The Babylon Times

📜 IRAN CONFLICT CHOKES GLOBAL SULFUR SUPPLIES, SPIKING PRICES AND THREATENING FERTILIZERS, MINING, EVERYWHERE Prices hit multi-year peaks on top of Ukraine war shortages and surging demand from Indonesia's nickel boom. Turkey's banned exports, India's mulling restrictions, and China's halting overseas sulfuric acid from smelters come May to hoard for home. Scarce backups mean African copper mines at risk of shutdowns, Indonesian nickel cuts, and pricier fertilizers squeezing world food supplies. @TheBabylonTimes

📜 IRAN'S JEWS PUBLICLY SWEAR LOYALTY TO SUPREME LEADER AYATOLLAH SEYYED MOJTABA KHAMENEI Iran's Jewish community rep just went on record, doubling down on loyalty to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei. No hedging, straight-up public affirmation amid whatever pressures Zionists dream up. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 IRANIAN NAVY COMMANDER IRANI PROMISES ZIONISTS A FEARFUL WEAPON SOON Iranian Navy Commander Admiral Shahram Irani delivered the goods:

"Soon, soon, they will definitely see a weapon from us that they fear very much! I hope they don't suffer a stroke!"

The admiral's taunt lands amid ongoing tensions, with Iran signaling readiness to deploy something that has the aggressors sweating. @TheBabylonTimes

📜 GLOBAL OIL PRICES SPIKE PAST $120 AS US SNUBS IRANIAN SANCTIONS OFFER Global oil prices keep climbing, with per-barrel prices topping $120 for the first time in years. The 7% jump traces straight to jitters over Strait of Hormuz supplies, after the US shot down Iran's pitch to lift sanctions for longer nuclear talks. Brent crude hovers at $119-$120 amid the mess, even as the US mulls tapping its strategic petroleum reserve. @TheBabylonTimes

📜 IRAN DISPLAYS SHAHED SUICIDE DRONES TO MASSIVE CROWDS IN TEHRAN Photo captures Iran's Shahed suicide drones front and center at a huge public gathering in Tehran's Revolution Square. Massive crowd packs the capital's main square, with the drones prominently on show amid the assembly. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 IRANIAN GENERAL WARNS US WAR RENEWAL SPELLS CATASTROPHE, GROUND INVASION MEANS CAPTIVE SOLDIERS Major General Mohsen Rezaei of Iran's Expediency Discernment Council issued a stark warning: should the United States renew the war, America faces catastrophe. A ground invasion? Get ready for heaps of captured soldiers. @TheBabylonTimes

📜 IRAN CALLS OUT MEMBER GOVERNMENTS JOINING US-ISRAEL CRIMES AGAINST ITS PEOPLE Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ismail Baghaei laid it out plain: some member governments jumped into the aggression against Iran, turning themselves into full partners with the United States and Israel in heinous crimes against the Iranian people. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 IRAN'S ASSEMBLY OF EXPERTS CONFIRMS NEGOTIATION TEAM OBEYS SUPREME LEADER'S ORDERS Iran's Assembly of Experts, that key leadership outfit, declares the negotiation team is fully complying with orders from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei. They're marching along per the general guidelines of the Islamic Republic's top institutions, all under direct supervision. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 IRAN REJECTS GCC CLAIMS ON WAR ROLE, DEMANDS COMPENSATION TO REGAIN TRUST Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ismail Baghaei dismissed Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary-General Jasem Al-Budaiwi's accusations tying Iran to the imposed war. Baghaei told GCC governments to earn back Iran's trust by compensating Iranians for their damages. @TheBabylonTimes

