by Sharon Zhang | Mar 18, 2026 | Article, Iran, Israel, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, Reprint, War
This article was originally published by Truthout on Mar. 17, 2026. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.
Israeli officials are reportedly urging the U.S. to join them in their public urging of Iranians to stage an uprising against their government, even as the Israeli government internally assesses that protesters would be “slaughtered” if they did so, demonstrating Israel’s blasé attitude toward Iranian lives amid its bombardments of the country.
According to reporting by The Washington Post published Tuesday, top Israeli officials relayed the message to U.S. diplomats in a cable that circulated in the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem on Friday. The cable said that Israeli officials assess that the Iranian government is “not cracking” and will “fight to the end” — despite hopes by U.S. and Israeli officials that they could “decapitate” the government and achieve collapse.
The cable further said that if Iranians were to stage more protests against their government, as they did in demonstrations earlier this year, “the people will get slaughtered,” Israeli officials said. According to UN Special Rapporteur on Iran Mai Sato, around 5,000 people were killed in the government crackdown on protests as of January, though it has been difficult to assess the precise number of deaths due to biases on all sides.
The cable, which summarized recent meetings by top Israeli officials and U.S. officials, said that nonetheless, Israeli officials are hoping for a revolt and that the U.S. should support such an uprising as well.
Critics have said that the cable demonstrates Israeli officials’ indifference toward whether civilians live or die, after years of Israel wantonly slaughtering civilians in Palestine and countries across the Middle East.
“This should not surprise anyone,” said Trita
by Marc Steiner | Mar 17, 2026 | cuba, Podcast, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, The Marc Steiner Show, Trump
With Cuba’s electric grid collapsing this week, the inhumane results of the Trump administration’s oil blockade continue to pile up and strangle Cuba and its people. In this urgent episode of The Marc Steiner Show, Marc speaks with American activist and co-founder of CODEPINK Medea Benjamin about her latest trip to Cuba, the extent of the devastation caused by the US-imposed blockade, and the twisted motivations behind it.
Medea Benjamin will be sailing to bring humanitarian aid to Cuba with the Nuestra América Flotilla on March 21, 2026.
Guests:
Medea Benjamin is co-founder of Global Exchange and CODEPINK: Women for Peace. She is the author or co-author of numerous books, including: War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict; Inside Iran: The Real History and Politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran; and Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control.
Additional links/info:
Democracy Now!, “Report from Havana as Trump threatens to “take” Cuba & pushes for ouster of Cuban leader”
Michael Fox, Under the Shadow / TRNN, “Trump’s war on Cuba: Crisis made in the USA | Under the Shadow S2E7”
Marc Steiner, The Marc Steiner Show / TRNN, “SOS: The US is manufacturing a humanitarian crisis in Cuba”
Credits:
Producer: Rosette Sewali
Studio Production: David Hebden
Audio Post-Production: Stephen Frank
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Marc Steiner:
Welcome to the Marc Steiner Show here in The Real News. I’m Marc Steiner. It’s great to have you all with us. Cuba is under attack from the United States. Relations between our countries have been intense since the revolution of 1960, when they overthrew that fascist government of Batista.
by Sharon Zhang | Mar 17, 2026 | Article, Gaza, Iran, Israel, Politics and Movements: International, Reprint, War
This article was originally published by Truthout on Mar. 16, 2026. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.
Israel announced on Monday that it is expanding its ground in southern Lebanon, claiming to target Hezbollah as Israel’s defense minister pledges that “hundreds of thousands” of people already forcibly displaced by Israeli attacks “will not return” for the indefinite future.
In a statement, Israeli forces said that soldiers are carrying out “limited and targeted ground operations” in southern Lebanon. The purpose is to “establish and strengthen a forward defensive posture … to create an additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel,” the statement claims, ignoring that Hezbollah has maintained in previous conflicts that it would not retaliate against Israel if Israeli forces withdrew from southern Lebanon.
Axios reported last week that Israel is planning a massive expansion of its ground invasion of Lebanon with the goal of seizing the entire area south of the Litani River. This area is protected under a UN Security Council resolution as part of a decades-old ceasefire agreement, and makes up about 8 percent of the area of the country.
A senior Israeli official told Axios the military is “going to do what we did in Gaza.”
Israel and Hezbollah reached a ceasefire agreement in late 2024, but Israel violated it over 10,000 times in the first year, UN officials said. Now, Israel has unilaterally ended the ceasefire — though some argue Israel never adhered to it in the first place — and severely escalated bombardments and forced displacement in Lebanon, as the world focuses on Israel and the U.S.’s horrific war on Iran.
