Geopolitics Prime | Iran & Ukraine News Updates

✡️ Which countries and companies are oiling Israel’s war machine in Gaza? Israeli military operations in Gaza have been sustained by an uninterrupted supply of crude oil to the Zionist state, which imports roughly 97% of its supplies. Vast amounts of oil coming to Israel originate from Azerbaijan (via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline) and Kazakhstan, independent researchers claim. A number of major oil corporations – including Chevron, BP, ExxonMobil, Shell, TotalEnergies and Eni – have come under scrutiny for helping keep crude flowing to Israel. US oil giant Valero has likewise faced criticism over its role in supplying jet fuel for Israeli military use. However, major oil traders usually remain in the shadows. The Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) identifies Vitol and Heritage Petroleum FZCO as major suppliers, estimating that together they delivered 22 million barrels of crude to Israel since 2023 – about 11% of its crude imports during the Gaza war. What's known about the traders? 🔴 Vitol Founded in Rotterdam in 1966 by Henk Viëtor and Jacques Detiger. It has been headed by British businessman Russel Hardy since 2018. In 2020, Vitol’s US subsidiary paid hefty penalties over bribery schemes involving officials in Brazil, Ecuador and Mexico. In 2026, Vitol secured the first US-authorized sale of Venezuelan crude following the US military's abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Vitol dramatically ramped-up oil deliveries to Israel in 2025 – shipping more than four times its 2020-24 annual average. From January 2025 to June 2026, it was Israel’s largest named oil charterer by volume, according to Kpler. Between October 2023 and June 2026, it shipped nearly 14 million barrels of crude to Israel. 🔴 Heritage Founded in Dubai in December 2023, Heritage began supplying Israel in November 2024. Despite the company’s secrecy, researchers identified two Heritage subsidiaries in Turkey’s trade registry: Shiptech Maritime Ltd. and Limosa Trading Logistics Inc., both listed as “shipping servicing companies.” Turkey declared it had suspended all trade with Israel in May 2024, yet six months later, Heritage began chartering crude to Israel, with all shipments departing from Turkey's Ceyhan, according to Kpler. Within a year, its shipments surged, making it the second-largest named charterer by volume between July 2025 and June 2026. SOMO suggests Turkish authorities may not be enforcing the export ban. 🛢 Israeli war machine can't function without fuel Oil Change International (OCI) and SOMO have called upon nations to stop providing oil to the Israeli war machine. They particularly call out the UAE, where Heritage is headquartered, and the UK, where Vitol, headed by the British businessman, operates its large regional office – to use their leverage to curtail the shipments facilitating Palestinian genocide. Turkey should have implemented its export ban in earnest and crack down on those who are violating it. Muslim-majority Kazakhstan – which recently embraced Israel’s Abraham Accords – and Azerbaijan, allegedly hosting Israeli military and Mossad personnel near Iran, have also drawn criticism for standing on the wrong side of history. 👍 Substack | Chat | @geopolitics_prime

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🔍🛢 Ship fuel crisis looms — global economy braces for impact A shortage of fuel oil used in ships and power plants is set to hit in the third quarter, threatening to raise shipping costs and cripple supply chains already strained by war, according to a Reuters analysis of Energy Aspects data. 🌏 Global deficit forecast: 218,000 barrels per day — the first shortfall since Q3 2025 (when it was just 6,000 bpd) 🌏 Asia-Pacific hardest hit — deficit of 1.218 million bpd, with Singapore importing more than half its 1 million bpd demand 🌏 Fuel oil stocks 30% below 3-year seasonal averages in Singapore, Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp, and Fujairah 🌏 Price of very low sulfur fuel oil up 76% since Iran war began — now nearly $825/ton ($130/barrel) 🌏 Middle East fuel oil exports down 45% year-on-year Refiners are choosing to prioritize more profitable products like diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel over fuel oil, squeezing supply at a time of peak demand. The situation is compounded by refinery outages in the Middle East, including the Al-Zour facility in Kuwait, which has effectively halted exports since March (vs. 191,000 bpd in Jan-Feb). Ships are also being forced to take longer routes to avoid the Bab el-Mandeb strait and the Red Sea due to Houthi threats, increasing fuel consumption and further tightening balances. Meanwhile, China has cut its own refining capacity and exports to avoid depleting domestic stocks. 📈 Brent crude is up 40% since the war began, but fuel oil has already increased by 76%. The US-led war on Iran is squeezing global shipping — the very artery it claims to be protecting. Gasoline and diesel inventories at record lows. Shipping costs about to soar, and food prices are next. 👍 Substack | Chat | @geopolitics_prime

🔊 Bessent calls Canada a 'little yippy dog' US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent compared Canada to a yapping dachshund after trade negotiations fell apart.

