CBS: President Trump on Saturday warned that “time is running out” and that Iran has 48 hours to reopen the Strait of Hormuz before the U.S. will unleash “hell.” A senior Iranian military official rejected Mr. Trump’s ultimatum.
The search for a missing U.S. crew member continues after Iran shot down an F-15E fighter jet on Friday. American forces rescued the pilot. An A-10 Warthog that was part of the search-and-rescue mission when it took fire and was damaged. The Warthog pilot ejected over the Persian Gulf and was successfully recovered, according to the U.S. officials…
Top Aides Advise Trump Blasting Iran’s Infrastructure Is Fair Game
Top aides have privately made the case to President Trump in recent days that Iran’s power-generating facilities and bridges are legitimate military targets because destroying them could cripple the country’s missile and nuclear programs, officials say.
Trump embraced the rationale, sharply questioned by legal experts and human-rights groups, in a nationwide address Wednesday when he vowed to bomb Iran “back to the stone ages.”…
U.S. Jet Downed Over Iran Was Most Likely Based at U.K. Airfield
A military analyst identified markings consistent with a squadron based at R.A.F. Lakenheath, one of two British bases that host the largest U.S. fighter jet operation in Europe…
White House Mostly Silent Over Downed US Jets
The White House has mostly been silent about the downing of the U.S. F-15E fighter jet by Iranian forces since it was first reported more than a day ago, as well as about the efforts to recover its two crew members. U.S. officials said one had been rescued, but the status of the second was unknown as of Saturday…
Crashes, Ejections and a Frantic Search for a Missing Airman in Iran
Friday marked one of the most complex search-and-rescue efforts for the Air Force in decades…
U.S. races to find missing airman as Iranian TV broadcasts reward for capture
In Iran, state media has shown footage of people appearing to head into the mountains in Khuzestan carrying rifles to search for the missing crew member. Earlier, it said “many people” traveled to the area to “capture” the American and said Iranian armed forces called on people not to “mistreat the pilot.” Iranian television also broadcast a statement offering people in the area a “valuable” reward for the capture of an enemy pilot alive…
US Arrests Niece of Late Iranian General Soleimani
Federal agents last night arrested the niece and grand niece of deceased Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Major General Qassem Soleimani, the US State Department says in an emailed statement.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio terminated their lawful permanent resident status, department says…
Chinese firms market Iran war intelligence ‘exposing’ U.S. forces
The private companies — some with ties to the military — are marketing detailed intelligence on movements of U.S. forces, even as Beijing seeks to keep its distance…
Trump’s Victory Rhetoric Undercut by Downed US Jet in Iran War
The downing of a US aircraft has pierced the aura of invincibility that President Donald Trump has sought to project as he tries to stave off the increasing political risks of the Iran war.
Trump has repeatedly claimed dominance over Iranian airspace, but the shooting down of an American F-15E fighter jet and the crash of an A-10 Warthog plane have raised questions about his declaration of near-victory in the war.
The loss of the aircraft has added to Trump’s political problems, with polls showing a large majority of Americans oppose the war and his handling of it, and the GOP worried about holding on to control of Congress after November.
US Deploys Bulk of Stealthy Long-Range Missile for Iran War
The next steps in the US military campaign against Iran will commit nearly its entire inventory of stealthy JASSM-ER cruise missiles, drawing them from stockpiles devoted to other regions…
NATO’s Rutte to meet with Trump at White House amid attacks on alliance
Rutte will travel to Washington to meet with Trump on Wednesday, Rutte’s office announced in a social media post. He’ll also meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The meeting will come days after Trump said the idea of pulling the U.S. out of NATO was “beyond reconsideration,” threatening to blow up a key military alliance…
Trump’s Claims of Victory Clash With Iran War’s Gritty Reality
U.S. and Israeli strikes have killed much of Iran’s leadership, sank its navy and degraded the country’s missile program in more than a month of conflict. But Tehran on Friday rejected mediated efforts to negotiate an end to the war, saying U.S. demands are unacceptable.
“Their back is to the water on a beach and they don’t have an escape plan, and so, literally, it’s fight or die,” Alan Eyre, a former U.S. diplomat who served on the delegation that negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, said of the regime. “This is the hill they die on.”…
The war’s economic impact could get worse for Americans
So far, the costs of the joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign have been modest, especially compared with the economic turmoil roiling Asia, and U.S. growth remains solid. On Friday, the Labor Department said employers added a robust 178,000 jobs in March.
But like thunderclaps that herald an advancing storm, rising energy bills, interest rates and supply shortfalls may be warnings of worse to come…
The U.S.-Europe Alliance Is Reaching a Breaking Point Over the Iran War
At stake in the growing conflict is the future of NATO, which for decades has kept Europe safe and allowed it to prosper. Until recent weeks, Trump’s main complaint about NATO had been about burden-sharing—that European nations weren’t pulling their weight in the continent’s joint defense.
Now, with European members of NATO sitting out the war, Trump is questioning whether defending Europe serves U.S. interests at all if Europeans don’t help American military interventions in the Middle East or elsewhere…
Iran’s ‘new’ regime looks much the same, only harsher
If anything, the war has given more power to the hardline military factions inside the complex system of Iranian governance, as well as bolstered anti-American sentiments.
“This regime is more hardline, less prone to compromise and, frankly, more nakedly tied to the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps),” said Mona Yacoubian, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “We’ve seen the decapitation of the reigning leader in Iran at the time, but that has not translated into dramatic change in terms of who holds the power, or their position vis-à-vis the United States.”…
Trump and the Myth of American Oil Independence
The president says the U.S. can walk away from the Strait of Hormuz. The global market says otherwise…
Hegseth’s War on America’s Military
Someone needs to explain the Pentagon purges to the American people…