WAR Iran/ US/mideast war thread - 2/28/26 Open Hostilities (Thread for Off Topic discussion started, see post #13,751, page 344)

Putin's Secret 'Doomsday' Jet Arrives in Tehran​

Reports that Russia has flown its Tu-214PU airborne command aircraft to Tehran have fueled speculation over Moscow's growing support for Iran as the U.S.-Iran conflict intensifies. Often described as Russia's "Doomsday Plane," the Tu-214PU is a flying command post equipped with secure communications and military command systems for senior leadership during crises. While there is no evidence Russia is directly participating in combat, analysts say the aircraft's reported presence could enhance high-level coordination, intelligence sharing and strategic communication with Tehran. The reported deployment comes amid renewed U.S. strikes on Iran and escalating tensions across the Strait of Hormuz.

Rt 4:02

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfDfyVVLChQ
 
Commentary from a Facebook post by Amir Tsarfati (Israeli citizen/Messianic Jewish Pastor/evangelist)


Amir Tsarfati​

spStrodneof0t6atcah737h71u567l79lt02ah41i5i2itlg70378811ihlt ·


There is a very good reason why I asked for your prayers as I make my way to Dubai.

For the first time, President Trump is threatening to strike Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility.

According to Channel 14 News, this facility is buried at such an extreme depth that no conventional bunker-buster is capable of destroying it - including the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs that effectively neutralized the Fordow facility. The Pickaxe Mountain facility is simply too deep.

Fortunately, the Iranians have not yet installed centrifuges there. However, the purpose of the facility is clear - to serve as a uranium enrichment site that is effectively immune to aerial attack. That is why it is of great concern to Israel - and now, it appears, to the United States as well.

To the best of my knowledge, there are only two ways to destroy it completely, rather than merely collapsing the tunnel entrances with debris that could eventually be cleared.

The first would be the use of the next generation of B61 guided tactical nuclear bombs. These would not need to penetrate the underground chambers themselves but would instead generate an artificial seismic shock capable of collapsing the entire facility. While technically feasible, the likelihood of the United States choosing this option is extremely low, primarily because of concerns that Putin may be looking for any pretext to break the nuclear taboo in Ukraine.

The second option is a ground operation.

No matter which option the President chooses, the United Arab Emirates could end up paying the price.

Please pray that I will make it safely to Dubai, be able to teach the saints, and that the airport will remain open for my onward flight to New Zealand the following day.

Awaiting His Return,

Amir
 

Oil prices off highs after Trump abandons 20% protection fee on Strait of Hormuz traffic​

Key Points
  • Oil prices pulled back after President Donald Trump abandoned his demand that ships pay a fee in exchange for U.S. protection in the Strait of Hormuz.
  • Prices were higher earlier as the U.S. and Iran fight for control of Hormuz. The U.S. bombed targets along Iran’s coast, while Tehran attacked tankers in the strait.
  • The U.S. Navy will reimpose its blockade against Iran at 4 p.m. ET.
Crude oil prices eased off session highs Tuesday, after President Donald Trump abandoned his demand for ships to pay a 20% protection fee to transit the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 1.82% to $79.56 per barrel. Brent futures, the international benchmark, were up 1.98% to $84.95.

“Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.

Trump demanded the fee Monday in exchange for the U.S. Navy protecting ship traffic through Hormuz. The security situation in the strait has deteriorated over the past week as Iran attacks commercial ships.

The president’s demand for a fee contradicted past U.S. opposition to tolls in the strait. Iran has sought to collect tolls for safe passage but agreed it will not impose one for 60 days under the interim deal it signed with the U.S.

The International Maritime Organization, a UN agency, opposes mandatory tolls in Hormuz as illegal.

U.S. crude oil had traded above $80 per barrel earlier in the session as Washington and Tehran continued to battle for control of Hormuz. The U.S. bombed targets along Iran’s coast Monday in an effort to degrade Tehran’s ability to attack commercial ships, according to U.S. Central Command.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said its forces attacked two supertankers transiting Hormuz with their transponders turned off. The United Arab Emirates’ state oil company ADNOC said two of its tankers were hit by projectiles while transiting the strait, killing one mariner and injuring several others.