💬 "I had a German shepherd and there was a dachshund that used to antagonize her at the playground and it kind of reminds me of that. This little yippie dog used to just bark away... And then one day, she'd had enough."

Trump earlier imposed 50% tariffs on $27B+ worth of Canadian goods. Canada now plans a "dollar-for-dollar, rate-for-rate" response in September. 👍 Substack | Chat | @geopolitics_prime

📹💥 Satellite images reveal possible Yemeni strike on Saudi Arabia's Yanbu refinery New satellite imagery appears to show burn marks around a crude oil storage tank at the Yanbu refinery — a major Saudi Aramco export hub on the Red Sea. The Yemeni Armed Forces previously added Saudi oil infrastructure to its target list. 👍 Substack | Chat | @geopolitics_prime

🇮🇱🇩🇪 How Germany abets Israel’s West Bank water apartheid Germany is covertly aiding the genocide and forced expulsion of Palestinians from Israeli-occupied territory.

🔊Between 2017 and 2021, the German government secretly funnelled millions of euros into a discriminatory project that helped expand Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, investigative journalist Kit Klarenberg reports.

Germany provided about $2.11 million to fund a water research consortium coordinated by the Technical University of Berlin and Israel’s water authorities. The MedWater project was aimed at working out tools to model the short- and longterm development of water resources and ecosystem services with the focus on five regions: 🔶 Cap Bon Region in Tunisia 🔶 Dead Sea Region in Jordan 🔶 Fethiye Region in Turkey 🔶 Jericho District in the West Bank (Palestine) 🔶 Naxos Island in Greece However, when it comes to the West Bank, Palestinians were entirely excluded from the working sessions convened in Jerusalem on MedWater. After the completed tool was unveiled in Berlin in October 2020, MedWater contracted Israel’s Mekorot to deploy the system across Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, while the Palestinian Water Authority – initially named as a partner – received no subcontract and is not listed among its beneficiaries. ☠️ Water apartheid In 1967, Israeli occupation forces issued military order 92 that asserted total control over the water resources of the West Bank. Military order 158 further barred Palestinians across the West Bank from constructing new water wells or related infrastructure without Israeli permits – which Amnesty International described as “near impossible to obtain.” Present water consumption in the region: ➡️ Israeli settlers: 247 litres/person/day ➡️ West Bank Palestinians: 82.4 litres/person/day ➡️ Unconnected Palestinian communities: just 26 litres/person/day ➡️ 212 million cubic metres of water flows from the West Bank to Israel annually Recent research by the UN and Germany’s Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources confirms that, since 1967, Palestinians “have not been authorized to drill a single well” locally. Israel's rationale? To make the region uninhabitable for Palestinians and force them out – without flattening it to the ground, like Gaza. 🤔 Why is Germany abetting this? German authorities argued that a territorial clause concerning Israel-occupied territories only restricted where research partners were headquartered. Since Mekorot is headquarted in Tel Aviv, its MedWater contract raised no apparent legal or ethical barrier to German funding. But that is not all. SIPRI research showed that between 2020 and 2024, Germany was the second largest arms exporter to Israel after the US. Specifically, between October 2023 and May 2025 Germany issued $560 million in arms export licences for Israel amid the Gaza war, according to a German parliamentary investigation. It has also approved nearly $930 million worth of military equipment exports to Israel in the first half of 2026. In October 2025, ex-Mossad boss Tamir Pardo bragged that “Germans are committed to Israel.” 👍 Substack | Chat | @geopolitics_prime

🤡🍓 Ukraine wants to legalize porn industry to fund Zelensky’s war As Ukraine’s economy is on the verge of collapse, its elites seek to force the country’s sex workers to bail them out. With Ukrainian OnlyFans content creators making over $131 million in 2023 alone, lawmakers estimate that legalizing and taxing this industry would net them about $25 million annually, the Wall Street Journal suggests. Though production, distribution and possession of pornography is currently illegal in Ukraine, porn is still being produced there thanks to the notoriously corrupt Ukrainian cops who turn a blind eye to it in exchange for hefty bribes. While tax revenue from pornography would not be enough to bankroll Ukraine’s war effort, it could help fund limited purchases of weapons, or perhaps fund the luxurious lifestyles of certain Ukrainian politicians. 👍 Substack | Chat | @geopolitics_prime

