📰 MIDDLE EAST CRISIS BRIEFING — 23:02 CET

6 sources | Day 10 — night

📌 THREAD: Trump — Double Signal on War's End
Status: NARRATIVE ESCALATION

[~17:00 CET] CBS News — Trump: "The war is very complete, we're very far ahead of schedule" — Brent drops from $119 to $85, Wall Street closes higher [link]
[~22:00 CET] GOP legislators meeting, Florida — Trump: "We have won in many ways, but not enough. We go forward more determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory. We will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated." [link]
Delta: Two opposite statements in 5 hours. The CBS one moved markets; the one to GOP lawmakers reveals the real position: long war.

⚡ DIVERGENCE: CBS Trump vs GOP Trump
[17:00 CET] CBS: "war very complete, practically over" → oil drops $30 in hours
vs. [22:00 CET] GOP legislators: "not enough, we will not relent until totally and decisively defeated"
→ Implication: the end-of-war signal was almost certainly tactical/market-related; the operational trajectory doesn't change.

📌 THREAD: IDF — New Night Wave on Tehran
Status: EVOLVING

[22:47 CET] IDF — "Broad wave of strikes against targets of the Iranian terrorist regime in Tehran" [Guardian liveblog]
Delta: Day 10 closes with new IDF wave — no tactical pause after Mojtaba appointment. Trump claims 3,000 total airstrikes in 10 days.

📌 THREAD: Araghchi — "Epic Mistake"
Status: NEW

[evening Mar 9] Al Jazeera/X — FM Araghchi renames the operation "Epic Mistake" and warns: "We also have many surprises in store" [link]
Delta: First time Tehran coins a counter-brand against "Epic Fury" — psychological warfare targeting US public opinion. Macron from Cyprus: the intense phase will last "several more days, maybe several weeks" (NYT).

📌 THREAD: US Congress — New Democrat Offensive
Status: EVOLVING

[21:35 UTC] Guardian — Democrats file new war powers resolutions and demand public hearings on Iran strikes [link]
Delta: After the double House+Senate failure, Dems change tactics: no more votes but narrative-building through public hearings ahead of midterms.

📌 THREAD: Hormuz — Chinese Evasion and Trump's False Claim
Status: EVOLVING

SCMP — Ships brandish Chinese flags and links to evade IRGC attacks in the Strait [link]
Delta: First systematic documentation of nationality-based evasion — confirms IRGC is applying selective targeting. Note: Trump told CBS that Hormuz has reopened; international monitors contradict this.