Iran War – Military & Leadership Developments
US intelligence assessments reportedly indicate that Iran’s regime remains intact following two weeks of US-Israeli strikes. Additionally, Israeli officials have acknowledged no certainty of the regime’s collapse. Leadership has reportedly coalesced around Khamenei’s son Mojtaba, whom sources describe as more hardline. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is said to maintain control amid Iran’s ongoing retaliatory missile and drone attacks on Israel and Gulf states. A strike reportedly targeted the data center of Iran’s Bank Sepah, which handles payments for up to 190,000 IRGC members and could disrupt salaries.
Meanwhile, social media rumors claim Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was killed or comatose from a missile strike. These were linked to a canceled US envoy meeting, Netanyahu’s lack of public appearances, an apparently AI-generated video address showing anomalies such as fluctuating fingers and teeth, and a deleted tweet from his office stating the rumors were unconfirmed and efforts were underway to establish contact. Netanyahu’s official account later posted a video of him discussing military operations against Iran. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was also called to the White House Situation Room during an interview, which is considered to be highly unusual.
Iran has reportedly relocated its remaining enriched uranium stockpile to Pickaxe Mountain, a granite-buried bunker said to be beyond the reach of the largest conventional bunker busters, where scientists are working to rebuild the nuclear program damaged in earlier operations. Russian President Putin reportedly offered to relocate the uranium to Russia to help end the conflict, but the proposal was rejected.
The Pentagon deployed a Marine Expeditionary Unit of 2,500 combat-ready Marines, equipped with amphibious assault ships, attack helicopters, artillery, and light armored vehicles, to the Strait of Hormuz area. This followed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s approval of a US Central Command request. The Japan-based USS Tripoli and attached Marines are en route. Iran reportedly struck five US Air Force refueling tankers on the ground at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan air base, damaging but not destroying them. No deaths were reported there, though six crew members died in a separate KC-135 crash over Iraq.
Separately, President Trump stated that US Central Command had obliterated all military targets on Kharg Island, Iran’s key oil export hub handling 90% of its crude exports, while sparing oil infrastructure but threatening it if Hormuz interference continues. Iranian media reported 15 explosions hitting air defenses, a naval base, airport control tower, and helicopter hangar.
Iran War – Geopolitical Developments
Houthi official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti announced Yemen’s military alignment with Iran, signaling an impending “Hour Zero” for major action and hinting at closing another strait, potentially Bab al-Mandab, which could further disrupt Red Sea trade. Houthi Telegram channels reportedly denied official confirmation of the alignment.
Meanwhile, Hamas urged Iran not to target neighboring countries and called for regional cooperation to halt aggression and preserve brotherhood, despite years of reported Iranian funding via cash smuggling, Hezbollah, and cryptocurrency. The statement affirmed Iran’s right to respond to US-Israeli aggression but highlighted risks to Palestinian communities and lifelines in Gulf states including Qatar, UAE, and Saudi Arabia.
North Korea launched a suspected ballistic missile, prompting an emergency alert from Japan’s Prime Minister’s Office. The launch coincides with US forces deployed across nine countries, including three carrier groups, 50,000 troops, and the entire bomber fleet committed to Iran, with assets like the USS Tripoli moved from Pacific deterrence zones near Taiwan and the Philippines. However, some observers described the launch as a routine provocation unrelated to the Middle East conflict.
Lastly, the UN Security Council passed a resolution condemning Iranian attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, as well as threats to navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. However, the resolution made no mention of the US or Israel in its condemnation. Tabled by Bahrain and backed by 135 countries, the resolution passed 13-0, with Russia and China abstaining. A Russian draft calling for all sides to cease hostilities failed. US Ambassador Mike Walz stated that Iran’s strategy had backfired regionally. China’s envoy criticized the resolution as imbalanced. Iran rejected the resolution.
Energy
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent authorized countries to purchase Russian crude already at sea—about 124 million barrels across 30 locations, including 19 million in Asian waters—to increase supply amid the Middle East conflict. The measure targets oil in transit without significantly benefiting Russia’s tax revenue. India previously received a 30-day waiver for similar purchases. However, analysts described the measure’s impact as limited, equivalent to just a few days of lost exports.
President Trump plans 30-day waivers of the Jones Act to allow foreign tankers to transport fuel between US ports, addressing East Coast shortages from Gulf supplies amid rising prices. Past waivers followed hurricanes and cyberattacks. This accompanies a 172-million-barrel release from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, part of a 400-million-barrel IEA-coordinated release.
Lastly, India reported panic buying and hoarding of LPG cylinders due to Middle East disruptions cutting imports, with shipments for the week of March 9 at 270,000 tons, the lowest since April 2023. Officials assured adequate supplies through increased domestic refining and diversified imports. As the world’s second-largest LPG consumer, importing 90% of its needs, lines formed at 26,000 distributors serving 333 million households, with booking portals crashing. Officials sourced extra cargoes from the US, Norway, Canada, Algeria, and Russia, increased domestic refining by 28%, raised prices to curb demand, and noted commercial cylinders fetching premiums up to 2,600 rupees amid shortages.
Economy
Deutsche Bank shares fell 8% to a July 2025 low after its annual report revealed €26 billion ($30 billion) exposure to private credit, up from €24.5 billion, including €15.8 billion to technology sectors like software. This occurred amid fund redemptions, underwriting scrutiny, and AI impacts on borrowers. The portfolio represents 5% of loans. No losses or provisions were reported, though indirect risks via counterparties were noted. The bank described potential risks from non-bank financial institutions as indirect. The bank was among lenders unable to sell $1.2 billion in loans for a software acquisition. US sub-prime lender failures have increased focus on fraud and lending standards.
