Global Conflict Reporting

Category: Middle East

  • U.S. Middle East assets placed on high alert. Embassy staff in region preparing to pull out.

    By Scott Jackson

    06/12/2025

    A lot is happening in the Middle East today as the state department have put U.S. diplomats and embassies on alert that they could be evacuated at any moment as the U.S./Iran nuclear talks seem to be stalling after months of meetings.

    If these talks fail it’s likely that Israel with or without US backing will launch military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities causing Iran to launch retaliatory strikes across the Middle East, utilizing conventional ballistic missiles, as well as drones. The deadline set by the U.S. for these nuclear talks roughly two months ago was two months. Time seems to be almost up for the question of what’s going to happen with Iran.

    We’ve had some indication earlier this week as a load of anti drone missile that were earmarked for a shipment to Ukraine were sent to the Middle East. Some said this was the Trump administration pulling away from Ukriane however it seems more likely that the DoD views these assets as being mission critical right now.

    So far only non essential staff have been evacuated however that is subject to change as things progress. When asked about this earlier today why military and government families and non critical staff were being evacuated he said that they would “ have to see, thank you”

    Multiple unnamed U.S. officials who spoke to members of the media are saying that they doubt this weekends round of US and Iran talks will even happen. you can find that quote in WP.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/06/11/state-department-embassy-baghdad/e8d1a6a6-46ec-11f0-9210-87ee82efcc80_story.html

    The airspace around Iran has been subject to a heavy amount of t of GOs jamming. A thing that can be measured by looking at historical flight data of airplanes that flew close to the areas. This phenomenon is noticed a lot near Israel’s borders who were almost constantly jamming GPS signals during the war in Gaza. This is something we also see originating from Russia’s Kaliningrad however at a greater degree there.

    You can see this planes course was incorrectly recorded near Baghdad. This is a tell tale sign of GPS jamming.

    Speaking of air assets. I’m sure it will suprise almost nobody when I say that Iran has seen an uptick in aerial monitoring from the U.S. as of late. Reconnaissance and signals gathering platforms making daily trips around the countries borders.

    Image shows a the flight tracks of a number of US recon and signals gathering platforms thag have done recent mission around or near Iran. Most of the planes stayed near the Iran Iraq border however it looks like some flew into Irans airspace.

    The next bit we have is an advisory put out by the UKMTO or the UK Maritime Trade Organization.

    This UKMTO goes out to mariners operating in the region and warns them away from the Strait of Hormuz due to “increased security tensions in the area that could affect mariners”.

    While the U.S. presence in the Middle East isnt what it once was it still has the capability to retaliate if Iran starts launching ballistic missiles. On the 9th satellite flyovers at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean show that the base still holds at least 4 B-52s as well as at least 6 F-15s (along with some transport and refueling aircraft). Beyond that the USS Carl Vinson (CVN- 70) along with its CSG and carrier air wing 2.

    I haven’t even mentioned everything. The U.S. still has some several thousand soldiers in the region along with multiple air squadrons spread across Iraq and Saudi Arabia and the rest of the gulf partner states. 

    Hey guys I just wanted to go a little less formal to say that I don’t know whats going to happen, but whatever it is feels like it’s coming soon. Some signs are there that we are coming to a point where decisions are going to be made regarding all of this we talked about above. My point is tensions for these players are high and when tensions are high things seem to happen. Anyway for now we wait and see. 
    -Scott

  • F-15s deployed to protect Diego Garcia.

    Picture of an F-15E

    By. Scott Jackson

    05/20/2025

    The U.S. Air Force has sent several F-15 fighters to the base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. The fighters are being deployed to help protect the isolated base as well as the important strategic asserts currently deployed there.

    In recent months the base has been the subject of many talks as the arrival of a number of long range strategic bombers was noted by analysts. Satellite imagery taken in late March shows at least 4 B-2 Spirit long range stealth bombers.

    Image taken in late March showing some of the B-2s as well as the refueling aircraft.

    The bombers were used to strike targets in Yemen before the White House announced thag the U.S. had completed its mission in the region (to the dismay of Israel and several other American partners in the region).

    The B-2s have reportedly since left the base but for a time their presence overlapped with that another titan of American air power, 4 B-52H’s that are currently still stationed at the base as of writing.

