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The empty roads leading to Baghdad International Airport are seen as Iraq has announced the closure of its airspace following drone attacks from Iran against Israel, in capital Baghdad, Iraq on April 14, 2024. [Murtadha Al-Sudani – Anadolu Agency]
A drone packed with explosives detonated inside the US Diplomatic Support Centre at Baghdad International Airport early on Wednesday, causing no casualties, according to Iraqi media reports.
The Iraqi news website Shafaq News reported that the explosive-laden drone exploded within the facility.
A security source told the outlet that the attack resulted in no injuries, without providing further details.
The US Diplomatic Support Centre at Baghdad airport serves as a logistical and administrative hub for American diplomats and staff in Iraq. It includes administrative offices, residential facilities, warehouses and secure zones, and is used to facilitate the movement of diplomatic delegations, staff transport and logistical support for the US embassy in Baghdad.
Since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran on 28 February, American interests in Iraq have been targeted daily with drones and rockets.
Iraqi factions operating under what is known as the “Islamic Resistance” say they are carrying out attacks on US bases in Iraq and across the region using missiles and drones.
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Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.
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United States President Donald Trump speaks to the press before his departs the White House en route Miami, Florida on March 20, 2026, in Washington DC. [Celal Güneş – Anadolu Agency]
US President Donald Trump claimed Wednesday that Iran’s new leadership had asked Washington for a ceasefire, saying the US would consider the request only if the Strait of Hormuz is reopened, Anadolu reports.
“Iran’s new regime president, much less radicalized and far more intelligent than his predecessors, has just asked the United States of America for a ceasefire,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
Washington would consider the request only when the strait is “open, free, and clear,” he said, warning it would continue striking Iran “into oblivion or, as they say, back to the stone ages” in the meantime.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei rejected Trump’s claim, saying Tehran asking for a ceasefire does not reflect reality.
Axios, citing three US officials, reported that discussions are underway about a ceasefire in exchange for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Officials said Trump was actively discussing the possibility with figures inside and outside his administration, but cautioned that it remained unclear whether a deal could be reached. Sources did not specify whether the discussions were taking place directly with Iran or through mediators such as Pakistan.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi previously said contacts with the US do not constitute negotiations, but are limited to the exchange of messages — directly or through regional intermediaries.
Trump has repeatedly described Iran’s new leadership as “much more reasonable” than its predecessors, telling NBC News earlier this week that the war was “coming to an end” and that the US had achieved “total regime change.” He also said Washington was in contact with Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf.
The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20 million barrels of oil pass daily, has been effectively disrupted since early March, driving up global oil prices and raising fears of prolonged economic damage.
The US and Israel have struck Iran since Feb. 28, killing more than 1,340 people, including then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iran has retaliated with strikes across the region, causing casualties and infrastructure damage.
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Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.
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Missiles launched by Iran in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli attacks are seen in the skies over Hebron, West Bank, Palestine, on March 30, 2026. [Wisam Hashlamoun/Anadolu reports]
Pakistan and China have announced a joint five-point initiative aimed at restoring peace and stability in the Middle East following the escalation triggered by US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
The initiative was unveiled after a meeting between Mohammad Ishaq Dar and Wang Yi in Beijing, according to a statement from Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry.
Both sides stressed the urgency of an immediate cessation of hostilities, warning against further escalation and calling for enhanced efforts to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to affected areas.
The proposed initiative includes an immediate ceasefire, the prompt launch of peace negotiations, the protection of civilians, the safeguarding of shipping lanes, and adherence to the principles of the UN Charter.
Pakistan and China emphasized that dialogue and diplomacy remain the only viable path to resolving the conflict, underscoring the need to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iran and other Gulf states.
They also called for an end to attacks targeting civilians and critical infrastructure, and urged that civilian and commercial vessels be allowed safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
The two countries reaffirmed their support for achieving a comprehensive and lasting peace based on international law and the framework of the United Nations.