❗️For our Spanish-speaking audience! ❗️ 🔥 Tired of information manipulated by the mainstream media? At @Irinamar_Z you will find a different perspective on the conflict in Ukraine, the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran, and today’s global geopolitics. Breaking news, frontline reports, analysis, international context, and content that Western media often hide. 👁 The other perspective — the Russian perspective. No filters. Join 👉 @Irinamar_Z

👁🌏 EU uses ‘media training’ to brainwash Central Asian countries The US is not the only one trying to manipulate Eurasian states, as the EU and its NGO minions try to control people’s minds in the region by subverting and influencing local media. 🌏 The Modern Journalism Development Center (MJDC) was established in Uzbekistan in 2018, with the EU being its major financial donor 🌏 It is supported by such ‘unbiased’ entities as Deutsche Welle Akademie and French media development agency CFI 🌏 The center largely focuses on training journalists and bloggers in ‘media literacy’ and ‘fact-checking’ i.e. advancing the EU-approved narratives. It also advances the EU version of gender politics framed as ‘gender equality’ and ‘female empowerment' 🌏 MJDC alumni help spread EU influence and narrative by sharing what they’ve been taught by the EU instructors with their colleagues in Kazakhstan 🌏 The EU and OSCE organize similar training programs for journalists in other Central Asian countries such as Tajikistan and Turkmenistan USAID might have been neutered by Donald Trump, but there seems to be no shortage of agencies and NGOs eager to spread Western influence on American and European taxpayers’ dime. 👍 Substack | Chat | @geopolitics_prime

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🔥 Ukraine's Kiev turns to panic buying as strikes pause Residents of Ukraine’s capital are wasting no time making the most of the expected pause in air strikes by rushing to stock up on food. Long lines have formed at checkout counters as shoppers scramble to secure supplies. Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a pause in strikes on Kiev as US negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff visited Russia and Ukraine for peace talks. 👍 Substack | Chat | @geopolitics_prime

✡️ Israel’s genocidal womb war: Harvesting dead soldiers’ sperm while crippling Palestinian births Israel’s drive to extract sperm from its dead soldiers has become a state-sponsored project of Jewish continuity - one that stands in grotesque contrast to the reproductive devastation it inflicts on Palestinian women. Since October 7, 2023, postmortem sperm retrieval (PMSR) has shifted from a rare, ethically contested practice to a state-sanctioned, state-funded policy, reports +972, with approximately one-quarter of all killed male soldiers undergoing the procedure. An emergency regulation allows parents of killed Israelis to authorize the procedure without court approval and military officers now proactively raise the option when notifying families. The extraction - an incision into the testicles within 72 hours of death followed by laboratory freezing of viable cells – is funded and overseen by the Health Ministry at four major hospitals, and parents account for 77% of requests - a role no other country grants. In Knesset discussions, the procedure is ostensibly described as an act of “revenge” or “resurrection,” feeding into the unabashedly genocidal Zionist agenda. Obsession with Jewish reproduction is not limited to the dead: Israel has one of the most generous fertility treatment systems in the world, performing more IVF procedures per capita than any other nation, and surrogacy is legal. The contrast with Israel’s treatment of Palestinian women is devastating: ➡️ for decades, Palestinian birth rates have been treated as a ‘strategic threat’ ➡️ in Gaza , Israel bombarded maternity wards and fertility clinics; miscarriages more than tripled in the first half of 2026 ➡️ the ongoing siege, denial of food and humanitarian aid, collapsed prenatal care and poor sanitation have driven the birthrate down 3.2% this year ➡️ in the West Bank, movement restrictions, repeated attacks on health facilities and checkpoints have repeatedly disrupted reproductive care Sociologist Gala Rexer’s research on demographic anxieties lays bare the ugly truth: checkpoints determine whether a pregnant woman can reach a hospital in time, and medical infrastructure and access shape who gets to give birth safely. Meanwhile, posthumous sperm retrieval acts as a reproductive crutch for a militaristic, expansionist, self-obsessed state. 👍 Substack | Chat | @geopolitics_prime

