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United States President Donald Trump walks toward the White House upon his arrival in Washington, DC, from Memphis, Tennessee, United States, on March 23, 2026. [Celal Güneş – Anadolu Agency]
US President Donald Trump has said that seizing Iranian oil remains “an option”, as the war between the United States, Israel, and Iran continues.
Speaking during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump told reporters that taking control of Iran’s oil resources is being considered, though he did not provide further details.
“It’s an option on the table,” he said, while also referring to previous US involvement in oil sectors such as Venezuela.
Trump added that he is uncertain whether a deal can be reached with Iran, claiming that Tehran is seeking an agreement, though Iranian officials have repeatedly denied this.
“The Iranians are begging for a deal, not me,” he said, describing them as “good negotiators.”
The US president also stated that military operations against Iran are “ahead of schedule”, predicting that the war — now in its fourth week — could end soon.
Meanwhile, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff spoke of “strong indications” of progress toward persuading Iran to reach a deal, noting that a 15-point framework proposal had been conveyed to Tehran through a Pakistani mediator.
He added, “The Iranians are stalling in the talks and looking for a way out, and reaching a deal would be in the best interests of both Iran and the world.”
Keir Starmer explains that UK is participating defensively in Trump and Israel’s criminal war for Israel’s genocidal expansion in Iran and states 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 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.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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A view of US military refueling aircraft at Ben Gurion Airport as the US-Israel attacks on Iran continue and retaliatory actions from Iran against Israel, primarily are ongoing in the capital Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 22, 2026. [Nir Keidar – Anadolu Agency]
Billions of dollars in US military equipment have been damaged or destroyed since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran, mostly due to Iranian missile and drone attacks, according to a Wall Street Journal report published on Friday, Anadolu reports.
Losses in the first three weeks of the conflict are estimated at $1.4 billion to $2.9 billion, Elaine McCusker, a former Pentagon budget official now at the American Enterprise Institute, told the newspaper.
Among the incidents cited, three F-15E fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by a Kuwaiti aircraft on March 1, while an F-35 stealth jet made an emergency landing on March 16 after reportedly coming under fire. Iran claims it targeted the aircraft, according to the report.
A midair collision between two KC-135 refueling planes over Iraq also killed six crew members. Five more KC-135s were damaged in an Iranian missile strike on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia and are undergoing repairs.
More than a dozen MQ-9 Reaper drones have been lost, including several shot down by missiles and others destroyed on the ground. Iranian strikes also damaged aircraft and radar systems at US bases in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan.
A fire broke out on the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford on March 12; the ship is now undergoing repairs at Souda Bay, Greece, according to the US Navy.
The Pentagon plans to replace some of the damaged systems through a proposed $200 billion supplemental spending request.
Anadolu could not independently verify the reported losses.
Regional tensions escalated after Feb. 28, when the US and Israel launched a joint offensive on Iran, killing more than 1,340 people. Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel and Gulf countries hosting US military assets.
So far, 13 US service members have been killed and roughly 290 others injured since the operations began.
Keir Starmer explains that UK is participating defensively in Trump and Israel’s criminal war for Israel’s genocidal expansion in Iran and states 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 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.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.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Residents continue their daily lives despite the attacks following the military operations launched by the United States and Israel, killing hundreds of civilians, as well as high-ranking officials, in Tehran, Iran on March 25, 2026. [Fatemeh Bahrami – Anadolu Agency]
The US and Israel targeted Iran’s Khuzestan and Mobarakeh steel companies, among the country’s most strategic and largest steel companies, in a new wave of strikes amid an ongoing escalation, Anadolu reports.
Emergency units arrived at the scene, Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported on Friday, stating that more details will be revealed regarding the development.
One person was killed and 15 others were injured during the attack in Isfahan, Iran’s IRIB News Agency reported, citing Mehdi Jamalinejad, the provincial governor.
Regional escalation has continued since the US and Israel launched a joint offensive on Iran on Feb. 28, killing more than 1,340 people, including then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Tehran has retaliated with waves of drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries hosting US military assets, inflicting casualties and infrastructure damage while disrupting global markets and aviation.
Keir Starmer explains that UK is participating defensively in Trump and Israel’s criminal war for Israel’s genocidal expansion in Iran and states 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 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.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.
Demonstrators hold a protest against the war on Iran next to Recruting Station in Times Square, New York City, United States, on Sunday, March 22, 2026. [Selçuk Acar – Anadolu Agency]
On 28th February 2026, the United States went to war. No congressional debate. No public deliberation. No formal declaration. Just a midnight operation, with top lawmakers notified only minutes before the bombs fell, announcing that American aircraft were already striking Tehran. This is not how a republic wages war. This is how a king does.
The strikes on Iran — codenamed Operation Epic Fury— killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and multiple senior officials, put American lives in harm’s way without a single vote of the people’s representatives, and shook global energy markets to their foundations.
Article I of the Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power to declare war. Trump did it anyway. And in doing so, he did not merely break a rule — he broke the foundational compact of American self-governance.
