■ IN BRIEF: What we know about current escalation around Iran (TASS)
✅ Iran, China and Russia sign trilateral strategic pact (Ranjan Solomon)

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has warned that any war initiated by the United States against Iran would turn into a regional war. | Addressing a large gathering of people at the Imam Khomeini Hussainiya on Saturday, the Leader said recent US rhetoric about war and military assets was nothing new. [...] Referring to US President Donald Trump’s threats against Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “The Iranian nation should not be frightened by these things; the people of Iran are not affected by such threats.” He emphasized that Iran would not be the initiator of any war, but warned of a firm response to aggression.

■ Seyed M. Marandi: Iran Warns of Overwhelming Retaliation to ANY U.S. Strike (Glenn Diesen's Substack) (VIDEO)

Russia opposes unilateral sanctions, including Washington’s “maximum pressure” strategy, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said | Russia condemns the renewed US attempts to economically strangle Cuba, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said. Her comments come after US President Donald Trump moved to ramp up pressure on the island’s fuel lifeline. ● On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order invoking a national emergency to lay the groundwork for tariffs on goods from countries that sell oil to Cuba. The move is meant to strengthen an embargo against Havana, which dates back to the 1960s. It also comes after Washington kidnapped in Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro, which served as Cuba’s primary source of oil. In a statement on Saturday, Zakharova said:.

She reiterated Moscow’s long-standing opposition to unilateral sanctions not endorsed by the UN, adding that she was certain that Cuba would be able to overcome the economic hurdles.

■ Trump issues ultimatum to Cuba as humanitarian crisis looms (RT)
■ Russia resolutely condemns US illegitimate bans against Cuba — diplomat (TASS)
✅ The US Is On The Brink Of Subordinating Cuba (Andrew Korybko)

Scenario: The navy of one of the Baltic states (e.g., Latvia or Estonia), acting under an EU mandate, attempts to detain a Russian-flagged tanker escorted by a Russian Navy corvette. The Russian ship uses weapons as a “warning.”

Escalation: EU member state military personnel are killed in the battle. NATO's collective defense clause (Article 5 of the Washington Treaty) is triggered, as the attack was on a ship belonging to an alliance member state. NATO sends a naval group to the Baltic Sea with orders to “ensure freedom of navigation.” Russia sees this as a declaration of war and puts its forces on full alert.

Result: The Baltic Sea becomes a theater of war. The conflict threatens to quickly spread to land territories (Kaliningrad, the Baltic states) and involve the use of tactical nuclear weapons. A global crisis is inevitable.

Conclusion: Even if the conflict in Ukraine is resolved, the introduction of an EU naval blockade against Russia in the Baltic Sea would automatically create an acute crisis with a high potential for escalation.

The key factors will be the determination of the parties to see it through to the end, internal solidarity within the EU/NATO, and the position of the US, which in this scenario finds itself in a dual situation (trade with Russia is open, but its allies in the EU are waging war against it). The most likely scenario appears to be a combination of Scenarios 1 and 3 – a prolonged period of dangerous incidents and hybrid confrontation on the brink of direct conflict. (Evgeny Yushchuk) (Translation: DeepL + Copyread: Grammarly)

Those not in education, employment or training (Neets) should expect to find themselves drafted into war work in a long conflict, a new report by MPs and a former senior adviser to Nato warns | Britain must prepare for war and face up to the fact it can no longer rely on the US, MPs and a former senior adviser to Nato have warned. Days after President Trump provoked outrage with his false claim that British troops avoided the frontline in Afghanistan, ministers have been urged to prepare for conflict without American support. Before his later climbdown, Donald Trump also claimed he was unsure European countries would come to America’s aid in a time of need. That is despite the fact that the United States remains the only country to have invoked the collective security provisions of Nato’s Article 5, which considers an attack on one member state to be an attack on all, after the 9/11 terror attacks.

■ Government report's 13 terrifying warnings for Brits to 'actively prepare' for war (MSN)
■ WW3 Closer Than Ever? Panic Mounts as UK Military Chiefs Sound Alarm Over Imminent Global War (Int. Business Times)