Israel Watch

Trump Threatens War Crimes in Iran Again – Mother Jones– www.motherjones.com

pgnewser April 20, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

President Donald Trump departs after speaking with reporters about the war in Iran during a news conference in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Monday, April 6, 2026.Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

In a Truth Social tirade on Sunday morning, President Donald Trump claimed that Iran violated their ceasefire agreement with the US by firing shots at ships in the Strait of Hormuz and again threatened to commit war crimes by taking out the country’s energy infrastructure.

“Many of [the bullets] were aimed at a French Ship, and a Freighter from the United Kingdom,” Trump contended about Iran’s targeting of the ships, without evidence. “That wasn’t nice, was it?”

Trump, Iran cite progress in talks as uncertainty hangs over Strait of Hormuz– www.channelnewsasia.com

pgnewser April 20, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

Trump defended the US blockade and threatened “to start dropping bombs again” unless the countries reached a long-term deal before the ceasefire expires on Wednesday.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said Tehran’s control over the strait included demanding the payment of costs related to security, safety and environmental protection services, state media said.

Concern remained after at least two vessels reported being attacked on Saturday while trying to transit the waterway. India summoned the Iranian ambassador in New Delhi and expressed deep concern that two Indian-flagged ships had come under fire in the strait, the government said.

Trump reaffirms US-Israel support after Netanyahu ‘alarmed’ by Lebanon comments– www.mirror.co.uk

pgnewser April 20, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

Donald Trump posted on social media to reaffirm the US’s support for Israel, calling it a ‘great ally’, just hours after sources told Axios that Benjamin Netanyahu had been left ‘personally stunned and alarmed’ by an earlier post in which Trump said Israel was ‘prohibited’ from bombing Lebanon

President Trump Meets With Visiting Israeli PM Netanyahu At The White House(Image: Getty)

Donald Trump reaffirmed his backing for Israel in a Truth Social message on Saturday evening, merely hours after reports suggested Benjamin Netanyahu had been unsettled by an earlier comment he made.

Writing around 9pm ET, the US president described Israel as a “great ally” of Washington while taking aim at European nations that refused to take part in the Iran conflict.

SETH ORANBURG: Local Municipalities Weaponize Bureaucracy Against Prayer– dailycaller.com

pgnewser April 20, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

As Congress debates antisemitism legislation and the Religious Liberty Commission holds hearings on rising hate, a case pending before the Supreme Court reveals a more mundane threat: city officials who use zoning bureaucracy to shut down Jewish prayer in a private home.

Daniel Grand invited a handful of neighbors to his house on a Saturday morning to pray. The City of University Heights, Ohio, served him with a cease-and-desist order, calling his home an “illegal house of worship.” Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan then encouraged Grand’s neighbors to surveil his home and report any religious activity for punishment.

When a city criminalizes home worship, you’d figure the homeowner has recourse. On paper, yes. In practice, no. In reality, municipalities across the country destroy faith communities not through action but through something more sinister: selective inaction.

Iran Pushes Too Far in Hormuz, and the U.S. Pushes Back – PJ Media– pjmedia.com

pgnewser April 20, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:
President Donald Trump authorized a direct response after an Iranian-flagged vessel moved into a restricted pattern of activity in the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. Navy forces intercepted and disabled the vessel after it failed to comply with repeated warnings. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth supported the operation, and the U.S. Central Command coordinated the response, stopping the vessel before it could continue its course through one of the world’s most contentious shipping lanes.

It was the first interception since the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports began last week. Iran’s joint military command called the armed boarding an act of piracy and a ceasefire violation, the state broadcaster said.

With the U.S.-Iran standoff over the strait sharpening and the ceasefire expiring by Wednesday, it was not clear where President Donald Trump ’s earlier announcement on new talks with Iran now stood. He had said U.S. negotiators would head to Pakistan on Monday.