📜 IRAN UNVEILS NEW GENERATION ARASH SUICIDE DRONES IN TEHRAN Iran's fresh batch of "Arash" suicide drones made their public debut at a gathering in Revolution Square, Tehran. The display rolled out amid a crowd of attendees, officially showing off the new toys. No operational details or testing on offer. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 TRUMP CONFUSES IRAN WITH UKRAINE, CLAIMS ALL 159 SHIPS SUNK AND EVERY PLANE SHOT DOWN Former US President Donald Trump bungled Iran and Ukraine in a statement, insisting Ukraine's been militarily crushed—something fake news supposedly hides. He declared all 159 Ukrainian ships sunk, every aircraft shot down or totally destroyed. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 IRANIAN RESIDENTS HONOR KHAMENEI AS MARTYR BESIDE SOLEIMANI IN KERMAN Kerman city residents hang a portrait of Imam Sayyid Ali Khamenei, straight-up calling him a martyr, right next to the martyred commander Haj Qasem Soleimani's picture. Locals put it on display like it's the most natural pairing. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 US SEIZES IRANIAN SHIP TUSKA HIJACKS VESSEL WITH 28 CREW HEADING TO IRAN US government grabbed the Iranian ship Tuska, hijacking it en route to Iran with 28 Iranian crew aboard. Six crew members have been released, leaving the rest in limbo. @TheBabylonTimes

📜 IRAN SAYS CLOSING BAB AL-MANDEB STRAIT WOULD HIT WEST HARD Iran's parliamentary energy committee spokesperson notes that shutting the Bab al-Mandeb Strait would deliver serious challenges to the West. He adds Iran's current options pack far greater value and impact than whatever the opposing side's got. @TheBabylonTimes

📜 IRANIAN FORCES WIPE OUT TWO TERRORISTS IN IRANSHAHR CLASH Iranian security forces tangled with terrorist elements in Iranshahr city, Sistan and Baluchestan province, southeastern Iran. They killed two terrorists and wounded two more, initial reports say. The spot hugs the transit route from Jask port to Milak border, about 337 km southeast of Zahedan. @TheBabylonTimes

📜 NORTH KOREA'S MISSILES SET TO SWAMP US $65 BILLION DEFENSE SHIELD Bloomberg reports North Korea's Hwasong-15, -17, -18, and -19 ICBMs growing large enough to overwhelm the US ground-based missile defense system that somehow costs $65 billion. Pyongyang boasts an estimated 50 nuclear warheads now, churning out material for 20 more yearly, eyeing 290 by 2035. That dwarfs Israel's, Pakistan's, and UK's piles, closing in on France's with fancier tech. Shorter-range missiles keep US allies in Asia and Guam bases—like a key munitions depot—on edge. @TheBabylonTimes

📜 17 VESSELS BREEZE PAST US BLOCKADE LINE IN 24 HOURS Ship tracking data reveals at least 17 vessels crossed the blockade line the United States so grandly announced. Among the cheeky passersby: 6 oil tankers and 11 cargo ships, all in the past 24 hours. @TheBabylonTimes

📜 IRAN CELEBRATES BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF IMAM REZA IN MASHHAD Photos capture crowds in Mashhad's streets, the holy city of the Imam Reza Shrine, marching and celebrating the birth anniversary of Imam Reza (peace be upon him). Processions and festivities fill the gatherings honoring the occasion. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 RET US COLONEL SAYS US-CHINA PROXY WAR SPANS ARCTIC TO IRAN IN GREAT GAME RENEWED Retired US Colonel Wilkerson told Norwegian scholar Glenn Diesen that clashes in Iran and Ukraine form part of a sprawling "Great Game Renewed," running from the Arctic—where the US thwarts China's route via Russia—to Baltic states eager for Russian confrontation, then Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and into Iran. Wilkerson sees the US directing this strained proxy effort against a swiftly declining China, with Trump's flashy military moves and sanctions hastening the downfall, regardless of his own grasp. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 PUTIN WARNS TRUMP OF SEVERELY DAMAGING CONSEQUENCES IF US AND ISRAEL ATTACK IRAN AGAIN Reuters says a Kremlin official claims Putin chatted with Trump on the phone about the Iran war. Putin laid it out straight: expect "severely damaging consequences" if the US and Israel go after Iran again. @TheBabylonTimes