War on Iran - US Military Status 23-03-2026

Is Netanyahu Already Dead ?

Netanyahu's Political Obituary added on March 17

At a time when incidents in the Middle East come thick and fast, the announcement of Netanyahu's death on social media seems to match with US activism based on growing awareness of a missing strategy towards Iran and which is generating some kind of political helplessness.

However, I cannot believe that things are such simple. There are Iranian propaganda news emphasizing the extermination of Israeli government members in a missile strike, and there are reports from the pro-Jewish side hinting at Netanyahu's fragile health.

While Netanyahu's death in a missile attack can be most probably excluded, his fatal health situation, due to prostate cancer, seems to be more realistic. As prostate cancer is an unsual aggressive type of carcinogenic disease in elderly men, it cannot be excluded that he might die from it. The facial expression of a man in very bad health and a certain clumsiness in his way of speaking and moving have been described by an Israeli Jew, a member of his opposition in parliament, and who watched him at a recent public appearance.

A Political Obituary " Benjamin Netanyahu was always on the lookout for circumstances that might persuade the judges in his criminal trial to postpone the proceedings. February was an especially fruitful month in that sense. During week one, the prime minister was off on a hastily planned visit to Washington, D.C.; in week three, after the death of the mother of the chief judge in the tribunal hearing his case, court was canceled so that he could mourn her properly; and most of last week’s sessions were postponed because of the visit to Israel of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, following which Netanyahu pleaded his unavailability due to unspecified security consultations. Today, we can assume that the premier was tied up in the final preparations for the joint American-Israeli attack on Iran, whose first bombs were dropped on Saturday morning Tehran time. Once the war began, and Israel was on a war footing, all nonessential public gatherings were prohibited, so Netanyahu has gained at least one more week of being spared the mandatory three sessions at which he is expected to appear in court to testify. When the proceedings actually resume will depend on how long the war goes on, a question to which only Donald Trump has the answer, and that varies from minute to minute. " Quoted from David B. Green's article "Whatever it takes", published in The American Prospect on March 4, 2026. Please refrain from expressions of condolescence; don't send flowers !

Iran - Greetings from a New Leader

Update added on March 14
For further news on Iran, you might like to refer to
another account of mine on Twitter: News & Trends

Donald Trump confused everybody with mixed messages and goals
concerning Iran. While US citizens are facing rising prices, he claims
that war will "soon be over" and "we already won, but not enough"

On the battlefield, Iran has increased its attacks on Israeli targets and military enemy installations in the Middle East. Here is a summary from Hindustan Times of what happened until March 12:

Iran launched the 41st wave of strikes under Operation True Promise 4, according to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, targeting sites in Tel Aviv, southern Israel and U.S. military positions across the Middle East. Iranian statements say the barrage included Khorramshahr missiles, Qadr missiles and hypersonic Fattah missiles along with kamikaze drones aimed at bases such as Palmachim Airbase and Ovda Airbase. The escalation comes as Iranian media report that Deputy Intelligence Minister Akbar Ghaffari was killed in recent Israeli-U.S. strikes. Tehran says the latest wave commemorates “Ramadan war martyrs” as tensions between Iran, Israel and the United States continue to escalate.

A heated discussion on Al-Arabiya, regarding Iran's possible
inclination to reject any ceasefire whatsoever. [March 13]

Found on the Internet ...

USA 2026 - Trump on a Global War Path

Latest Update added on March 8

Widening of Military Conflict Abroad
While Curbing Civil Society at Home

Trump's shifting Iran goals highlight war's weak legal basis

From targeting Iran's nuclear program to hinting at regime change, Donald Trump keeps moving the goal posts for the US military campaign against Iran. The conflict lacks a clear legal basis under international law, experts say.

The United Nations Charter prohibits threats or the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of another state, except in two cases:

First, the UN can authorize collective security measures to protect people. This occurred after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. The UN Security Council passed a resolution giving member states legal authority to use force to help Kuwait.

Second is self defence, which George W. Bush invoked after the 9/11 attacks in 2001 to justify the invasion of Afghanistan to "dismantle terrorist networks."

But do these exceptions apply to the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran? And if not, could US President Donald Trump's choosing to go to war without a clear legal basis mark a turning point for the international order?

