Israel bombs, Trump threatens, Iran responds, and allies reduce trust of the USA

 

COGwriter

Israel said it killed two high leaders through a precision strike, plus bombed a petrochemical plant:

IDF confirms IRGC intel chief killed; Quds Force commander also eliminated in strike

April 6, 2026

Israel announced that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ intelligence chief Brig. Gen. Majid Khademi was killed in a precision strike, with an Israeli official noting that Quds Force’s special operations commander Asghar Bagheri was eliminated at the same time.

In a statement posted on X, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed Khademi’s killing, accusing him of helping advance terrorist attacks abroad and overseeing surveillance of Iranian civilians as part of the regime’s crackdown on domestic protests.

“Khademi wasn’t just any figure, he was effectively No. 2 within the IRGC, one of the few senior commanders who managed to survive multiple waves of Israeli and American targeting over the past year — until now,” a senior Israeli official told Fox News. “He kept moving, relocating, but ultimately he was hunted down and eliminated. https://www.foxnews.com/world/idf-confirms-irgc-intel-chief-killed-quds-force-commander-also-eliminated-strike

Israel hits Iran’s South Pars petrochemical plant

Israel attacked a key petrochemical plant at Iran’s massive South Pars natural gas field, according to several news agencies.

Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz confirmed what he called “a powerful strike on the largest petrochemical facility in Iran” that’s responsible for half of the country’s petrochemical production. Israel’s military spokesperson, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, said there would be “no immunity” for Iran as talks progress. https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/apr/06/iran-war-live-updates-trump-hormuz-oil-netanyahu-israel

Donald Trump has continued with various threats:

Trump warns Iran he may strike ‘every power plant’ as deadline to reopen Hormuz nears

President Donald Trump threatened to destroy “every power plant” in Iran if the regime does not agree to a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz on Monday.

April 6, 2026

President Donald Trump says the war with Iran is “nearing completion,” but a looming deadline could determine whether the conflict is actually ending — or about to escalate.

“We are going to finish the job, and we’re going to finish it very fast. We’re getting very close,” Trump said Wednesday night, adding that U.S. forces will “hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks” and “bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.”

As the war enters what analysts describe as its final phase, the administration is signaling a shift from broad military gains to a narrower endgame — raising questions about what “finishing the job” actually means militarily and politically.

Trump gave Iran until Tuesday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, warning that failure to comply could trigger sweeping strikes on the country’s energy infrastructure.

“If no deal is made … we are going to hit each and every one of their electric-generating plants, very hard and probably simultaneously,” he said.

“With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE. IT WOULD BE A ‘GUSHER’ FOR THE WORLD???” he said on Truth Social Friday.

The U.S. has already begun expanding its target set to include major infrastructure. This week, American strikes hit one of Iran’s largest bridges — a critical transportation artery — signaling that mixed-use infrastructure supporting military logistics is now firmly on the table.

“The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again — Much more to follow!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “IT IS TIME FOR IRAN TO MAKE A DEAL BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/trump-iran-war-hormuz-israel-april-6

Iran has threatened devastating retaliation:

6 April 2026

Over the weekend, Donald Trump threatened to obliterate Iranian power plants and bridges if it doesn’t agree by 8pm Tuesday (US Eastern Time) to fully reopen the strait of Hormuz.

About a fifth of the world’s oil supply usually passes through the Hormuz strait and its effective closure is having a crippling effect on the global economy.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister has claimed Donald Trump’s threats to destroy Iranian power plants and bridges could amount to war crimes. “The American president, as the highest official of his country, has publicly threatened to commit war crimes,” Kazem Gharibabadi said on X, citing provisions of international law that could be breache.

Iran’s central military command has warned of “much more devastating” retaliation if the US hits civilian targets. https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/apr/06/iran-war-live-updates-trump-hormuz-oil-netanyahu-israel

There will be many unintended consequences of the Iran war.

As it turns out, several years ago I decided to write a book predicting ‘unintended consequences’ of Donald Trump’s second term in office. After he won the November 2024 election, I began to updated a draft of that book, and finished it prior to him officially starting his second term. A year after that term began, I posted an article here titled Donald Trump’s first year confirmed at least 16 COGwriter predictions in the free eBook ‘ Unintended Consequences and Donald Trump’s Presidency’.

