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Houthi Join the Fight, Threaten to Close Red Sea Straits

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Yemen’s Houthi movement has announced it is entering the escalating regional conflict on the side of Iran, warning it plans to target US naval assets in the Red Sea.

In a statement released by a representative of the group, the Iran-aligned movement said: “We will strike American ships in the Red Sea. This war is a fight for the entire Ummah.”

The declaration marks a further widening of tensions across the Middle East, as Iran’s network of regional allies signals a greater willingness to engage directly amid ongoing hostilities involving Israel, the US and Gulf states.

Tehran is keeping the threat of ordering Houthis to take up arms in reserve, say analysts, as they could close the access to the Red Sea and cut off all oil and gas produced in the Gulf from reaching international markets. Iranian officials told Tasnim News: if the US launches a military attack on Iran’s main export terminal on Kharg island, Iran will activate the Houthis to shut down the Bab al-Mandab Strait and block access to the Red Sea. Bab al-Mandab Strait — handles 10% of all global trade.

The US spent $1bn trying to stop Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping in 2024. and failed. Ships were forced to reroute around Africa and shippign costs went up 400% at that time. (Read more from “Houthi Join the Fight, Threaten to Close Red Sea Straits” HERE)

Father of Killed US Military Member Disputes Hegseth’s Claim He Said to ‘Finish’ the Job in Iran

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By The Guardian. The father of a US military member killed in the Iran war has contradicted Pete Hegseth’s claim that bereaved families urged him to “finish” the job in the Middle East.

Hegseth, the defense secretary and a former weekend Fox News host, told reporters at a Pentagon briefing on Thursday that he had spoken with relatives of all six service members killed in last week’s refueling tanker crash during a “dignified transfer” of their remains at Delaware’s Dover air force station the night before.

“What I heard through tears, through hugs, through strength and through unbreakable resolve, was the same from family after family. They said, ‘Finish this. Honor their sacrifice. Do not waver. Do not stop until the job is done,’” Hegseth said.

However, on Thursday night, Charles Simmons, the father of Tech Sgt Tyler Simmons, 28, from Ohio, said he had no such conversation.

“I can’t speak for the other families. When he spoke to me, that was not something we talked about,” he told NBC News. (Read more from “Father of Killed US Military Member Disputes Hegseth’s Claim He Said to ‘Finish’ the Job in Iran” HERE)

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Father of dead serviceman says he never told Hegseth to ‘finish the job’ in Iran: report

By The Independent. The father of a dead U.S. serviceman has denied claims by Pete Hegseth that he told the Defense Secretary to “not stop until the job is done” – referring to the war in Iran.

“No, I didn’t say anything along those lines,” Charles Simmons told NBC News in an interview Thursday, recalling his encounter with Hegseth at the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. “I can’t speak for the other families. When he spoke to me, that was not something we talked about.” . . .

Simmons told NBC that he had spoken to Hegseth and President Donald Trump, and that both men had treated him warmly. He had mostly spoken about his son’s impressive service record, he said.

The 60-year-old, from Columbus, Ohio, added he has “questions” about the conflict, which has now killed at least 13 American service members, and cannot draw “definitive conclusions when I don’t have all the data.”

Simmons said he told Hegseth: “I understand there’s a lot of peril that goes into making decisions like this, and I just certainly hope the decisions being made are necessary,” according to NBC. (Read more from “Father of dead serviceman says he never told Hegseth to ‘finish the job’ in Iran: report” HERE)

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Trump Vows No Cease-Fire With Iran, Predicts Strait of Hormuz May ‘Open Itself’

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President Trump said Friday that he’s not interested in a potential cease-fire with Iran — and that he thinks the Strait of Hormuz could “open itself.”

“I don’t want to do a cease-fire. You know, you don’t do a cease-fire when you’re literally obliterating the other side,” Trump said while leaving the White House, responding to a question about Pope Leo XIV calling for a cease-fire.

“From a military standpoint, all they’re doing is clogging up the strait. But from a military standpoint, they’re finished,” Trump said.

Iran’s closure of the strait for three weeks has caused a surge in oil prices — with Tehran vowing to use it as a strategic point of pressure against the US and Israel.

Trump told reporters that opening the strait would require a “simple military maneuver” before saying no action at all may be needed. (Read more from “Trump Vows No Cease-Fire With Iran, Predicts Strait of Hormuz May ‘Open Itself’” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Defiant Iran Declares the World Is Now a Target

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Recreational and tourist sites worldwide will now be a target for Iran’s aggression and what remains of the Islamic state’s leadership further added Friday it is still building missiles.

