Heavy transport activity has been reported at a major American military hub in Asia.

South Korea has voiced opposition to the redeployment of US air defense assets from its territory to the Middle East but is not in a position to block the move, Seoul has said.

With the US-Israeli war with Iran and Tehran's retaliatory strikes on American assets in the region entering their 12th day, some media reports alleged that air defense systems used by Gulf nations were running "dangerously low" on interceptors.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung addressed reports that some American weaponry stationed at Osan Air Base, a major US Air Force installation in the country, may have been transferred to American bases in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. According to media reports, US military transport aircraft have been arriving at and departing from the base over the past week.

The president's private comments have not focused on a large-scale ground invasion of Iran, but rather on the idea of a small contingent of U.S. troops that would be used for specific strategic purposes, sources say.

President Donald Trump has privately expressed serious interest in deploying U.S. troops on the ground inside of Iran, according to two U.S. officials, a former U.S. official and another person with knowledge of the conversations.

Trump has discussed the idea of deploying ground troops with aides and Republican officials outside the White House while outlining his vision for a post-war Iran in which Iran's uranium is secure and the U.S. and a new Iranian regime cooperate on oil production similar to how the U.S. and Venezuela are, the sources said.

The president's comments expressing serious interest in deploying ground troops have not focused on a large-scale ground invasion of Iran, but rather on the idea of a small contingent of U.S. troops that would be used for specific strategic purposes, the U.S. officials, the former U.S. official and the person with knowledge of the discussions said. They said Trump has not made any decisions or given any orders related to ground troops.

"This story is based on assumptions from anonymous sources who are not part of the President's national security team and are clearly not read into these discussions," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. "President Trump always, wisely keeps all options open, but anyone trying to insinuate he is in favor of one option or another proves they have no real seat at the table."

The attempt to topple the government in Tehran is pushing the Middle East into an increasingly deadly spiral of destruction

Israeli strikes on oil storage facilities near Tehran over the weekend temporarily turned the Iranian capital into a fire-lit "hellscape," with long-term environmental and health damage expected.

Though Israel claimed that the targets were military, Iran said the effects are comparable to chemical warfare on civilians. Even supporters of the US-Israeli regime-change war expressed unease.

Fire-lit streets, black acid rain

On the night of Saturday to Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces struck oil infrastructure sites in and near Tehran, including at least four major fuel reservoirs. The operation "significantly deepens the damage to the military infrastructure of the Iranian terrorist regime," the Israeli government said.

The Ukrainian military targeted the Russian city of Bryansk in a "deliberate" attack aimed at civilians, the regional governor, Aleksandr Bogomaz, has said. According to the official, the strike killed six civilians and left 37 injured.

In a post on social media, Bogomaz slammed the attack as an "inhumane terrorist act."

The Telegram channel Mash claimed earlier that British-made Storm Shadow missiles were used in the attack on Tuesday afternoon. Local media outlets also reported that the Ukrainian military targeted civilian infrastructure in the city, which is now "engulfed in heavy smoke."

The US-Israeli war on Iran has its roots in a cultural crossover that features contradictory claims of religious zeal

The US-Israeli war on Iran has been justified by its protagonists in Washington and West Jerusalem as a progressive attack on religious fundamentalism that they claim is practiced in Tehran.

However, the conflict is being prosecuted by the two allies with a religious zeal that betrays the claims by the evangelically oriented US, under the influence of Christian Zionism, and the Jewish state.

RT's Charlotte Dubenskij reports from the Holy Land:

US President Donald Trump described these military actions as the elimination of a major 'cancer' from the world stage.

President Donald Trump is weighing options that could include deploying special operations forces into Iran to secure or destroy highly enriched uranium stockpiles as part of his pledge that Tehran "will not have a nuclear bomb," according to multiple reports Saturday.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump suggested the possibility of a ground operation had not been ruled out, saying U.S. forces could move in at a later stage of the conflict if necessary. "Right now we're just decimating them, but we haven't gone after it," Trump said, referring to Iran's nuclear material. "But something we could do later on. We wouldn't do it now."

The new Supreme Leader of Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei, 57, chosen by the Assembly of Experts, so far has not spoken a single word in public.

The IRGC is speaking for him. From the start, Mojtaba was the preferred candidate to succeed Ayatollah Khamenei, the man who planned in meticulous detail how to break the Empire's back.

The IRGC is now showing to the whole planet, especially the Global South, what was lying behind the "restraint" advised by Khamenei for years.

