In January-March, EU imports of Russian LNG amounted to approximately 6.8 billion cubic meters, compared to 5.7 billion cubic meters a year earlier

MOSCOW, April 2. /TASS/. Russia’s LNG supplies to the European Union reached a record high in March amid the suspension of shipments from the Middle East due to the military conflict, according to TASS calculations based on data from the European think tank Bruegel.

In January-March, EU imports of Russian LNG amounted to approximately 6.8 billion cubic meters, compared to 5.7 billion cubic meters a year earlier.

In March, Russian LNG supplies to Europe totaled 2.46 billion cubic meters, which is an all-time high.

According to Bruegel, Europe's total LNG imports in March amounted to 14.1 billion cubic meters, which is a record high. In January-March, the EU’s LNG purchases increased by 10% to 39.2 billion cubic meters.

In March, LNG supplies to the EU from the US (the US and Trinidad and Tobago) increased by 8% compared to February, also reaching a new record of 8.3 billion cubic meters.

In January-March, Europe's gas imports from these countries increased by 23% to 23.9 billion cubic meters.

Since the beginning of the year, the EU imported about 4.2 billion cubic meters of LNG from Africa, and 2.5 billion cubic meters from the Middle East.

On LNG supplies from Russia to Europe

In late January, the EU Council finally approved a ban on Russian LNG imports from January 1, 2027, and pipeline gas imports from September 30, 2027. However, some restrictions were to be imposed earlier. LNG imports under short-term contracts are to be banned from April 25, 2026, and short-term pipeline gas supply contracts must be completed by June 17, 2026.

LNG supplies from Russia to the EU in 2025 decreased by 5.6%, amounting to 20.3 billion cubic meters. Overall, Russia ranked fourth in gas supplies to the EU in 2025, after Norway, the United States, and Algeria.

President Vladimir Putin stated that, given the European Union's intention to completely abandon Russian gas, Russia could initiate an early exit from the European market and redirect supplies to other, more interested buyers.

The major media outlets have ignored the CIA’s on-going strategy of mass assassinations as one of the main weapons in Bush’s burgeoning global war of terror. This is why it came as something of a shock to highbrows and media elites when Seymour Hersh, in a recent article for The New Yorker, revealed the existence of what he wrongfully referred to as “a new Special Forces operation” that is intended to assassinate the people comprising “the broad middle of the Ba’athist underground.”

This is a half-truth at best. To begin with, this is a CIA assassination program, not a Special Forces program; and while Hersh is correct when he says the targets are members of the outlawed Ba’ath Party, he tactfully skirts the fact that this assassination program is illegal because it targets civilians not soldiers. Americans have denied these Iraqui civilians due process in their own country. Based on the word of a single anonymous informant, Ba’ath Party members who have never harmed a single American can be detained indefinitely, tortured until they rat out some colleagres, or become a double agent, or they can be assassinated along with their family, friends and neighbors.

And not just Ba’ath Party members, but anyone who gets their name on the CIA’s blacklist of political and ideological enemies.

Preemptive Manhunting: The New Phoenix Program

The CIA has concocted various euphemisms for its long-standing policy of assassinating civilians whose ideas and political beliefs it hates. In a 24 July 2003 article for CounterPunch titled Nation of Assassins, I listed some of them: “targetted kill” being the most popular, along with neutralize and “executive action”. I’ve been waiting for the new euphemism with which the media will assuage the public and now we have it from disinformation specialist Seymour Hersh: “Preemptive Manhunting.”

Preemptive Manhunting is the new name for assassination and, according to Hersh (quoting one of his usual anonymous sources), the rationale for resorting to this immoral and illegal measure is that “The only way we can win is to go unconventional. We’re going to have to play their game. Guerrilla versus guerrilla. Terrorism versus terrorism. We’ve got to scare the Iraqis into submission.”

This is a textbook description of “selective terrorism” as the ultimate form of psychological warfare, and Hersh is correct in describing Preemptive Manhunting as the rebirth of the CIA’s Phoenix Program in South Vietnam.