[Deutsche Welle DW, German international broadcaster on March 7]

Donald Trump admits Operation Epic Fury not going to plan as Iran hits US consulate in Dubai [7NEWS Australia on March 4]

	This happens while US ally Israel has started invading Lebanon to fight Iran's ally Hezbollah.
Iran claims its Revolutionary Guard struck a U.S. Navy destroyer refuelling from an American tanker about 650 km off Iran’s coast in the Indian Ocean, using Ghadr-380 ballistic missiles and Talaiyeh cruise missiles. The IRGC alleged the strike triggered a massive blaze on the decks of both ships, darkening the sky above the ocean. The reported attack comes amid escalating tensions after a U.S. submarine torpedoed and sank Iran’s frigate IRIS Dena near Sri Lanka, killing dozens of sailors. The frigate was described as "Sri Lanka's guest", taking part in a multi-national maritime exercise.	Tehran has vowed revenge and warned it will control the Strait of Hormuz in wartime, threatening ships linked to the United States, Israel, and their allies. [Hindustan Times on March 6]
وكالة تسنيم الايرانية عن الحرس الثوري: استهداف حاملة الطائرات الأمريكية أبراهام لينكولن ب4 صواريخ باليستين [الجزيرة نت] .......... سنتكوم تنفي رواية الغرق [SKY عربية]	Iran's [news] agency Tasnim [declares] that Revolutionary Guard [IRGC] attacked US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln using four ballistic missiles. [Al-Jazeera, Qatar, on March 6] CENTCOM denies "drowning narrative" [SKY News arabic]
	Russia's intelligence info helping Iran to lock on US military targets [联合早报, Singapore, on March 7]

Trump planning to enforce oil shipping while cutting off China [CNBC on March 5]

Comment from independent Chinese news network: Impact of US strategy on Chinese policies.

And the US at Home ...

[CNN comment on Trump policies to curb US civil society, March 5]

Trump says he won’t sign any bills into law until SAVE America Act passes

President Trump on Sunday [March 8] threatened to not sign any bills into law until the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act is approved by the Senate, doubling down on his push to change voting requirements ahead of the midterm elections.

“I, as President, will not sign other Bills until this is passed, AND NOT THE WATERED DOWN VERSION – GO FOR THE GOLD: MUST SHOW VOTER I.D. & PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP: NO MAIL-IN BALLOTS EXCEPT FOR MILITARY – ILLNESS, DISABILITY…,” the president wrote in his Sunday morning Truth Social post.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on whether the president will sign a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security amid the partial government shutdown.

[The Hill, Washington based political journal on March 8]

Iran Hitting US Radar Facilities

Live: Iranian drone hitting US radar in Bahrain.
Witness was waiting for impact of Shahid drone.

X-post from the Sultanate of Oman on probable drone attack
of the most powerful US radar facility in the Middle East, the
price of which being allegedly more than a billion US Dollars.


Further News on March 3:

Explosions were reported in Riyadh’s diplomatic quarter after drones targeted the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia’s capital. According to reports, four drones were intercepted while two struck the embassy compound, triggering a fire and emergency response.

Saudi authorities have not yet confirmed casualties, but the incident has heightened fears of further escalation in the region. The attack comes amid growing tensions across the Middle East, raising concerns over diplomatic security and regional stability.

[Source: Indian online media]

Filming damage from Iranian missile attacks
on Tel Aviv is prohibited in Israel [الامم]

Joint US Israeli Attack on Iran - Part I

Continuously Updated: Last time on March 2

According to different sources, Israel launched a preemptive strike on Iran this morning. As US military has been concentrated around Iran during the last weeks & days, it can be taken as granted that US president Trump is directly involved.

Israel declared an attack on Iran
& a national state of emergency

Xinhua News Agency reporters heard an explosion in Tehran, the capital of Iran, on the 28th. Israeli Defense Minister Katz said a preemptive strike has been launched against Iran.

Israel's foreign ministry says it has launched a second attack on Iran.

Israel has launched an attack on Iran and declared a national state of emergency, the Israeli defense minister said.

According to Iran's Fars news agency, multiple missiles hit multiple targets in central Tehran.

According to the Associated Press, there was an attack near the office of Iran's Supreme Leader.

[澎湃新闻, Chinese state-owned digital paper
on February 28 at 14:22 local time, is quoting
新华社快讯：以色列宣布袭击伊朗]

Above: Timeline for Israel's attack on Iran (shortlist) using local Chinese time.

Questioning Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's Death The Outcome of a Developing Story Two official Chinese sources are nourishing questions while the US president is already announcing the death of Ayatollah Khamenei. 当地时间2月28日，据两名美国消息人士和一名熟悉此事的美国官员透露称，以色列和美国选择在周六对伊朗发动袭击，正值伊朗最高领袖哈梅内伊与其高级助手举行会议之际。以色列方面称，哈梅内伊及其高级助手，包括伊朗国防委员会秘书阿里·沙姆哈尼和伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队总司令穆罕默德·帕克普尔，均在空袭中丧生。两名伊朗消息人士称，哈梅内伊在空袭开始前不久，于周六在一处安全地点与沙姆哈尼和最高国家安全委员会秘书阿里·拉里贾尼会面。此前，一名以色列高级官员称，哈梅内伊的遗体已被找到。美国总统特朗普在其“真相社交”平台上发帖称，情报部门锁定了伊朗最高领袖的行踪，随后将其打死。 On February 28, local time, according to two US sources and a US official familiar with the matter, Israel and the United States chose to launch the attack on Iran on Saturday, just as Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei was meeting with his senior aides. Israel stated that Khamenei and his senior aides, including Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's National Defense Council, as well as Mohammad Pakpour, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, were killed during the airstrike. Two Iranian sources said that Khamenei met with Shamkhani and Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, at a secure location on Saturday shortly before the airstrike began. Previously, a senior Israeli official stated that Khamenei's body had been found. US president Trump posted on his "Truth Social Network" platform that intelligence agencies had located the Supreme Leader of Iran and subsequently killed him. [财联社, Shanghai based financial news on Feb. 28] Opinion from a Pro - Palestinian source evaluating what is known.

U.S. officials revealed that the U.S. military is expected to launch a several-day military operation against Iran. The Pentagon named the Operation Epic Fury (*) but did not release details. CNN quoted sources as reporting that Washington is planning to launch a multi-day military operation against Iran.

Reuters quoted Iranian news agency Tasnim as reporting that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed to have launched the first wave of missile and drone offensives against Israel in response. Some personnel were reported to have evacuated from the U.S. Udeid Air Force Base in Qatar, the largest U.S. military facility in the Middle East with about 10,000 officers and soldiers. In addition, the British Embassy in Doha recommended that British citizens in Qatar take refuge in place.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement stating that the goal of the joint U.S.-Israeli operation is to "eliminate the existential threat posed by the Iranian regime" and emphasized that Iran must not possess nuclear weapons. He said the operation would "create the conditions for the Iranian people to take control of their own destiny".

Lebanese Prime Minister Salam warned that Lebanon "will not accept anyone dragging the country into risky actions that threaten security and unity". The outside world interpreted this statement as an indirect message to Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran.

[News summary at 10:00 CET: Yahoo Chinese 新聞來源：中時新聞網 張威翔]

A first wave of some 30 ballistic missiles from Iran allegedly on its way to Israel. [العربي on February 28, 09:40 CET]

An Iranian missile that arrived in Tel Aviv was hitting three vehicles.

Above: Iranian missiles hitting targets all over
the Middle East during the first 24 hours of war ...

Above: Intercepted Iranian missile in Dubai (UAE)
causing fire. Same happened in Qatar & Bahrain.

اعترضت الدفاعات الجوية الإماراتية، صاروخا إيرانيا بسماء مدينة دبي، وتدميره قبل وصوله إلى أي هدف حيوي. وتداول رواد مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي صوراً ومقاطع فيديو توثق لحظة الاعتراض وسقوط شظايا وحطام الصاروخ المنفجر في مناطق متفرقة، دون وقوع إصابات بشرية حتى اللحظة، ويأتي هذا الاستهداف في إطار الرشقات الصاروخية الإيرانية التي طالت عدة عواصم خليجية رداً على العملية الأميركية الإسرائيلية "زئير الأسد"، وشنت إسرائيل وأميركا، سلسلة هجمات جوية واسعة استهدفت العمق الإيراني حيث هزت انفجارات عنيفة مدن قم وأصفهان وقرج وكرمنشاه وسط تقارير عن استهداف مباشر لمواقع إطلاق الصواريخ الباليستية لمنع طهران من تنفيذ أي رد صاروخي فوري،

UAE air defenses intercepted an Iranian missile over Dubai, destroying it before it reached any vital targets. Social media users shared photos and videos documenting the interception and the falling debris of the exploded missile in various areas. No casualties have been reported so far. This attack comes as part of a series of Iranian missile strikes targeting several Gulf capitals in response to the US-Israeli Operation Lion's Roar (*). Israel and the US launched a series of extensive airstrikes targeting deep inside Iran, with powerful explosions rocking the cities of Qom, Isfahan, Karaj, and Kermanshah. Reports indicate that ballistic missile launch sites were directly targeted to prevent Tehran from carrying out any immediate missile retaliation.

(*) Lion's Roar is the Israeli name for the current operation, while Epic Fury is the name the US Pentagon gave it. [Al-Arabiya TV on February 28]

Latest News:

The Greater Israel Project

Here is the original interview, Mike Huckabee, US ambassador to Israel granted to US journalist Tucker Carlson on the subject of Godfather dedicating the Middle East, from river Nile in Egypt to river Euphrate in Iraq, to the Jews as "God's Chosen People".

[Islam Times on February 23]

[Tribune, a Pakistani paper, on February 23]

[The Times of Israel on February 24, the neighbouring
article was earlier published on September 16, 2025]


Around 650 BC, the city-state of Sparta rose to become one of the major military powers in Greece, a status it remained until 371 BC. However, Sparta was sacked in 396 AD by the Visigothic king Alaric, and underwent a long period of decline into the medieval period. Modern Sparta is a provincial town and the seat of the Laconia regional administration.

