Welcome back to Global Briefing, where we highlight the threat facing the country’s fuel stations Persian Gulf, Denmarkprevention strategy United States desires of Greenlandand suspected Iranian intelligence efforts in England.
Fall of South Pars
The Iran war cast a shadow over the Middle East on Friday as did much of the region celebration the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr and the Persian New Year, known as Nowruz. With the US military building up its forces up to and including landings, and with Israeli and Iranian forces carrying out deadly attacks that have plunged the Gulf states into conflict, the conflict appears to be far from a peaceful resolution.
Welcome back to Global Briefing, where we highlight the threat facing the country’s fuel stations Persian Gulf, Denmarkprevention strategy United States desires of Greenlandand suspected Iranian intelligence efforts in England.
Fall of South Pars
The Iran war cast a shadow over the Middle East on Friday as did much of the region celebration the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr and the Persian New Year, known as Nowruz. With the US military building up its forces up to and including landings, and with Israeli and Iranian forces carrying out deadly attacks that have plunged the Gulf states into conflict, the conflict appears to be far from a peaceful resolution.
Iran was multiplied his attacks on Arab oil and natural gas facilities on Friday. According to the state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, for the second day in a row, Iranian drone attacks on the Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery set it on fire on Friday. Energy operations in the Emirati cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi were targeted, and Saudi Arabia confirmed that its Samref refinery had been affected.
Tehran vowed on Wednesday to target Gulf oil and gas infrastructure after the Israeli military launched a major attacks earlier that day in Iran South Pars gas fieldwhich accounts for 75 percent of natural gas production in the country. In retaliation, Iran largely destroyed Qatar’s Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas terminal, reducing its exports by nearly 17 percent and costing it about $20 billion in lost revenue a year, according to QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi. The damage is expected to take up to five years to repair.
On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – at the behest of US President Donald Trump – promised to refrain from further strikes in South Pars. Still, Trump wrote Social Reality that if Iran continues to attack Qatar, the United States will “massively blow up the entire South Pars Gas Field with a level of power and capability that Iran has never seen or experienced before.”
The US military seems to be intensifying its war efforts in the region. Unnamed US military officials told them New York Times on Friday that three warships carrying a total of 2,500 additional Marines were heading to the Middle East, where they are expected to replace troops sent to the region from Japan last week. Although Trump has publicly pronounced that he does not intend to put American boots on the ground, some of these Marine units are capable of launching small ground attacks and assisting in rescue missions.
Meanwhile, Trump reiterated his frustration on Friday with Washington’s European allies, who have stopped sending warships to the region to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. “Without the United States, NATO is a PAPER TIGER!” Trump he wrote on Social Reality. “(T)hey complain about the high oil prices they are forced to pay, but they don’t want to help open the Strait of Hormuz, a simple military maneuver that is one reason for the high oil prices. It’s easy for them to do, with very little risk. COWARDS, and WE WILL REMEMBER!”
Brent crude remained above $100 a barrel on Friday, increase costs for gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel worldwide.
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What we’re after
Ready for battle. The Danish military sent explosives and blood supplies to Greenland in January in anticipation of a possible US attack to seize the independent territory, Danish public broadcaster DR. information on Thursday. DR too information that suddenly sent to the public of Danish troops arriving in Greenland that month to take part in military exercises was part of a larger deterrence operation aimed at preventing Trump from trying to seize the strategic, mineral-rich island. That included sending enough explosives to destroy Greenland’s main airstrips—located near the capital Nuuk and at the former fighter base at Kangerlussuaq—as well as having enough blood in the war.
“We were very worried that this would go badly,” one European official told Financial Times Thursday about Trump’s repeated threats over Greenland.
Sources told DR that Trump’s arrest of the then President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro early January was a turning point to Denmark; two days after the operation, the Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen he warned that a US attack on a NATO ally would mean the end of the alliance. “The international community as we know it, the democratic rules of the game, NATO, the strongest defense alliance in the world – all of that would collapse if one NATO country chose to attack another,” Frederiksen said.
NATO chief Mark Rutte finally giving up dispute at the World Economic Forum later that month, hitting “future agreement system” by Trump that would increase Washington’s access to Greenland, in terms of the deployment of troops and important minerals, as well as increasing the alliance’s presence in the Arctic.
Allegations of Iranian espionage. Two Iranian nationals appeared in a London court on Thursday to face charges of spying against Jewish and Israeli institutions in Britain on behalf of Tehran’s intelligence service for five weeks last summer. Their targets were reported to include the oldest synagogue in England, Bevis Marks; Israeli Embassy and Consulate in London; a Jewish community center; and a rabbinic training school.
Although the alleged activity is before the current war between the United States and Israel against Iran, British security agencies have warned of the threat that the Iranian regime poses to Britain. Last year, the head of MI5, Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, said that since January 2022, the agency and the British police have responded. 20 conspiracies supported by Iran to kidnap or kill British citizens or people in the UK whom the Iranian government deemed a threat.
Britain has not joined the ongoing attacks by the US and Israel against Iran. However, England he announced on Friday that it will now allow the US military to use its bases to attack Iranian sites that target the Strait of Hormuz; previously, London had only allowed Washington to use them defensive actions. Responding, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi he wrote on X that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is “putting British lives at risk by allowing British bases to be used aggressively against Iran. Iran will exercise its right to defend itself.”
Slovenian standards. Slovenians will head to the polls on Sunday for a the general election of parliamentarianswhen liberal Prime Minister Robert Golob will face off against a Trump supporter John Jansa. Local opinion polls predict a tight contest between Golob’s Freedom Movement and Jansa’s Slovenian Democratic Party; however, there is no group expected get a majority in Ljubljana’s 90-seat parliament, which means smaller coalition partners could end up deciding the outcome of the contest.
Much is at stake in Sunday’s election. Domestically, Golob focuses on social policy, green technology, and institutional reform, while Jansa aims to cut funding for welfare programs and the media as well as provide tax breaks for businesses. The future of Ljubljana foreign agenda is also on the table. Under Golob, Slovenia became one of the few European nations to recognize an independent Palestinian state and the first to impose an arms embargo on Israel. Those policies are likely to change under Jansa, who is a staunch supporter of Israel.
But allegations of foreign fraud have already dented the confidence of some voters ahead of the vote. This week, Golob accused “foreign services” to interfere in the next election in the country after the government’s intelligence report found that the representatives of The Black CubeIsrael’s private intelligence agency, had visited Slovenia, including Jansa’s headquarters. Jansa has admitted to meeting with Black Cube representatives but has denied committing any wrongdoing.
Odds and Ends
The first time FP’s World Brief reporter got behind the wheel, he drove laps in an empty Walenga parking lot under the watchful eye of his kneeling mother. The daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has had a slightly different experience. State media published pictures on Friday of the girl, believed to be around 13 years old, driving a tank during an offensive military exercise at a North Korean training camp the day before. His proud father—and three soldiers—supervised his journey.
Kim is believed to be preparing his daughter to eventually succeed him, with the two having been spotted recently firing a pistol at the weapons factory and look shoot rockets directly together. You know, the usual father-daughter bonding activities.
