Greatest Crisis of all Time or Greatest Reset?

In a recent interview with Sharmine Narwani, host at The Cradle, China’s Victor Gao shared some of the concerns that the new war operations against Iran have triggered. He described this as one of the greatest crisis that humanity has ever faced. For as the late Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore famously describes, the Middle East is like a wasp’s nest where passions are easily aroused around religious differences. Once a war with Iran starts, it is not like a house of cards, but like a hive of drones will be shaken open, affecting all the nearby Gulf nations.

Gao states that this war endangers the international community economically, financially, and with regard to energy resources because so many nations depend upon the Hormuz Strait being open. Much of the Far East: Japan, Korea, and Taiwan are affected. So are the Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines, South Asian behemoths such as India, and China. The only way to deal with this crisis is to do so carefully in sequence, just as if one were saving an elephant that has fallen into a ditch for whatever reason, there are three things you need to do in sequence. Professor Gao elaborates on the analogy because while revolutionaries expect that a savior nation can jump in and “change everything at once,” it is not so:

“The first thing is to try your best to pull the elephant out of the ditch. That’s number one. Number two is to figure out why this elephant fell into the ditch or was pushed into the ditch. Now then the third point you need to do is to figure out how to prevent any other elephant from falling into the ditch in the future. Now we are in the first step of this three-step sequence and I don’t think you can do these three steps out of sequence or in the wrong sequence. So we need to do whatever we can do to pull the elephant out of the ditch first and there are difficulties and there are impossibilities to pull this elephant out from this ditch right now. Now it is only when we reach the second stage can we really have the luxury and have the wisdom and the courage to figure out why this elephant fell into the ditch. Why the United States and Israel dared to launch this war of aggression against Iran etc. And then when we reach the third stage, we need to do whatever we can to come up with anything that can be reconstructed to prevent another war from happening. So I think we need to do this in the right sequence number first step following to the second step and the third step. If you jump out of sequence maybe you will be very courageous in trying that but the result may not be as what you wanted. So I think for the moment the top priority and greatest urgency is to put this war, pull this war out of its normal course and stop the war right away. And then we need to figure out what exactly needs to happen to prevent the outbreak of another war. We are in the first step right now rather than in the second step or in the third step…”

Insofar as nuclear war goes, according to Gao and The Cradle, just the idea that rogue nation Israel, which has repeatedly violated international laws, United Nations Charter, and laws on human decency (Bill of Human Rights), can preemptively strike and start a new cultural genocide against Iran is outrageous. It is beyond outrageous that this tiny nation, which was only created in 1948, has since its very birth dedicated much of its history to wars of expansionism and bloodshed, while secretly developing its own nuclear weapons program. So under the guise of “preventing nuclear war by Iran” it has preemptively assassinated (with the help and the approval and the military backing from the United States) Iranian nuclear scientists, military officials, heads of state, politicians, and anyone deemed a threat to Pax Judaica.

The US-Israel is endangering the world and yet it pretends that it is undertaking a great and grand crusade judging from the words of President Trump, about whom Professor Seyed Mohammed Marandi wisely observes: “Nothing that Trump says can be really taken at face value.” Because when Trump states he wants to have a ceasefire soon, in another moment, he states that Iran must be punished for closing the Hormuz Strait by bombing it back to the Stone Age.

“If the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalination plants!), which we have purposefully not yet ‘touched.'” —- President Donald J. Trump, Truth Social, Mar 30, 2026

This is the presumed leader of the civilized world talking, someone who is supposed to represent the best of American rich mega-business people, a billionaire-class, no less. So now are we to presume that the rest of the world must bow to these American business figures and give them whatever they wish or else? Why doesn’t someone who just does not see eye-to-eye with Trump go and blow up one of his hotels? There are quite a few of these Trump golf courses and hotels around the world, but maybe the rest of the world is too stupid or civilized to obliterate his franchises.

