Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at the threat facing oil facilities in the Persian Gulf, Denmark\u2019s strategy to deter U.S. ambitions for Greenland, and suspected Iranian espionage efforts in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n
The Fallout of South Pars<\/p>\n
The Iran war cast a dark shadow over the Middle East on Friday as many in the region celebrated<\/a> the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr and the Persian New Year, known as Nowruz. With the U.S. military mulling deployments up to and including landings, and with Israeli and Iranian forces trading deadly strikes that have put Gulf states in the crossfire, the conflict appears to be far from a peaceful solution.<\/p>\n Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at the threat facing oil facilities in the Persian Gulf, Denmark\u2019s strategy to deter U.S. ambitions for Greenland, and suspected Iranian espionage efforts in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n The Fallout of South Pars<\/p>\n The Iran war cast a dark shadow over the Middle East on Friday as many in the region celebrated<\/a> the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr and the Persian New Year, known as Nowruz. With the U.S. military mulling deployments up to and including landings, and with Israeli and Iranian forces trading deadly strikes that have put Gulf states in the crossfire, the conflict appears to be far from a peaceful solution.<\/p>\n Iran intensified<\/a> its attacks on Arab oil and natural gas facilities on Friday. According to the state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, a second consecutive day of Iranian drone strikes on the Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery ignited fires 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 hit.<\/p>\n Tehran had vowed on Wednesday to target the Gulf\u2019s oil and gas infrastructure after the Israeli military launched a massive attack<\/a> earlier that day on Iran\u2019s South Pars gas field<\/a>, which accounts for as much as 75 percent of the country\u2019s natural gas production. In retaliation, Iran extensively damaged Qatar\u2019s Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas facility, reducing its exports by around 17 percent and costing roughly $20 billion in lost annual revenue, according to QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi. The damage is expected to take up to five years to repair.<\/p>\n On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2014at the behest of U.S. President Donald Trump\u2014pledged to refrain from further strikes on South Pars. Still, Trump posted on Truth Social<\/a> that if Iran continues attacking Qatar, the United States will \u201cmassively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before.\u201d<\/p>\n The U.S. military appears to be ramping up its war efforts in the region. Unnamed U.S. military officials told the New York Times<\/a> on Friday that three warships carrying a total of 2,500 additional Marines were en route to the Middle East, where they are expected to replace troops who deployed to the area from Japan last week. Although Trump has publicly stated<\/a> that he has no intention of putting U.S. boots on the ground, some of these Marine units have the ability to launch small-scale ground incursions and assist in evacuation missions.<\/p>\n At the same time, Trump reiterated his frustration on Friday with Washington\u2019s European allies, which have stopped short of deploying warships to the region to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. \u201cWithout the U.S.A., NATO IS A PAPER TIGER!\u201d Trump wrote<\/a> on Truth Social. \u201c[T]hey complain about the high oil prices they are forced to pay, but don\u2019t want to help open the Strait of Hormuz, a simple military maneuver that is the single reason for the high oil prices. So easy for them to do, with so little risk. COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER!\u201d<\/p>\n Brent crude remained above $100 a barrel on Friday, raising costs<\/a> for gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel around the world.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Most Read<\/p>\n What We\u2019re Following<\/p>\n Prepared for battle. The Danish military sent explosives and blood supplies to Greenland in January in anticipation of a potential U.S. attack to seize the semi-autonomous territory, Denmark\u2019s public broadcaster DR reported<\/a> on Thursday. DR also reported<\/a> that the sudden public deployment<\/a> of Danish troops to Greenland that month to participate in a military exercise was part of a larger deterrence operation aimed at dissuading Trump from attempting to capture the strategically located, mineral-rich island. That included dispatching enough explosives to destroy Greenland\u2019s main runways\u2014located near the capital of Nuuk and at a former fighter base in Kangerlussuaq\u2014as well as having enough blood on hand in case of a combat situation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were very worried this was going to go really wrong,\u201d one European official told the Financial Times<\/a> on Thursday regarding Trump\u2019s repeated threats over Greenland.