US seizes Iranian vessel in Hormuz; Iran vows ‘retaliation soon’ — what we know– timesofindia.indiatimes.com

pgnewser April 20, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

US President Donald Trump on Sunday claimed that American forces seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship TOUSKA after it tried to bypass a naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz.Iran initially contradicted the claim, saying US forces were forced to retreat…

In a post on Truth Social he wrote, “Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA… tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them.”

Trump said the ship was warned by a US Navy guided missile destroyer in the Gulf of Oman to stop, but it did not comply.

“The US Navy Guided Missile Destroyer USS SPRUANCE intercepted the TOUSKA in the Gulf of Oman, and gave them fair warning to stop. The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room. Right now, US Marines have custody of the vessel. The TOUSKA is under US Treasury Sanctions because of their prior history of illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board!,” he further wrote.

Middle East crisis live: ceasefire under pressure as Iran says it has no plans for talks after US seizes ship | US-Israel war on Iran– www.theguardian.com

pgnewser April 20, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

Esmail Baghaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, has been quoted by Al Jazeera as having said that Iran has no plans for a new round of talks with the US, saying Washington has violated the agreement from its implementation.

The spokesperson also said Tehran can’t forget US attacks on Iran during previous diplomatic talks as he insisted that Iran will continue defending its national interests.

Behind Trump’s “Unstable, Insulting” Strategy To End The Iran War– www.ndtv.com

pgnewser April 20, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

US President Donald Trump seems to have lost his appetite for war as the two-week ceasefire with Iran nears an end. He is oscillating between ominous and propitiatory approaches while asking Iran to make a permanent peace deal. Behind the scenes, he’s grappling with fear that the situation can turn into something similar to the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis –one of the biggest foreign policy failures of recent times, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Trump’s impulsive style has never before been tested during a sustained military conflict, and according to the report, his top aides are limiting the flow of information t

U.S. Navy Destroyer Prevents Two Oil Tankers from Leaving Iran– www.breitbart.com

pgnewser April 16, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

The U.N. Navy is aggressively enforcing the blockade against Iran, according to a U.S. official who said two oil tankers attempting to leave Iran were intercepted and turned back by an American destroyer on Tuesday.

The unnamed U.S. official told Reuters that two tankers departed from Iran’s port of Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman, only to be intercepted by a U.S. Navy destroyer that instructed them by radio to turn around. Both ships complied with the order.

Chabahar is a port city on the southeastern coast of Iran. It was originally constructed in 1983, to give Iran alternatives to shipping through the Persian Gulf during the long and bloody Iran-Iraq War.

In recent years, the Indian government made about $500 million in investments to expand the two major port complexes at Chabahar, giving them more deep-water berths for large cargo vessels.

Israeli NGO Files War Crimes Complaint Against Spain’s PM Alleging Iran Aid Enabled the Regime’s ‘Terror Machine’– www.breitbart.com

pgnewser April 16, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

Spain’s prime minister is facing a complaint at the International Criminal Court alleging his government enabled Iran’s “terror machine” through dual-use exports, with the legal group behind the filing arguing that responsibility for war crimes extends to those who provide the means.

The complaint, filed Tuesday by Israeli legal advocacy group Shurat HaDin under Article 15 of the Rome Statute, calls on prosecutors in The Hague to open a criminal investigation — and consider issuing an arrest warrant — against Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and other senior officials.

The complaint alleges that Spain’s socialist government approved the transfer of approximately €1.3 million in dual-use components to Iran in 2024 and 2025, including materials linked to detonators and explosive systems.

According to the filing, the items were not benign industrial goods but “critical components that enable explosive devices to function,” transferred under circumstances in which their use in attacks against civilians was foreseeable.

At the core of the case is the allegation that materials classified as civilian “dual-use” goods function as essential components in weapons systems.

Iran capable of sinking all US naval ships in Persian Gulf, official says – World– tass.com

pgnewser April 16, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

TEHRAN, April 16. /TASS/. The Iranian armed forces can sink all US naval ships in the Persian Gulf, which are within range of the country’s missiles, Mohsen Rezaei, a member of Iran’s Expediency Council, said.