Podcasters, such as The MahmoodOD Show, point out the difference in military strikes undertaken by Israel and the United States versus Iran. The US-Israel aims at decapitation, outright conducting extrajudicial murder and assassination that includes cultural institutions, and targeting civilian populations such as school children. In Lebanon, the drones buzzing around keep foreign correspondent Vanessa Beeley awake at night, and the earth hears the bombs landing. One video clip shows a Beirut apartment building that the IDF takes down causing the entire building to collapse into its footprint. One or two apartment buildings are taken down in order to kill one suspected Hezbollah member, as if the rest of the Lebanese people do not matter.

There is no doubt that the estimates of the number of people killed, wounded, or who will later suffer lung disease are routinely under-counted, as if being deceitful is a qualifier for acceptance by the Western establishment. Estimates are that over 2 million Lebanese have been displaced since Israel has abandoned all pretense of abiding by the UN ceasefire. There are reports by Free Palestine TV that the IDF has targeted all bridges crossing the Litani River in an effort to secure control of south Lebanon. The psychological warfare also includes targeting and killing grassroots journalists from Lebanon and the West.

In contrast, using steady targeted methodical strikes, Iran has chipped away and shorn down the “Iron Dome” of Israel and the interceptor radar capacities at U.S. military bases. The strikes are targeted to minimize even military personnel casualties, and aimed to cripple the offensive capabilities of the aggressors. There are no wanton targeting of Israel schools, sports stadiums, and hospitals, although the strike against Kuwait’s desalination plant may have been a false-flag operation by Israel.

Israel Does Not Want Peace

It is clear to most listeners that Israel does not want peace and it has not wanted any kind of peace deal going back well before the JCPOA was signed in 2015 under the leadership of President Obama. This was why President Trump during his first term, with his then Middle-East policy advisor and negotiator, son-in-law Jared Kushner, was coaxed into scrapping the peace deal while claiming that such a deal only made it more likely that Iran would produce a nuclear bomb. During his talk to the American public on April 1st, President Trump repeatedly stated that if it were not for Trump being in office, Iran would have already created and used a nuclear bomb, and that they were planning to develop a nuclear bomb “the likes of never had been seen.” Meanwhile Israel not only planned Operation Roaring Lion, but has launched fresh attacks against Lebanon, against Druze territories in Syria, and continued its genocide in Gaza.

During these Iran war operations, so far, each time President Trump entertains the idea of a ceasefire (who can take seriously a tweet about proposing a ceasefire from someone who literally changes his mind by the hour), the IDF literally begins fresh bombing campaigns across Tehran, Busherh, Isfahan, or another of Iran’s historic cities. The Israelis crow about how much infrastructure they destroy or incapacitate, never mind that it often includes civilian and commercial infrastructure, not military. But of course, under the IDF policy of “dual-use” anything of value in industry and manufacturing is fair game, just like it has been in Gaza since 2023, which has largely been taken “back into the Stone Age.”

Hal Turner (HTRS) reports (“After Israel Destroys Iran Steel Plants, Iran Issues Evacuation Order for Regional Steel Plants in Other countries”) that within four hours of Trump announcing a ten-day ceasefire on Iran civilian infrastructure on March 27th, Israel bombed “3 of Iran’s largest steel factories, a power plant, and civilian nuclear sites among other infrastructure.” To nullify any possibility for a ceasefire, Israel also claimed it was acting in “coordination with the U.S.” The satellite photos show charred factory sites in Mobarakeh, Esfahan, and Ahvaz Khuzestan Steel Plant. “Iron and steel is Iran’s second largest export category at $6.48 billion, its primary hard-currency lifeline outside of oil…Hitting all three at once targets critical industrial capacity and the economic architecture Iran spent decades building to survive Western pressure.”

