EI—Mar 19, 2026 #TheElectronicIntifada #TheElectronicIntifadaPodcast
Ali Abunimah, executive director, provides his analysis of what comes next after Israel bombed Iran’s South Pars gas field, one of the world’s largest, marking a serious escalation, as well as Iran’s response.
RB—Israel just sent both tensions and energy prices soaring, with attacks on South Pars, the world’s largest natural gas field, which is operated by Iran and Qatar. Tehran has announced it will retaliate against Gulf and Israeli oil infrastructure, and it has issued warnings to residents near gas fields and refineries in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar.
CH—The video transcript explores a detailed and critical analysis of how the Israeli government, through a sophisticated and sustained campaign, influenced Donald Trump to engage in a war against Iran. Israeli leaders, particularly Benjamin Netanyahu, convinced Trump that eliminating Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would lead to the collapse of the Iranian regime and the installation of a pro-Western government. This campaign involved not just political lobbying but also psychological manipulation, including fabricated assassination plots aimed at convincing Trump that Iran was actively targeting his life.
Max Blumenthal, the guest and editor of The Gray Zone, provides an in-depth account of the complex interplay between Trump’s volatile personality, his transactional approach to politics, and the powerful pro-Israel billionaire networks within the U.S. These billionaire donors and political operatives, including figures like Sheldon Adelson, Paul Singer, and Jared Kushner, played significant roles in shaping Trump’s policies regarding Israel, Iran, and the Middle East at large. Trump’s initial ambivalence towards the Israeli agenda was replaced by a hardline stance following his acceptance of substantial influence and financial backing from these groups.
DL—The video report by Dimitri Lascaris from West Asia on March 19th, 2026, provides a detailed and urgent update on the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, focusing on the recent Israeli strike on Iran’s critical South Pars gas field and Iran’s massive retaliatory attacks on allied Gulf states and Israel itself. The South Pars field, the world’s largest natural gas field shared between Iran and Qatar, was severely damaged by Israel, prompting Iran to strike key energy infrastructure in Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. These retaliations have caused significant damage to global energy supplies and fueled a sharp spike in oil prices, threatening a major global economic crisis.
Lascaris highlights the strategic importance of the targeted facilities, describing the extensive damage and the complex geopolitical implications. He points out that the conflict is severely disrupting global oil markets, with Asian crude prices soaring far above Western prices, exacerbating economic instability worldwide. The report also reveals Israel’s vulnerability, especially its offshore gas fields, which are within range of Iranian ballistic missiles and Hezbollah attacks, suggesting that Israel might soon face reciprocal strikes on its own energy infrastructure.
BRIAN BERLETIC—The US has burned through huge quantities of high-end weapons on Iran it had been stockpiling for war it sought to provoke with China in the Asia-Pacific;
The US not only likely never had enough weapons for a war with China, but it will be unable to even replace what it has spent on Iran for years to come;
The US war on Iran is thus likely an attempt to reduce or remove 2 obstacles to US primacy with one war, degrading or toppling Iran and the imposition of a global maritime oil blockade on China at its source (US capture of Venezuela, US strikes on Russian energy production, and now the incremental shutdown of energy exports from the Middle East);
The US likely hopes it can emerge from the global economic crisis it is creating “stronger” relative to China.