The initiative comes amid ongoing regional escalation since February 28, when Israel and the United States launched attacks on Iran, resulting in hundreds of deaths, including senior political and security figures. Iran has responded with missile and drone strikes toward Israeli-controlled areas, while also targeting what it describes as American interests in Arab countries, with some attacks causing civilian casualties and infrastructure damage, prompting condemnation from affected states.
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Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.
US President Donald Trump exits Air Force One on March 29, 2026 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
“NATO is a defensive alliance,” said one UK military analyst as the president demanded help in his unprovoked war on Iran. “It’s not been clear what the legal justification for the war is.”
President Donald Trump on Tuesday lashed out at European countries over the message leaders have been clear about since the US joined Israel in waging an unprovoked war against Iran—an assault that swiftly led Iran to retaliate by closing the Strait of Hormuz, sending global oil prices skyrocketing.
The war, Europe has said, is not one the United States’ longtime allies have started or that they’ll be “dragged into,” and the worldwide economic consequences are the responsibility of the countries that chose to attack Iran.
Reports that France over the weekend barred US military planes headed for Israel from flying over its territory appeared to particularly send Trump into a rage, prompting him to call the French government “VERY UNHELPFUL” on his social media platform, Truth Social.
“The U.S.A. will REMEMBER!!” said the president Tuesday morning.
He then took aim at countries across Europe, writing, “Go get your own oil!” in a separate missive.
Trump repeated previous suggestions that US allies are “cowards” for not offering their assistance in the unprovoked war, demanding that they “build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE” the oil by force.
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us,” he added.
France denied the reports that it had prevented US planes from flying over its airspace, but it is one of a number of longtime US allies that have reportedly taken action to avoid complicity in the US-Israeli war, which experts say is a clear violation of international law, including the United Nations Charter, and which has killed nearly 2,000 Iranians and over 1,000 people across the Middle East as the conflict has widened.
Italian officials have denied the US military the use of an airbase in Sicily, saying the Trump administration had not gone through the required authorization procedure. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has been most vocal about refusing to help the US war effort, saying Trump had embarked on an “illegal war” as his administration announced the US military would be barred from Spanish airspace after an earlier statement that the US could not use Spain’s military bases for operations involving the Iran war.
One senior European government official told Politico last week that Trump’s demands for help have been “absurdly incoherent to put it mildly,” considering the White House has also demanded that countries in Europe step up their efforts to defend Ukraine without relying on the US.
“The big picture is: The US has asked us to take care of and defend our own countries, take care of supporting Ukraine… and now [the] Middle East and global supply chains,” the official said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday reiterated Trump’s message, saying that “there are countries around the world who ought to be prepared to step up on this critical waterway as well.”
“It’s not just the United States Navy,” said Hegseth, who has attempted to rebrand the Department of Defense as the Department of War. “Last time I checked, there was supposed to be a big, bad Royal Navy that could be prepared to do things like that as well.”
Hegseth: "The president was clear this morning in his Truth that there are countries around the world who ought to be prepared to step up on this critical waterway as well. Last time I checked there was supposed to be a big bad Royal Navy that could be prepared to do things like… pic.twitter.com/WTVurKV2jQ
On Sky News in the UK on Tuesday, military analyst Sean Bell issued a reminder after Hegseth’s and Trump’s comments that “it’s not a [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] war.”
“NATO is a defensive alliance,” said Bell. “It’s not been clear what the legal justification for the war is.”
Iran’s closing of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the worldwide oil supply flows, has sent oil prices soaring in the US and around the world. In the US, gas prices hit an average of $4 per gallon on Tuesday, and Europe has seen prices go up by about 70% since the war began.
European leaders on Tuesday were meeting to discuss the growing energy crisis, with the European Commission urging governments to consider a public call for people to reduce their use of energy, particularly in the transport sector.
