Iran Watch

Blurb:

Trying to juxtapose President Trump talking about the war with Iran with the setting of the White House Easter Egg Roll, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel urged his viewers to imagine the new ayatollah laughing at the “lunatic” Trump while watching him stand next to a guy in a bunny suit. The only problem was that Kimmel did not mention the clip he played of Trump was about the U.S. military rescuing the downed airman in a daring operation that left Iran humiliated.

Kimmel introduced a clip of Trump by declaring, “This is a tradition that dates back to 1878, and what you are about to see—even though we did not have video back when Rutherford B. Hayes was running the show—I have to believe that this would rank among, if not at the top of, the most preposterous moments in White House Easter Egg Roll history.”

Blurb:

We reported on Thursday about a United Nations Security Council resolution, designed to try to ensure safe shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The resolution from Bahrain:

“[A]uthorizes member States, acting nationally or through voluntary multinational naval partnerships, with advance notifications to the Security Council,” to use all necessary means “to secure transit passage and to deter attempts to close, obstruct or otherwise interfere with international navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.”

Blurb:

President Donald Trump spoke from the White House on Wednesday night to explain to the American people “why Operation Epic Fury is necessary for the safety of America and the security of the free world.” The United States and Israel have been allied in their fight against Iran, which in turn closed the Strait of Hormuz, limiting the worldwide oil supply.

Trump told allies that if they want the oil in Iran they should go get it or they should buy oil from the United States instead. In recent days, Trump has theatened to pull the US out of NATO over the allies’ refusal to aid the US in the Iran fight. He did not mention this in his remarks, nor did he indicate that a ground invasion of Iran was imminent.

Blurb:

The United Arab Emirates has signaled a willingness to participate in military operations aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

According to the report, which cites senior Emirati officials who spoke with the outlet on the condition of anonymity, the UAE is preparing to assist the United States and other allies in opening the strait by force if necessary. If confirmed, the nation would become the first Gulf State to signal openness to military action in order to free the vital shipping lane from Iranian blockades.

Blurb:

The Washington Free Beacon’s Alana Goodman wrote Tuesday that far-left Michigan senatorial candidate — Democrat Abdul El-Sayed — threatened the Beacon with legal action after the conservative news outlet published a recording of El-Sayed saying he wouldn’t comment on the death of murderous Iranian Ayatollah Khamenei because “a lot of people in Dearborn…are sad” and thus would hurt his electoral prospects.

Earth to Brian Stelter, Oliver Darcy, Scott Nover, Brian Steinberg, and the rest of the so-called media reporting class: Where are you on this act of media intimidation?

Blurb:

 

President Donald Trump issued his bluntest ultimatum yet to Iran’s IRGC on Sunday, demanding they reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face U.S. and Israeli strikes on their energy infrastructure. In a Truth Social post, he warned:

Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP

The remnants of the regime’s leadership have held roughly 20% of the global oil and gas supply hostage for a month, its last remaining point of leverage.

Blurb:

President Trump announces the administration is going hartd after whoever leaked the fact only ONE airman was saved

“When they did that, all of a sudden, the entire country of Iran, knew that there was a pilot that was somewhere on land that was FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE.

“It became a MUCH more difficult operation. Because a leaker leaked that we have one. We’ve rescued one. But there’s another one out there that we’re trying to get.”

Blurb:

According to Zelenskyy, Kyiv has information that Moscow shared data on “some 50–53 facilities in total,” adding that these are civilian infrastructure sites with no military significance.

“It resembles the lives of Ukrainians under Russian attacks, when they target our energy grid or water supply systems,” Zelenskyy said.

“Of course, all the experience Russia has obtained during the war against Ukraine is being shared with Iran. This was the case with Shaheds, the same drones the Russians have, only used under a different name and upgraded to newer generations.”

Blurb:

President Donald Trump is weighing a range of military options against Iran as tensions escalate, with Pentagon planners outlining scenarios for what officials describe as a potential “massive final blow.”

According to Axios, President Trump has been presented with four possible paths.

Those plans reportedly include deploying U.S. troops and launching a ground operation targeting Kharg Island, a critical hub in Iran’s oil network.

Blurb:

American universities move operations online

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened to bomb U.S. and Israeli universities in the Middle East, calling them “legitimate targets” on Sunday.

The threat followed reported U.S.-led attacks on two Iranian universities, according to Inside Higher Ed

“The reckless rulers of the White House should know that from now on, all universities of the occupying regime and American universities in the West Asia region are legitimate targets for us until two universities are struck in retaliation for the Iranian universities that have been destroyed,” the IRGC stated.

“All staff, professors, and students of American universities in the region, as well as residents in their surroundings, are advised to stay at least one kilometer away from these universities to ensure their safety,” it stated.

New York University, Northwestern, and Georgetown operate branch campuses in Qatar or the United Arab Emirates, while American University maintains campuses in Lebanon, Iraq, and Egypt, Washington Examiner reported.

Blurb:

The United Kingdom will not come to the aid of its allies the United States and Israel in Iran, no matter what pressure there is to join and no matter who asks, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said.

