Monday March 16 2026
Trump thinks this island is the key to Iran – his gamble will be deadly
By Sadia Nowshin
Newsletter Editor at The i Paper
Welcome to Monday’s The Essential from The i Paper.
Donald Trump’s threats to bomb oil sites on Iran’s strategic Kharg Island hint at a desperate gamble that would plunge the world into further instability as speculation grows of a US ground operation.
The US President said strikes against military targets on Kharg Island on Friday had “totally demolished” most of the five-mile isle, which sits about 15 miles (24 kilometres) off Iran’s coastline. He then said that “we may hit it a few more times just for fun”, warning that the island’s oil infrastructure was not off the table.
But Dan Marks, research fellow in energy security at the Royal United Services Institute in London, says: “It’s hard to see how [strikes on Kharg Island] will help the situation the US is in.” Instead, he said it hinted at “desperation” on the part of the US to “find a point of leverage” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically significant waterway through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes through.
The disruption to the world economy could get much worse in the next few weeks, says Marks, who added that “there is a reason that nobody really attacked Iran since 1979 and the reason is that it’s very hard to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. So it really does come down to whether Donald Trump has gambled right or not.”
Iran’s Kharg Island hosts the country’s main crude export terminal and is responsible for the overwhelming majority of its oil shipments to the world (Photo: European Space Agency/AFP/Getty)
Elsewhere, our chief political commentator Kitty Donaldson writes that Keir Starmer has spent the first part of his premiership making a virtue of how close he is to Trump – but now, he hopes the differences will win him the advantage.
And last night’s Oscars ceremony was one of the worst yet, according to chief culture writer Sarah Carson – but amongst the excruciating watch, there was one joyful exception offering an antidote.
Plus, a company co-founder shares why he has stopped hiring new graduates for entry-level roles and is instead using AI to replace their job functions and using older employees in their thirties and forties for junior positions.
Finally, experts share the five signs of a strong immune system – and simple ways to boost it further.
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Top stories
CIA veteran Joe Zacks says Iran’s nuclear programme still poses problems for the US (Photos: Joe Zacks/Maxar/Getty)
1
I’m an ex-CIA officer. Trump has not dealt with Iran’s nuclear threat
Intelligence experts warn that big problems will remain unsolved for the US even if the conflict does end as soon as Trump hopes it will. Joe Zacks, who led the Central Intelligence Agency’s counter-terrorism team, is confident that America is “much better off” now than before the conflict – but admits many challenges lie ahead. “If the US unilaterally declared victory today, something that would be lacking is a resolution of the nuclear issue,” Zacks acknowledges. Tehran’s programme has been “significantly degraded”, but the regime still has “close to 1,000lb of enriched uranium.”
2
Labour wants to dictate how your pension is invested – here’s why experts are wary
Ministers have been warned by industry experts to tread carefully when intervening where pensions are invested, as the Government pushes for more investment in the UK economy. Labour are pushing for an increase in domestic investment, in areas such as infrastructure, high-tech companies and start-ups, both through savings and pensions. Frustrated by some major projects attracting funding from overseas pension funds, the Government has explored whether it might need to force schemes to invest in certain ways or introduce incentives backed by billions of pounds of public funding to shift investment patterns – but critics have warned this could result in potentially risky consequences for workers’ hard-earned pensions.
3
Energy bill help unveiled for UK households – here’s who will qualify
Sir Keir Starmer has announced £53m of support for vulnerable heating oil customers as rising energy prices, driven by the war in the Middle East, pile fresh pressure on household finances. Speaking at a Downing Street press conference on Monday, the Prime Minister said helping people with the cost of living was his “first priority” and confirmed the support would go to households most exposed to the price increases. But the Government has not ruled out further intervention, with Starmer saying he was “not ruling anything out” if the ongoing conflict continues to drive prices higher.
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Picture of the day
Stars in their eyes: Jessie Buckley, winner of the Best Actress Award for Hamnet and Michael B Jordan, winner of the Best Actor Award for Sinners pose in the press room at the 98th Annual Oscars at Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California (Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
Big Read
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Austerity torched Britain’s social fabric – but Ken Rogoff’s academic paper, used to justify it, contained shocking mistakes.
Around the newsroom
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♦ MONEY
It cost me £50,000 to evict a nightmare tenant – I’ll never be a landlord again
♦ CULTURE
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♦ LIFESTYLE
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♦ SPORT
My Six Nations team of the tournament – featuring two England players
♦ OPINION
Trump is so ‘tired of winning’ he’s come crawling back to Nato
Quick escapes
I visited the overlooked cathedral city without York’s crowds
Ripon has a market that goes back 1,000 years and is within easy reach of a dreamy National Trust property.
Get more from our newsletters
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