As the global community faces the economic consequences of the war, Trump’s comments on Tuesday bolstered the previous day’s reporting by The Wall Street Journal that the president is “willing to end the US military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, administration officials said, likely extending Tehran’s firm grip on the waterway and leaving a complex operation to reopen it for a later date.”
At Drop Site News, journalist Murtaza Hussain joined co-founder Ryan Grim for a discussion on Tuesday about Trump’s latest comments.
While noting that Trump has “engaged in deception” and could actually “be gearing up to launch some operation intended to open the strait” by force, Hussain said that the suggestion that the US will no longer ensure global shipping routes are flowing could be a a “fall of the Berlin Wall moment.”
“The entire basis of the American empire is that it’s a maritime empire,” said Hussain. “So if now, very perfunctorily, the US is saying, ‘We’re not going to defend one of the most important shipping lanes on the entire planet,’ where 20% of the world’s energy comes out of… It’s kind of like the Suez crisis, which put the nail in the coffin of the British empire.”
Grim added that despite Hegseth’s claim that the US has “set the conditions for success” in the Strait of Hormuz, the Trump administration actually “took an open strait, made it closed, and are now going to walk away.”
The end result of the US and Israel’s decision to attack Iran could be the further isolation of the two countries, said Grim.
“If the US decides it doesn’t have the military capacity or willingness to open the strait violently, the idea that France is going to do it is preposterous,” he said. “What France would more likely do is call up Iran and say, ‘What’s the price?’… If you’re Israel and you’re calling Iran, you’re probably not going to get the same deal… You would imagine Iran would say, ‘Here’s what it costs, and it gets a little cheaper if you cut ties with Israel…’ All of a sudden, they’re a global player now, because they have this leverage.”
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it’s fun to kill everyone …
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 26: U.S. President Donald Trump reacts as he speaks during a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on March 26, 2026 in Washington, DC. This is Trump’s second Cabinet meeting of 2026 and the first since the United States and Israel began attacking Iran on February 28. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The US president, trapped by his own ego, has wrought unparalleled destruction to the people of Iran, the Middle East, and the world.
The judgment on the Trump administration’s war on Iran is already largely settled across mainstream media, public opinion, and much of the analytical sphere.
What remains supportive of the war is limited to two predictable camps: official government discourse and the president’s most loyal supporters, along with entrenched pro-Israel constituencies.
Beyond these circles, the war is widely understood as reckless, unjustified, and strategically incoherent.
Among the wider American public, this conclusion is not abstract. It is shaped by growing unease, economic anxiety, and a mounting sense that the war lacks both purpose and direction.
A defeat in Iran would not simply be a policy failure; it would represent the collapse of that identity. For a leader driven by narcissistic imperatives, such a collapse is existential, threatening not only his political standing but his relationship with his own base.
Since the outbreak of the war on February 28, 2026, polling has consistently pointed in one direction. A Pew Research poll in late March found that 61 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the conflict.
Another AP-NORC survey showed that six in ten Americans believe US military action against Iran has already “gone too far,” while even Fox News polling found 58 percent opposition.
These numbers confirm a broader trend that began early in the war and has only intensified. Reuters reported on March 19 that just 7 percent of Americans support a full-scale ground invasion.
In that same reporting, nearly two-thirds of respondents said they believe Trump is likely to pursue one anyway, highlighting a growing disconnect between policy and public will.
Days later, Reuters noted that Trump’s approval rating had dropped to 36 percent, with rising fuel prices and economic instability cited as key drivers.
The longer the war continues, the more its consequences are internalized by ordinary Americans, turning distant conflict into immediate economic pressure.
Among the American intelligentsia, opposition is no longer confined to traditional anti-war circles. It now spans ideological boundaries, including segments of Trump’s own political base.
Reporting from the 2026 Conservative Political Action Conference, The Guardian observed that many MAGA supporters warned the war risks becoming another “forever war.”
This convergence is significant, reflecting not a passing disagreement but a deeper structural shift in public perception.
