War in the Middle East (US-Iran-Israel Conflict)

[Gizmo]

@Gizmo, heads up!

(The Guardian) New Zealand mulls car restrictions if fuel supplies run low
Officials in New Zealand say they are considering using decades-old laws restricting vehicle use if fuel supplies dwindle due to the war in the Middle East.

Finance minister Nicola Willis told reporters on Thursday that officials had discussed using legislation introduced to restrict fuel use in the wake of the Iranian revolution in 1979 in response to the crisis.

Under those laws, car owners had to nominate one day per week when they would not use their vehicle and faced hefty fines if caught driving. They also allowed the government to authorise the sale of coupons to restrict fuel use, and restrict the amount that could be sold, Agence France-Presse is reporting.

The so-called “carless days” were in effect from July 1979 to May 1980.

The minister’s comments came as oil prices surged back above $100 a barrel on Thursday.

Yep unfortunately. There's also a lot of flights that are going to get cancelled but most people will still be able to fly out at a later time the same day. It's supposed to be like that until at least May and me and my partner are getting a flight next month.

 

[Webster]

(The Guardian) 1:56pm Summary
--In his first public remarks as Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei apparently called for national unity and said that all US bases in the region should close or face attacks. The strait of Hormuz will remain closed in order to pressure Iran’s enemies, Khamenei reportedly said. He was not seen in the broadcast and the statement was delivered by a newsreader.
--Khamenei said Iran will avenge the those who were killed in US-Israeli airstrikes, including the dozens of seven to 12-year-old girls who were killed in an airstrike that hit a school in Minab. He also offered financial compensation for Iranians who suffered damage from the attacks.
--Iran appeared to have set two tankers ablaze on fire in Iraqi waters, killing one crew member, as it stepped up strikes on oil and transport facilities around the Middle East.
--Thailand’s foreign ministry on Thursday said it had requested an apology from after a Thai bulk carrier was attacked in the strait of Hormuz yesterday. Three ships were hit by unknown projectiles in the strategic strait abutting Iran. While two of the ships sustained damage, the crew was forced to evacuate the Thai bulk carrier after it caught fire.
--US energy secretary Chris Wright told CNBC on Thursday that the navy cannot escort ships through the strait of Hormuz now but it was “quite likely” that could happen by the end of the month. The issues with protecting oil tankers in the strait were discussed by US military officials in a classified briefing to top lawmakers on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter.
--As many as 3.2m Iranians have fled their homes to find safety from the joint US-Israeli aerial bombing campaign bombarding the country, according to preliminary assessments by the the UN refugee agency. “Most of them are reportedly fleeing from Tehran and other major urban areas towards the north of the country and rural areas to seek safety,” the UNHCR said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.
--Oman’s foreign minister, and the mediator in the US Iran nuclear talks, has claimed the US will not achieve as much through war as it could have achieved in the peace talks. Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi was speaking to Omani reporters in Muscat and appears to challenge the premise that the war is about Iran’s nuclear program, arguing it was designed to weaken Iran politically.
--Oil prices, which shot up earlier in the week to nearly $120 a barrel before retreating, jumped almost 10% back above $100 a barrel before dropping to $98 a barrel amid renewed fears about supply disruption. A spokesperson for Iran’s military command had earlier warned in remarks directed at the US: “Get ready for oil to be $200 a barrel, because the oil price depends on regional security, which you have destabilised.”
--Vladimir Putin’s “hidden hand” lies behind Iran’s military methods, the UK defence secretary, John Healey, has said, after a night in which drones struck a camp used by western forces in Erbil, northern Iraq. Healey was speaking after British officers at the UK’s military headquarters in north-west London had told him that Iranian and Iranian proxy drone pilots were increasingly adopting tactics “from the Russians”.
--Iran wants to ensure that a war will not be imposed on it again in the future, deputy foreign minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi told AFP, as the conflict raged with the United States and Israel. “We want to see that war is not going to be imposed again on Iran,” said Takht-Ravanchi in an interview with AFP in Tehran.
--The International Maritime Organization (IMO) will convene an “extraordinary session” next week to discuss threats to shipping in the Middle East and particularly in the strait of Hormuz, the agency said Thursday. The meeting, scheduled for 18-19 March at the IMO headquarters in London, was requested by several council members.
--Israeli forces conducted a drone strike on an area of Beirut where displaced residents were sheltering in tents. At least eight people were killed in the attack on the capital’s beachfront.
--The Israeli military issued a warning on Thursday to residents of a village in Lebanon located about 64 kilometres (40 miles) east of Beirut. It also announced that it had begun yet another widescale wave of strikes on Iran. The IDF also said that Israeli forces had struck a nuclear program site in Iran earlier this week, but the Guardian was not able to independently verify that statement.
--Amid the Israeli strikes on Lebanon and Iran, displaced Palestinians in a tent encampment near Gaza City said they received a call from the Israeli military on Wednesday night ordering them to evacuate in five minutes. Video shows the camp then getting struck.
--Drones struck Kuwait international airport on Thursday, causing some material damage. It is unclear who is responsible for the attack, which came one day after four people were injured when air defences intercepted two drones near Dubai airport in the United Arab Emirates. Soon after the attack, the Dutch carrier KLM canceled all flights to Dubai up to and including 28 March.
--An Italian military base in the Kurdish region of Iraq was attacked, Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani said in a post on X. Tajani said he strongly condemned the attack in Erbil, but didn’t say if authorities knew who was responsible for it. He said all soldiers on the base were safe.
--About 2,000 people have reportedly been killed in the war launched almost two weeks ago, while Unicef said more than 1,100 children had been killed or injured.

Middle East crisis live: top Iranian nuclear scientists killed, Israel says; US carrying out rescue efforts after losing refuelling plane in Iraq

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu also issued veiled threat to kill new Iranian supreme leader; US central command says aircraft lost in ‘friendly airspace’

www.theguardian.com

 

[Webster]

(The Guardian) 6:38pm Summary
--Several hours ago, at approximately 10pm local time, the Israeli military said it had launched a new wave of strikes on Tehran. Residents in the Iranian capital reported heavy explosions.
--Israeli strikes have killed more than 100 children in Lebanon, according to the latest data from the Lebanese health ministry. A total of 773 people have been killed since Israel’s first strikes on the country on 2 March, with a further 1,933 people wounded, the ministry said in its daily report. It said 103 children had now been killed in the strikes, and a further 326 children have been wounded.
--The Pentagon is moving additional Marines and warships to the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal and other outlets reported. US defence secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly approved a request from US Central Command for an element of an amphibious ready group and attached Marine expeditionary unit (MEU). There are differing reports about the size of the contingent to be deployed, but the group typically consists of several warships and 5,000 Marines and sailors. It is not yet clear what the MEU will be used for or where exactly it will be deployed. But, their presence gives commanders additional options for a range of contingencies, a source told CNN. Trump and his administration have repeatedly refused to rule out US boots on the ground in Iran.
--Donald Trump rejected an offer from Vladimir Putin to move Iran’s enriched uranium to Russia, Axios reported. The offer was reportedly made during the phone call the two leaders held earlier this week. Trump has repeatedly stated that one of his key objectives in launching the war is to prevent Tehran from ever having a nuclear weapon.
--But in his interview on Fox News Radio on Friday morning, Trump suggested that securing Iran’s highly enriched uranium is not currently a top priority: “We are not focused on that, but at some point we might be.” Previous reports have suggested that the US president is considering sending US troops into Iran to seize its uranium.
--Trump also said he didn’t think “it’s going to be long when [the war is] over”. Asked when he might end it, Trump told Fox News Radio it would be up to him: “When I feel it, OK … feel it in my bones.”
--Trump also said he believes that Russia might be helping Iran “a little bit”, before pointing to US support for Ukraine as possible justification. It come after the UK defence secretary, John Healey, said on Thursday that Putin’s “hidden hand” lies behind Iran’s military methods. Last week, the Washington Post and others reported that Moscow was providing Tehran with intelligence on US military assets in the region. Putin denied Russian involvement in a phone call with Trump, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Tuesday.
--The UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, called for humanitarian aid to be allowed to pass safely through the strait of Hormuz as the US-Israeli war on Iran continues to disrupt one of the world’s most vital shipping routes. In a statement, Tom Fletcher said this will make it harder and more expensive to deliver critical supplies, including food and medicine. Only 77 ships have so far crossed through the critical waterway this month.
--US vice-president JD Vance said the US knows Iran’s new supreme leader is hurt but does not known the full extent of his injuries. “We know that he’s hurt. We don’t know exactly how bad, but we know that he’s hurt,” he told reporters in North Carolina. It appeared to contradict his cabinet colleague US defence secretary Pete Hegseth’s claim earlier on Friday that Khamenei is “wounded and likely disfigured” as he questioned his ability to govern. At present, there is no proof for Hegseth’s claim.
--Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said in a televised speech on Friday that his group is fighting an “existential” battle and is ready for a “long confrontation” with Israel as the war continues. Israel will be “surprised on the battlefield”, Qassem said, adding that “the enemy’s threats do not scare us”. Israeli threats to assassinate him are “worthless”, he added.
--The US state department is offering rewards of up to $10m to anyone with information on Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei as well as nine “key leaders” of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Among the six figures named are new secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani and Esmail Khatib, the minister of intelligence. The others are listed only by their positions.
--A British counter-drone unit has shot down “multiple drones overnight” following recent strikes on coalition bases in Iraq, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said. Overnight, UK Typhoon jets flew air defence operations over Bahrain for the first time, the MoD said in an update shared on X. It added: “British Typhoon and F-35 jets are now flying in defence of British interests and allies across Qatar, Cyprus, UAE, Jordan, and Bahrain.”
--Qatar’s Ministry of Interior said that “a number of specified areas” are being evacuated “as a temporary precautionary measure, in the interest of public safety until the threat has subsided”.
--The armed suspect who crashed into a large Michigan synagogue had lost four family members in an Israeli airstrike in his native Lebanon last week, an unnamed official told the Associated Press on Friday. Here’s our story on that.
--Formula One is poised to cancel races scheduled for next month in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, as a result of the ongoing conflict in the region. The sport has not yet formally confirmed the grands prix will be scrapped but it is expected to announce their cancellation as soon as this weekend.

