Category: Middle East

MIDDLE EAST — (NPA) March 17, 2026 — The Israel Defence Force (IDF) said it conducted an airstrike last night in Iran’s capital, Tehran, targeting the outspoken Iranian Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Ali Larijani.

Initial reports suggested uncertainty about the outcome, but a later statement from the Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz claimed the mission achieved its objective.

Last week, Newpost Africa reported that Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), accused the United States and Israel of attempting to destabilise Iran amid the ongoing conflict. In a televised interview marking the war’s eighth day, Larijani argued that the “problem is Iran itself… not a minor change but the total breakdown of the country.”

He alleged that the initial attacks by the US and Israel were intended to provoke collapse, referencing what he described as the “martyrdom of Imam Khamenei and other children of the revolution.” According to Larijani, Washington’s strategy relied on “shock” tactics aimed at overthrowing the government and dividing Iranian territory. He further noted that “even today, Mr Trump’s published message claimed Iran is being torn apart.”

INTERNATIONAL (NPA) — March 15, 2026 — U.S. President Donald Trump has urged the international community to take responsibility for securing the Strait of Hormuz, following Iran’s seizure of the vital energy transport corridor. The appeal comes in the wake of a U.S. military strike on Iran’s Khagar Island.

In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump declared: “The United States of America has beaten and completely decimated Iran, both militarily, economically, and in every other way. But the countries of the world that receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage, and we will help — A LOT!”

Trump emphasised that the U.S. would coordinate with affected nations to restore safe passage for oil shipments, some of which have already been disrupted by Iranian drone attacks. “This should have always been a team effort, and now it will be,” he wrote. “It will bring the world together toward harmony, security, and everlasting peace.”

The Strait of Hormuz is a critical route for global energy supplies, including shipments to China. Analysts note that Beijing’s response remains uncertain, given its longstanding ties with Tehran.

Meanwhile, Iran has continued launching drones and missiles at Gulf states, accusing them of hosting U.S. bases involved in the recent strikes. On Sunday, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported intercepting several Iranian projectiles targeting its territory.

INTERNATIONAL — (NPA) MARCH 14 — The U.S. State Department has offered $10 million and a pathway to resettlement in America for Iranians who can reveal the whereabouts of ten senior figures in the Islamic Republic’s power structure. The move is part of Washington’s campaign against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei — son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — and Ali Larijani, national security adviser and veteran politician, are the most recognisable names. Not all ten are identified; four positions, including the secretary of the defence council, are listed only by title, reflecting rapid turnover after recent airstrikes and the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in late February.

The bounty notably excludes some of Iran’s top leadership. President Masoud Pezeshkian, Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, and Ayatollah Alireza Arafi — who assumed collective leadership after Khamenei’s death — are absent. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who joined Friday’s pro-Palestinian march in Tehran alongside Larijani and Pezeshkian, also escaped inclusion.

The timing coincided with Quds Day demonstrations, where leaders reaffirmed support for the Palestinian cause. Yet beneath the political theatre lies a deeper vulnerability: Iran’s economy has been battered for years by sanctions, mismanagement, and corruption. Inflation and soaring costs have left citizens struggling. Against this backdrop, Washington’s promise of reward and relocation may resonate more strongly, offering not just money but escape from a system many feel has failed them.

This bounty program continues America’s strategy of targeting the IRGC’s upper ranks — not through battlefield confrontation alone, but by incentivising insider betrayal. Whether Iranians will respond remains uncertain, but the U.S. is betting that economic desperation, coupled with the lure of a new life abroad, could succeed where military strikes and sanctions have struggled.