The U.S. Navy will reimpose its blockade against Iran at 4 p.m. ET on Trump’s orders, Centcom said in a statement.

Citi had warned that Trump’s proposal to impose shipping fees in the Strait of Hormuz materially raises the risk of further military escalation.

“The possibility that the Iranian regime walks away from the MoU until after the mid-term US elections has also risen, a scenario which would most likely see higher for longer oil prices,” the bank wrote in a report Tuesday.

Roughly one-fifth of global oil supplies passed through the Strait of Hormuz before the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. Shipping traffic slumped after Iran began targeting vessels in the waterway in early March, but had started to recover following Washington and Tehran’s interim agreement.

www.cnbc.com

Oil prices off highs after Trump abandons 20% protection fee on Strait of Hormuz traffic

Oil prices rose on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to impose shipping fees in the Strait of Hormuz.
www.cnbc.com www.cnbc.com
 
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www.aljazeera.com

Trump pivots from 20 percent Strait of Hormuz fee amid Iran war escalation

Donald Trump backs away from fee, says regional countries will instead invest in US in return for transit protection.
www.aljazeera.com www.aljazeera.com

Trump pivots from 20 percent Strait of Hormuz fee amid Iran war escalation​

Trump backs away from fee, says regional countries will instead invest in US in return for transit protection.

By Al Jazeera Staff
Published On 14 Jul 2026
32 minutes ago

United States President Donald Trump has backed away from his claim that Washington would levy a 20 percent transit fee for vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

The reversal on Tuesday came just a day after Trump announced the 20 percent fee as fighting between the US and Iran continued to escalate.

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At the time, Trump did not release any further details of the fee, only saying on Truth Social that it would be a “reimbursement” for “any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World”. The administration did not say how it would ensure safe passage through the international waterway, which the US does not control.

In the latest statement, Trump said that instead, the fee would be replaced with “Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making with the United States”.

He said the decision came after “highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership”.

Trump further vowed the investments from Gulf countries would be “massive”, without providing further information. Several countries in the region had already announced multibillion-dollar pledges to invest in the US prior to the US and Israel launching their war with Iran on February 28.

While Trump had previously suggested the US could take “control” of the Strait of Hormuz and charge tolls, Monday’s announcement had been the closest sign yet that the rhetoric could be turned into policy.

The Trump administration had previously rejected the notion of Iran charging any fees for transiting ships, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying that doing so in an international waterway would undermine international law.

Trump appeared to return to that position on Tuesday, telling reporters he does not “like the concept of a fee”.

The US president spoke on Tuesday, hours before a US military blockade of Iran was set to restart. That blockade had been lifted as part of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by both sides in mid June.

The preliminary deal, which also saw an end to fighting between both sides and the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, has been thrown into peril amid the latest bout of attacks.

Iranian media have reported recent attacks in Bushehr, Bandar Abbas, Mahshahr, and Abadan, with explosions reported on Tuesday on Qeshm and Kish islands.

Kuwait, meanwhile, said its armed forces were engaging with a number of aerial targets. Iran has vowed to continue attacks on US assets in the region, with other attacks reported on Bahrain, Jordan and on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
 
ILREDALERT @ILREDALERT
U.S. Central Command said it launched an additional round of strikes against Iran at 3 p.m. ET, targeting capabilities used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

CENTCOM added that the strikes come as U.S. forces prepare to enforce a naval blockade of Iranian ports and coastal areas, set to begin at 4 p.m. ET.
 
Open Source Intel @Osint613
Kuwait Army:

"Kuwait’s air defenses are currently intercepting hostile drone attacks following the treacherous Iranian aggression.

The General Staff of the Kuwaiti Armed Forces notes that any explosions heard are the result of air defense systems intercepting the hostile attacks.