<\/p>\n Sources told DR that Trump\u2019s capture of then-Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> in early January was a turning point<\/a> for Denmark; two days after that operation, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen<\/a> warned that a U.S. attack on a NATO ally would mean the end of the alliance. \u201cThe international community as we know it, democratic rules of the game, NATO, the world\u2019s strongest defensive alliance\u2014all of that would collapse if one NATO country chose to attack another,\u201d Frederiksen said.<\/p>\n NATO chief Mark Rutte ultimately defused<\/a> the conflict at the World Economic Forum later that month, striking a \u201cframework of a future deal<\/a>\u201d with Trump that would increase Washington\u2019s access to Greenland, both in terms of troop deployments and critical minerals, as well as enhance the alliance\u2019s presence in the Arctic.<\/p>\n Alleged Iranian espionage. Two Iranian nationals appeared in a London court on Thursday to face charges of spying on Jewish and Israeli institutions in England on behalf of Tehran\u2019s intelligence service over five weeks last summer. Their targets reportedly included the United Kingdom\u2019s oldest functioning synagogue, Bevis Marks; the Israeli Embassy and Consulate in London; a Jewish community center; and a rabbinical training school.<\/p>\n Although the alleged activity predates the current U.S.-Israel war against Iran, Britain\u2019s security services have warned of the threat that the Iranian regime poses to the United Kingdom. Last year, the head of MI5, Britain\u2019s domestic intelligence agency, said that since January 2022, the agency as well as British police had responded to\u00a020 Iran-backed plots<\/a>\u00a0to kidnap or kill British nationals or people based in the United Kingdom whom Iran\u2019s government saw as a threat.\u00a0<\/p>\n The United Kingdom has not joined the ongoing U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. However, the United Kingdom announced<\/a> on Friday that it will now allow the U.S. military to use its bases to attack Iranian sites that are targeting the Strait of Hormuz; previously, London had only allowed Washington to use them for defensive actions<\/a>. In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote<\/a> on X that U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer \u201cis putting British lives in danger by allowing UK bases to be used for aggression against Iran. Iran will exercise its right to self-defense.\u201d<\/p>\n The stakes in Slovenia. Slovenians will head to the polls on Sunday for a key parliamentary election<\/a>, during which liberal Prime Minister Robert Golob will face off against pro-Trump populist Janez Jansa<\/a>. Local polling predicts a tight race between Golob\u2019s Freedom Movement and Jansa\u2019s Slovenian Democratic Party; however, neither group is expected<\/a> to secure a majority in Ljubljana\u2019s 90-seat parliament, which means that smaller coalition partners may end up determining the contest\u2019s outcome.<\/p>\n Much is at stake in Sunday\u2019s election. Domestically, Golob is focused on social policy, green technology, and institutional reforms, whereas Jansa seeks to cut funding for welfare and media programs as well as grant tax breaks to businesses. The future of Ljubljana\u2019s foreign agenda<\/a> 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 would likely reverse under Jansa, who is a staunch supporter of Israel.<\/p>\n But allegations of foreign manipulation have already soured some voters\u2019 trust ahead of the vote. This week, Golob accused \u201cforeign services<\/a>\u201d of interfering in the country\u2019s upcoming election after a state intelligence report found that representatives of Black Cube<\/a>, a private Israeli spy firm, had visited Slovenia, including Jansa\u2019s headquarters. Jansa has admitted to meeting with Black Cube representatives but has denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n Odds and Ends<\/p>\n The first time that FP\u2019s World Brief writer got behind the wheel, she drove circles in an empty Target parking lot under the watchful eye of her white-knuckled mother. The daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has had a slightly different experience. State media published<\/a> photos on Friday of the girl, believed to be around age 13, driving a tank during offensive army tactical drills at a North Korean training base the day before. Her proud father\u2014and three soldiers\u2014supervised her excursion.<\/p>\n Kim is believed to be preparing his daughter to eventually succeed him, with the two having recently been seen firing pistols<\/a> at a munitions factory and watching<\/a> a live-fire rocket launch together. You know, just classic father-daughter bonding activities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at the threat facing oil facilities in the Persian Gulf,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28949,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2138,855,34,217,37,213,8648,8649,271,69,858,51],"class_list":{"0":"post-28948","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tehran","8":"tag-energy-policy","9":"tag-homepage_regional_middle_east_africa","10":"tag-iran","11":"tag-iran-israel","12":"tag-israel","13":"tag-oil","14":"tag-paywall-free","15":"tag-post-to-buffer","16":"tag-qatar","17":"tag-tehran","18":"tag-u-s-military","19":"tag-united-states"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116263744181121854","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}