
Rajiv Malhotra
25.6K posts

Rajiv Malhotra
@RajivMessage
Researcher, author, speaker. Current affairs, inter-civilization, science. JOIN MY YAJNA: https://t.co/LN096r7JAt





IRAN JUST HIT THE LARGEST OIL EXPORT TERMINAL ON EARTH AND THIS TIME THERE IS NO PROXY TO BLAME A Shahed-136 drone struck Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura refinery on March 2, igniting a fire that was quickly contained according to Reuters and Bloomberg citing industry sources. Saudi Aramco shut down the entire facility as a precautionary measure. No casualties were reported. The Saudi Defence Ministry confirmed it intercepted drones targeting the site, with debris causing the ground fire per The Hindu. Ras Tanura processes 550,000 barrels per day. It is one of the largest oil refining and export complexes on the planet. And Iran just hit it with a $30,000 drone. On September 14, 2019, drones and cruise missiles struck Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq processing facility and Khurais oil field, temporarily halving Saudi output by 5.7 million barrels per day. The Houthis claimed responsibility. The United States, Saudi Arabia, and European intelligence agencies concluded Iran orchestrated the attack. Tehran denied involvement. The proxy shield held. No retaliation followed. Oil spiked 15% on Monday, then unwound within two weeks as production resumed. That playbook is dead. In 2026, Iran is launching strikes against Saudi territory under its own flag as part of Operation True Promise 4. The IRGC is simultaneously hitting nine countries. There is no Houthi intermediary absorbing attribution. There is no plausible deniability. Iran struck Ras Tanura, and every intelligence agency, every oil trader, and every Saudi military commander knows exactly who launched the drone, from which territory, under whose orders. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spent eight years building Vision 2030 around a single premise: that Saudi Arabia could diversify away from oil dependence while maintaining the kingdom’s security through a combination of American protection and regional de-escalation with Iran. MBS authorized backchannel normalization with Tehran through China in 2023. The Saudi-Iran detente was the centerpiece of Gulf stability. That detente just burned on the tarmac at Ras Tanura. Saudi Arabia has not been a co-belligerent in Operation Epic Fury. Riyadh did not participate in strikes on Iran. Saudi airspace may have been used for overflight, and Saudi air defenses are intercepting Iranian ordnance, but the kingdom has deliberately avoided offensive operations. The reward for that restraint is an Iranian drone on the crown jewel of Saudi economic infrastructure. Now stack the arithmetic. The Strait of Hormuz is functionally closed, sealing 15 million barrels per day. Ras Tanura’s 550,000 barrels per day is offline. Kuwait International Airport was struck. Jebel Ali port in the UAE showed smoke on satellite. Brent crude already surged 9% to $79.45 per barrel per Bloomberg before this strike was reported. Ras Tanura was not on the market’s pricing model. The market priced Hormuz disruption. The market priced Gulf airspace closure. The market did not price Iran directly attacking Saudi refining capacity because the market assumed Saudi neutrality provided protection. Saudi neutrality provided a target. Monday morning’s crude open will reprice everything written above. And Riyadh will answer a question MBS has avoided for three years: does Saudi Arabia enter this war, or absorb the next drone? open.substack.com/pub/shanakaans…







Muslims worldwide often face institutional discrimination, socio-economic exclusion, biased immigration policies & unwarranted surveillance & profiling. This International Day to Combat Islamophobia, let’s re-commit to the equality, human rights & dignity of every person, no matter their faith.


This is why @suhasinih is so mad with @LauraLoomer Just can't tolerate anything against the Jihadi Ecosystem.



‘I apologise to Indians for my hurtful tweets. I am an advocate for Hindu people and continue to speak against brutalities on them’ Did Laura Loomer had a change of heart. This will be the fate of every India hater few years down the line. Good..




.@sardesairajdeep you attacked me today during my panel at the @indiatoday Conclave, and you accused me of “racism” and “Islamophobia” for speaking the truth about Islam. How can you accuse me of being racist when 10 days ago, you had no problem allowing for Islamic jihadist and Muslim Brotherhood mouthpiece @mehdirhasan to come on your show even though he has referred to non-Muslims as “animals and cattle”? Here is the video of Mehdi Hasan calling non-Muslims animals and cattle. 👇🏻 Do you think Hindus are Kaffir like Mehdi does? @sardesairajdeep, It appears to me that you are an Islamic sympathizer. Even worse, Mehdi previously said he wants to see more planes crash in America. Did you ambush him and ask him to apologize for calling for acts of Islamic terrorism with planes in America? Or do you only raise your voice at women, the same way Muslim men speak to women? Why did you allow this jihadi who has been condemned by the Trump administration for supporting jihad to come on your show? Double standard! It’s time for you to stop siding with those who wish to kill you in the name of Islam. Also, I’m not going to take advice from a man who has been begging @ZohranKMamdani the Jihadi Ugandan to come on his show. Mamdani is a communist. Are you a communist?






#Watch: “If you take your oath on the Quran, you are pledging allegiance to Sharia law, which some believe is superior to the United States Constitution. That is a bit problematic,” said Trump loyalist and American political activist Laura Loomer. @LauraLoomer | @PreetiChoudhry | @Gauravcsawant



Many trolled me last night because I commented on @LauraLoomer post about coming to India for #Indiatodayconclave Let's make the point: I did see a few of her pre & post-election 2024 posts – no excuse for them at all; they were terrible. x.com/LauraLoomer/st… However, what very few know is that in the summer of 2025, Laura took up cudgels for HINDUS against Khalistanis who had attacked temples in North America & had spread terror. She also spoke about the Air India Kanishka bombing & about Islamists, who were the root cause of evil. She has supported Hindu groups in Washington DC & even spoken against the Khalistanis & Pakistanis who were protesting when Shashi Tharoor & other MPs visited the National Press Club in DC to speak on Operation Sindoor. I was there at that time. Perhaps she had changed her mind between 2024 and mid-2025; the fact that she's coming to India says a lot about how the Hindu groups/Indians she has interacted with in the US have changed her thoughts. Do remember even Donald Trump, Macron, Peter Navarro & Bessent were once rabidly critical of India but are friends today. @IndiaToday
