As I wrote last week, Iran is in the driver’s seat, despite being hammered by superior US and Israeli power.
Number one because their capacity to wreck interlinked and globally integrated
markets, which are rapidly ramping pain on Americans, and could, according to some well informed officials, disrupt the global economy.
For many who though this was all fun and games for a long time, real impacts showing up that could be long lasting, and real fears about an expanding war and worldwide ripple effects are putting increased pressure on the team of unprepared amateurs in the Trump cabinet.
Some darker fears of an uncontrolled WWIII scenario are making the rounds.
Israel‘s strikes on 30 Iranian fuel depots Saturday went far beyond what the U.S. expected when Israel notified it in advance, sparking the first significant disagreement between the allies since the war began eight days ago, according to a U.S. official, Israeli official and a source with knowledge.
Why it matters: The U.S. is concerned Israeli strikes on infrastructure that serves ordinary Iranians could backfire strategically, rallying Iranian society to support the regime and driving up oil prices.
Driving the news: The Israeli air force’s Saturday strikes created large fires in Tehran, igniting flames visible for miles and blanketing the capital in heavy smoke.
- The IDF claimed in a statement that the fuel depots “are used by the Iranian regime to supply fuel to different consumers including its military organs.”
- An Israeli military official said the strikes were intended in part to tell Iran to stop targeting Israeli civilian infrastructure.
Behind the scenes: Israeli and U.S. officials said the IDF notified the U.S. military ahead of the strikes.
- But a U.S. official said that the U.S. military was surprised by how wide-ranging they were.
- “We don’t think it was a good idea,” a senior U.S. official said.
- An Israeli official said the U.S. message to Israel was “WTF”.
- The White House and the IDF didn’t comment.