    At the time this article was started their was believed to be 4 F-15’s that had been moved to the Indian Ocean to help protect the island base and the bombers however TWZ (Who originally broke this story) have since wrote another article and added two more fighters bringing the total to six. While official sources decline to state where the F-15s were moved from, open source trackers believe the jets came from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. This belief comes from watching the flight tracking data. While fighter jets don’t usually broadcast their live position through ADS-B, the refueling aircraft often do and can be tracked.

    Kadena airbase in Japan is located 4,000 miles away from the Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean.

    Last month Kadena received a contingent of F-15E’s forward deployed from the 336th Fighter Squadron (FS) (Also called the Rocketeers) at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina. Their relatively close proximity to an otherwise remote island makes them ideal candidates for this ACE force protection mission.

    “As the Keystone of the Pacific, Kadena is a pivotal hub for Agile Combat Employment (ACE),” from an Air Force press briefing on the deployment of the 336th to Kadena.“The 18th Wing will continue to receive rotational units that strengthen capabilities, such as ACE, and project combat power in concert with allies and partners.”

    From The War Zone on ACE (From the article that originally broke this story).

    ‘ACE is a term that currently refers to a set of concepts for distributed and disaggregated operations centered heavily on short notice and otherwise irregular deployments, often to remote, austere, or otherwise non-traditional locales.’

    Diego Garcia is one of the most “Austere or otherwise non traditional locales” while still being critically important to Department of Defense operations in the region. While remote the base is used for multiple different DoD needs such as hosting space force activities, being an important navy port(Especially to the nuclear submarine fleet) and using its lagoon as a shelter for the Sealift Command Prepositioning Ship Squadron.

    While the bases remote location protects it from attack, some have suggested that Iran would be capable of hitting the base using missile carrying smaller warheads. Besides Iran, other peer and near-peer adversaries and potential adversaries have the ability to carry out longer range strikes using bombers, drones or missiles, making the presence of these fighters a welcome sight. 

    The War Zone originally broke this story, go check them out, their articles have always been a huge inspiration and they do some really amazing work.

    Thank you for taking the time to read and for your constant support. I wouldn’t be here without you all. To further support my work I would invite you to sign up for my Patreon, where I will be releasing some podcast episodes very soon. Membership and access to the podcast is $1 a month. I wanted to keep it cheap as a thank you for joining me on this adventure and allowing me to do what I love. 

    -Scott

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  • Second US Navy Jet lost from USS Harry S. Truman in a week.

    By.Scott Jackson

    05/06/2025

    Today according to the U.S. Navy an F/A-18 Super Hornet was lost overseas from the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). The jet and its two aviators were attempting to land when an “arrestment failure” occurred. The plane failed to catch it wire or the wire broke, either way the plane went off the end of the ahip causing the pilot and weapons officer to eject into the Red Sea.

    Both pilot and weapons officer were picked up by a rescue helicopter from the Truman. They suffered minor injuries but are alive. The jet was not recovered.

    This is the second loss of a Super Hornet this week. The first was caused by an accident during a high speed turn where the hanger crew lost control of the jet and a towing trailer. No injuries reported there.

    Super Hornet and towing tractor.

    The Truman was also reportedly fired upon earlier on Tuesday according to CNN. This was in the hours before the ceasefire was announced. I don’t believe the two events from today are related.

    The F/A-18 cost around 70 million dollars.

    Reached out to centcom for a statement, I’ll update with a response if received. I’ve had good luck when emailing them but it’s hit or miss with the DoD.

    Thank you for reading. I hope you get as much out of what I’m doing here as I get out of making these reports. If so I would invite you to join my Patreon. Doing that would help me more than I can describe. I’ve kept it as cheap as possible to become a member. It’s only a $1.00. However a dollar from even half of my Facebook followers would be a life changing amount of money for me and for this page.

    Thank you for all the support over the years and as we continue to grow and evolve.  

    -Scott

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  • President Trump orders US forces to stop striking targets in Yemen; effective immediately.

    By. Scott Jackson

    05/06/2025

    After a months long bombing campaign against the Iranian backed Houthi terrorist in western Yemen, the White House has today announced that those strike will stop immediately. This was announced after Houthi leadership made contact with the U.S. leadership and according to trump agreed to stop striking ships in the Red Sea. This puts a close to “Operation Rough Rider” under president Trump as well as hundreds of strike carried out by the former Biden administration.

    The announcement was made during Trump’s meeting with Canadian PM Mark Carney. The conversation with the Houthis had been had the night before.