“An extension of the ceasefire is not in our interests at all. That’s my personal opinion. Pressure has to be increased. Our launchers are aimed at these ships at the moment, and we would sink them all. None would escape, ” he told Iran’s state broadcaster in an interview.

According to Rezaei, there are currently reasons to maintain the ceasefire and hold talks simultaneously. “However, it’s a military lull, not a permanent ceasefire. This is how the supreme leader describes it,” he added.

The United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on February 28. Major Iranian cities, including Tehran, were struck. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a retaliatory operation, targeting sites in Israel. US military bases in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were also hit.

Attacks by Trump and Vance fuel debate over ‘Just War’ doctrine– www.washingtonexaminer.com

pgnewser April 16, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

IS IRAN A ‘JUST WAR’? Pope Leo XIV has posted another provocative statement on X, calling for the world to “reject the logic of violence and war, and embrace peace founded on love and justice.”

“Enough of war and all the pain it causes,” he pontificated. It is just the kind of thing one might expect from the leader of the Catholic Church, but to President Donald Trump, it’s left-wing, liberal claptrap.

“Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed, protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable?” Trump posted on Truth Social late Tuesday night.

The fact that Trump just won’t let it go has alienated Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, once considered one of Trump’s closest allies, irked Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) among others in Congress, and started a debate over whether Iran is a “just war.”

Diplomatic efforts to end Iran war, reopen Strait of Hormuz intensify on multiple fronts– www.cbsnews.com

pgnewser April 16, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

President Trump says leaders of Israel and Lebanon will speak Thursday, as Washington pushes to ease hostilities after the rivals’ first direct talks in decades on Tuesday.

“Trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon,” Mr. Trump said late Wednesday on his Truth Social platform, apparently referring to the meeting held in Washington the day before – the first direct negotiations between senior officials from the two countries since 1993 — and to Thursday’s planned discussion.

He didn’t identify Thursday’s participants or give details but said, “It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years. It will happen tomorrow. Nice!”

Israeli Army Radio, also known as GLZ Radio, said Thursday that, “Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel confirmed in an interview that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.”

Donald Trump’s Blockade Is Headed for a Bust– www.truthdig.com

pgnewser April 16, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

As soon as the negotiations between the U.S. and Iran ended without an agreement, President Donald Trump fired a volley of angry social media posts venting his frustration. As a concrete step to force Iranian concessions, he announced a blockade of Iranian ports along the Persian Gulf.

Cut off Tehran’s oil exports, the logic goes, and the regime will have no choice but to bend to Trump’s will.

This thought process is being echoed and amplified by influential Washington voices who should know better. Take Dennis Ross, a former Middle East peace negotiator, who argued that “the blockade always made more sense than seizing Kharg Island. It stops Iran’s exports, its revenues, is a counterpoint to their closing the Straits [of Hormuz].” He also thinks that the measure will “put pressure on China to pressure Iran.”

US turned down Russian offer to take Iran’s enriched uranium – Kremlin — RT World News– www.rt.com

pgnewser April 16, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

Moscow remains open to reviving the proposal if it helps ease Middle East tensions, Dmitry Peskov says

Russia’s proposal to host Iran’s enriched uranium remains on the table despite having been previously rejected by the US, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

The issue of Tehran’s nuclear program has long been a sticking point in talks with Washington. US President Donald Trump has demanded that Iran completely dismantle its nuclear infrastructure and hand over its enriched uranium stockpile, a proposal Tehran has rejected.

Iranian officials say they are not seeking a nuclear bomb but insist that uranium enrichment is their sovereign right and intended for civilian use. Tehran has previously indicated it could send some of its enriched uranium to a third country such as Russia and reportedly floated that idea in negotiations before the US and Israel launched their military campaign on February 28.

Lavrov says Iran has inalienable right to enrich uranium, defying Trump– www.foxnews.com

pgnewser April 16, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said that Iran has an “inalienable” right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes during a state visit to China on Wednesday, according to the Times of Israel.

“The right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes is an inalienable right of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Lavrov said during a Tuesday press conference following a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to the Times of Israel.