🇻🇳🇰🇷🇯🇵 Vietnam has asked Japan and South Korea to help increase its access to crude oil amid global supply disruption triggered by the ‌Iran war, its trade ministry said on Monday.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hoang Long made the requests on the sideline of an energy security summit in Tokyo over the weekend, the ⁠ministry said in a statement.

Vietnam has two oil refineries that meet about 70% of its fuel needs. Much of the crude oil they process is sourced from the Middle East.

Long has "requested that Japan, given its important role and large crude oil reserves, support Vietnam in searching for and accessing crude oil sources to meet domestic ‌needs,"

Long also discussed with Matsuo measures to boost ⁠Japanese investment in liquified natural gas and nuclear power in Vietnam, the statement said.

🔗 https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/vietnam-asks-japan-south-korea-help-crude-oil-access-2026-03-16/

🇮🇷🤝🇵🇰 Iran has allowed a Pakistani oil tanker to cross the Strait of Hormuz, the first tanker carrying Emirati oil to cross the Strait since the war began.

This is the result of negotiations between Tehran and Islamabad.

Notice how the Pakistani oil tanker avoided the usual route through the middle of the Straits and instead entered Iranian territorial waters.

The path taken by this oil tanker suggests that Iran has indeed mined at least part of the Hormuz Strait but not its territorial waters.

@CIG_telegram

🛢 Oil prices fall below $97/barrel after the US announces it is allowing Iranian oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

📝: Oil traders are clueless. The hesitance of the US to attack Iran's oil infrastructure was visible from day one of the war, as none of Iran's oil refineries and neither the Kharg Island oil terminal became targets. Only Israel bombed the Tehran oil refineries several days into the war but was scolded by the Trump Admin and the IAF hasn't attacked oil infrastructure since. The U.S. Navy despite having a significant presence in the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea, never attempted to seize Iranian oil tankers who are placed under economic sanctions.

They're letting themselves be manipulated by Trump Admin officials taking at face value every statement they make, regardless if its true, part true or not.

🔗 Kobeissi Letter

🎰❌🇮🇱 An Israeli journalist says online gamblers threatened him with violence and death to force him to change a report about an Iranian missile strike because more than $14 million in bets on Polymarket depended on whether a missile actually hit Israel that day.

Initial demand: “If you could correct this tonight, you would be doing me and many others a great favor.”

Escalation: “You have exactly half an hour to correct your attempt at influence.”

Threat over losses: “After you make us lose $900,000 we will invest no less than that to finish you.”

Final ultimatum: “86 minutes left. You are the only one responsible for your life.”

Another warning: “You will discover enemies who will be willing to pay anything to make your life miserable.”

Source: Times of Israel

🔗 Clash Report

🇹🇼 The US-Israel-Iran War threatens to wreak havoc on the computer chip supply

The ongoing Middle East war is raising new risks for the global semiconductor industry, with potential disruptions to key chipmaking supplies and energy flows.

Taiwan — home to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company — relies heavily on imports of materials like helium and sulfur, as well as energy from the Middle East. Any disruption around the Strait of Hormuz could push up power costs or restrict critical inputs for chip production.

TSMC produces about 90% of the world’s most advanced chips, including processors for Nvidia and Apple. Supply problems could therefore ripple across industries from AI and data centers to cars and consumer electronics.

Taiwan is particularly vulnerable because it imports 97% of its energy and keeps only about 11 days of LNG reserves, leaving its chip industry exposed if the conflict disrupts energy shipments.

🔗 https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/strait-hormuz-risks-put-tsmc-060614157.html

🇨🇳 China Reins in Fertilizer Exports as War Pushes Up Global Prices

China is tightening its curbs on fertilizer exports as the war in Iran disrupts trade of key crop nutrients, driving up prices globally.

The government has asked exporters to halt outbound shipments of nitrogen-potassium fertilizer blends, people familiar with the matter said. Beijing also reiterated existing export restrictions on urea, quashing traders’ hopes that new sales quota would be issued soon, they said.

The moves are part of an effort to secure domestic supplies and stabilize prices as farmers in the agricultural powerhouse gear up for spring planting and demand peaks. China is a top consumer of fertilizers — and has been a significant exporter — but any shortage of the essential crop inputs could threaten grain security in the country.

With the latest measures, the country has effectively halted outflows of most fertilizer types, including compound varieties, said the people, who asked not to be named as they were not authorized to talk to the media. A key exception is ammonium sulfate, which made up about half of the country’s fertilizer shipments last year and is so far unaffected, they added.

The conflict in the Middle East has choked fertilizer supplies from a major production and export hub, sending prices surging worldwide. That includes China, where spot prices of urea, the most widely used nitrogen fertilizer, have jumped nearly 40% since the US-Israeli attacks in Iran began, Green Markets data shows.

Farmers from the US to Asia and Europe have been rushing to secure supplies and lock in prices since the war’s outbreak. Indian officials also recently approached China, asking the nation to allow the sale of some urea cargoes as the war curtails the country’s gas supplies and weighs on domestic production.

China has had restrictions on urea exports for several years, using an annual quota system to control trade. Fertilizer industry groups also urged companies to halt phosphate shipments until August in a move to ensure supply, state media reported in December.