    “They have capitulated, but more importantly … we will take their word,” Trump said. “They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore.”

    It’s very likely Iran played a part in this turn. Possibly telling the Houthis to cease their actions against shipping following threats from the U.S. during the ongoing negotiations.

    Trump wouldn’t say specifics on who he talked to only that the k do that the Houthis would be backing down came from “a good source”. The Houthis, reeling from yesterday’s attack by Israel released this statement yesterday.

    “The operations of our armed forces will continue and the support by Yemen to Palestine will only end with the end of the aggression and siege against Gaza,” -Houthi statement from Al Masirah TV.

    While the U.S. has agreed to stop bombing the Houthis, Israel is another matter and have carried out more strikes since what was reported yesterday. Locals in Yemen as well as the IDF report the bombing of Sana’a airport as well as various power stations, and another concrete factory. Videos included below.

    Video showing the full footage of the aftermath of the attack on Sana’a international airport.

    US forces in the region.

    The U.S. has brought in a large amount of military assets to carry out its attacks against the Houthis. Currently from the navy two aircraft carriers are operating in the region, the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) and USS Harry S Truman (CVN 75), these ships are both escorted and supported by numerous destroyer squadrons and several cruisers, not to mention their air wings. Several other destroyers have been ordered to the region and are operating separately of the carrier strike groups. Also USS Gettysburg (CG-64) and USS Princeton (CG-59) both Ticonderoga class guided missile cruisers have also been ordered to the region as apart of Operation Prosperity Guardian and have been used to strike Houthi targets as well. At least one Ohio class submarine USS Georgia (SSGN-729) has been spotted in theater as well. The Air Force has sent a large number of planes to the region included F-35s and F-22s as well as B-2 Spirit bombers stationed at Diego Garcia. As of several hours ago a pair of B-52s were heading towards the region from the continental US. It’s likely at least some of these assets will remain in the CENTCOM area of responsibility as negotiations with Iran over their nuclear program continue. The White House and Trump have threatened to use military force if the negotiations fail.

    Image from USNi news shows the current general location of the U.S. aircraft carriers.

    The Truman just several days ago had its deployment to the Middle East extended by another week, to continue to keep up a high tempo of attacks against the Houthis. This could possibly be extended further if negotiations are unsuccessful.

    After writing this it was announced that Oman had carried out the negotiations between the Houthis and the US. They had been the go between in the conversation which led to the U.S. ceasing it’s military strikes. 

    I’d like to thank everybody for the constant support I’ve received. These last 5 years have flown by but I feel like GCR continues to grow and improve in its reporting and analysis. I’m always open to comments and questions and can be reached on Facebook or through my email which is listed on the website. 

    I’m currently looking for guest for a future podcast series I’m planning on running. If you have an interesting military story to tell contact me and let’s talk. I want to hear your stories. 

    If you would like to go the extra mile and further support me and the work being done here, you can sign up for my Patreon through the button below for only $1.00 a month. Future video and audio projects to be released there soon. 

    -Scott

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  • Largest Houthi port bombed by Israel

    Israeli F-15I Ra’am

    A large Israeli air attack was carried out today on several targets in Yemen. The port of Hodeidah along with the Bajil Cement Factory in western Yemen were both hit with multiple 2000 pound bombs dropped from a wave of F-15I Ra’am of the Israeli Defense Force.

    These images were taken and released by the IDF earlier today, only hours before the strike. We can see the Israeli F-15 variants loaded with extra fuel and a number of 2000 pound GBU’s.

    The attack was in response to ballistic missile attacks that have been carried out in the past several days. One such attack miraculously managed to evade shoot down by the Israelis defense network as well as the number of US air defense systems in the area like THAAD which is specifically designed to shoot down involving ballistic missiles. That missile struck within 400 meters of the Ben Gurion international airport southeast of Tel Aviv.

    The response was carried out by 20 fighter jets aided with support and refueling planes. The fighters dropped a reported total of 50 munitions across both targets. Israel has claimed that the cement factory targeted as well as the port were both important economic assets for the Houthis who control the territory and that the cement plant was being used to build underground tunnels used by the terrorist group.

    Post from twitter showing the aftermath of the attack.
    More videos.
    Thank you for reading and as always thank you for the support. Doing this work is its own reward but I’m always looking to grow and expand my operations. If you would like to contribute to that I would ask you to sign up for a Patreon membership at only $1.00. Will be adding audio and video content there in the future. 