For those who are unaware of it, a typical Phoenix Program operation occurred in February 1968, when former Senator Bob Kerrey (now added to the 9/11 Investigation team) led a seven-member Navy SEAL team into Thanh Phong village and murdered more than a dozen women and children–a war crime for which Kerry received a Bronze Star. That’s right–Kerrey lied when he got back to camp and reported that he and his boys had killed 21 Viet Cong guerrillas. We can expect a lot of this in Iraq, Afghanistan, and any other place Bush sends the CIA to terrorize the civilian populoation into submission.

In Vietnam, Kerrey & Company were supposedly after the local Communist Party District Chief. Like the Ba’ath Party in Iraq, the Communist Party was outlawed in South Vietnan, thus providing the CIA with the pretext it needed to kill its members. A Vietnamese informant provioded the intelligence that Kerrey based his mission on, and, in Iraq, the CIA’s Phoenix assassination teams will rely on paid, anonymous Iraqi informants to identify which Ba’ath Party members will be murdered along with all their family, friends, and neighbors. And anyone else the CIA wants killed.

That’s right–terrorizing the people into submission is the point of Preemptive Manhunting, just as it was the point of the CIA’s Phoenix Program. As in Kerrey’s operation in Thanh Phong, that means killing anyone in any way related to the target. Hundreds of My Lai massacres occurred in South Vietnam in the name of Phoenix, and starting in Afghanistan and Iraq, the CIA will perpetrate a hundred times that many massacres around the world, in the name of George Bush, Ariel Sharon, and the Judaeo-Christian God.

One final note. Hersh mentions that Israel is guiding the CIA’s Phoenix Program in Iraq, and as everyone knows, the Israelis are the world’s masters of assassination and terrorizing an entire people into submission. What Hersh doesn’t mention is that the blanket of censorship that prevents the American media from criticizing Israel for its war crimes has now been cast over Bush and the CIA, and all the people they use to conquer foreigns nations and assassinate people who never did any American any harm–until the Americans invaded their country.

Compare America’s conquest of Iraq with Israeli’s conquest of Palestine, and you begin to understand. In each case the stragey is massive war crimes on the one hand, and targetted kills of inspirational leaders on the other. This devastating one-two punch is easier through the complicity of the corporate media.

In this respect both Hersh and The New Yorker serve as essential instruments of the Big Lie that makes Preemptive Manhunting popular and thus possible. His story in The New Yorker was no mistake, but merely a part of the psychological warfare campaign being waged by the Bush regime to subdue the resistance of the American public to this awful war.

DOUGLAS VALENTINE is the author of The Hotel Tacloban, The Phoenix Program, and TDY. His fourth book, The Strength of the Wolf: The Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 1930-1968, will be published in May 2004. His latest article, “Whose Homeland Security”, appeared in the July 2003 issue of Penthouse Magazine.

For information about Mr. Valentine, and his books and articles, please visit his web sites at www.DouglasValentine.com and https://members.authorsguild.net/valentine

Investigative Analysis – A series of arson attacks and alleged incidents targeting alleged Jewish-linked sites across Europe have been attributed to a little-known group called Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI), or Ashab al-Yamin. The group has been widely described in media and security circles as an Iran-backed network, allegedly linked to the IRGC.

Since March 9, HAYI has been credited with what some analysts describe as “hybrid warfare” style operations spanning multiple countries from Greece and Belgium to France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Among the most high-profile incidents was the burning of four ambulances in Golders Green, North London, on March 22.

The emergence of this group coincides with the escalation of the US-Israeli war against Iran. In parallel, media outlets and pro-war commentators have warned that Tehran could expand the conflict by carrying out attacks across Europe.

But a closer examination raises serious questions about its actual existence and the pro-Israel groups pushing this narrative. 

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect MintPress News editorial policy.

Republish our stories! MintPress News is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.

