{"id":419,"date":"2026-03-12T17:18:33","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T17:18:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rudymartinez.wtf\/stuff-and-nonsense\/2026\/03\/12\/the-rest-of-the-world-report-day-13-morning-edition\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T17:18:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T17:18:33","slug":"the-rest-of-the-world-report-day-13-morning-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rudymartinez.wtf\/stuff-and-nonsense\/2026\/03\/12\/the-rest-of-the-world-report-day-13-morning-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rest of the World Report | Day 13 Morning Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thursday, March 12, 2026<\/h3>\n
<\/div>\n

What the international press is saying \u2014 translated for American readers.<\/em><\/p>\n

THE NUMBERS<\/h3>\n

Iran<\/strong> | Killed: 1,348+ civilians (UN Ambassador Iravani) | Injured: 17,000+ | Children killed or injured: 1,100+ (UNICEF)
Lebanon<\/strong> | Killed: 634+ | Displaced: 800,000+
Israel<\/strong> | Killed: 12 civilians | Injured: 1,929+
US<\/strong> | KIA: 8 | Wounded: 140 (Pentagon)<\/p>\n

Ships attacked<\/strong> in\/near Hormuz since Feb 28: 17+ and climbing \u2014 3 more struck overnight into Thursday morning
Brent crude<\/strong>: Back over $100\/barrel \u2014 IEA\u2019s record 400M barrel release failed to move prices
Travel & tourism losses<\/strong>: $600M per day across the Middle East (World Travel & Tourism Council)<\/p>\n

US war cost<\/strong>: $11.3B in first 6 days (Pentagon, closed-door Senate briefing \u2014 NYT first, confirmed NBC\/The Hill) \u2014 does not<\/strong> include pre-war military buildup costs. Sen. Coons (D-Del.) said Wednesday he believes the actual total “is significantly above that.” At the Pentagon’s own $1B\/day baseline, Day 13 puts the running estimate at $13B+<\/strong> and climbing. A $50B supplemental funding request is being prepared for Congress.<\/p>\n

1. THE STRAIT IS NOW A TAX \u2014 AND IRAN IS THE COLLECTOR<\/h3>\n

Overnight into Day 13, three more vessels were struck in and around the Strait of Hormuz. The Safesea Vishnu \u2014 a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker owned by a US company \u2014 was hit by an Iranian underwater drone in Iraqi territorial waters near Basra\u2019s Umm Qasr port. One crew member was killed. Thirty-eight others were rescued. A second vessel, the Maltese-flagged chemical tanker Zefyros, was also struck nearby. A third ship was hit off the UAE coast.<\/p>\n

Iraq subsequently shut down all oil port operations in its southern terminals \u2014 a staggering development. Iraq\u2019s southern ports are one of the few remaining major export routes not dependent on the Strait of Hormuz itself. That exit is now compromised.<\/p>\n

The IRGC\u2019s framing of all these strikes is consistent and deliberate. Every statement follows the same formula: the vessel \u201cignored warnings,\u201d therefore Iran\u2019s navy acted. The message to the shipping world is unmistakable \u2014 Iran has declared itself the authority over who moves through these waters, and it is collecting compliance through fire.<\/p>\n

Thailand summoned Iran\u2019s ambassador Thursday over the Mayuree Naree attack. Three crew members remain missing, believed to have been in the engine compartment when the ship was struck.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf escalated the rhetoric further Thursday morning, warning that any attack on Iranian islands would cause Iran to \u201cabandon all restraint\u201d and make \u201cthe Persian Gulf run with the blood of invaders.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US and Europe are now actively discussing naval convoy escorts for commercial shipping \u2014 but Eurasia Group estimates it will take until end of March or early April to stand anything up. In the meantime, ships are making the call individually: most are routing around the Cape of Good Hope, adding weeks and significant cost to every voyage.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udf0d TRANSLATOR\u2019S NOTE:<\/strong> Outside the US, the shutdown of Iraqi ports is being treated as a major escalation \u2014 not just of the military conflict but of the economic war. Iraq is not a party to this conflict. Its oil terminals are civilian infrastructure. The fact that Iran struck tankers in Iraqi territorial waters signals that Iran is no longer limiting its economic pressure campaign to the strait itself. The war\u2019s economic blast radius just got wider.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 WHAT AMERICAN READERS NEED TO KNOW:<\/strong> The IEA released a record 400 million barrels from strategic reserves this week. Brent crude is still over $100 a barrel. That number tells you everything about the gap between what governments can do and what markets believe about how long this lasts. The strategic reserve exists for emergencies. It just fired its biggest shot in history. Prices didn\u2019t move.<\/p>\n