The public is urged to follow all security and safety instructions issued by the relevant authorities."
 
www.theguardian.com

Top House Democrats vow to oppose bid to cut US military aid to Israel

House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, calls amendment ‘overly broad’ as party grapples with backlash over Israel
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

Top House Democrats vow to oppose bid to cut US military aid to Israel​

House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, calls amendment ‘overly broad’ as party grapples with backlash over Israel

Chris Stein in Washington
Tue 14 Jul 2026 17.07 EDT
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Prefer the Guardian on Google

Top House Democrats split on Tuesday over a proposal to block aid for Israel’s military, with two of the party’s highest-ranking lawmakers saying they will oppose the effort while the chair of the progressive caucus encouraged his colleagues to back the defunding.

The debate over an amendment introduced by Republican congressman Thomas Massie to halt $3.3bn in aid for Israel – the majority of which would go to its military – comes as Democrats grapple with a rebellion among their voters over the party’s support for the Middle Eastern ally, which has fueled the defeats of a series of congressional incumbents in recent primaries.

The proposed amendment would affect legislation funding the state department and related agencies for the coming fiscal year, which the House of Representatives is expected to vote on this week. House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries circulated a letter among Democrats saying he would vote against Massie’s provision, the New York Times reported, calling it “overly broad”.

He warned the amendment could cut off funds for humanitarian aid programs and complicate efforts to counter militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. The minority leader’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

“In my view, there are more decisive ways to achieve the urgent change necessary when it comes to the far-right Netanyahu government,” Jeffries wrote. He also accused the House’s Republican leaders of “trying to weaponize an amendment they do not support for nakedly partisan reasons”.

However, he said, he would not launch a formal effort to sway his party’s vote, citing “the strongly held views throughout the caucus in this important area of foreign policy”.

Jeffries was joined by Pete Aguilar, the third-highest-ranking House Democrat, who told a press conference: “It’s clear that the Netanyahu administration has done everything they can to isolate Israel, and we need to ensure that we are building more friends in the region, not having fewer.”

In a letter to members of the congressional progressive caucus obtained by the Guardian, its chair, Greg Casar, said he would vote yes on the amendment, and encouraged his colleagues to join him. “The American people are crying out for an end to US tax dollars subsidizing Israel’s military,” he wrote.

Nodding to the losses of three Democratic incumbents in recent primaries to candidates who vowed to take a hard line on Israel and the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, Casar said: “The Democratic party needs a new approach to Israel and Palestine.

“I hope you will join me in beginning that process by voting yes on this amendment.”

Joe Biden’s support for Israel following the 7 October attack rocked his aborted bid for a second term, and has haunted some Democratic incumbents who sought re-election this year. In Colorado, the longtime congresswoman Diana DeGette last month lost her party’s nomination to Democratic socialist Melat Kiros, while in New York, incumbents Dan Goldman and Adriano Espaillat fell to democratic socialist primary challengers who criticized their stance on Israel.

The issue has loomed large in Missouri, where freshman representative Wesley Bell is facing a challenge in the Democratic primary from Cori Bush, the former congresswoman he ousted in 2024 with the help of heavy spending from pro-Israel groups. It’s also a factor in the primary to replace the retiring Democratic senator Gary Peters in Michigan, where the former public health official Abdul El-Sayed has criticized his opponent Haley Stevens for her support of Israel.

Jeffries and Aguilar signaled their own support for the US rethinking its approach to Israel and Netanyahu, whose government has faced accusations of genocide from international commissions over its incursion into Gaza following the 7 October attacks.

In his letter, Jeffries called for “a major reset” in relations between the two countries based on two principles: a continued US commitment to Israel’s right to exist and the creation of a Palestinian state. With a 10-year memorandum of understanding signed under Barack Obama with Israel soon to expire, Jeffries wrote that the next agreement should “strictly adhere to our human rights laws and values” and acknowledge Israel’s ability to afford its own weapons.