US-Israeli airstrikes on Friday hit a wide range of sites nationwide, including Tabriz, Khorramshahr, Qom, and multiple locations in the capital Tehran.

Explosions were also reported in southern Shiraz and central Isfahan provinces, while air defenses were activated in eastern and northeastern Tehran.

The IRGC announced that it shot down a second advanced American fighter jet over central Iran, apart from two cruise missiles and three drones. The US admitted that Iran destroyed an American fighter jet, as search operations continue for downed pilots.

One Black Hawk helicopter was also struck during a rescue mission near the border.

On the diplomatic front, France distanced itself from Washington's approach, with President Emmanuel Macron declaring that US President Donald Trump "cannot be taken seriously" and that the Strait of Hormuz can only be reopened in coordination with Iran.

Russia, China, and France blocked an Arab push for UN military authorization over the Strait of Hormuz, which is effectively shut to American and allied vessels.

Meanwhile, Iranian oil is trading above Brent for the first time since 2022 — a profound strategic shift — as prices surged to $140 a barrel, the highest level since 2008.

Key developments from Day 33 of the imposed war:

• The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced that it shot down an advanced fighter jet in central Iran. The US military confirmed that one of its aircraft was downed inside Iranian territory, and the United States "has launched a search-and-rescue operation to locate the pilot or pilots."

• Posting on X, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf ridiculed Trump’s five-week war on the country, saying “this brilliant, no-strategy war” has now been downgraded to “can anyone find our pilots, please. Wow, what incredible progress. Absolute geniuses.”

• The commander of the United States Army Ground Forces, General Randy George, was removed from his post by US war minister Pete Hegseth.

• Two other senior military officers, General David Hodne and Major General William Green Jr, were also dismissed as a fallout of the war against Iran.

• The USS Gerald R Ford, an aircraft carrier that had been deployed to the Arabian Sea, left Croatia after five days in port for repairs following a fire incident on board, the US Navy said. It did not reveal its next destination as US forces reposition in West Asia amid the war against Iran.

• US-Israeli airstrikes severely damaged a plasma research centre at Shahid Beheshti University in northern Tehran.

• US-Israeli airstrikes also hit various locations in Tehran, Shiraz, Tabriz, Ahvaz and Isfahan cities.

• Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) said the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) silence on US-Israeli attacks on the country’s peaceful nuclear facilities makes the agency complicit in the aggression.

• According to the New York Times, Russia, China, and France blocked an Arab-led initiative seeking UN Security Council authorisation for military action against Iran aimed at forcing open the Strait of Hormuz.

• Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, stressed that any provocative action by the aggressors and their supporters, including at the United Nations Security Council, regarding the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, will only further complicate the situation.

• Jordan's parliamentary speaker called for the revival of a joint “Arab defence” and economic pact to “confront Iran.”

• Satellite imagery confirmed the destruction of a critical American AN/TPY-2 radar at Saudi Arabia's Prince Sultan Air Base during an Iranian strike. The radar was an indispensable component of the THAAD missile defence system. The antenna alone is valued at an estimated $136 million.

• Time magazine, citing officials, said that Donald Trump approved the plan to attack Iran nearly one month before the operation commenced. The plan was finalised after weeks of meticulous coordination, including close consultations with Israel. A White House official told Time: "He was deliberately deceiving public opinion to protect the mission."

• In a telephonic conversation with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev expressed hope for a swift end to the war and confirmed that humanitarian aid to Tehran will continue uninterrupted.

• Oil prices have surged to $140 a barrel, the highest level seen since 2008.

• According to Bloomberg, Iranian oil is now trading above Brent crude, the global benchmark, for the first time since May 2022, a development that signals a profound and historic strategic shift in global energy markets.

• In a response to Trump, Pedro Sanchez, Prime Minister of Spain, issued a blistering rebuke: "Twenty-three years ago, you dragged us into a war with Iraq, and no nuclear weapons were found. You cannot fool us twice."