But Iran is not taking any of these barbaric acts of aggression lying down. It is using its secondary and tertiary command structures to strike back at U.S. Bases, target IDF leaders, IDF bases and facilities, and launch retaliatory strikes on Arab oil fields, industry, and airbases. An important difference to note is that Iran does not strike schools and hospitals or strike back using disproportionate force. In fact, every attempt is made to minimize the number of lives lost, including sending out warnings well in advance of the retaliatory strikes.

Officials Underscore the Need for Restoring Talks

Even before the Operation Epic Fury (U.S.) and Operation Roaring Lion (Israel), Iran was engaged in a third round of peace talks with the U.S. in Switzerland as late as February 26th. However there was no way that Iran would accede to new demands by the U.S. Israel to disarm its ICBM programs. Just as in the case with Lebanon, the U.S.-Israel always expect full disarmament so that they can be free to attack anywhere inside the country and exert full control over all of the population. U.S.-Israel also demanded that Iran halt its support for Palestine and Gaza, which Iran could not, after all, what country has the right to impose its ideals upon another? Who has been oppressing the Palestinians since before 1948?

Since the Iranian Revolution, with the overthrow of the Shah (Mohammed Reza Pahlavi) in 1978, the sanctions against Iran have never ceased according to a detailed timeline offered by the Times of India (“Iran Israel war: A timeline of escalation”). It has been under unilateral and multilateral oil and economic sanctions and individual sanctions imposed almost continuously since 1980. It is a testimony to the will of this ancient nation that it has survived the past 45 years under such duress including enduring secondary trade sanctions. Any nation doing business with Iran (just as had been imposed on Syria since 2011 under Assad) is also subject to sanctions and penalties by the U.S.Treasury.

“Washington continues to demand an end to the Iranian nuclear and missile programs and that Tehran halt support for resistance groups in the region, which the Islamic Republic rejects. Iran is only willing to discuss its nuclear program in the negotiations, but seeks to maintain the rights to enrich uranium at some level. The US and Israel are demanding a complete dismantlement of Iranian enrichment capabilities.” — “Iran enters a third round of talks under fresh US sanctions,” The Cradle, Feb 26, 2026

Presumably for these reasons, the US-Israel launched surprise aggressive airstrikes against Iran on February 28, 2026, as if none of this had been premeditated. The strikes were reminiscent of the start of the war against Iraq, but with thrice the “shock and awe” used in the past. At least seven missiles struck the Pasteur district where the Iranian Supreme Leader, the President, and the National Security Council are housed. The Iranian Red Crescent reports that bombs exploded near hospitals and the Peace Building. State radio and television headquarters were attacked. Police and security headquarters, schools, arms depots, etc have been subject to attacks. Even mosques, sports stadiums, civic bridges, and historic palaces are bombed.

It is as if Israel is at war with the world, since it has also closed access to Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Holy Church of the Sepulchre in Jerusalem, preventing pilgrims from celebrating the end of Ramadan or the Passion of Christ. Pope Leo recently denounced the pretenses of Christian Zionists, warning that God does not hear the prayers of those whose hands are filled with blood.

Apparently Iran’s attempts to negotiate in good faith were used to buy time by the US-Israel as seen in the alarming buildup of flotillas, aircraft, supplies, and flight maps in January and February. Even the IAEA conceded that Iran had complied with the JCPOA and its maximum enrichment was still not to nuclear bomb weapons grade level. Iran also wrote a letter to the United Nations on 19 Feb 2026 stating that the U.S. was continuing to threaten Iran with aggressive actions and that the United Nations Security Council and UN Secretary General must use their offices, their authority, and any other means to prevent a military confrontation. In no uncertain terms, Iran also asserted its right to self-defense:

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly stated at the highest level that it neither seeks tension nor war and will not initiate any war. However, in the event that it is subjected to military aggression, Iran will respond decisively and proportionately in the exercise of its inherent right of self-defence under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations. In such circumstances, all bases, facilities, and assets of the hostile force in the region would constitute legitimate targets in the context of Iran’s defensive response. The United States would bear full and direct responsibility for any unpredictable and uncontrolled consequences. I should be grateful if you would have the present letter circulated as an official document of the Security Council.” — Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani, Permanent Representative, “In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful,” addressed to H.E. Mr. Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, and H.E. James Kariuki, President of the Security Council of the United Nations, New York