Aguilar acknowledged to reporters that “there needs to be a change in the relationship moving forward with Israel” but downplayed the impact on his strategy of the views of lawmakers who may win election in November.

“We’re not thinking about what a Democratic candidate is going to say in December after they’re sworn in … that’s not part of the calculus,” he said.
 

Trump Says US Will Continue Nightly Attacks Against Iran, Says Bridges and Power Plants Will Be Hit Next Week “Unless They Get to the Table and Negotiate”​

President Trump on Tuesday said that he plans to target Iranian energy infrastructure and bridges next week if they do not make a deal with the United States.

In an interview with Fox’s Trey Yingst, which aired on Tuesday, Trump was asked if he’s still considering hitting energy targets and striking deeper inside the country after a five-hour-long mission on Monday, where US forces hit targets across Iran, including Bushehr, Chah Bahar, Jask, Konarak, Abu Musa, and Bandar Abbas.

Trump has threatened numerous times to target Iranian infrastructure, including power plants and bridges.

It can be recalled that in April, President Trump also posted a video of Iran’s B1 bridge in Karaj, the tallest bridge in the Middle East, being destroyed in an airstrike.

“The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again — Much more to follow! IT IS TIME FOR IRAN TO MAKE A DEAL BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE, AND THERE IS NOTHING LEFT OF WHAT STILL COULD BECOME A GREAT COUNTRY! President DONALD J. TRUMP,” Trump said Truth Social following the strike.

“I’ll save the energy targets for last, but ultimately we’ll hit energy targets,” Trump said in the Tuesday interview.

“We’re going to hit them very hard tonight, we’re going to hit them very hard tomorrow night, we’re going to hit them very hard the night after, and then next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants. Next week comes the bridges.”

The President continued, “We’re going to knock out all their power plants, we’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.”

When asked if he thinks Iran is serious about making a deal to end the war, Trump said they have “no choice.”

“I think if I didn’t do the way I’m doing, they would never make a deal,” he added.

“They would have never made a deal with Obama. That deal was the worst deal. What they did sign was a worthless piece of paper. What they signed, what they signed with Obama, was a worthless piece of paper that was a road to a nuclear weapon. And what I have is a wall. There will be no nuclear weapon.”

Trump further said that preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is “by far the most important” term of a deal.

www.thegatewaypundit.com

WATCH: Trump Says US Will Continue Nightly Attacks Against Iran, Says Bridges and Power Plants Will Be Hit Next Week “Unless They Get to the Table and Negotiate” * The Gateway Pundit * by Jordan Conradson

President Trump on Tuesday said that he plans to target Iranian energy infrastructure and bridges next week if they do not make a deal with the United States. …
www.thegatewaypundit.com www.thegatewaypundit.com
 
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www.eurasiantimes.com

U.S.-Iran War News Updates: Here are the Latest Developments From the Middle East Conflict

The US carried out a fresh round of strikes on Iran and renewed a blockade of its ports, while Tehran targeted American allies in the Gulf and vowed the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed “until the US ends its aggression”. Here is the latest news and developments from the US-Iran War. US...
www.eurasiantimes.com www.eurasiantimes.com

U.S.-Iran War News Updates: Here are the Latest Developments From the Middle East Conflict​


By AFP NEWS - July 15, 2026

The US carried out a fresh round of strikes on Iran and renewed a blockade of its ports, while Tehran targeted American allies in the Gulf and vowed the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed “until the US ends its aggression”. Here is the latest news and developments from the US-Iran War.

US military completes latest wave of strikes on Iran​


The US military’s Central Command said it carried out a new wave of strikes on dozens of military targets in Iran.


“U.S. fighter aircraft, drones, and naval vessels launched precision munitions against Iranian missile and drone sites, naval capabilities, and coastal defense systems during the seven-hour wave to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping and civilian crews,” CENTCOM said.

Earlier, CENTCOM said the strikes were aimed at “degrading Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.”