• Vietnam's foreign ministry announced that Iran is taking measures to allow Vietnamese vessels to transit the Strait of Hormuz.

• The UN deputy secretary-general said that efforts are underway to reduce tensions and halt the hostilities, but warned that the signs are dangerous. "We are closely monitoring the situation in Iran,” he said.

• Middle East Eye revealed that Greek ships are secretly supplying Israel with oil and military cargo. According to the report, "shadow vessels" are switching off their transponders and registering false destinations to supply Israel via Turkey.

• The New York Times reported that US military forces committed a double-tap attack in Iran, two strikes hitting the B1 bridge in Karaj approximately one hour apart, with the second strike occurring as rescue workers were tending to the wounded.

• Trump wrote on social media: "Bridges are the next target in Iran, then power plants," provoking angry reactions.

• French President Emmanuel Macron declared that Trump cannot be taken seriously, pointing to his repeatedly shifting objectives in the war with Iran. "This is not a show…When you want to be serious, you don't say every day the opposite of what you said the day before." 

• The Wall Street Journal reported that Qatar is resisting efforts by the US and other regional countries to be a key mediator for a potential ceasefire deal with Iran.

• Amazon announced that from April 17, sellers using its delivery and warehousing services will be required to pay a temporary 3.5 per cent surcharge. The company said the decision is a direct response to rising transportation and fuel costs, which have soared in recent weeks amid escalating tensions and war in West Asia.

• The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, citing informed sources, reported that Israel is preparing to act forcefully against energy facilities in Iran if it receives a green light from Washington. According to Israeli sources, Tel Aviv has informed Washington that striking energy facilities would "cripple Iran's economy and could potentially lead to the collapse of the system."

• The head of Iran's Securities and Exchange Organisation, Hojatollah Seydi, announced that the capital market will spare no effort to expedite the reconstruction of Mobarakeh Steel and Khuzestan Steel. Both companies were struck multiple times by US-Israeli missiles.

• World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed deep concern over escalating US-Israeli attacks on health infrastructure in Iran, particularly in Tehran, saying these strikes have severely disrupted the delivery of vital services to patients.

• Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghani announced that Iran's armed forces shot down a drone over Shiraz. He revealed hard evidence on the involvement of some Persian Gulf Arab states in the unprovoked US-Israeli aggression against the Islamic Republic.

• IRGC has said that Israel carried out an earlier attack on Kuwait’s power and desalination plant, warning regional countries to stay vigilant.

• Donald Trump, who has repeatedly issued contradictory statements about the Strait of Hormuz, claimed on his social media platform that the waterway could be reopened soon. "With a little more time, we can easily open the Strait of Hormuz, take the oil, and make a lot of money. It will be a gusher for the world???"

• Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for an immediate ceasefire during a phone call, warning that the war risks having global repercussions for energy, trade, and logistics.

• The Yemeni capital, Sana’a, once again witnessed a million-man march in solidarity with Iran and the regional resistance against ongoing US-Israeli aggression.

In a statement released Saturday, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) public relations wing detailed a series of successful interceptions across multiple Iranian provinces.

The IRGC's Aerospace Defense Force fighters successfully hunted and destroyed two cruise missiles in the skies of Khomein and Zanjan, according to the statement.

Additionally, two MQ-9 attack drones were shot down in the skies of Isfahan, and one Hermes drone was destroyed in the skies of Bushehr.

The IRGC said these interceptions were carried out using its new advanced air defense system, operating under the control of the country's integrated air defense network.

In a separate and particularly significant engagement, the IRGC's Aerospace Defense Force successfully destroyed an advanced enemy fighter jet in central Iran.

The hunt for the missing pilot continues with reports that he failed to eject safely.

Also on Friday, Iran's Army announced that the Islamic Republic's integrated air defense network downed an American A-10 Warthog warplane over the country's southern waters near the Strait of Hormuz.