Last month, the UK Guardian posted a report about what it sees as possible unintended consequences of Donald Trump’s Iranian attacks:

If oil price shocks weren’t bad enough, Trump’s war could have other unintended consequences

12 March 2026

With the US-Israeli war against Iran in its second week, energy markets are in turmoil. On Thursday, the price of Brent Crude Oil topped $100, only slightly lower than the $119 peak per barrel on Monday.

These swings have focused attention on key energy choke points such as the strait of Hormuz, where about one-fifth of the world’s shipped oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) passes each day. This shutdown of the strait will be felt in people’s everyday lives for months to come, particularly in the form of spiralling household bills. But oil prices alone do not capture the full economic significance of the conflict. …

An unexpected consequence of this war is that the US’s two biggest enemies, China and Russia, could well be drawn closer together. …

The first of these changes is the dramatic pivot in the world oil trade that has accompanied China’s rapid industrial and manufacturing growth. … For China, in particular, conflict in the Gulf and the vulnerability of transit routes such as the strait of Hormuz pose a major risk to its energy supplies. By contrast, other geopolitical shocks have been easier for Beijing to absorb (Venezuelan oil, for example, accounts for less than 5% of China’s seaborne crude imports, making recent disruptions there relatively manageable). In the short term, Beijing can cushion the impact by drawing on its strategic petroleum reserves, estimated at roughly 1.1bn–1.4bn barrels. If the disruption persists, however, China is likely to deepen its reliance on alternative suppliers, particularly Russia, reinforcing the growing energy partnership between the two countries. …

In recent years, companies such as Aramco have diversified beyond the “upstream” of the industry, extracting and selling crude oil, into “downstream” activities that turn crude oil and gas into refined products such as plastics, petrochemicals and fertilisers. As a result, the Gulf is now a major supplier of industrial commodities embedded in global manufacturing and agriculture.

One consequence of this shift is that the Gulf is increasingly connected to the global food economy. Large volumes of fertiliser inputs move through the strait of Hormuz, including more than a third of internationally traded urea and nearly half of global sulphur exports used in phosphate fertilisers. Urea is the most common nitrogen fertiliser, and is essential to about half of global crop production. As shipments from the region falter, fertiliser prices have already begun to rise sharply. If disruptions persist during the current planting season in the northern hemisphere, farmers will face higher costs for essential inputs, pressures that will eventually filter through to food prices around the world. …

Countries in the global south that depend heavily on imported fuel, fertilisers and food are especially exposed, as higher energy and commodity prices quickly translate into rising food costs and mounting balance-of-payments pressures – and potentially hunger and famine. The result is often to deepen existing inequalities both within countries and across the global economy.

Beyond these uneven effects, the war exposes a crucial fact about the structure of the global energy system. Despite decades of discussion about energy transitions, global production and trade remain heavily dependent on oil and gas. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/12/oil-price-shocks-trump-war-china-iran-russia

Yes, closer Russia-China ties and food price inflation are happening because of the attacks by the USA and Israel against Iran, along with Iran’s reactions.

Let me add that another ‘unintended consequence’ of Donald Trump’s presidency has been pushing allies away.

ZeroHedge posted the following:

Countries Losing Trust In The US

April 6, 2026

Global perceptions of the United States are shifting.

Data from the Munich Security Conference shows a clear decline in trust across advanced and emerging economies. …

Among traditional allies, the drop in trust is sharp. Canada records the steepest decline at -52%. Italy follows at -21%. France stands at -17%.

Germany and Japan also show meaningful declines at -15% and -16%. The United Kingdom is down -13%. These are not isolated moves. They point to weakening confidence across long-standing partnerships.

Policy uncertainty is one key driver. Shifting trade positions and tariff threats have strained economic relationships. Rhetoric around territorial expansion has also raised concerns, including proposals to annex Greenland and suggestions that Canada could become the 51st state.