Iran Guards say Hormuz will remain shut​


Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until the United States ends its “acts of aggression” and warned that other regional oil export routes could also become targets.


“The enemy should know that now that its maritime raiders have blocked the Indian Ocean route for oil and gas exports to the world — thereby endangering the interests of America’s economic rivals — it should also expect the closure of other oil and gas export routes that serve the interests of the United States and its allies,” the statement said.

They did not elaborate on which routes could be affected.

“Oil and gas exports from the region will either be available for everyone or for no one,” they added.

Iran attacks US targets in Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain​


Iranian state-run television IRIB reported that Iran’s army and the Revolutionary Guards carried out separate attacks on US targets in Jordan, Kuwait, and Bahrain.

The army said it targeted the Al-Azraq base in Jordan with drones, IRIB reported. Separately, the Guards said they fired cruise missiles at a US military logistics center in Kuwait.

The Guards also said they struck facilities used by the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.


Kuwait and Jordan said they intercepted drones and missiles from Iran, while Bahrain’s interior ministry said sirens rang out.

Trump threatens Iranian power plants​


US President Donald Trump said in an interview broadcast Tuesday that he would expand US strikes on Iran next week to target power plants and bridges if Tehran does not make a deal.


“Next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants. Next week comes the bridges,” Trump said in an interview with the US broadcaster Fox News.

“We’re going to knock out all their power plants. We’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.”


US naval blockade comes into effect​


A renewed US blockade on Iranian ports came into effect at 2000 GMT Tuesday, preventing vessels from transiting to and from Iranian ports and coastal areas.


“There are currently more than 20 US Navy warships and hundreds of military aircraft operating across the Middle East,” US Central Command said in a statement. “American forces remain vigilant, lethal, and ready.”


Trump backs down on Hormuz ship levy​

US President Donald Trump scrapped a planned 20 percent levy on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz a day after he announced it, replacing the fee with trade deals with Gulf allies.

Geographic Reference


Iran says the US hit a nuclear plant city​


US strikes on Tuesday hit the port city of Bushehr, which hosts Iran’s only civilian nuclear power plant, and an area near the border with Kuwait and Iraq, authorities said.


Abadan, which hosts the oldest oil refinery in the Middle East, and the port city of Mahshahr were also targeted, Khuzestan province deputy governor Valiollah Hayati said, according to state news agency IRNA.


Iranian state television reported explosions around the port city of Bandar Abbas and the Gulf island of Qeshm, both near the Strait of Hormuz.

Israel vows ‘decisive’ hit if Iran attacks​


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Tuesday to strike powerfully against Iran if it staged a new attack on his country.


“I will say it to the leaders of Iran: Do not count on things remaining quiet if you attack us,” Netanyahu said at a conference. “The days are over when someone strikes us and we don’t hit back with a decisive blow.”


US expands sanctions​


Washington has expanded its sanctions targeting Iran’s oil sector, taking further aim at the network of petroleum shipping magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the Treasury Department said.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department had also frozen $130 million held in digital wallets linked to Iran’s central bank, hitting a sector that has seen increased activity since the start of the war.

Geographic Reference



The move came after US forces carried out a fourth straight day of strikes against Iran and reimposed a naval blockade, with Iran in turn hitting ships in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the International Maritime Organization.


“This action is part of Treasury’s ongoing efforts to ramp up economic pressure on the Iranian regime after it resumed destabilizing attacks in the Strait of Hormuz,” the Treasury Department said in a notice Tuesday.


It charged that the Shamkhani network remains a key force behind Iran’s oil exports and has expanded into global commodities trading.

The latest move targeted more than 50 individuals, entities and vessels that it said enabled Iranian authorities to profit.


The Treasury Department added that it has now imposed sanctions on over 200 individuals, entities and vessels operating under Shamkhani’s patronage.


Shamkhani is the son of security official Ali Shamkhani, an advisor to Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Both were killed on February 28, the first day of US-Israeli attacks and the start of the Middle East war.