The Army stated that the targeted aircraft "was tracked and engaged by the Army Air Defense Force's systems, and subsequently crashed into the waters of the Persian Gulf."

The IRGC statement warned that Iran's air defenses are becoming increasingly formidable as the war imposed on the Islamic Republic by the American-Israeli coalition continues.

"With the continued innovative, sustained, and precise monitoring by Iran's air defense heroes, the skies of Iran will become increasingly unsafe for the fighter jets of the aggressor enemy," the statement read.

Iranian armed forces continue to carry out retaliatory military operations against the United States and the Israeli regime in response to the aggression against the country, particularly the civilian infrastructure in different provinces.

On Friday, the IRGC and the Iranian Army carried out multiple attacks as part of Operation True Promise 4, which was launched immediately after the US-Israeli coalition carried out an unprovoked act of aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran on February 28.

Iranian armed forces have so far carried out 93 waves of missile and drone strikes with advanced weaponry targeting Israeli military facilities in the occupied territories, as well as US occupation bases and assets scattered across the West Asia region.

On March 19, Iran achieved what no country had before: a successful engagement against the US Air Force’s crown jewel, the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter, using the Majid infrared-guided system in central Iran.

For nearly two decades, the F-35 program represented the zenith of US military hegemony, a multi-trillion-dollar, fifth-generation platform designed to penetrate the world’s most sophisticated air defenses with impunity.

Other jets in the F-family have also been engaged and struck over the past month, including several F-15s, F-16s, and F-18s, intercepted by Iran’s advanced integrated air defense systems, which experts note have improved significantly since the 12-day war.

Iranian defenses have also destroyed more than a dozen MQ-9 Reaper drones, valued at roughly $30 million each and forming the backbone of US unmanned surveillance and strike operations.

As of Friday, the IRGC announced that the total number of drones downed by the Joint Air Defense Headquarters’ integrated network has crossed 150.

Ever since the United States launched its aggression against Iran (codenamed “Epic Fury”, but aptly nicknamed “Epstein Fury” by many observers), things haven’t been going great. Initial tactical losses have now turned into strategic humiliations for what Trump regularly calls “the toughest military ever”. 

The Pentagon is concluding the first month of this war with notable attrition of critical support aircraft, be it aerial refueling tankers or ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) platforms. These losses are disproportionately impactful because such assets underpin the entire US military power projection architecture in the Middle East (and beyond).

Since mid-March, the US has lost close to a dozen aerial refueling aircraft, specifically KC-135 “Stratotankers” (damaged beyond repair or completely destroyed, both in the air and on the ground). Dozens of crew members and support personnel have been killed or wounded in these precision strikes. The mainstream propaganda machine is doing its best to present these losses as supposed “friendly fire incidents, technical malfunctions, mid-air collisions, bird strikes”, etc. In addition, dozens of drones have also been shot down by Iranian SAM (surface-to-air missile) systems, particularly MQ-9 “Reapers” that cost up to $35 million apiece.

In previous weeks, the Iranian military destroyed numerous ground-based radar installations, leaving the Pentagon effectively blind and forcing it to deploy critical aerial ISR assets, particularly P-8 “Poseidon” and E-3G “Sentry” airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft, more commonly known as AWACS (airborne warning and control system). Multiple such aircraft were destroyed during a March 27 attack on the US-operated Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, with imagery showing extensive damage to several aircraft on the tarmac. This demonstrates not only the failure of America’s intelligence assets, but also of its air and missile defenses.

Platforms like the E-3 provide wide-area radar coverage, missile tracking and battle management for American and other aircraft operated by US vassals and satellite states. Coupled with losses of the aforementioned aerial tankers, these setbacks strain the Pentagon’s logistical and ISR operations at a pivotal moment when President Donald Trump is contemplating a land invasion into Iran.

The KC-135 fleet, already aged and heavily used after decades of US aggression against the entire world, cannot be replaced because it’s been out of production for over 60 years.