Artificial Intelligence
MIT researchers released GenCAD, an AI model that converts photos into fully editable CAD files using autoregressive transformers and diffusion models. It reportedly outperforms prior methods on unconditional and conditional generation, retrieves designs from databases of over 7,000 CAD files via photos, and was trained on more than 840,000 images. It produces multiple valid parametric designs—including lines, arcs, and extrusions—ready for manufacturing, rather than mere meshes or point clouds. A companion CAD-Coder vision-language model generates CadQuery Python code from images with 100% valid syntax, reportedly surpassing GPT-4.5 and Qwen2.5-VL-72B. Analysts noted the model remains at a research stage with limitations for complex shapes. The work was published in the ASME Journal of Mechanical Design; both models are fully open source.
For Chris’s deep-dive into AI, be sure to check out Volume 2 of the Renaissance Report.
Epstein Files
Justice Department-released emails detail correspondence between Jeffrey Epstein and Peter Thiel starting in 2014, five years after Epstein’s Florida custody release. Epstein reportedly courted Thiel for meetings at his Manhattan townhouse or elsewhere, offering introductions to finance ministers, bankers, Bill Burns (later CIA director), Anil Ambani, and Ehud Barak. Topics included cryptocurrency, magic mushrooms, Brexit, mosquitoes, and investments. Thiel advised on Palantir shares during company turmoil, suggesting better prices ahead, and recommended $10-20 million into his Valar Ventures fund, where Epstein invested $40 million, now worth $170 million. Epstein described himself as a major Thiel investor to a crypto startup. Thiel downplayed Epstein’s 2015 bad press amid Prince Andrew allegations. Exchanges ended in 2019 before Epstein’s arrest. Thiel stated he met Epstein a few times, attended a 2015 Palo Alto dinner, but never visited his island; phone and Signal communications occurred. In a 2017 email to Larry Summers, Epstein called Thiel “autistic” with no global sense. Thiel discussed deception in evolution, calling sexual reproduction a strategy. Epstein’s accountant tracked Thiel news.
Sources
Iran Hides Uranium in “Pickaxe Mountain” Fortress Beyond Reach of Largest Bunker Busters
Iran has relocated its remaining enriched uranium stockpile to the facility known as Pickaxe Mountain
MIT’s GenCAD: AI Turns Photos into Editable CAD, Crushing the $150/Hour Modeling Industry
MIT just dropped an AI model that converts photos into fully editable CAD programs and it quietly kills the $150/hour CAD modeling industry.
U.S. Treasury Greenlights Stranded Russian Oil Sales at Sea to Stabilize Energy Markets
To increase the global reach of existing supply, @USTreasury is providing a temporary authorization to permit countries to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea,
UNSC Condemns Iran Attacks, Silent on US-Israel Strikes
UN Security Council Passes Iran War Resolution, Yet With No Mention Of US Or Israel
Deutsche Bank Shares Plunge 8% on $30 Billion Private Credit Exposure Reveal
Deutsche Bank Dumps After Flagging $30 Billion Exposure To Private Credit
Trump to Waive Jones Act for Foreign Tankers to Tame Oil Prices
Trump Set To Suspend Jones Act To Help Tame Oil Prices
US Intel: Iran Regime Intact, Far From Collapse After Two Weeks of War
US intelligence has assessed that Iran’s leadership and government are largely in tact and the system does not risk collapse
Epstein’s Persistent Orbit: Emails Reveal Years of Thiel Ties Over Cash and Connections
Epstein Orbited Peter Thiel for Years Over Money, Connections and Advice
Source (Paywalled) | Submitted by Shplad
India’s LPG Panic: War Disrupts Supplies, Sparks Cylinder Hoarding
Panic Buying Sweeps India As War Disrupts Cooking Gas Supplies
Netanyahu Death Rumors: AI Video, Deleted Tweet, and Situation Room Urgency
Is Netanyahu dead?
2,500 US Marines to Hormuz: Not Deterrence, But Ground Invasion Signal
This isn’t deterrence. This is a ground invasion signal.
Iran Strikes Five US Refueling Tankers at Saudi Base as War Escalates
Five U.S. Air Force refueling planes were struck and damaged on the ground at Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia, according to two U.S. officials.
Source | Submitted by Rodster
Trump Bombs Iran’s Kharg Island Red Line, Threatens Oil Infrastructure Next
Trump Crosses Iran’s ‘Red Line’ By Heavy Bombing Of Kharg Island
Houthis Ally with Iran, Signal “Hour Zero” and Strait Shutdown
Yemen has decided to align militarily with Iran and will announce “Hour Zero” (the start of major action) at the right time.
Hamas to Iran: Stop Targeting Our Lifelines
Hamas just told Iran to stop.
North Korea’s Missile Launch Exposes US Overstretch in Iran War
North Korea just launched a ballistic missile while the entire US military is pinned down in Iran.
In addition to sources submitted by community members, the following were also used in the creation of this report: Reuters, @TheRealSantino, @OwenGregorian, @haby2610, KobeissiLetter, Axios, @netanyahu, @IsraeliPM, GeoWatch, Azadar Hussain, wahley_UTD, BRstocks&cryptos, 働きたくない, GenCAD-3D arXiv preprint, UBS, Bloomberg, Westpac’s Robert Rennie, NDTV Profit, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, BPCLLPG, Deutsche Bank annual report, ZeroHedge, Jesse option.
by rodster