Middle East crisis live: US has carried out strikes on ‘every military target’ on Iran’s Kharg island, Trump says

US president threatens to attack oil infrastructure on the island unless passage through strait of Hormuz is unblocked

www.theguardian.com

 

[Monke from Tropix 2]

I feel like this news piece is more appropriate being here than creating a new thread:

Pro-Iran hackers claim cyberattack on major US medical device maker​

A cyberattack claimed by pro-Iran hackers has caused a “global network disruption” to a major US medical device maker, according to a company statement.
CNN Article By Sean Lyngaas

A cyberattack claimed by pro-Iran hackers has caused a “global network disruption” to a major US medical device maker, according to a company statement.

Michigan-based Stryker “is experiencing a global network disruption to our Microsoft environment as a result of a cyberattack,” the company said in a statement to CNN. “We have no indication of ransomware or malware and believe the incident is contained. Our teams are working rapidly to understand the impact of the attack on our systems. Stryker has business continuity measures in place to continue to support our customers and partners.”

Stryker makes a range of hospital equipment, from defibrillators to ambulance cots. The company’s computers in Ireland were also hit by the cyberattack, according to local media reports. Stryker say it serves more than 150 million patients through its health equipment and services.

It was unclear what immediate impacts, if any, the hack had on Stryker’s provision of medical equipment to US hospitals. Cybersecurity executives across the health sector told CNN on Wednesday they were on alert for any impacts.

One piece of Stryker equipment apparently disrupted by the cyberattack was an IT system called Lifenet, which emergency responders use to communicate patient data to hospitals.

Maryland’s Institute for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems, which oversees the state’s emergency medical services, told hospitals in the state Wednesday that it had received multiple reports that Stryker’s Lifenet electrocardiogram transmission system was “non-functional in most parts of the state.”

“Until the transmission capability has been restored, EMS clinicians should initiate radio consultation with the receiving hospital,” read the notice from the Maryland emergency services agency, which CNN obtained.

“A message was sent in abundance of caution until the situation can be resolved,” Todd Abramowitz, a spokesperson for the agency, told CNN in an email when asked for comment. “No effect on patient care, paramedics convey their interpretation verbally as they do all the time, routinely.”

The cyberattack appears to be one of the first notable pro-Iranian hacks against US infrastructure since the US and Israel began bombing Iran last month. US intelligence officials have warned about the possibility of Tehran-linked hackers retaliating for the US and Israeli bombing of Iran that began last month.

In a social media post on Wednesday, the hacking group that claimed responsibility said the Stryker hack was retaliation for a missile strike on an elementary school in Iran, which Iranian state media has claimed killed at least 168 children. The Pentagon is investigating that incident.

Federal agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday were trying to get a sense of any potential impacts the hack could have on patient care, sources familiar with the response told CNN.

A Wednesday evening call held by the Healthcare and Public Health Sector Coordinating Council, an industry group that works with the government to bolster security in the sector, was brief and yielded little new information about the Stryker hack, a source on the call told CNN.

Hospitals are trying to determine whether they should disconnect Stryker equipment from hospitals systems.

“Stryker needs to quickly become more forthcoming as hospitals are faced with dilemma of whether to cut off Stryker or not,” a cybersecurity executive in the health care sector told CNN. “Stryker publicly claims situation is ‘contained.’ What does that mean?”

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier on the pro-Iran hack. Stryker’s shares fell more than 3% following that report.

Iran-linked hackers had been largely quiet in terms of attacks on US organizations since the war began last month.

Email security firm Proofpoint said Wednesday that its tracking of known Iranian groups had turned up only one hacking campaign — an attempt to hack a US think tank employee — since the war began.

“Too much of cybersecurity is focused on lower consequence breaches from financially motivated enemies, while we’re increasing our exposures to nation states and other enemies who seek to disrupt and destroy,” Joshua Corman, a cybersecurity expert who has focused on the health sector for years, told CNN. “China, Iran, Russia, etc. all have the means, motive, and opportunity to deal us devastating disruptions.”

Despite the US and Israel’s bombardment of Iranian government facilities, Wednesday’s hack showed that Tehran still has hackers capable of inflicting damage, cybersecurity analysts said.

“Cyber operations don’t require much infrastructure,” said Alex Rose, global head of government partnerships at cybersecurity firm Sophos. “A laptop and an internet connection can be enough to reach out and wreak havoc.”