However now that the Hormuz Strait is fully under Iranian control and terms are dictated on who can pass, while the global markets are shaken to their core, the United States daily discusses possibility for a ceasefire or ending the war, even while its counterpart Israel continues to conduct airstrikes and drone attacks daily. The IDF Chief has publicly stated on Israeli TV Channel 12 that Israel “is not even halfway through operations against Iran, with no timeline set for the war’s end.” As can be seen in Gaza, there is no end to that campaign yet either, except here, the United States is not paying billions of dollars but hundreds of billions of dollars since the rate of expenditure is estimated at 3 billion per day. Voters will soon be asking why President Trump also made the connection before the press recently that the federal government should have “no money for daycare, Medicare, or Medicaid.”

Under these circumstances, it is no wonder that according to the Iranians, the terms for negotiation are now held to a higher measure. As of March 25, 2026, Iran not only rejects the U.S ceasefire proposal but has laid out its own five conditions to end the war per Iranian security official (“Iran rejects US ceasefire proposal; issues its own,” HTRS, March 25). They include the following stipulations:

1) a complete halt to aggression and assassinations by the enemy;
2) establishment of concrete mechanisms to ensure that the war is not reimposed on the Islamic Republic;
3) guaranteed and clearly defined payment of war damages and reparations;
4) the conclusion of the war across all fronts and for all resistance groups involved throughout the region;
5) international recognition and guarantees regarding Iran’s sovereign right to exercise authority over the Strait of Hormuz.

The unnamed official insists that now that the US-Israel hegemony dealt such heavy blows to Iran starting with assassination of its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, numerous generals, Minister of Intelligence Esmaeil Khatib, Commodore Alireza Tangsiri, commanders including Iranian officials in Lebanon, Secretary of Defense Council Ali Shamkhani, and many people incidentally wounded or killed during these strikes, it is clear that Iran will continue to fight for its existential right to sovereignty. While Washington and Israel insist that they are not after a regime change, according to Iran, actions indicate otherwise.

According to the official, Iran has communicated to their intermediaries that a ceasefire is contingent upon the acceptance of all its conditions, and that no negotiations will be held prior to that. So far, although Iran has denied the case, Trump has bragged that Iran is desperately trying to negotiate. Meanwhile there are reports that intermediary talks are proposed by Pakistan, with Egypt, China, and even Russia considering peace proposals for the troubled region. But the obvious is never stated: unless the United States stops all aid to Israel, Israel will never stop fighting.

Talk of a Great Reset Underway

With the Congress entirely captured by the Israeli lobby (AIPAC or its equivalents), it appears that the United States will never give up the Greater Israel Project, and that Israel will fight to the bitter end using any available means, including the final Samson option (nuclear bombs).

People such as Victor Gao of the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) have pointed out the irony of massively nuclear-armed United States and rogue nuclear-armed nation Israel attacking a weaker nation such as Iran merely on the basis of suspicion. As many worldwide observers note, they do not have the nuclear bomb. But just as in the case with Iraq, the deeper reason and rationale is of course more complicated. Iran has great remaining proven oil and natural gas reserves, second to Saudi Arabia, with Venezuela listed as highest (Wikipedia “List of countries by proven oil reserves”). So far President Trump, in his bid for MAGA if not world peace, has attacked Venezuela (over 300 billion barrels) and is attacking Iran (over 200 billion barrels), while threatening to overtake Canada (170 billion barrels). However the neocons will have none of that—of course— it is about getting rid of tyrannical authoritarian regimes unfriendly to the great capitalists of the West.