At the same time, security concerns are rising across Europe. A January 2026 Eurobarometer poll shows 43% of respondents in France and 32% in Germany support higher defense spending. This suggests allies are preparing for a more uncertain security environment. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/countries-losing-trust-us

Regarding the situation with Greenland and allies, here are some excerpts from my free eBook: Unintended Consequences and Donald Trump’s Presidency:

Greenland

There is also something referred to as the “law of unintended consequences.” There are consequences for the USA, Europe, and elsewhere that have and will occur because of Donald Trump’s statements and actions.

Consider, for one example, that after his reelection, Donald Trump stated that the United States needed to have Greenland for defense and economic purposes. Not only did that offend the governments of Denmark and Greenland, the Danish government then announced that it would greatly increase the amount of money it would spend on the defense of Greenland.[i]

On January 7, 2025, Donald Trump refused to rule out military or economic actions to acquire Greenland.[ii] The next day, European leaders warned they would not tolerate an attack on Greenland and that the continent of Europe was strong.[iii]

Donald Trump then stated he would implement high tariffs against Denmark to try to get it to sell Greenland to the USA.

However, that overlooks the fact that the European Union has its Anti-Coercion Instrument, which is designed to stop a foreign power from trying to punish one EU nation. Because of that, analysts report that punitive tariffs against Denmark “could lead to unintended consequences” from the EU against the USA.[iv]

One longer term consequence of Donald Trump’s rhetoric may be that the Europeans could decide that Greenland would be a useful place to conduct surveillance on the US and Canada.

Additionally, it is also possible that Greenland could be used as a base to 1) interfere with US military satellite communications, 2) possibly neutralize some US military moves in Greenland, or even 3) a place to also launch an attack against the US, Canada, and/or even the UK. The Bible teaches about a great power who will be destroyed by its friends, who become enemies (Lamentations 1:1-2)—some statements by Donald Trump are pushing “friends” (NATO allies) into being enemies.

Many Europeans Do Not Like Donald Trump …

While European leaders have begun to publicly challenge reliance on the USA, biblically, the time will once again come when Europe cannot be trusted militarily (Isaiah 10:5-11; Daniel 11:21-39; Lamentations 1:2).

The USA itself, as well as Donald Trump specifically, have repeatedly shown the Europeans that it does not trust them, yet it sometimes will trust them too much. According to the Bible, the time will come when the USA will find that continental Europe will be an enemy (cf. Isaiah 10:5-11) and not an ally (Ezekiel 23:4,9-10; Lamentations 1:1-2).

As I stated on the radio back in 2016, I believe that Europe will cooperate with the USA as long as it feels the relationship is beneficial, and then (as prophecy foretells) turn against the USA (cf. Daniel 11:39; Lamentations 1:1-2).

The Bible is clear that there will be problems in Europe (Daniel 11:41-43), yet it also shows that Europe will undergo several reorganizations (Revelation chapters 16-18), and the two reorganizations in Revelation 17:12-13 specifically will not turn out well for the USA (cf. Daniel 11:39) or the Arab world (cf. Daniel 11:40-43). …

The USA will be attacked by “friends” consistent with the following:

¹ How lonely sits the city
That was full of people!
How like a widow is she,
Who was great among the nations!
The princess among the provinces
Has become a slave!

² She weeps bitterly in the night,
Her tears are on her cheeks;
Among all her lovers
She has none to comfort her.
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
They have become her enemies. (Lamentations 1:1-2).

Notice the one who was “great among the nations” will be conquered by friends, who will become enemies.

The USA was prophesied to be “great” in Genesis 48:19 and is considered by international sources to be great among the nations of the world today.

[i] ^{Fouda M. Denmark to boost Greenland’s defence after Trump repeats controversial remarks seeking US ownership. Euronews, December 25, 2024}

[ii] ^{Trump threatens ‘very high’ tariffs on Denmark over Greenland. BBC, January 7, 2025}

[iii] ^{Germany, France criticize Donald Trump’s Greenland threat. Deutsche Welle, January 8, 2025}

[iv] ^{Aitken P. Trump’s Tariff Threat Against Denmark Risks Showdown With European Union. Newsweek, January 12, 2025}

There have been and will be many unintended consequences of the Trump-Vance Administration.

Yes, Donald Trump’s presidency is pushing many friends away.

This will not end well for the USA.