Articles & Videos
A War for Oil: Economist Michael Hudson on U.S. Quest to Control the World's Oil Trade
We speak with economist Michael Hudson, who details how President Trump opted to attack Iran despite progress at indirect U.S.-Iran negotiations. “The whole reason that America has attacked Iran has nothing to do with its getting an atom bomb,” but instead the aim was U.S. control of oil, says Hudson. The Trump administration may have been after the ability to “turn off the power” to countries that don’t follow U.S. foreign policy, he says.
US urges citizens to leave Gulf over ‘serious safety risks’
The travel advisory was published around the same time that the US embassy in Riyadh was hit by two Iranian drones.
"Stop This Bloodshed": Israeli Lawmaker Ofer Cassif Slams Netanyahu's "Fascist Government" over Iran
Ofer Cassif, a member of leftist Hadash-Ta’al coalition in the Israeli Knesset, speaks with Democracy Now! from Israel about the war on Iran. As U.S. and Israeli officials claim that their military actions are against the regime, Cassif says their real goal is pursuing “imperialist interest” at the “expense of the peoples, including the people of Iran and the people of Israel.” Though the war has led to deadly strikes in Israel, the majority of the public supports the government and aggression against Iran, he notes.
By Attacking Iran, U.S. & Israel Seek Unchallenged Supremacy in Middle East: Rami Khouri
Rami Khouri, Palestinian American journalist and distinguished public policy fellow at the American University of Beirut, speaks with Democracy Now! about the historical context of Western colonialism in the Middle East amid the war against Iran. Khouri says the U.S.-Israeli attack is the latest act “causing people across the world to look at the idea of … Western liberal democratic tradition as a hoax.”
"Horror and Anxiety": Death Toll in Iran Tops 780 as Trump Says U.S. Can Fight "Forever"
The U.S. is sending more troops and fighter jets to the Middle East as the regional war expands four days after the U.S. and Israel assassinated Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and struck sites across Iran. At least 787 people have died so far in Iran, according to local authorities. Iranian American journalist Negar Mortazavi says the feeling on the ground is of “horror and anxiety” and that U.S. officials don’t seem to understand that “starting a war with Iran is going to potentially be even more difficult and challenging than the war in Iraq, which already was a big failure on the U.S. side.”
US renewables hit record high despite Trump pushback
More than a quarter of US electricity came from renewable sources in 2025, up from 10% the prior year, the EIA found.
Russia could gain from surge in global oil prices
Western governments may be less inclined to enforce existing sanctions or apply new ones in a highly-constrained energy market.
Insurance rates for tankers passing through Hormuz could double
Many insurers are cancelling pre-existing war risk policies and looking to renegotiate at higher prices, a leading broker told Semafor.