The Wire - March 12, 2026

0:00This is the R4-1700Zilu, March 12th, 2026. Presidents' routine, information cut off is 1600. Bottom line up front. Media reports mines laid in straight-of-hormos, multiple ships struck by explosive boats in Persian Gulf, threats to American homeland remain elevated. Beginning with international events, in the Persian Gulf last night, two tanker vessels were struck by Iranian unmanned surface vessels or USVs. Two explosive-laden small boats rammed into the side of two oil tankers that were anchored outside the port of Basra. The two vessels is Zephyros, and Safe-C Vishnu were conducting ship-to-ship operations near the Basra oil terminal when both vessels were struck by remotely-controlled explosive boats. Several hours later, a third vessel was struck by a drone and the southern Persian Gulf off the coast of Jabbal Ali. In the straight-of-hormos, this morning many mainstream media sources have cited closed-source reporting, claiming that Iranian forces have indeed mined the strait. An estimated 10 mines have been laid with some reports stating that potentially dozens of mines have been laid throughout the chokepoint, analyst comment.

1:00So far, there's not much we can do with off-the-record reports citing unknown sources. However, considering their concerns over the past few days, it's possible that the Iranians have laid a few strings of mines even though doing so would likely harm their relationship with China, where these mines are located as anyone's guess. But if the Iranians can't continue successful targeting efforts with remotely piloted small boats, it would not be that much of a jump to assess that they can probably place a few mines as well. Around the region, attacks on American installations and positions continue. Al-Dafra Air Base will struck this morning and more substantial drone strikes were reported throughout Dubai overnight. Most of the munitions were intercepted but the address Creek Harbor Hotel was hit by a Shahed drone early this morning. In Bahrain, hotels and other sites continue to be targeted by Iranian drones in addition to oil infrastructure throughout the island's nation, which has been targeted several times since the start of this conflict. Analyst comments for this wire. Yesterday afternoon, multiple mainstream media outlets began broadcasting claims of an alleged plot for Iranian forces to attack the American homeland.

2:00Specifically, claims have been made that Iranian forces may attempt to launch drone attacks on California from ships off the west coast. No substantial information or context has been provided to be on that initial leak. As of right now, this is a giant game of telephone. The report probably came from the FBI, it was passed to various police departments as a law enforcement sensitive document and was subsequently leaked to the media without posting the actual source document. For context, the Iranian drone ship off our coast attack vector has been a theory for so many years that an intel circles as more of a thought experiment that is used to teach concepts. For many many years, this theory has not been considered a serious threat simply because Iranian forces do not have the naval capability to sustain combat operations off the American west coast. A subset of this thought experiment is the theory of some malign actor in this case, the Iranians, using containerized drone launchers concealed onboard legitimate container ships, which would launch without notice. This theory is vastly more likely and has been confirmed to not just be possible but operationally effective as demonstrated by Ukraine's Operation Spider Web last year.

3:04However, Iran does not have the same capabilities as America back to Ukraine so this theory, while possible, still lies in the theoretical realm instead of a direct pending threat. Hopefully more information will come to light regarding what the threats actually are and how concerned the public should be. As of right now, this risk is no more elevated than it has been since the start of the war. Whether it be Iranian sleeper agents, opportunistic criminals, lone wolf terrorists or a false flag incident intended to drag us deeper into the war. Bullets and bombs do not discriminate and who they kill. So regardless of who's behind it, the chances of domestic threats popping up remain elevated and constant vigilance and situational awareness is always a good idea. This concludes the war for 1700 Zulu, March 12th, 2026.