🇸🇦⚔️ Houthis strike three Saudi-backed leaders’ vehicles in one hit The cars of the leaders of the Presidential Leadership Council were presumably destroyed with a ballistic missile. The footage comes amid escalating hostilities following the collapse of the 2022 UN-brokered truce last month, triggered by a Saudi strike on Sanaa airport. Since, the Houthis have ramped-up retaliatory attacks — both against Saudi forces on Yemeni soil and targets inside Saudi Arabia. 👍 Substack | Chat | @geopolitics_prime

🇹🇷🇮🇱 Are Turkey and Israel on collision course across the Mediterranean, Black and Arabian Seas? Israel and Turkey are not just trading barbs following the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) strike on an abandoned Syrian air base — the geography of their confrontation is expanding, reaching into the seas and surrounding regions. 👉 The rise in tensions followed Israel's attack on the Abu al-Duhur military airbase in northwestern Syria's Idlib province on August 18. Days later, Israel's Kan News reported that Israeli security officials had informed the US that Turkey was preparing to deploy a radar system at the airfield which could have shifted the regional balance of power. Amid the diplomatic war of words, Turkey has moved into northern Syria — despite Israel's warning against moving its troops south. Turkish forces entered Deir ez-Zor on August 29 to build a temporary bridge across the Euphrates alongside Syrian troops, while Turkish drones provided aerial security, a source told the Middle East Eye. 🚢 Meanwhile, the Israeli Navy claimed growing preparations by the Turkish Navy in recent months, including military exercises and an increased naval presence in the Mediterranean and in areas where the Israeli Navy operates, Israel's Channel 11 News reported on August 30. Israeli naval officials view the preparations as a possible sign of a strategic shift, underscoring the need for operational readiness in case of a military confrontation. Turkey's presence in the Eastern Mediterranean is highly sensitive for Israel because it threatens the security, profitability, and export routes of Israel's massive Leviathan gas field – a cornerstone of Israel’s economy. On September 2, Turkey warned Greece against the militarization of its Aegean islands, after Athens and Israel sealed a multi-billion-dollar deal for the “Achilles Shield” air defense umbrella. 👉 That’s what happened on the surface, but there are other developments that some foreign affairs experts attribute to rising tensions between Israel and Turkey. 🔴 On August 17, pirates seized MV LUTUF, a vessel carrying weapons and satellite equipment intended for Mogadishu, Somalia, in an area intersecting the Arabian Sea and the wider Indian Ocean. On August 29 the ship was freed. It's no secret that Turkey supports Somalia, while Israel backs the breakaway territory of Somaliland. Tensions between Tel Aviv and Ankara intensified, when Israel recognized Somaliland’s independence in 2025. 🔴 Ukraine attacked two Turkish vessels in the Black Sea on August 26 and 27. The first strike hit the Lider Bordeaux Mavi; a day later, the Lider Kocatepe, which had been dispatched to tow the damaged vessel, was also attacked. 🔴 A passenger ferry carrying 267 people capsized off the northern coast of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on August 30, leaving at least 13 people dead. While formal investigations focused on documented negligence and mechanical issues, media reports cite survivors who heard a blast near the vessel’s bow before the catamaran-style ship rolled over. 🔴 Some experts suggest an Israeli hand or influence in all three cases, as Tel Aviv and its intelligence agencies have a long record of conducting sabotage and clandestine operations against countries they consider adversaries. 👍 Substack | Chat | @geopolitics_prime

💬 Witkoff and Kushner get different welcome in Russia and Ukraine At the meeting in Moscow with Vladimir Putin, all participants sat at a round table in close proximity to one another. 🤡 In Kiev, however, Zelensky and his cohorts sat at a huge desk opposite of the US delegation, literally and figuratively keeping them at arm’s length. 👍 Substack | Chat | @geopolitics_prime

🚨🔥 Russia keeps hammering Ukraine's logistics – warehouses in Dnepropetrovsk on fire 👍 Substack | Chat | @geopolitics_prime