Bessent said the department “sanctioned multiple wallets tied to the Central Bank of Iran, resulting in the freeze of over $130 million.”


“We will continue to aggressively follow the money and deny the Iranian regime access to the proceeds of its illicit revenue schemes,” he said in a post on X.

By Agence France-Presse
 







would someone with a wsj subscription please post the entire story...

Jason Brodsky

@JasonMBrodsky



President Trump recognizes the U.S. has to change the status quo with #Iran's regime, that's why he is leaning toward expanding U.S. military operations in Iran after days of briefings from top aides, U.S. officials said. Options include stepping up airstrikes, sending ground forces to seize Iranian islands near the Strait of Hormuz and bombing a fortified site that could be used for covert nuclear work.


Trump Leans Toward Expanding U.S. Military Operations in Iran
Trump Leans Toward Expanding U.S. Military Operations in Iran

From wsj.com
2:43 PM · Jul 15, 2026
 
The Hormuz Letter

@HormuzLetter
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BREAKING: Trump is looking to expand US military operations in Iran by not only bombing energy sites and power plants starting next week, but also sending US ground forces to fully seize Kharg Island and other Iranian islands along the Strait of Hormuz and bombing the deepest and most fortified mountain in Iran, the Pickaxe Mountain nuclear-linked tunnel complex, per WSJ. Trump held a Situation Room meeting Tuesday evening to discuss the seizure of Kharg Island and other territory along the Strait using US ground troops including Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb. He also said "We're going to take out Pickaxe Mountain."

3:27 PM · Jul 15, 2026
 
Open Source Intel @Osint613 President Trump: “Iran has allowed an American Citizen, who was wrongfully detained in December of 2024 under the “presidency” of Sleepy Joe Biden, to leave the Country. She is now safely outside of Iran, and in good condition. The United States of America appreciates this gesture of Goodwill by Iran! President DONALD J. TRUMP”
 
Posted for fair use.......
apnews.com

US expands strikes into northern Iran and disables ship trying to run blockade

The United States has intensified its strikes targeting Iran, hitting targets further north. American forces also fired into a ship it accused of trying to break its naval blockade on the Islamic Republic.
apnews.com apnews.com

US expands strikes into northern Iran and disables ship trying to run blockade​

By JON GAMBRELL

Updated 12:17 AM PDT, July 16, 2026
63 Comments

Leer en español

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States intensified its strikes targeting Iran early Thursday, hitting targets further north as American forces also fired into a ship it accused of trying to break its naval blockade on the Islamic Republic. Iran retaliated with missile and drone fire targeting Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait before dawn and warned its attacks may escalate.

Days of back-and-forth strikes by the U.S. and Iran across the Middle East — and renewed threats to the Strait of Hormuz — have shredded the interim deal to end the Iran war and could tip the region back into all-out war. Already, Iranian officials say U.S. strikes have killed more than 35 people and wounded over 300 others.

Strikes also reached into areas around Iran’s capital, Tehran, for the first time in this latest round of violence, showing a widening set of targets for the Americans.

When the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Iran on Feb. 28, Tehran effectively closed the strait to shipping traffic, a move that sent the price of oil, fertilizer and many other goods soaring far beyond the region and gave Iran major leverage in negotiations.

Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesperson for the Iranian military’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, escalated Iran’s threats by referencing U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated warning America could hit Iranian bridges and power plants.

“All the infrastructure in the region will be crushed under the steel blows of the powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran” should Trump’s threat be carried out, Zolfaghari said.

“Under no circumstances and in no way will we allow America, as a foreign and extra-regional country, to interfere in the Strait of Hormuz,” he added. “This is Iran’s invincible red line.”

US and Iran trade threats as attacks intensify​

Those rising prices pose a particular challenge to Trump and his Republican Party, which hopes to retain control of Congress in elections in November. But Washington has struggled to successfully reopen the waterway, leading to Trump reimposing the naval blockade Wednesday. Mediators have sought to calm the tensions, but so far have been unsuccessful.