2. EUROPE\u2019S QUESTION THAT WASHINGTON WON\u2019T ANSWER<\/h3>\n

Thirteen days into this war, America\u2019s closest allies are confronting an uncomfortable reality: they are stakeholders in a conflict they were never consulted on, with no idea how it ends \u2014 and no one in Washington is telling them.<\/p>\n

The Council on Foreign Relations documented what European capitals have confirmed privately: the US launched the operation with little to no consultation with transatlantic allies. European governments learned about Operation Epic Fury the same way everyone else did.<\/p>\n

Since then, the picture hasn\u2019t clarified. It has gotten murkier. In recent days Trump has called for Iran\u2019s \u201cunconditional surrender,\u201d suggested the war was \u201cpretty much over,\u201d vowed to continue until \u201cultimate victory,\u201d and said there was \u201cpractically nothing left to target.\u201d These statements were sometimes made hours apart.<\/p>\n

The G7 call \u2014 convened by Macron \u2014 was meant to produce alignment. It produced the opposite. Two sources with knowledge of the call told Axios that Trump was \u201cambiguous and noncommittal.\u201d Some participants left believing he wanted to end the war quickly. Others came away with the opposite impression. Macron went public afterward, saying it would be \u201cup to the president of the United States to clarify both his final objectives and the pace he intends to give to the operations.\u201d That is diplomatic language for: we don\u2019t know what he wants and he didn\u2019t tell us.<\/p>\n

CNN obtained a quote from a European diplomat that is more direct: \u201cWe have no idea what they actually want to accomplish when this war is over. It doesn\u2019t seem like Trump even knows.\u201d<\/p>\n

The most telling signal came from Germany. Friedrich Merz has been the most supportive major European leader of the US-Israeli campaign \u2014 and even he is now breaking from the script. \u201cAbove all, we\u2019re concerned that there is apparently no joint plan for how this war can be brought quickly to a convincing end,\u201d Merz said Tuesday. He stressed that Germany and Europe have \u201cno interest in an endless war.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mines question crystallized the problem. Trump warned Iran publicly and repeatedly to remove mines from the strait, threatening consequences \u201cat a level never seen before.\u201d Then Macron \u2014 on the same day, after the G7 call \u2014 said he had \u201cno confirmation\u201d that Iran was laying mines at all. Two leaders, same alliance, contradicting each other publicly on a core military fact on the same afternoon.<\/p>\n

Spain is being punished for asking basic questions. After Madrid said it would not allow the US to use jointly operated bases in southern Spain for strikes not covered by the UN charter, Trump threatened to \u201ccut off trade with Spain.\u201d Keir Starmer and Pedro S\u00e1nchez have both faced Trump\u2019s public anger for positions that, in any previous administration, would have been considered routine allied diplomacy.<\/p>\n

The CFR\u2019s conclusion: Europe went into this war as a bystander. Thirteen days later it is discovering it is a stakeholder \u2014 one with enormous economic exposure, no seat at the decision-making table, and no visibility into the exit.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udf0d TRANSLATOR\u2019S NOTE:<\/strong> In European capitals, the mines moment was noticed. Macron publicly contradicting Trump on a factual military claim is not a routine diplomatic disagreement \u2014 it is a European leader signaling that he will not echo Washington\u2019s narrative when he believes it is wrong. That is a significant break in the post-war Atlantic order. European press read it that way immediately.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 WHAT AMERICAN READERS NEED TO KNOW:<\/strong> Germany just approved its largest military rearmament since World War II, partly in direct response to this war and Trump\u2019s approach to it. Europe is not just confused about American goals \u2014 it is actively making contingency plans for a world in which it cannot rely on Washington to be consistent, predictable, or honest with its allies. That process accelerated this week.<\/p>\n

