Western financial world applauded itself. What nobody wanted to discuss was the precedent. Assets held in Western financial institutions were no longer safe if the political winds shifted against you. That was new. That was genuinely new. And every central bank and sovereign wealth fund on earth noticed, even if they did say nothing publicly.

Then Trump came back. Tariffs on allies. Threats to annex Greenland. The implicit message that the post-war security architecture was now a negotiable service rather than a commitment. The dollar’s reserve currency status had always rested on two pillars: the dominance of the US economy, and the reliability of the US government as a custodian of the system. One of those pillars was now being kicked.

By the time the Iran war started, the trust account was already badly overdrawn.

The petrodollar was a simple deal. The Gulf states price their oil in dollars, recycle the surplus into US Treasuries, and in exchange get American military protection. Clean, elegant, and – for fifty years – it actually worked. The US got permanent demand for its currency and its debt. The Gulf got security guarantees backed by the most powerful military on earth.

Five decades of procurement scandals and DEI hires later, someone called the bluff.

US bases across the Gulf – Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE – were always sold as the physical expression of the guarantee. The muscle that backed the paper. They were protection. Except now those bases are targets. The countries hosting them are getting hit precisely because they host them. What once was “US military presence as shield” has collapsed and became “US military presence as a bullseye”.

Medvedev put it with the particular relish of someone who has been waiting years to say it:

You can dismiss Medvedev on most things. On this one, his timing is sublime.

I already cover the daily physical damage to Gulf infrastructure in my Iran series, so I won’t repeat it here. The point here aren’t the bombs. The point is what the bombs have made obvious: the protection America sold the GCC was a liability dressed up as an asset.

And increasingly it seems that the Gulf states are discussing pulling their investment commitments from the US. Not done yet. Discussing. They are not floating the possibility quietly in private rooms – they are saying it out loud, which means the market already knows which direction they’re heading.

Capital won’t wait for a formal declaration. It will already leave in advance, quietly, and then when the announcement comes, everyone will pretend to be surprised…

This is the engine that kept the whole fiat USD thing running: Gulf sells oil → receives dollars → buys Treasuries → US borrowing costs stay manageable → repeat. For decades. And what keeps that loop turning isn’t economics. It’s trust. The belief that Washington is a reliable partner, that dollar-denominated assets are safe, and that the security umbrella is real.

But the trust was already shredded before the first bomb fell on Iran.

The US Treasury market is in a bit of a pickle. I believe the technical term is “clusterfuck”.

About $9.2 trillion in US Treasuries rolled over in fiscal 2025 – roughly a third of all outstanding federal debt – and the 2026 refinancing wave is already building. Annual interest payments on the federal debt have crossed $1 trillion for the first time. The Treasury is buying back its own debt in tranches to keep the market from seizing up. But the 10-year yield keeps moving higher regardless.

The petrodollar recycling loop was one of the structural forces keeping Treasury auctions clearing. When Gulf sovereigns stop buying – or start selling – somebody else has to absorb that supply. At higher rates. Which makes the interest burden worse. Which makes the deficit worse. Which requires more issuance. The spiral is not complicated.

And underneath all of this sits a deeper shift that doesn’t get enough attention. The world is migrating from a currency-based monetary order to a collateral-based one. For decades, Treasuries were the global safe asset – the thing you held when you didn’t know what else to hold. That status is eroding. What’s replacing it, are commodities. Physical stuff™. Things you can actually use. Which is – not coincidentally – exactly what the GCC is sitting on, and exactly what the US has just demonstrated it cannot protect.

Gold and silver hit record after record last year for the same reason. Not inflation. Not rate expectations. Something older and simpler: people are looking for a store of value that doesn’t require trusting a government that has made itself unpredictable.

Meanwhile, private credit is starting to make interesting noises.

source

Blue Owl gated its retail private credit fund in February after redemption requests doubled through 2025. Today, BlackRock announced its $26 billion private credit fund is limiting withdrawals too [-4% at the open]. The same BlackRock that just wrote a private loan to zero – a loan marked at par three months ago. The second time it’s done that.

Rubric Capital – a Point72 spinout – sent a letter to its own LPs this week calling private credit a fraudulent bubble and accusing players of “Enron-like accounting” to hide the rot.

Whether Gulf sovereign wealth funds are behind any of this is speculation. What isn’t speculation is the pattern. Capital that was deployed into US private markets on the assumption of political stability and reliable returns is trying to get out. “Canary in the coal mine” is how one analyst described the Blue Owl situation. The canary is dead. It has ceased to be. It is an ex-canary. And BlackRock just joined the funeral.

Nobody told the AI crowd. The Mag7 have committed $600 billion in AI capex for 2026 alone – an amount so large it requires its own stable financial universe to make sense. Cheap dollars. Stable long-term rates. A Treasury market with reliable buyers. As I wrote in “The Trillion Dollar Oops” (link), it’s a beautiful circular system: Big Tech borrows cheaply, buys GPUs, GPU makers reinvest in Big Tech, everyone marks up each other’s valuations, and round it goes. The whole thing runs on the assumption that the dollar system stays intact.

It’s currently on fire.

Capital is already rotating out – emerging markets have dramatically outperformed the S&P since January 2025, and it’s accelerating. The AI capex cycle and the capital flight cycle are running in opposite directions.

Something has to give. Burning refineries don’t care about your capex commitments.

The entire purpose of US power projection in the Middle East – the bases, the carrier groups, the security guarantees – was always to protect the dollar system. To keep the oil flowing in dollars, the recycling loop turning. Not out of the goodness of its heart. It allowed the US to run deficits indefinitely, export inflation to the rest of the world, and borrow at rates no other debtor could ever dream of.

Whether Washington chose this war or simply couldn’t say no when Israel saw its chance and leapt – that’s still an open question. What isn’t open is the result. The Gulf states are under attack because they host US bases.

Either way, the GCC is finding out what “ally” means in practice.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge.