SERETIS NOTES

  Iran’s national women’s soccer team has returned to the Islamic Republic after several of the players sought asylum in Australia, Iranian media reported Wednesday. The outlets shared footage of the players entering Iran after landing in Turkey and taking a bus to the border. They were greeted by some officials at the border. I feel so sorry for these women.  The Iranian regime will lock them up, or even torture them.  I am sure their familied where threatened

  Iran's newly appointed supreme leader is reported to have gone to Moscow for leg surgery, which was "personally offered by Putin," after being injured in airstrikes. It is thought that Mojtaba Khamenei was hurt during the first U.S.-Israeli attacks on Tehran on February 28. This comes after Donald Trump speculated that the new leader might have passed away, as he has not been seen publicly since his appointment. How could this guy slip away from the Mossad and US inteligence?

  The apparent lack of broad European support for the U.S. strikes on Iran signals the continent could be approaching a turning point by deciding whether it will maintain economic dependence on Washington or Beijing — or take matters into its own hands. The tension comes as U.S. allies in Europe seek out China to discuss possible de-escalation in the Middle East while rejecting logistical requests from Washington, due in part to the United States’ recent foreign policy decisions.

  A magnitude 4.1 earthquake in southern Iran has reignited online speculation that Tehran may be conducting underground nuclear weapons tests, with some commentators drawing a direct line between the tremor and a potential strike capability aimed at the United States. The seismic event, recorded by the U.S. Geological Survey, occurred in a tectonically active zone where earthquakes of this size are routine. But the collision of a real tremor with Iran’s ongoing refusal to grant international inspectors access to its nuclear facilities has created fertile ground for fear and misinformation, raising the question of whether natural geology is being weaponized as a geopolitical talking point.

  China announced its largest defense budget yet Thursday as it presses forward with its goal of becoming the dominant military force in the West Pacific. The draft budget was released by China‘s Ministry of Finance as the Communist Party leadership’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress, began its annual meeting to approve the country’s priorities for the coming year.

  Iranian warplanes were just two minutes away from bombing an American base holding 10,000 troops before Qatari jets struck them down, a new report has claimed.  According to sources from  CNN ,  Iran  sent two Soviet-era Su-24 tactical bombers toward al-Udeid Air Base on Monday morning, as well as Ras Laffan, a key natural gas processing facility. The al-Udeid base is the largest American base in the Middle East. It ordinarily hosts up to 10,000 soldiers, and is home to the US Central Command, the US Air Force's Central Command and the  RAF 's 83rd Expeditionary Air Group.  A source told CNN that the Iranian planes were seen 'carrying bombs and guided munitions'. They are said to have been flying at an altitude of just 80ft to avoid radar detection. After the Qataris radioed the planes and received no response, they scrambled an F-15 fighter jet that downed the two planes.