U.S. Department of Defense Breaks Major News! IEA Issues Significant Warning

A key moment: the latest move by the U.S. Pentagon has drawn attention.

According to the latest reports, the U.S. Pentagon has canceled a press conference originally scheduled for 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday (20:00 Beijing time on Tuesday), to be hosted by U.S. Defense Secretary Hegseth and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General Dan Kane.

At present, the risk of Middle East tensions spilling over continues to intensify. Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, warned that the severity of the current global energy crisis is “more serious than the combined crises in 1973, 1979, and 2022 (energy crises),” and that the global energy market may face a “Black April.”

As for the fighting in the Middle East, according to the latest report from CCTV News: citing local time July 7 from Iranian sources, the King Fahd Bridge—a key passage connecting Saudi Arabia and Bahrain—was shut down due to an “Iranian attack threat.” Subsequently, the King Fahd Bridge Authority said it had suspended vehicle access on the King Fahd Bridge because the early-warning platform issued an attack alert targeting Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province. In addition, an Israeli security official said at 7:00 a.m. local time on April 7 that Iran’s railway system is being used to support ongoing military operations, including transporting weapons and other military supplies across the country by rail. Therefore, the Israeli military will carry out strikes on Iran’s railway-related facilities.

**The U.S. Pentagon suddenly canceled **

The U.S. Pentagon canceled a press conference originally scheduled for 08:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, to be hosted by U.S. Defense Secretary Hegseth and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General Dan Kane. No reason was given for the cancellation.

The press conference was scheduled to be held just 12 hours before the final deadline set by U.S. President Trump for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz; otherwise, it would face bombardment of power plants and bridge facilities.

Earlier on Monday morning, Trump, together with Hegseth and Kane, attended a press conference at the White House on the Iran issue, where they discussed the relevant targets.

On April 7, Xinhua News Agency reported that on April 6 U.S. House of Representatives Democratic lawmaker Yasamin Ansari said she would file articles of impeachment against U.S. Defense Secretary Hegseth over the Iran war.

In a statement she issued that day, Ansari said: “Next week I will impeach Hegseth, accusing him of repeatedly violating his oath of office and constitutional responsibilities. Only Congress has the power to declare war, not an unrestrained president or his lackeys.”

In her statement, Ansari said she is the daughter of an Iranian immigrant.

She also said on social media: “U.S. President Trump is escalating a destructive illegal war… Over the past 48 hours, his remarks have crossed every line. Hegseth is complicit in this war.”

Axios reported that, because the Republican Party controls both chambers of Congress, and because a two-thirds majority of senators is required to support impeachment charges against government officials, Ansari’s push to impeach Hegseth is “highly unlikely to succeed.”

International Energy Agency issues a warning

According to CCTV News, International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol said that the severity of the current global energy crisis is “more serious than the combined crises in 1973, 1979, and 2022 (energy crises).” He predicted that the crisis will accelerate the development and growth of renewable energy, nuclear power, and electric vehicles.

According to a report from France on the 7th, Birol said in an interview that in the short term, countries should “save energy as cautiously as possible,” because the global energy market may face a “Black April.” “If the strait remains closed throughout April, the shortage of crude oil and refined oil products will be more than twice that of March.”

After the U.S. and Israel launched military strikes against Iran on February 28, Iran retaliated, severely disrupting the Strait of Hormuz—an important energy transportation route—and causing fuel prices to skyrocket. Birol predicted that “we will shift to renewable energy soon—maybe within a few months.” He said the pace of technological progress in the clean energy sector will be far faster than in other areas, and the deployment of renewable energy such as solar and wind may be especially rapid.

“The architecture of the global energy system is changing,” he said. “This (process of change) will take years. It is not a way to solve the current crisis, but the geopolitical landscape of energy will be profoundly altered.”

Meanwhile, on the 6th, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that the war in the Middle East will lead to higher inflation and slower global economic growth.

The IMF will release its latest global economic forecasts next week. In an interview with Reuters on the 6th, Georgieva said that even if the Middle East military conflict is resolved quickly, the IMF will cut its economic growth expectations and raise its inflation expectations. If the fighting drags on, its impact on inflation and growth will be greater.

She said that, without this war, as economies continue to recover from the pandemic, the IMF would originally have made a modest upward adjustment to its global economic growth forecast for the next two years. Now, all paths point to higher prices and slower growth.

Georgieva said that poor and vulnerable countries lacking energy reserves will be hit the hardest by the current Middle East conflict, and some countries have already begun seeking help. She warned that today’s world faces high uncertainty driven by geopolitical tensions, technological progress, climate shocks, and demographic changes.

The IMF and the World Bank will hold the 2026 Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C., from the 13th to the 18th. It is expected that the IMF will release a new World Economic Outlook report on the 14th.

（Source: China Securities Journal）