Meanwhile ordinary citizens around the world are wondering if the Trump regime are trying to crash the U.S. Petrodollar in order to instigate “The Great Reset.” It is not baseless speculation. Even Einar Tangen, American lawyer and radio commentator at CGTN and frequent guest with Carl Zha (Silk and Steel) commented that American voters are between a rock-and-a-hard-place were the Congress to press for the use of the 25th Amendment against the President. Everyone knows that Vice-President JD Vance has been a close comrade or even personal cholo with Peter Thiel (formerly of Paypal). The great Technocrat openly believes that citizens should have far fewer rights. He is an advocate for designer cities and a privatized government. The technocrats are viewed as the Gen X version of the Rothschilds. Instead of hoarding gold, they want to control and hoard resources, doling it out piecemeal to the peasants according to what the market will bear.

On the chopping block is anything publicly fungible: cash, education, transportation, housing, water rights, utilities, parks and recreation, medical care, welfare benefits, government agencies.

Soon, everyone will transition into a cashless society; they will be RFID chipped for efficacy in processing; they will be awarded or penalized against current laws; there will be pre-crime and multiple levels of surveillance that will make Promis software look like a walk in the forest; euthanasia laws and stringent vaccine mandates will be enforced; no more gun ownership.

The proof in the pudding that it works? An early version of this was undertaken at Northhamptonshire, United Kingdom and demonstrates that the community services were cut to such an extent that nobody answered the phones, services became nonexistent, and in the end, anyone who could afford to moved away. Privatization creates a great Swiss cheese with the profiteers basically sucking up any good parts from the public sector for themselves while tossing out “all the bad,” thereby creating more overburden for the rest of the public sector in what becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy on mediocrity.

The technocrats rankle both Democrats and Republicans but also even Libertarians, because already most of these top wealthiest IT billionaires do not even pay their fair share of taxes. According to the ITEP (Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy), the big four (or six or ten) get away with a lot. For instance, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, and Tesla received $51 billion in federal tax breaks in 2025, much of that from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). It didn’t hurt that they attended the Trump Inaugural ceremonies and balls. However even profit-wise, on a collective $315 billion in U.S. profits for 2025, they paid merely 4.9% federal corporate income tax, with Tesla paying “exactly zero.” (Ordinarily the federal corporate income tax is 21 percent, which is lower than in the 1970s).

The technocrats aren’t using their tremendous wealth to help make their employees richer—they are mostly union-busting or hiring at-will or contract employees and even replacing them with robots or algorithms when the time is ripe. They make Microsoft (who used to negotiate generous retirement deals for their software engineers) look civilized. These CEOs are the type of people investing in cult-of-personhood publicity events, space-rockets, making the society pages, and partying among the Epstein class. Not the kind who support anti-human trafficking legislation, who invest in Universal Basic Income (whatever became of that), or who refurbish apartment buildings for the homeless.

The technocrats are becoming synonymous with “corporate grifters.” Not only are they awarded huge tax breaks but they compete ruthlessly among themselves for government contracts that invariably have to do with the military industrial complex. They are fiercely allied with Israel, as Palantir CEO Alex Karp makes clear in one of his hair-standing pep-talks with workers. He basically states that once a policy decision is made, everyone must be one-hundred percent behind the work supporting that policy. Palantir is proud that “some of these new capabilities will support development of what is known as a ‘kill chain’ whereby military planners fuse a wide variety of information and data sources from open source and military platforms to provide military commanders with faster options for attacking an enemy target. This would form an element of the Digital Targeting Web…” (Vanessa Beeley, UK Column).

The DTW or kill chain or whatever fancy-named software (Lavender AI) and how it is implemented by the IDF fosters huge carelessness according to Eric Blair of the Berkeley Political Review in “Lavender AI, Palantir, and the Israelification of Homeland Security.” Sure Israel has impressive detailed GIS maps of Gaza block by block with zoom-in features to Google map homes, front doors, and license plates, but in the end, what are the fruits of the action? Intrusive surveillance; sloppy and artificially long kill-lists; large collateral damage tolerances (1/100) with up to 80 to 100 innocent bystanders or civilians killed or wounded; built-in biases (if you ever said “yes” to Hamas you are a terrorist); many false positives; and what amounts to a “disgusting disregard for human life” and a “massacre-tolerant paradigm.” These open killing sprees, disguised as technical geek, generating massive payouts by the USG, is what has Alex Karp dancing like a goldfish out of the tank on stages all around the world. He’s happy, Trump’s happy, Hegseth’s happy, Netanyahu’s happy, so what’s not to celebrate?

This is incidentally why Iran has added Israeli tech companies to the targets list because they are complicit in every way with the IDF in the mass killing of innocent civilians in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, and elsewhere. According to various news sources, the IRGC plans to expand the war into Middle East (Israeli) tech infrastructure as it is well-known that many high-tech companies are based in Tel Aviv and partnering with USG defense contract companies such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, Boeing, Tesla. The warning came with the statement that for every assassination and terrorist act in Iran, one facility or unit belonging to these companies will face destruction. Have not American and Israeli intel agencies used AI, cloud computing, and surveillance technologies to identify and assassinate Iranian commanders? Or at the least Hezbollah, not to mention help coordinate the infamous pager attacks of September 2024 against Lebanon? Other named corporations include Cisco, Intel, Oracle, Meta, IBM, GE, and UAE-based companies.

The dangers of prolonged war is precisely that the gray line between retaliation and escalation can become blurry, even if according to Iran it is being done “tit for tat.” Furthermore, according to the article by Defense Security Asia, “Many of these facilities are located near military infrastructure, financial districts and transportation corridors, creating a dense target environment with potentially severe collateral consequences.”

However if the game-theory types are correct about a “technocratic takeover” and “currency collapse”; Israel is willing to fight to the death, and will do anything to prolong the war including using “false-flag operations” in order to implicate the IRGC and stir up nations to attack Iran. This is why diplomats are calling for action whether it is through the U.N. or outside third party talks. But short of enacting severe consequences, Israel will never change its course. It needs to be expelled from the United Nations; its ICC indicted criminals need to be arrested and held in detention; boycott-divest-sanctions (BDS) measures need to be undertaken all around the world with many multilateral sanctions against companies, individuals, and freezing of accounts; their embassies around the world should be shut down and their ambassadors told to go home.

Has any of that happened? To date, not much at all, and to make matters worse, the Zionist-entity especially here in the United States tries to criminalize anyone who speaks out against its genocidal atrocities and ongoing war-making against its Arab neighbors. With no consequences, only a carte-blanche and extended invitations to Mar-a-Lago for the PM, and even a home-away pad for the PM’s wife and son, there is every indication that if Israel decides to use a nuke on Iran, or wants the US to do its dirty deed, it will. After all, the Donald has no golf courses or hotels in Tehran. They don’t plan to build there anytime soon. As long as they are getting rich in the short term, who cares that Israel may be the US’s greatest frenemy?

An International Lesson for Peace: Abstain from Killing

“A disciple once asked the Buddha, ‘Why are there wars? When will there be peace in the world?’ The Buddha replied, ‘If you want to know when there will be peace, just listen to the cries from the slaughterhouses at night. Only when there are no more cries from the slaughterhouses will there be no more wars.’

“As we have resolved to seek awakening, we must be empathetic. This means we must be loving and compassionate. If we are benevolent and loving, we cannot bear to harm any living being. If we have compassion, we will care for and protect all living beings. In this way, we nurture our loving-kindness. The Buddha’s teachings place an emphasis on having a compassion that embraces everything. This is described as having ‘a heart that encompasses the universe and embraces the boundless worlds within it.’ This means that our love and our hearts should be expansive enough to embrace everything and every being in the universe. We should love and respect all life, whether human or animal.”

—Selection from Three Ways to the Pure Land by Shih Cheng Yen

Photo of the Donald J. Trump United States Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C. by AGN