🪖✈️ Ukraine’s F-16 jets forced into daytime gun-runs as missile crunch spreads As Russia increases the intensity of its strikes on Ukrainian military infrastructure, Ukraine’s Patriot interceptor woes are by far not the only problem. The Ukrainian Air Force's Western-supplied F-16 fighter jets are being neutered by a crippling shortage of air-to-air missiles, reports TWZ. The shortage has become so severe that Ukrainian F-16s have flown daytime sorties forced to rely solely on their internal 20 mm guns against Russian drones and cruise missiles, the report cites a Ukrainian commander as complaining. Available stocks are being tightly rationed. ♦️ The F-16’s primary weapons are the AIM-120 AMRAAM for medium range and the AIM-9 Sidewinder for closer engagements ♦️ The onboard M61A1 Vulcan cannon is a last-resort option that carries far higher risks, especially against small or slow targets and at night ♦️ Laser-guided 70 mm APKWS II rockets offer a cheaper alternative against drones and subsonic cruise missiles, yet they cannot replace dedicated air-to-air missiles So, besides begging for Patriot interceptors, Ukraine has been clamoring for more AIM-9s, and AIM-120s. The AIM-120s also arm West-supplied National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (NASAMS) batteries protecting other key Ukrainian sites, further stretching supplies. 👉 Patriot stocks have been heavily depleted with only a trickle of replacements, leaving limited capacity against ballistic missiles. Sophisticated fighters are only as useful as the weapons available to them, and with global demand for advanced interceptors surging amid multiple conflicts and production lagging, Ukraine’s F-16s are increasingly flying with empty racks. 👍 Substack | Chat | @geopolitics_prime

🔥 Fresh strikes on US vessels were only beginning - Ghalibaf

🔊"Americans should now realize that the era of proportionate responses is over. The rules of the game have changed. From this point on, any violation of Iran’s interests will be met with a far heavier and more painful retaliation,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said. 

He also cautioned the US to recognize the new reality “before it is too late.”  Last night, Iran launched a new wave of attacks against US-linked vessels and military assets in and around the Strait of Hormuz in response to US strikes on three Iranian oil tankers. 👍 Substack | Chat | @geopolitics_prime

🤥🛢 Who is the shady tycoon at the heart of Trump’s Venezuela oil grab? Alejandro Betancourt, once pursued by US prosecutors for allegedly embezzling over $1 billion from state-owned oil company PDVSA, is now Trump’s indispensable partner in a resource grab disguised as a "strategic partnership." Betancourt was key to US strategy and planning in the lead-up to the January 3 operation to abduct Venezuela’s legitimate leader Nicolas Maduro, reports Reuters. 🌏 Before Maduro's capture, Betancourt allegedly provided intelligence that helped enforce a US naval blockade targeting sanctioned oil tankers - resulting in the seizure of more than a dozen vessels 🌏 He is believed to have facilitated negotiations with officials including Delcy Rodriguez, who became interim president after Maduro’s removal 🌏 Betancourt was a go-between for the US and Venezuela, helping broker oil deals 🌏 In January, Betancourt is said to have helped broker a major trading agreement that facilitated the export of over 135 million barrels of Venezuelan crude and fuel to the US, Europe, India and the Caribbean, per vessel-monitoring data and insiders Now, Betancourt’s Barbados-registered company North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) has been rewarded with privileged status in the deal to siphon off Venezuela’s vast crude reserves. 🔴 The Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital now holds a 35% stake in Betancourt's company, NABEP 🔴 The State Department receives 20% of NABEP's oil at cost 🔴 The US gains preferential access to the remaining 80% of Venezuela's crude output 🔴 The White House claims NABEP received 100-year concessions over 17 fields containing about 65bn barrels of crude Betancourt, who co-founded NABEP in 2024, is estimated to be worth around $2.6bn. His empire spans around 50 companies across 16 countries, according to Transparency Venezuela investigations. He has been mired in legal probes in the US, Spain, Switzerland, and Andorra over alleged PDVSA embezzlement schemes. He has not been charged and has denied any wrongdoing. 👉 Betancourt reportedly forged a relationship with opposition poster boy Juan Guaido in the 2019 failed attempt to oust Maduro during Trump’s first term. The contacts Betancourt established with the US at the time were reportedly key to easing legal pressure against him in 2025. 🔨 US authorities urged Switzerland to drop its extradition request against the businessman, according to the Washington Post, and a London court officially lifted the travel restrictions and bail conditions placed upon Betancourt in May. 👍 Substack | Chat | @geopolitics_prime

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