Trump again insisted Iran was ready to strike a peace deal, but he did not elaborate.

“They don’t like what we’re doing, and they do want to settle. We’ll find out whether or not we settle with them, or we just finish it off,” he said Wednesday at the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania.

Trump separately said on social media that Tehran made a goodwill gesture by releasing an American citizen wrongly detained in Iran since 2024. He didn’t release further details. Human rights lawyer Jared Genser released a statement identifying the detainee as his client Dena Karari, a U.S.-Iranian citizen who runs a nonprofit and was charged with espionage.

Iran did not immediately acknowledge the release and her case was not publicly known, as is sometimes the case with detentions in the Islamic Republic.

Both the US and Iran launch attacks as blockade is reimposed​

The U.S. strikes early Thursday hit around Tehran, state media reported. It also reported that American attacks targeted Semnan province, home to Iran’s ballistic missile production and space program.

Iranian media also reported strikes Thursday morning around the provinces of Hamedan, Hormozgan, Khuzestan, Lorestan, Markazi, and Sistan and Baluchistan.

On Wednesday, the U.S. resumed striking Iran during daylight, further showing the increasing tempo of the attacks. An attack on Greater Tunb Island, a strategic point in the Strait of Hormuz, targeted Iranian defense and missile sites, Central Command said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military said it opened fire on the Curacao-flagged oil tanker Belma sailing toward Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export terminal in the Persian Gulf. After the ship “ignored multiple warnings,” a U.S. aircraft disabled the merchant vessel by firing a missile into the ship’s smokestack.

Another American strike Wednesday targeted a barracks for Iran’s 388th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, which operates tanks and armored vehicles, in Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iranian state television reported. The report said Americans fired at least 13 missiles in the attack and the seven dead included conscripts and career soldiers. A number of troops were wounded.

Iran retaliated Thursday with missile and drone attacks on Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, authorities in those countries home to U.S. forces said. There was no immediate acknowledgment of damage or casualties from the attacks.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi condemned an overnight drone attack on the city of Irbil in Iraq’s semiautonomous northern Kurdish region. The drone, which authorities said had been intercepted, came during his trip to the U.S. in which he said Iraq would work to disarm non-state armed groups, including those backed by Iran.

The Strait of Hormuz remains at the heart of the fighting​

The latest round of fighting is focused on the Strait of Hormuz. How to reopen the strait has bedeviled the U.S. since Iran choked it off in the early days of the war.

During the interim deal, some ships began moving through the passage using a route near Oman overseen by the U.S. military that is outside Tehran’s control.

In recent days, Iran attacked ships using that route and back-and-forth attacks ensued. The U.S. has threatened to reopen the strait by force, but experts say that would require a much bigger armada if not tens of thousands of ground troops. Imposing the blockade is another way to put pressure on Iran.

But in the meantime, oil prices are rising. The price for Brent crude oil, the international standard, traded above $85 a barrel on Thursday, more than 15% higher than the price before the war, but still well below the nearly $120 reached at the height of the conflict.
 
Open Source Intel @Osint613
THE TELEGRAPH: The Houthis are preparing to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key global shipping route.

A closure would force ships to reroute around Africa, mirroring Iran's approach to the Strait of Hormuz. The group has not acted yet, reportedly waiting for the right moment as part of a broader Iranian pressure campaign against the US and its allies.
 
From the Daily Jagran. 7:48 run time.
Iran is eating itself alive from the inside. In a shocking, quiet vote, Tehran’s Parliament just dismantled its own war room, kicking out the loudest military loyalists and hardline hawks who opposed talks with Washington. As Donald Trump applies maximum pressure, a massive internal rift has exploded within the Iranian regime. In this Decode episode, Nikita Kapoor breaks down the explosive shifting power corridors in Tehran changing the war direction.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7bROeqP2p0
 
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