You say Sparta ...
... I say Carthago

The date of its foundation (1949) given, Israel should better be compared with Carthago, another ancient Semitic civilization and warring empire. Founded by the Phoenicians in the 9th century BC, it became a major regional power in the 4th century. Following the Three Punic Wars, Carthago was finally destroyed by the surrounding Roman Empire in 146 BC, and who built the Thermal Baths of Antonius as an early holiday resort at its place, while leaving nothing else but a necropolis as a reminder of the Punic civilization.

In the early 1950ies, during the most dangerous years of the Cold War, Carthago became a symbol of doom in my country, which had just survived World War II. There was even a short-living campaign for peace in the situation of a threatening Atomic War. That campaign was launched by some reputed German intellectuals who had returned from US exile into the German Democratic Republic, which they imagined to be some kind of a "better Germany". Their slogan became: "The Great Carthago was still mighty after its 1st war. After its 2nd war, it was still inhabitable. After the 3rd war, however, Carthago could not be found any longer." That is the stance I learned from my father, long before I learned about Carthago and Sparta in my history lessons at school. Such progressive way of thought, however, was soon suffocated by East German authorities in the years that followed.

Warning from Iran

Important Update added below on February 21/22

While a 2nd round of negotiations between Iran and USA has just begun in Geneva, Switzerland, both sides are preparing for the "Mother of All Wars" in the Middle East which might break out at any time.

Here is a stringent warning from Iran in the Hebrew language, telling their adversaries that innovative defense technology from China has been received, allegedly being able to detect warplanes using the latest stealth technology.

If the new Chinese technology is working according to all expectations and a widespread use of hypersonic missiles by Iran and its regional allies can be granted, US stealth planes and aircraft carriers could soon become the "dinosaurs of modern warfare".

פרסום ראשון
לאחר חשיפת המידע בכלי התקשורת, אנו מודיעים באופן רשמי כי קיבלנו מסין את מערכת ההגנה YLC-8B, והיא תצורף בקרוב לרשת ההגנה של איראן

First Publication
After the information was revealed in the media, we officially announce that we have received the YLC-8B defense system from China, and it will soon be added to Iran's defense network.

[Iran Military News on February 16] => pour en savoir plus <=

外媒没有明确的消息源，只是单方面宣称，“中国向伊朗交付多套YLC-8B雷达系统”，被称为，“中国远程监视雷达发展的巅峰之作”，应用全相干数字脉冲压缩、先进的移动目标探测和多目标跟踪技术，可以有效在复杂电磁环境下的探测目标。已知的技术参数，对常规飞机的探测距离500公里以上，对弹道导弹的最大探测距离达到700公里，专门利用超高频低频来探测隐身目标，对美军的F-35战斗机和B-2轰炸机等隐身机有强大的探测能力。

Foreign media do not have a clear source of information, but unilaterally claim that “China has delivered multiple sets of YLC-8B radar systems to Iran, known as ”, the pinnacle of China's long-range surveillance radar development, using fully coherent digital pulse compression. Advanced mobile target detection and multi-target tracking technology can effectively detect targets in complex electromagnetic environments. With known technical parameters, the detection range for conventional aircraft being more than 500 km, the maximum detection range for ballistic missiles reaching 700 km, [the system] is specifically designed to detect stealth targets using ultra-high and low frequencies, and has a strong detection capability against stealth aircraft such as the US F-35 fighter jet and B-2 bomber.

[SOHU 搜狐 on February 14]

China avoids any misunderstanding
in the matter. [February 22, 2026]


从军事角度看，美国对伊朗发动大规模全面战争的可能性并不大，更可能的仍是“有限打击+极限施 压”的组合拳。原因主要有三个：
第一，盟友态度非常分化，沙特、阿联酋已明确拒绝允许美军使用其基地或领空对伊朗发起打击；
第二，伊朗的反击能力可能超出预期，其弹道导弹和无人机具备突破防空系统、打击美军基地的能 力；
第三，美国国内政治存在制约，2026年是中期选举年，特朗普政府不敢马虎，大规模军事行动将面 临国会和民意压力。

From a military perspective, it is unlikely that the United States will launch a large-scale all-out war against Iran. The more likely one is still a combination of limited strikes + extreme pressure. There are three main reasons:

First, the attitude of allies is very differentiated. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have clearly refused to allow the US military to use their bases or airspace to launch strikes against Iran;

Second, Iran's counterattack capabilities may exceed expectations, and its ballistic missiles and drones have the ability to break through air defense systems and attack US military bases.

Third, there are constraints on domestic politics in the United States. 2026 is the midterm election year, and the Trump administration dare not be sloppy. Mass military operations will face pressure from Congress and public opinion.

[SOHU 搜狐, published on Feb. 14, added on February 19]

Iranian Comment on Current Negotiations