The replacement, KC-46 “Pegasus” tankers, is still not readily available, as the US military is yet to ramp up production.

Thus, the backbone of America’s long-range strike operations is in jeopardy, as the Iranian military continues to target such strategic assets. This is hardly unexpected, as Tehran needs to disrupt US bombing capacity, which is being used for indiscriminate destruction of civilian targets across Iran (residential areas, schools, hospitals, etc). Fighter jets and ground-attack aircraft operating from airbases or carriers require multiple refueling to reach Iran and return. With so many KC-135 out of service (either shot down, destroyed on the ground or damaged), the Pentagon is forced to increasingly rely on strategic bombers.

Namely, with aerial tankers destroyed or damaged, sortie rates drop, forcing aircraft to conduct missions in a much shorter radius. This also compels greater reliance on forward-deployed assets, which is quite risky given Iran’s strike reach. In addition, experienced tanker crews have noted fatigue and maintenance backlogs, as they’re forced to fly longer and in much more threatening environments. Namely, the US military is quite used to waging wars far more akin to bullying than actual combat. American personnel are simply not accustomed to remotely capable opponents who can not only shoot back, but also launch long-range precision strikes.

Iran’s ability to hit targets across the Middle East demonstrates that even previously “secure” airbases deep in the rear are no longer safe, forcing the US military to operate from farther away. This creates a catch-22 situation where the Pentagon needs even more aerial tankers to conduct any operations. Worse yet, now that these military bases are vulnerable, this forces Washington DC to divert combat assets to base defense rather than offensive strikes. Some reports suggest that even two of the latest American EC-130H electronic warfare (EW) aircraft were hit. This “electronic ghost” is considered a “hidden” weapon, as it doesn’t fire a single round, but is capable of paralyzing entire armies.

Namely, there are only three such aircraft in operational service (each with a price tag of over $165 million) and their role is to disrupt enemy command and control communications, conduct offensive counterintelligence operations, carry out a wide range of electronic attacks, etc. EC-130s can also attack early warning and acquisition radars, making them critical for SEAD (suppression of enemy air defenses) missions. If reports about their supposed destruction (or damage) are true, this would mean that the Pentagon’s ability to target Iranian SAM systems has been greatly diminished, which jeopardizes bombing operations against Tehran (which would certainly be a major success for the Iranian military).

SEAD and ISR degradation compound several major strategic problems for the US. Namely, MQ-9 attrition reduces persistent overhead surveillance and precision targeting, which are essential for hitting mobile Iranian assets (such as missile launchers). This makes it easier for Tehran to launch retaliatory strikes or target other key assets in airbases across the Middle East. However, losses of aircraft like the E-3G and EC-130H are even more severe, as this degrades real-time command and control, early warning against ballistic missiles and drone swarms. Without constant ISR and EW coverage, bombing operations become more fragmented and riskier, with greatly diminished success rates.

Washington DC can always rely on satellites, but this solution is far from ideal because space assets cannot provide constant real-time surveillance, particularly when it comes to detecting and tracking mobile platforms. Another manned aircraft that can provide ISR is the old U-2, but these are quite outdated and highly vulnerable. Much newer systems, like the E-7 “Wedgetail”, are yet to be fielded by the USAF, but even if they were, the numbers would be insufficient to replace E-3G losses. All this greatly erodes the sustainability of high-tempo bombing operations (to say nothing of billions of dollars lost and the strategic setbacks for Washington DC).

As previously mentioned, total US losses are yet to be determined, but are undoubtedly already in the dozens for manned aircraft alone. The mainstream propaganda machine is doing its best to conceal the true scale, but this is increasingly difficult. Namely, unlike during the 1990s and 2000s, when American media were largely uncontested and could tell unadulterated lies to demonize entire nations (such as Serbs and Arabs), we now have numerous alternative sources whose reports cannot be denied (although they’re constantly being suppressed). Even many American observers are expressing their disdain for the Pentagon and its incompetence.

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