3. IRAN NAMES ITS PRICE<\/h3>\n

For the first time since the war began, Tehran has put conditions on the table. Iranian President Pezeshkian outlined three requirements to end the conflict: recognition of Iran\u2019s \u201clegitimate rights,\u201d payment of reparations, and firm international guarantees against future aggression.<\/p>\n

These terms are almost certainly not a serious opening negotiating position in the near term \u2014 reparations alone would be a non-starter in Washington. But their existence matters. Iran is signaling, for the first time publicly, that it has an off-ramp in mind. It is also signaling what it wants that off-ramp to look like: not surrender, but a negotiated acknowledgment that it was wronged.<\/p>\n

Paired with this, Iran-linked hacker group Handala claimed it crippled the networks of US medical device giant Stryker, stealing 50TB of data \u2014 stating explicitly this was retaliation for the Minab school strike. Whether or not the claim is fully accurate, the cyber dimension of this war is now open and active.<\/p>\n

UNICEF weighed in Thursday with its first comprehensive assessment: the conflict has created a \u201ccatastrophic\u201d situation for children, with more than 1,100 already killed or injured.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udf0d TRANSLATOR\u2019S NOTE:<\/strong> Outside the US, Pezeshkian\u2019s three conditions were read not as a peace offer but as a face-saving framework \u2014 the minimum Iran would need to be able to tell its own people that the war ended on terms other than total defeat. The international press noted the language carefully: \u201clegitimate rights\u201d is the same phrase Iran has used in nuclear negotiations for years. It is a signal that Iran still sees a negotiated path, even if Washington doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 WHAT AMERICAN READERS NEED TO KNOW:<\/strong> The White House has not responded to Pezeshkian\u2019s conditions. Trump said Wednesday there is \u201cpractically nothing left\u201d to target in Iran, and that the war could end \u201cany time I want.\u201d Iran\u2019s parliament speaker said the same day that Iran is \u201ccertainly not seeking a ceasefire.\u201d Two leaders saying the war is nearly over while their militaries escalate daily. Watch what they do, not what they say.<\/p>\n

4. INDIA CALLS TEHRAN \u2014 AND THE STRAIT OPENS<\/h3>\n

While the United States and its allies spent this week debating naval escort frameworks that won\u2019t be operational until April at the earliest, India made a phone call.<\/p>\n

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar contacted Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi directly. The result: Iran agreed to allow Indian oil tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz. As of Thursday morning, Indian vessels are moving through a waterway that is effectively closed to the rest of the world\u2019s commercial shipping.<\/p>\n

No other major economy has achieved this. Not the EU. Not Japan. Not South Korea \u2014 all of whom are facing severe energy supply disruptions and rerouting tankers around the Cape of Good Hope at enormous cost. India negotiated a bilateral exemption while everyone else was still in meetings.<\/p>\n

This is not a coincidence of geography or goodwill. India has maintained working relationships with both Washington and Tehran throughout this conflict, refusing to join Western condemnations of the strikes while also stopping short of backing Iran\u2019s retaliation. That studied neutrality just paid a concrete dividend \u2014 in oil.<\/p>\n

The move also has a Ukraine echo that will not be lost on European readers. India spent two years buying Russian oil at discount prices while Europe paid premium rates and called it a moral failure. Now India is buying Iranian-adjacent access while Europe\u2019s tankers sail around Africa. The pattern is consistent: New Delhi will not sacrifice energy security on the altar of alliance politics.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udf0d TRANSLATOR\u2019S NOTE:<\/strong> In the Asian and Global South press, this story is being read as a quiet demonstration of what genuine strategic autonomy looks like in practice. India did not lecture. It did not sanction. It picked up the phone. The result is that 1.4 billion people have more affordable energy today than they did yesterday. That calculus is not lost on governments in Ankara, Jakarta, or Bras\u00edlia who are watching how this war reshapes the rules of the road.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 WHAT AMERICAN READERS NEED TO KNOW:<\/strong> India is the world\u2019s third-largest oil importer. It cannot afford to have the Strait closed. But instead of waiting for Washington to fix the problem, it solved it independently \u2014 through the same Iranian government the US is currently bombing. That is not a betrayal of the alliance. It is a preview of a multipolar world in which countries increasingly handle their own energy security, with or without American leadership.<\/p>\n

5. WATCH LIST \u2014 DAY 13<\/h3>\n