In his first official statement Thursday, third leader of the Iranian Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei urged national unity and said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed. “We will not forsake avenging the blood of our martyrs, especially the martyrs of Minab,” he said, referring to the Tomahawk missile strike on military installations that also hit an all-girls’ school, killing 165 civilians. [From official Iranian news agency MNA]
Lawmakers v. Putin – “Numerous” Capitol Hill lawmakers, including some Republicans are “outraged” about the Trump administration’s easing of sanctions on Russian oil sold to India, CQ Roll Call reports. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced March 6 a 30-day waiver of sanctions so India can buy Russian oil.
The Trump administration imposed the sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil companies, Lukoil and Rosneff, last October after Moscow made no progress on agreeing to a peace deal with Ukraine.
“We may unsanction other Russian oil,” Bessent said on the Fox Business show Kudlow March 6, as Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz cut off oil from the Middle East to India.
“Russia is one of the significant threats, and they’re part of the axis of aggression that we’re trying to build up a defense against,” said Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-MS).
Posting on X-Twitter, Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) wrote; “Reducing sanctions on Putin’s Russia when we just learned the Russians are giving targeted intelligence to Iran is clearly the WRONG strategy. The Russians are helping Iran to kill our service members. We want more sanctions on Russia, not less.”
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Iran’s Attacks – Iran hit two oil tankers near the Iraq coast and forced the country to close operations at all its oil terminals Thursday, Newsweek reports. On one of the two oil tankers, one crew member was killed, 38 more were rescued and a search was continuing for the missing. The other was struck near a major port in the United Arab Emirates as a drone targeted a major oil field in Saudi Arabia, according to the report.
The cost … Oil prices jumped to $98 per barrel Thursday, Marketplace reports and stock futures slid, The Wall Street Journalreports, as the International Energy Agency slashed its forecast for the global oil supply to grow downward, to 1.1 million barrels a day from a previous forecast of 2.4 million barrels a day.
“The war in the Middle East is creating the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market,” the IEA said in a statement Thursday, the WSJ reports.
Tomahawks … Following President Trump’s claims that Iran may have struck the girls’ school in Minab with its own Tomahawk missiles (which it does not possess) the US announced it has launched an investigation into bombing of the school, which was located between Iranian military installations. At least 165 students and staff were killed, which would place it among the deadliest US military incidents involving civilians, in decades, NPR’s Morning Edition reported.
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Fuel Up – The national average for a gallon of regular unleaded was $3.598, the AAA reports Thursday, up 61.6 cents over the February 27 price, the day before the US and Israel began their air attack on Iran. Average price for diesel fuel was $4.86 per gallon.
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We’ve Not Won Enough – President Trump says “we’ve won” the war on Iran “but we haven’t won enough,” however that is measured, and we need to stick with the war until the job is complete. His remarks came during a visit to Verst Logistics in Hebron, in Kentucky’s 4th District, home to rogue Republican Rep. Thomas Massie.
Massie opposes the war in Iran and has been voting with Democrats lately on issues related to Trump.
Not surprising then is that Trump’s visit was as much about supporting Massie’s primary challenger, farmer and ex-Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, mostly by personally attacking Massie. He called the congressman a “loser,” “disloyal,” “a disaster as a human being” and “Rand Paul Jr.,” referring to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) who also increasingly votes against Trump policies.
Massie “votes ‘no’ on everything,” Trump said (per the Louisville Courier Journal).
Conversely, Trump said of challenger Gallrein; “He’s like central casting.” Maybe another Pete Hegseth, then?
Massie told Cincinnati-area 55KRC-FM radio he was “glad” for Trump’s visit to his district and asked whether the president would address rising gas prices and the effect of tariffs on logistics facilities like Verst.
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Another Section, More Tariffs – After the US Supreme Court struck down most of the president’s tariffs in its ruling on Learning Resources Inc. vs. Trump the White House invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to raise global tariffs from 10% to 15%. But that part of the Trade Act allows emergency tariffs for up to 150 days. On Wednesday, the Office of the United States Trade Representative issued its answer for that time limit: Section 301 of the Trade Act, which accounts for unfair trade from countries that “produce too much,” according to APR’s Marketplace. The office has issued a Federal Register notice that requires a public hearing on the tariffs to be held May 5.
Targeted countries are China, the European Union, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Japan and India. –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa