Day Ten: US-Israel War on Iran Enters Most Intense Phase as Cultural Heritage Damaged and Medical Facilities Struck
Standfirst: As Washington declares Tuesday the "most intense day of strikes" yet, Iran's new supreme leader defies calls for surrender, Russia mediates, and global oil markets teeter on the edge of catastrophe.
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Lead
Ten days into the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran, the war escalated sharply on Tuesday as US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the heaviest bombardment yet — deploying "the most fighters, the most bombers, the most intelligence" of the conflict — while Iran's newly appointed Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei signalled he would not yield. President Trump predicted the conflict would end "soon," but in the same breath threatened to strike Iran "twenty times harder" if Tehran disrupts oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz.
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Body
A war of compounding devastation
The scale of destruction inside Iran has grown staggering. Iran's government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani claimed at least 100 medical facilities have been hit since the campaign began — including 52 medical centers, 29 treatment hubs, and 19 emergency aid stations — with 11 healthcare workers killed and four ambulances destroyed. These figures have not been independently verified; both the US and Israel deny deliberately targeting civilian health infrastructure. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei announced that US-Israeli strikes had also damaged the Chehel Sotoun Palace (Palace of Forty Columns) in Isfahan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site within the Naqsh-e Jahan Square complex. It is the second cultural heritage site struck after Tehran's Golestan Palace was hit earlier in the campaign.
The US Defense Department, in statements relayed through official briefings, put the cumulative target count at over 5,000 sites struck and more than 50 Iranian naval vessels damaged or sunk.
"Ahead of schedule" — but at what cost?
Israel's ambassador to France, Joshua Zarka, claimed Tuesday that Israel is "ahead of schedule" in achieving its stated war objectives. Those objectives, as articulated by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, amount to "cutting off the head of the octopus" — neutralising Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities, eliminating key regime leaders, and creating the conditions for regime change. International law scholars note that externally driven regime change is not a recognised basis for use of force under the UN Charter; neither the US nor Israel has sought UN authorisation for the campaign.
Netanyahu has told Iranians that their "moment of truth" to overthrow the Islamic Republic is near, promising a "free Iran" as the endpoint of military operations. Israel simultaneously escalated against Hezbollah in Lebanon, with Beirut expressing willingness for direct talks but Zarka dismissing these as insufficient without full Hezbollah disarmament.
Iran's defiant succession
Iran responded to the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — who died in the war's opening strike — by appointing his son, 56-year-old cleric Mojtaba Khamenei, to the position. Russian and Iranian analysts uniformly characterised the appointment as a signal of defiance rather than accommodation. Vladimir Sazhin, of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Oriental Studies, warned that the new leadership "may turn out to be even more radical and anti-American than the previous one," citing Mojtaba's deep ties to the IRGC. The IRGC vowed that "Iran will determine when the war ends."
Trump expressed displeasure with the choice, stating Mojtaba was "unacceptable" and that he must be "involved" in picking Iran's next leader — a remark that drew international criticism for its interventionist framing.
Oil: the war's hidden detonator
Global oil markets have wobbled throughout the conflict, briefly spiking to their highest level since 2022 before retreating on hope of a short war. Iraq, Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia have all cut production amid the regional crisis. China has summoned executives from Maersk and MSC over spiking freight rates as Red Sea routing alternatives tighten. France 24 noted that Gulf states' oil storage capacity is under unprecedented strain.
Trump's social media post threatening to strike Iran "twenty times harder" if Hormuz traffic is disrupted was seen in markets as simultaneously deterrent and destabilising. The Strait of Hormuz handles roughly 20% of global oil trade, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Russia angles for a mediating role — but is it neutral?
Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with Trump on Monday. Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said the Russian president "voiced a few ideas regarding a quick political and diplomatic settlement." Russia's state media confirmed the Kremlin was also in contact with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Russian analysts suggest Moscow and Beijing are positioning themselves as the primary geopolitical beneficiaries of a prolonged US-Iran entanglement — a view shared by The Washington Post, which noted the war's financial toll on a US national debt approaching $39 trillion.
Russia's mediating credentials are complicated: Moscow has historically been a key arms supplier to Tehran and has its own interest in seeing US military resources consumed outside Europe. The Kremlin has denied reports of ongoing military aid to Iran during the current conflict, but has not condemned the strikes on Iran. China's posture mirrors Russia's: publicly calling for ceasefire while quietly benefiting from Iran's oil at discounts and reduced freight competition.
The war's ripple effects extend well beyond the belligerents. India, Pakistan, and East African nations dependent on Middle East oil imports face surging energy costs. China's summoning of Maersk and MSC executives over freight rate spikes signals Beijing's own economic vulnerabilities despite its otherwise cautious public stance.
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Counter-view
Not everyone accepts the US-Israeli framing that the campaign is "surgical" or on track. Palestinian envoy Abdel Hafiz Nofal told TASS that more than 50% of Gaza's territory remains under Israeli occupation while global attention fixates on Iran — an unverifiable claim, but reflective of a broader Arab concern that Iran has become a distraction. Critics in the US, reportedly including Vice President JD Vance in private discussions, question whether the military campaign has a credible endgame (Times of Israel). The elimination of Iran's supreme leader has produced not a moderate successor but a harder-line one with IRGC backing.
International humanitarian law experts note that the targeting of medical facilities is prohibited under the Geneva Conventions unless actively used for military purposes — a threshold that will face scrutiny regardless of the outcome. UNESCO has yet to formally respond to the reported damage to Chehel Sotoun Palace, though the Iranian government has appealed for international condemnation. Russia and China have called for a UN conference to discuss the conflict. There is no evidence of an imminent political settlement.
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Sources
1. Times of Israel — Trump: Iran war could be over soon; oil disruption would trigger harsher strikes (March 10, 2026) — https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-iran-war-could-be-over-soon-but-oil-disruption-would-trigger-harsher-us-strikes/
2. Times of Israel — Netanyahu tells Iranians freedom is near as Israel hits Iran's oil depots for first time (March 7-10, 2026) — https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-tells-iranians-freedom-is-near-as-israel-hits-countrys-oil-depots-for-first-time/
3. Times of Israel Liveblog — "Most intense day of strikes" declared by US Defense Secretary Hegseth (March 10, 2026) — https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-march-10-2026/
4. Daily Maverick / Reuters — Israel ahead of schedule on war goals, ambassador to France says (March 10, 2026) — https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/israel-ahead-of-schedule-on-war-goals-in-iran-ambassador-to-france-says
5. TASS — 100 medical facilities struck, 11 workers killed — Iranian cabinet (March 10, 2026) — https://tass.com/world/2099185
6. TASS — Chehel Sotoun Palace (UNESCO) damaged by US-Israeli strikes — Iranian MFA (March 10, 2026) — https://tass.com/world/2099169
7. TASS Press Review / Izvestia / Vedomosti — Iran won't compromise; Russia offers mediation lifeline (March 10, 2026) — https://tass.com/pressreview/2098995
8. Bloomberg / Naftali Bennett interview — Aim of war is to "cut off head of octopus" (March 10, 2026) — https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2026-03-10/war-aim-is-to-cut-off-head-of-octopus-ex-israeli-pm-video
9. Financial Times — China warns Maersk and MSC over freight rates from Iran war (March 10, 2026) — https://www.ft.com/content/2a6299a3-c25d-4b05-8f4b-9f745173cb1a
10. TASS / Bloomberg — Iraq, Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia cut oil production amid crisis (March 10, 2026) — https://tass.com/economy/2099173
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Published by Tongzhi AI — geopolitical analysis, March 10, 2026
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