🔗 https://archive.ph/rn8cx

🇻🇪 Venezuela’s 600% Inflation Undercuts Trump’s Boasts of Revival

The Trump administration promised Venezuelans economic prosperity after removing Nicolás Maduro from power. Life has only gotten harder in the two months since.

The petrostate’s oil output fell 21% to 780,000 barrels a day in January and exports plunged, limiting the flow of much-needed dollars that many Venezuelans typically use instead of the depreciated local currency. Meanwhile, dollar auctions introduced by the US-supported administration have been criticized as too slow and opaque.

That helped accelerate annual inflation to around 600% in February from 475% in December, underscoring how a shortage of dollars is fueling price pressures and causing more grief for Venezuelans earning paltry stagnant wages.

“In terms of the real tangible progress for ordinary Venezuelans, there isn’t much to show,” said Phil Gunson, a Caracas-based analyst with the International Crisis Group. “Inflation is high, the bolivar is losing value, and people are still earning poverty wages,” he said, referring to the local currency.

The disconnect highlights the central test of Washington’s strategy: whether easing sanctions and asserting control over oil revenue can stabilize an economy that has repeatedly tumbled back into scarcity and currency turmoil. For now, the promised rebound has yet to reach households.

About 80% of residents say their economic situation has not improved in the first two months of the year compared with 2025, according to a recent Meganálisis poll. While many expect the economy and job market to improve within six months, only 7% reported any improvement so far.

🔗 https://archive.ph/O7Pwi

🇺🇸⚔️🇮🇷 Nearly a dozen U.S. Air Force KC-135R and KC-46A aerial refueling aircraft are now returning to Ben Gurion Airport in Israel after supporting a strike mission targeting Iran.

Notably, the flights are avoiding Iraq airspace following a recent incident in which a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker crashed over western Iraq during operations, killing all six crew members.

🔗 EGYOSINT

🇺🇸🇮🇱⚔️🇮🇷 The U.S. and Israel are preparing for a conflict with Iran that will last until September, even if the war shifts to a low-intensity conflict with infrequent bombings.

Israel wants to regime change Iran and annex part of Lebanon with Bibi Netanyahu having Trump under a spell making him take his side every time Iran is brought up reports Axios.

American officials do not believe that Iran will stop firing missiles if they cease hostilities but neither is the White House willing to make peace negotiations with Tehran, so the war continues.

Trump has grown accustomed to doing what he wants and then quickly improvising if things go south. But this time, some in his inner circle have what one official called "buyer's remorse" — growing fears that attacking Iran was a mistake.

A source close to the administration said some key officials around Trump were reluctant or wanted more time. "He ended up saying, 'I just want to do it,'" the source said. "He grossly overestimated his ability to topple the regime short of sending in ground troops."

The source said Trump was "high on his own supply" after last summer's quick strikes in Iran and January's abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro: "He saw multiple decisive quick victories with extraordinary military competence."

🔗 https://archive.ph/zSkQ2

⛽️ Fuel prices are skyrocketing across the world:

Fuel oil prices in Singapore, the world's most important refueling port, are up to a record $140 per barrel.

This marks a +146% surge since the start of the year.

Prices have now surpassed the 2008 Financial Crisis and the 2022 energy crisis peaks.

In Fujairah, a key refueling port in the UAE just outside the Strait of Hormuz, prices are up to ~$160, with certain fuel types trading as high as $175 per barrel.

By comparison, WTI crude is trading at ~$195, meaning fuel oil carries a +40% to +75% premium over crude.

Typically, fuel oil prices track crude with a small premium for refining costs, but that relationship is now completely broken.

Elevated fuel oil prices are putting extreme pressure on the global economy.

🔗 Kobeissi Letter

🇮🇷❌🇷🇴🇺🇸🪖 Iran warns Romania after US troops deployment!

Iran has told Romania that it could react “politically and legally” if the United States uses military bases on Romanian territory for operations against Tehran. The statement was made by the spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmaeil Baghaei.

The warning comes after the Romanian Parliament approved the decision of the Supreme National Defense Council regarding the temporary deployment of US troops and equipment in Romania, in the context of tensions in the Middle East.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that Romania is not a party to the conflict and that the military systems hosted on the country’s territory are strictly defensive in nature, in accordance with the United Nations. The institution recalled that the bilateral agreement signed in 2006 allows the US to use military bases in Romania.

For his part, Defense Minister Radu Miruță stated that Iran’s statements refer to possible legal and political consequences, not to direct military threats. He stressed that the presence of the US military contributes to strengthening Romania's deterrence capacity.

According to the authorities, approximately 400-500 US military personnel and military equipment, including Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker tanker aircraft, are to be temporarily deployed for a maximum of 90 days. They will operate from Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base and Câmpia Turzii Air Base. The first three aircraft have already landed at Air Transport Base 90.

@Wallachian_Gazette

🇨🇺 Cuba's national electric grid has collapsed.

🔗 AF Post (@AFpost)

🇮🇷⚔️🇺🇸 Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, on X/Twitter:

When the U.S. Secretary of War declares “no quarter”, he doesn't project strength. He conveys moral bankruptcy and ignorance about law of armed conflict. We advise him to review the Hague Convention and Rome Statute of the ICC, unless he aspires to join Netanyahu as war criminal.

🔗 Abbas Araghchi