The White House’s legal rationale was collective self-defence under the UN Charter. But the United States was not under attack. Iran had not struck American soil. Administration officials released conflicting statements about the aims of the operation, ranging from ending Iran’s nuclear program to outright regime change — language that has no grounding in any congressional mandate or democratic debate. As Senator Andy Kim told TIME, lawmakers and the American public were being asked to accept military escalation without understanding the endgame: “The President has really boxed us in and put us on the hook for things that we haven’t discussed as a country.” When senators demanded classified briefings, they largely received stonewalling. What followed was not strategic clarity but performative chaos: on the same day his administration surged forces to the region, Trump posted on social media about winding down. He threatened to bomb Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz was not opened on his timetable.
And when asked about rising gas prices, he shrugged: *”If they rise, they rise.”* These are not the words of a commander-in-chief accountable to a republic. They are the words of a man who believes he answers to no one.
Dissent has come from across the political spectrum, which is precisely what makes the administration’s contempt for Congress so damning. [Senator Chris Van Hollen]() called it plainly: “Trump is lying to the American people as he launches an illegal, regime-change war against Iran. This is endangering American lives and has already resulted in mass civilian casualties.” Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie declared: “This is not ‘America First.’ The Constitution conferred the power to declare or initiate war to Congress for a reason — to make war less likely.” Army veteran and Ohio Republican Warren Davidson said simply: “War requires Congressional authorization.” These are conservatives honouring their oath, not partisans playing politics. And yet the war powers resolutions they championed failed to override a presidential veto, as most Republicans fell in line. Senator Tim Kaine’s warning now hangs over every future presidency: “Don’t hide under your desk and just let the president do it on his own. Because if you do, you’re opening the door for presidents of either party into the future just to wage war willy-nilly.”
The human cost is already devastating — over 1,400 Iranians killed, thirteen American soldiers dead — and the economic cost is being borne by the entire world. Brent crude surpassed $126 per barrel at its peak, its highest level in years. The Strait of Hormuz — through which 20 percent of global oil supplies flow — was effectively closed, and QatarEnergy, responsible for 20 percent of the world’s LNG supply, declared force majeure on all exports. Global stocks fell 5.5 percent in the war’s opening days. Inflation is forecast to rise across the eurozone, the United States, and Asia simultaneously, presenting central banks with the spectre of stagflation — while the president who lit the fuse demands that the Federal Reserve cut interest rates.
Families in Chicago and Chennai, in Lagos and London, are absorbing the price of a decision made by one man without asking anyone’s permission.
The World Economic Forum put the deeper betrayal into words: the United States “has imposed enormous costs on many of the same economies it relies on as trading and strategic partners.” Allies were not consulted. The democratic world was not asked. And yet it is paying, country by country, household by household, for a war it did not vote for and cannot stop. This matters far beyond economics. The United States built the post-war international order on the premise that even the most powerful nation would operate within rules and seek legitimacy before using force. When that premise collapses, the argument for democratic governance in an age of strongmen collapses with it. A world with kings — whether in Moscow, Beijing, or Washington — is a more dangerous world for everyone.
The phrase “No Kings” is not a slogan invented by the left. It is the founding premise of the American republic, inscribed in the separation of powers and in a Constitution written by men who had lived under a monarchy and refused to recreate one. This war is the most dramatic breach of that premise yet — but not the first. Trump launched strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last year without a congressional vote. He ordered the capture of Venezuela’s president without one.
Each unchallenged act of unilateral power makes the next easier. This is how republics die — not in a single dramatic moment, but in the slow accumulation of precedents no one stopped in time.
On March 28, over 3,000 No Kings protests are scheduled across every state in this country. Join them. Bring your neighbors. Bring your children, so they can see what democracy looks like when citizens defend it. This is not a partisan call — it is a constitutional one, and it belongs to everyone who believes that in America, the people decide. Not one man. Not a king.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.
Keir Starmer explains that UK is participating defensively in Trump and Israel’s criminal war for Israel’s genocidal expansion in Iran and states 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 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.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.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Funeral ceremonies are held for health workers Ali Jaber and Joud Sulelman, who were killed in an Israeli strike carried out a day earlier in the town of Haruf in Nabatieh province in southern Lebanon on March 25, 2026. [Murat Şengül – Anadolu Agency]
Israel’s ongoing attacks in Lebanon cripple health services in Lebanon, the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Lebanon Emergency Situation Report said, Anadolu reports.
Since Israeli attacks on the country expanded since March 2, access to healthcare worsened, the report stated earlier this week.
64 attacks on the healthcare were identified, killing at least 53 healthcare workers and injuring 91 others, it said.
Nine hospitals were damaged, 50 primary healthcare centers were closed, and four primary healthcare centers were damaged.
Five hospitals, including Bahman Hospital, Al-Sahel Hospital, Bint Jbeil Public Hospital, Mays al-Jabal Public Hospital, and Al-Burj Hospital, were closed, the report added.
On Friday evening, the Lebanese Health Ministry announced that the death toll from the Israeli attacks rose to 1,142, with 3,315 others wounded.
The Israeli army has pounded Lebanon with airstrikes and launched a ground offensive in southern Lebanon since a cross-border attack by Hezbollah on March 2.
The ongoing Israeli offensive on Lebanon comes amid a heightened regional tensions since the US and Israel launched a joint offensive on Iran on Feb. 28, killing more than 1,340 people, including then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Tehran has retaliated with waves of drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries hosting US military assets, inflicting casualties and infrastructure damage while disrupting global markets and aviation.
Keir Starmer explains that UK is participating defensively in Trump and Israel’s criminal war for Israel’s genocidal expansion in Iran and states 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 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.Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
