Sputnik

🚨 Attacks on Gulf gas hubs risk global energy crisis Israeli strikes on the Iranian South Pars oil fields have escalated the war, sending gas and oil prices soaring. Gas sites hit and in danger 🔸 South Pars is part of a giant gas field that Iran shares with Qatar under the Persian Gulf, with about 51 trillion cubic meters of natural gas 🔸 Iran hit back by targeting US gas interests in the Gulf region ▫️ Habshan, a major regional gas hub in Abu Dhabi, was closed after missile debris hit it ▫️ Ras Laffan, Qatar’s biggest gas hub which was closed in early March, has been damaged ▫️ The Pearl Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) Facility run by Shell in Qatar has also been hit 🔸 The attacks wiped out about 17% of Qatar's liquified natural gas (LNG) export capacity — and repairs could take three to five years, QatarEnergy told Reuters 🔸 The US warned that any new Iranian attacks on Qatari LNG facilities would prompt the US military to destroy the South Pars gas field Markets react 🔸 European gas futures surged 35% on March 19. The benchmark Dutch TTF gas price jumped past €70 ($80) per MWh, its highest since December 2022 but below the $300-plus peak of summer 2022 🔸 Analysts warn the developments could keep prices high, with short supply and rising demand for alternative LNG sources — hurting Europe and Asia 🔸 Worse still, Brent crude oil futures neared $117 per barrel, and WTI crude rose to $96.97 per barrel 🔸 The South Korean Industry Ministry is mulling Russian oil and naphtha imports, Reuters reports 🔸 Ship-tracking data from Kpler and LSEG show Asia will receive more than 3 million tons (614,500 barrels) of Russian fuel oil this month 🔸 Russian companies will redirect some LNG supplies from Europe to the Asia-Pacific market, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters in early March 🔸 “The world understands the necessity of including Russian energy in a diversified energy portfolio for every country,” Russian special presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev tweeted on March 19

🇰🇵 🪖North Korean Armed Forces ready for any situation - Kim Jong-un Kim Jong-un attended the parade that was held in Pyongyang to mark the 9th Congress of the Workers' Party of North Korea

📹 US military releases before-and-after images of Iranian 'missile site' US Central Command (CENTCOM) published footage it says shows the “Karaj surface-to-surface missile plant” before and after US strikes. The images, dated March 1 and March 11, were presented as depicting the site prior to and following the aggression. On February 28, during the first day of US-Israeli aggression, a US strike hit a school in Minab, killing over 160 schoolgirls.

🚢⚔️🇮🇷 US accelerates deployment of Marines, sailors to Middle East — reports The United States is speeding up the deployment of additional military forces to the Middle East, including thousands of Marines and sailors, NBC News reported, citing people familiar with the decision. 📍 According to NBC News, the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit — comprising at least 2,200 Marines — is expected to deploy from San Diego earlier than scheduled in the coming days. The unit is set to deploy aboard the USS Boxer, an amphibious assault ship, and is likely to be accompanied by one or two additional vessels, meaning several thousand US sailors could also be sent to the region, the report said.

❌ Why would US ground assault on Kharg Island be a strategic fiasco? A US landing on Kharg Island would make it a prime target for Iran’s Khalij-e Fars supersonic anti-ship missiles and swarms of Ababil and Shahed drones, Andrey Chuprygin, senior lecturer at the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, tells Sputnik. “This is a guaranteed strategic disaster for the Pentagon that could deal a lasting blow to US military prestige,” he says.

📹 US military releases before-and-after images of Iranian 'missile site' US Central Command (CENTCOM) published footage it says shows the “Karaj surface-to-surface missile plant” before and after US strikes. The images, dated March 1 and March 11, were presented as depicting the site prior to and following the aggression. On February 28, during the first day of US-Israeli aggression, a US strike hit a school in Minab, killing over 160 schoolgirls.

🇵🇰🇺🇸 Can Pakistani missiles reach the US? Tulsi Gabbard’s statement leaves Pakistani experts puzzled Pakistan does not possess missiles capable of reaching US territory, Hannan Hussain, a Fulbright scholar specializing in international security, told Sputnik in response to recent remarks by U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard Gabbard had listed Pakistan among nations posing a significant threat to the United States, warning lawmakers that the country's advancing missile capabilities could potentially bring the American homeland within range "Part of Tulsi Gabbard's assertion is grounded in hypotheticals about Pakistan's missiles and its nuclear program posing a major threat to the United States," Hussain said He emphasized that such claims are "largely rhetoric — and in some ways, less responsible rhetoric from the United States — when considering what Pakistan's program actually represents and its track record of being largely peaceful and not aimed at a country such as the US" Such rhetoric by the US is likely intended to pressure Pakistan over its deepening relationship with China, according to Saad Khattak, chairman of the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies "They may want to continue applying pressure on Pakistan to ensure it does not move out of its orbit," Khattak said "That is the only logic I can see behind the notion of a missile threat from Pakistan to the United States

🚨 Rosatom chief: Striking territory of Bushehr nuclear plant sets a ‘very dangerous precedent’ "We call on all parties involved in the conflict to prevent anything like this from happening in the future," Alexey Likhachev said

📄 What we know about Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, killed by Israel 🔸 Appointed Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council on August 5, 2025 🔸 Previously served as Speaker of Parliament (2008–2020), Secretary of the council (2005–2007), and head of Iran’s state broadcasting organization 🔸 Born in 1958 in Najaf, Iraq — a major Shiite holy city 🔸 Comes from one of Iran’s most influential political families; his brothers held senior positions, making the Larijani clan a “political dynasty” comparable in influence to the clergy and the IRGC 🔸 Maintained ties with both the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (a member since the 1980s) and senior religious leadership 🔸 Initially studied mathematics and computer science at Sharif University of Technology, later shifting to the humanities and earning master’s and doctoral degrees in Western philosophy at the University of Tehran; his dissertation focused on Immanuel Kant 🔸 A key negotiator on Iran’s nuclear program — led talks with the P5+1 as council secretary (2005–2007) and played a decisive role in the 2015 nuclear deal as Speaker of Parliament