Yet mainstream media—from CNN to Fox News—has largely avoided confronting what many Americans already recognize: that the war aligns closely with the agenda of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Within Washington itself, unease is also becoming more explicit. The Wall Street Journal reported in March that lawmakers from both parties are increasingly skeptical of the administration’s approach.
At the strategic level, the war’s foundational assumptions have already begun to unravel. Israel’s early calculations that escalation might trigger internal collapse in Iran have failed to materialize.
Iran’s political system remains intact, its leadership stable, and its military cohesion unbroken under Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
At the same time, Tehran has demonstrated its ability to retaliate across multiple fronts, targeting Israeli territory and US military assets in the region.
Its geographic leverage over the Strait of Hormuz continues to exert pressure on global energy markets, amplifying its strategic position despite sustained attacks.
The structural reality is therefore unavoidable. Regime change in Iran would require a massive ground invasion, a broad coalition, and a prolonged occupation.
Even under such conditions, success would remain uncertain, as the experience of Iraq has already demonstrated with devastating clarity.
This raises the central question: why continue a war whose strategic premises are already collapsing?
Part of the answer lies not in strategy, but in psychology. A substantial body of political psychology research, frequently cited in relevant 2026 analyses, describes Trump’s leadership style as deeply narcissistic. Traits such as grandiosity, hypersensitivity to criticism, and an overriding need to project dominance are not incidental—they actively shape decision-making.
Trump’s rhetoric has long relied on humiliation, domination, and spectacle, framing politics as a contest of strength rather than negotiation.
Within this framework, escalation becomes a psychological necessity. To retreat risks appearing weak, while compromise risks humiliation.
For a leader whose identity is built on projecting strength, such outcomes are politically and personally intolerable.
This dynamic is reinforced by the broader culture of the administration, where senior officials have repeatedly relied on language such as “obliteration” and “total destruction.”
Such rhetoric, however, has not been matched by evidence of a coherent long-term strategy, exposing a widening gap between performance and planning.
At the same time, the administration’s fixation on masculine power—on dominance, strength, and spectacle—has contributed to a profound underestimation of its adversary.
Iran is not a fragmented state waiting to collapse, but a regional power with decades of experience in asymmetric warfare and strategic resilience.
Yet Trump appears to have operated under the assumption that American power alone guarantees outcomes, an illusion reinforced by past displays of military force.
Reuters reported in late March that Trump is now increasingly pressured to “end the war” quickly, as the administration confronts what it described as “only hard choices.”
The same report cited officials acknowledging that there is no clear exit strategy, leaving the administration caught between escalation and political fallout.
One official told Reuters that there are “no easy solutions” left, underscoring the depth of the strategic impasse.
Another added that any withdrawal would have to be framed carefully to avoid appearing as a defeat, reflecting the administration’s concern with optics as much as outcomes.
This is where the psychological dimension becomes decisive. Trump has constructed a political identity rooted in strength, dominance, and victory.
A defeat in Iran would not simply be a policy failure; it would represent the collapse of that identity. For a leader driven by narcissistic imperatives, such a collapse is existential, threatening not only his political standing but his relationship with his own base.
This is why some analysts—and even figures within Trump’s own orbit—have begun to float a theatrical exit strategy. As Reuters reported on March 14, White House adviser David Sacks stated bluntly that the United States should “declare victory and get out” of the war on Iran, calling for disengagement despite the absence of a clear strategic outcome.
Such a move would allow Trump to claim success while disengaging from an increasingly untenable conflict, preserving the image of strength even in the face of strategic failure.
But this reveals the deeper truth of the war. The “victory” being pursued is not military—it is psychological.
The US-Israeli war on Iran is therefore not only a moral and legal crisis. It is also a geopolitical catastrophe shaped, in no small part, by the psychology of a leader unwilling to confront the consequences of his own disastrous decisions.
Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn’t bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