In just the past two weeks, Israel has killed over 880 people in Lebanon, including over 100 children and dozens
by Erica Woodland | Mar 16, 2026 | cuba, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, video
The US government is deliberately strangling the island nation of Cuba, and people are dying. At a recent event hosted in the TRNN studio in Baltimore, Maryland, legendary activist and publisher Paul Coates spoke about his recent humanitarian trip to Cuba, the suffering US sanctions are inflicting on the Cuban people, and the responsibility people of African descent have to stand in solidarity with Cuba.
This clip was recorded during a March 6, 2026, event titled “Paul Coates: Black Literary Production—From Propaganda to Publishing,” hosted by TRNN in Baltimore, Maryland, and organized by Tubman House and Eddie’s Front Porch.
Guests
W. Paul Coates is the founder of Black Classic Press and BCP Digital Printing. Black Classic Press, established in 1978, specializes in republishing obscure and significant works by and about people of African descent. A former member of the Black Panther Party, Coates led the effort to establish the Black Panther Archives at Howard University.
Additional links/info
Michael Fox, Under the Shadow, TRNN: “Trump’s war on Cuba: Crisis made in the USA | Under the Shadow S2E7”
Marc Steiner, The Marc Steiner Show, TRNN: “SOS: The US is manufacturing a humanitarian crisis in Cuba”
Credits
Producer / Videographer / Editor: Cameron Granadino
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. An updated version will be made available as soon as possible.
Erica Woodland: So I know that you recently just returned from a trip to Cuba and I wanted to actually open up some space to hear about some of your insights and how some of your experiences there really fold into this conversation around how we’re archiving and lifting up our people’s revolutionary traditions.
Paul Coates: So thank
by Michael Fox | Mar 12, 2026 | Ecuador, Latin America, Podcast, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, Trump, Under the Shadow
At least 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are on board with Trump’s new military alliance. They are calling it the America’s Counter Cartel Coalition. Latin America’s top right-wing leaders are involved, including El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele and Argentina’s Javier Milei. They met in Florida for the event, on March 7.
The United States has promised to use lethal force to destroy cartels and narco-traffickers in those nations. Kristi Noem, the former head of Homeland Security, is the new special envoy for the coalition.
This is a new phase of Trump’s plan for Latin America. Trump’s Donroe Doctrine—Monroe 2.0. The first was the offensive against his enemies in the region. Now Trump is shoring up his allies, and building a coalition where the US military can continue to take action, now in collaboration with countries allied with Trump. We’ve already begun to see this unfold in Ecuador.
This is Episode 8 of Under the Shadow, Season 2.
Under the Shadow is an investigative narrative podcast series that walks back in time, telling the story of the past by visiting momentous places in the present. Season 2 responds in real time to the Trump administration’s onslaught on Latin America.
Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.
Many thanks to Belly of the Beast for the interview with Liz Oliva Fernandez and the use of the sound from several of their videos.
This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.
Theme music by Michael Fox’s band, Monte Perdido. Monte Perdido’s 2024 album Ofrenda is available on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, YouTube or wherever you listen to music.
Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.
Script editing by Heather Gies. Hosted,
by Adam Johnson | Mar 11, 2026 | Article, Iran, Media Criticism, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, terrorism, War
It’s not a war of aggression in the Middle East without the American media pushing out nonstop “sleeper cell” stories built on vague paranoia, supposed “chatter,” deliberate conflation of Sunni with Shia “terrorism,” and an even more deliberate conflation of mentally unwell “lone wolves” with state agents of Iran, sourced entirely from ex-spooks, zionist advocacy groups, and/or anonymous leaks from the US government. A trope as old as the War on Terror, “sleeper cell” stories are a media favorite because they require no actual reporting beyond copy-and-pasting anonymous government officials and quoting conflicted pro-war lobbyists, while providing an urgent sense of stakes to an increasingly cynical and war-weary public. Whenever polls show increased skepticism or opposition to bombing people 6,500 miles away, the U.S. security state and its media conduits can build support for these far-off wars by insisting that “sleeper agents” from the populations being bombed are hiding among you at your local PTA meeting or grocery store or strip mall and are ready to kill you and your loved ones at any time. This brings the war home without the messy burden of “evidence,” “proof,” or Things That Have Actually Happened.
Since the US launched its unprovoked war on Iran on Feb. 28, and in the weeks leading up to the attack, US media has uncritically promoted the broad narrative that Iranian sleeper agents are living among Westerners waiting on word to strike at any moment:
New York Times: Iran Could Direct Proxies to Attack U.S. Targets Abroad, Officials Warn (2/22/26)
Fox Business: Hezbollah, Hamas sleeper cell fears raised amid Iran strikes (3/2/26)
ABC News: Iran may be activating sleeper cells outside