In a matter of days, the IRGC blinded US radars across the West Asia spectrum; weaponized the Strait of Hormuz, sending the global economy into a tailspin; and handed to Washington what for all practical purposes amounts to an intimation to surrender.

These are only some of the most prominent conditions for a possible ceasefire - assuming Tehran will ever trust the United States to comply:

1. Removal of all sanctions against Iran and release of all of Iran's frozen assets.
2. Recognition of Iran's right to enrich uranium on its own soil.
3. Full compensation for the damages caused by the imposed war.
4. Extradition of Iranian 5th columnists abroad, and the end of orchestrated media campaigns against Tehran.
5. No attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon or Ansarallah in Yemen.
6. The dismantling of all US military bases in West Asia.

Let that slowly sink in. Here we have Iran telling the self-described, hyperbolic most powerful military in the history of the world to essentially surrender.

Now compound it with IRGC Aerospace Force Commander.

Majid Mousavi announcing that, "after neutralizing US air defense layers in the region, Iran is transitioning to a new missile doctrine. From now on, no missiles carrying warheads lighter than 1 ton will be used. Waves of missile attacks will be more frequent and more widespread."

That is already translating, in practice, as the IRGC launching more Kheibar Shekan solid-fuel medium-range ballistic missiles, as it happened earlier this week on Tel Aviv and on the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.

The Kheibar Shekan - range of 1,450 km - is road-mobile; ready to be launched from a truck in less than 30 minutes; flies under satellite-aided guidance with a maneuverable re-entry vehicle that executes terminal zigzag evasion at speeds the IRGC claims reach as much as Mach 10.

And yes: from now on it carries 1-ton warheads. That doubles the blast radius and the destructive power of each missile, as much as it doubles, or triples, or quadruples, the US-Israeli Interceptor Hell.

A Patriot PAC-3 interceptor costs $4 million. A THAAD interceptor costs $12.7 million. An Arrow-3 costs $3.5 million. They have all been methodically, serially destroyed by the IRGC.

In practice, from now the Epstein Syndicate needs to use more interceptors - that they don't have - per each incoming missile to perhaps achieve the same probability of success.

And then there are the Khorramshahr-4 missiles: liquid-fueled, 2,000 to 3,000-kilometer range, carrying even heavier 1,500 to 1,800-kilogram warheads, with thruster-powered maneuverable re-entry vehicles.

We are talking about the heaviest conventional warheads in Iran's arsenal, launched side by side with the upgraded Kheibar Shekans.

All in name of "Labbayk ya Khamenei". The symbology speaks unmeasurable volumes.

The statistics have yet to account for the impact of the US-Israeli war against Iran.

German industries are showing no signs of recovery as of early 2026, with production output declining even before the US and Israel launched their attack on Iran, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).

The nation's industrial output fell by 0.5% in January in comparison to December, according to a report published on Monday. The year-on-year decline was even bigger at 1.2%, the data shows.

The decline particularly affected the energy-intensive industrial branches, Destatis said. The agency named metal product fabrication, pharmaceutics, and computer, electronic, and optical product manufacturing among the most affected fields, where the month-on-month drop in output was 7-12%.

The statistics have yet to account for the fallout from the latest escalation in the Middle East. The US-Israeli strikes on Iran, which triggered retaliation, significantly raised the risks for vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent prices peaked at almost $120 per barrel on Monday. EU natural gas prices have nearly doubled since before the attack.

Hungarian authorities have launched an investigation into potential money laundering, but Ukraine insists those facilitating the transfer were state-owned bank employees carrying out their job

Hungarian authorities have detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized tens of millions of dollars, euros, and gold that were being transported through the country in armored vehicles, triggering the latest diplomatic dispute between Budapest and Kyiv.

Hungary's National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) confirmed on Friday that criminal proceedings had been launched on suspicion of money laundering following an operation carried out on March 5. Authorities intercepted two armored cash-transport vehicles traveling through Hungary from Austria toward Ukraine.

According to the Hungarian authorities, the vehicles were carrying approximately $40 million, €35 million in cash, and 9 kilograms of gold.

One of the big themes to come out of China over the past several months (and even years) has been Chinese President Xi Jinping's (apparently ongoing) sweeping purge of PLA military command ranks on the basis of "corruption" - or rather what is most probably perceived disloyalty.

Already there's been several top dismissals including the firings of multiple members of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and dozens of generals - some even placed under house arrest, as well as a broad purge of the Chinese Communist Party.

Xi this weekend hinted there could be more to come, freshly warning Saturday during a speech to delegates from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the People's Armed Police that disloyalty to the party - or else selfish dealings and corruption - will not be tolerated.