    -Scott
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  • F/A-18 Super Hornet lost in Red Sea.

    F/A-18 Super Hornet lost in Red Sea.

    By. Scott Jackson

    April 28th, 2025

    The U.S. navy confirmed moments ago that an F/A-18 Super Hornet assigned to the USS Harry S. Truman and Carrier Air Wing 1 has been lost overseas during a towing operation in the carriers hanger bay. The super Hornet is a single seat fighter from the Knight Hawks” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 136.

    The aircraft was being towed around the hanger when the tow crew lost control of the aircraft and tractor and both were lost overboard.

    “Sailors towing the aircraft took immediate action to move clear of the aircraft before it fell overboard. An investigation is underway.”

    -Statement from the Navy

    Stock photo showing an F/A-18 and one of the towing tractors.

    According to the statement no sailers were lost however one was injured in the incident. The carrier and her strike group remain mission capable and will continue operations in the Red Sea. For the past months the Red Sea has been the site of major operations against Houthi forces who have attacked international shipping. US forces have struck upwards of 800 targets over the course of the last month. 

    Thank you for reading. I hope you get as much out of what I’m doing here as I get out of making these reports. If so I would invite you to join my Patreon. Doing that would help me more than I can describe. I’ve kept it as cheap as possible to become a member. It’s only a $1.00. However a dollar from even half of my Facebook followers would be a life changing amount of money for me and for this page.

    Thank you for all the support over the years and as we continue to grow and evolve.  

    -Scott
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  • Massive explosion destroyed a large portion of Iranian port.

    Massive explosion destroyed a large portion of Iranian port.

    By. Scott Jackson

    April 26th, 2025

    Five were killed and a staggering 700 injured in an explosion at the port in Bandar Abbas in southwest Iran. Video was taken of the fire directly before the explosion that destroyed part of the Shahid Rajaee port. The government has said the explosion is linked to chemicals that were being stored at a facility there. The cause of the fire is unknown but the fire quickly grew and ignited something which caused the blast.

    Locals report the blast destroying buildings in the immediate area and blew out windows and roofs further away. Others report feeling the blast up to 30 miles away.

    Video of the fire that led to the explosion. The explosion itself is only heard in this video but it gives the impression that this was large.

    A video of the aftermath shows how powerful this blast was and puts you into the shoes of the people who crawled from the wreckage directly after. Windows would have been turned into claymores spraying glass fragments at the speed of sound, wood and bricks and metals would have been turned into supersonic projectiles.

    Video of the aftermath. From Tasnim news.

    We also have another video shot from a news helicopter afterwords that gives us a better view of the location which is actually at a cargo holding area about a mile from the actual port.

    Video shot from a news helicopter showing black smoke climbing into the sky from the site of the disaster.

    From this footage the geolocation of the site is fairly standard and only took a couple minutes. The exact site of the fire that caused the blast is 27.125056°N 56.066710°E, which I’ve included a picture of . The area seems to be a long term storage area for cargo that won’t be moving for a while.

    Overview of the entire area.
    Zoomed into the site.

    A spokesperson for the Iranian government said that an investigation into the cause of the blast would take some time to complete but that it seemed that the cause was not malicious.

    “but so far what has been determined is that containers were stored in a corner of the port that likely contained chemicals which exploded. But until the fire is extinguished, it’s hard to ascertain the cause.”

    Fatemeh Mohajerani, an Iranian goverment spokeswomen.

    So far, some of the area affected remains on fire. The Iranian state has announced a state of emergency in the Hormozgan province, as chemicals in the air could be harmful to those living in the area.

    Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian, said the country’s interior minister was heading to the region to oversee the situation. He also expressed “deep sorrow and sympathy” for the disaster.

    The port at Bandar Abbas is located on the Strait of Hormuz, a busy and strategic location that sees a good percentage of the worlds oil and natural gas shipments. 

    Thank you for reading. I hope you get as much out of what I’m doing here as I get out of making these reports. If so I would invite you to join my Patreon. Doing that would help me more than I can describe. I’ve kept it as cheap as possible to become a member. It’s only a $1.00. However a dollar from even half of my Facebook followers would be a life changing amount of money for me and for this page.

    Thank you for all the support over the years and as we continue to grow and evolve. 

    -Scott 

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