The British Armed Forces will act to defend itself and British citizens in the Middle East but will never be “dragged in” to the war against Iran, Sir Keir Starmer said.

The remarks came in Starmer’s speech launching his Labour party’s local elections campaign for the forthcoming May 7th votes. While geopolitics and foreign war discourse may not seem like traditional fodder for local government elections, which in Britain tend to be fought on neighbourhood issues like refuse collection and road repairs, UK politics has taken on distinctly ethno-religious qualities that have led to claims it is developing a new sectarian politics.

For many voters in the United Kingdom, that the government doesn’t bomb Muslim countries is a primary concern at the ballot box, and several Labour Party MPs are privately concerned they stand to lose their seats to single-issue sectarian parties.

Promising his government wouldn’t engage in the joint American-Israeli attempt to reduce Iran’s capacity to hold the global economy to ransom, Sir Keir said in Wolverhampton on Monday that he wouldn’t change his mind “whatever the pressure and whoever it’s coming from”. He said:

We’re facing on a war on two fronts: the Ukraine war, now four-and-a-bit years in, and let’s salute the bravery of Ukrainians over so many years both on the frontline and the civilians as they fight for the values that matter to us.

And the other war … the Iran war, which I know is causing huge concern. People look at their screens and they’re worried when they see explosions, infrastructure blown up, the rhetoric that goes with it, worried about whether this is going to escalate even further.

And therefore it’s really important that I reiterate where I stand and where this government stands, because this is not our war and we are not going to be dragged into it.

Blurb:

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told G7 foreign ministers that the US anticipates the conflict to continue for another two to four weeks.

Members of the US Armed Forces in Saudi Arabia were injured on Friday during a missile attack on Prince Sultan airbase. US officials confirmed to CBS News that about a dozen service members were injured.

The attack, reported Jennifer Jacobs, “consisted of Iranian missiles and drones.” Two Americans, she confirmed, were seriously injured while eight others suffered injuries. The total of US service members who have been killed during the conflict in Iran prior to this attack was 13.

Blurb:

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth called out former president Barack Obama Thursday, accusing him of helping to finance Iran’s military with “pallets of American cash.”

“Many of the Iranian military factories and bases that we’re systematically destroying were paid for by the pallets of American cash that Barack Obama flew into Tehran under the Iran deal,” Hegseth said.

Critics have long condemned Obama for empowering the state sponsor of terrorism in 2016 with a $1.7 billion cash payout.

Blurb:

As the US-Israeli war against Iran entered its second month on Saturday, US President Donald Trump had an urgent message for the American people: turn on Fox News.

Those who followed the president’s advice – delivered through his Truth Social media platform – would have tuned in to see ultraconservative pundit Mark Levin publicly calling on Trump to seize Iran’s stockpiles of enriched uranium by force.

“We’ve got to get the uranium,” he said. “If it cannot be destroyed, if it cannot be altered, we gotta get it.”

Blurb:

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday expressed his frustration towards allies that have been unwilling to help the US reopen the Iran-controlled Strait of Hormuz by force, stating that countries upset by high fuel prices should “go get your own oil”.

“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the USA won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Blurb:

An apparent Iranian attack on a fully loaded Kuwaiti crude oil tanker at Dubai Port sparked a fire that was later extinguished, authorities said.

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) said early on Tuesday that the Al Salmi tanker was struck in an Iranian attack while anchored at the port in the United Arab Emirates, causing damage to the vessel and a fire on board.

Blurb:

Hundreds of U.S. Special Operations Forces, including Navy SEALs and Army Rangers, are now in the Middle East, as well as thousands of Marines and Army paratroopers, according to sources familiar with the deployments.

The sources said having the forces in the region gives President Trump military options in Iran, including operations that could target opening the Strait of Hormuz, take oil from Kharg Island or seize Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium.

The New York Times first reported the forces had arrived in the region.

Blurb:

BANGKOK — Asian nations are increasingly competing for Russian crude oil as an energy crisis mounts amid the month-old war by the U.S. and Israel against Iran, which has choked off roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply.

Much of the oil from the mostly shut Strait of Hormuz was headed for Asia, hit hardest by recent energy shocks. Over the weekend, Iran-backed Houthi rebels entered the conflict, further threatening shipping.

Blurb:

Israel said on Thursday that it had killed Commodore Alireza Tangsiri, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN).

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said Tangsiri had been killed in a “precise and lethal operation” along with other senior naval commanders in an overnight strike.

“The man who was directly responsible for the terrorist operation of mining and blocking the Strait of Hormuz to shipping was blown up and eliminated,” Katz claimed.

Blurb:

Since a joint U.S.-Israeli airstrike killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28, scores of Iranian senior officials have also been killed. According to the Associated Press, two anonymous sources—an intelligence official and a person briefed on the operation—said that hacked Iranian surveillance cameras helped plan the initial attack.

Camera hacking has become a recurring feature of modern warfare. Hamas hacked Israeli cameras before the October 7, 2023, attack; Russia has hacked them in Ukraine, and Iran has hacked them in Israel. But the cameras in question are not exotic spy technology. They’re often unremarkable, much like millions of other devices around the world.