The show of defiance singling out non-combatant civilian targets anywhere on the globe comes three weeks into U.S.-Israeli strikes that have eliminated a slew of Tehran’s top leaders and hammered its weapons and energy industries, AP reports.

The outlet detailed:

Iran’s top military spokesman warned Friday that “parks, recreational areas and tourist destinations” worldwide won’t be safe for Tehran’s enemies.

Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi made the threat as Iran continues to be hit by American and Israeli airstrikes. It renewed concerns that Iran may revert to using militant attacks beyond the Middle East as a pressure tactic in the war.

U.S. and Israeli leaders maintain weeks of strikes have decimated Iran’s military. (Read more from “Defiant Iran Declares the World Is Now a Target” HERE)

Iran Launches Ballistic Missiles at Critical UK-U.S. Strategic Airbase

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Iran attempted to strike Diego Garcia, the Indian Ocean island base critically enabling U.S. strikes, with a pair of ballistic missiles.

Tehran launched what is believed to be an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) for the first time in an apparent bid to take out the runway at Diego Garcia. The joint British-American base in the Indian Ocean is a critical fulcrum for Western power projection in the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region, supporting the largest and heaviest bomber missions as well as warships.

Broadcaster CNN claims to have been told by a U.S. defence source that the attempted attack took place on Friday, but that both missiles failed to find their targets and there was no damage or injuries. Britain’s Daily Telegraph states that one of the missiles spontaneously failed mid-flight, and the second was brought down by an interceptor missile fired by a warship.

Unlike cruise missiles, which reach their targets by flying on a relatively flat trajectory through the atmosphere and often hugging the ground to confound anti-missile defences, ballistic missiles fly up into the outer atmosphere or near space before plunging back to Earth. This flight path makes them harder to intercept and, if destroyed while returning to earth, can still spread wreckage travelling at extremely high speed onto and around the intended target. (Read more from “Iran Launches Ballistic Missiles at Critical UK-U.S. Strategic Airbase” HERE)

Trump Asks ‘Why Didn’t You Tell Me About Pearl Harbor’ When Japanese Reporter Brings Up Lack of Warning on Iran

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President Donald Trump on Thursday had a viral response for a Japanese reporter who asked why the United States did not give Japan advance warning of Operation Epic Fury.

During Trump’s bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae in the Oval Office, the reporter asked him, “Why didn’t you tell U.S. allies in Europe and Asia, like Japan, about the war before attacking Iran?”

“One thing you don’t want to signal too much. You know, when we go in, we went in very hard. We didn’t tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise,” he said. “Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?”

“You believe in surprise, I think much more so than us, and we had to surprise them, and we did,” Trump added. “And because of that surprise… in the first two days, we probably knocked out…much more than what we anticipated doing. If I go and tell everybody about it, there’s no longer a surprise.”

Moments earlier, Trump commended Japan for “stepping up to the plate” on Iran while taking a dig at North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries. (Read more from “Trump Asks ‘Why Didn’t You Tell Me About Pearl Harbor’ When Japanese Reporter Brings Up Lack of Warning on Iran” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Oman’s Foreign Minister Says War in Iran Is Trump’s ‘Greatest Miscalculation’ in Scathing Attack

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Oman’s foreign minister has said that the war in Iran is Donald Trump’s “greatest miscalculation” and urged Washington’s allies to push him to end the conflict immediately.

In the most scathing attack on Washington’s foreign policy yet by a Gulf state, Badr Albusaidi said “this is not America’s war” and criticised Mr Trump for supporting Israel.

Writing in The Economist, he called on American allies to help extricate the country from the conflict, which has continued for a third week despite failing to achieve the US and Israel’s stated aim of instigating regime change in Tehran or stopping its nuclear programme.

Since the war began, Iran has launched retaliatory attacks across the Gulf, most recently targeting oil and gas facilities – a development that shook global energy markets. Oman has been targeted on several occasions.

Mr Albusaidi said being drawn into the war was the “American administration’s greatest miscalculation” and implied that Israel didn’t have the right intentions for Iran. (Read more from “Oman’s Foreign Minister Says War in Iran Is Trump’s ‘Greatest Miscalculation’ in Scathing Attack” HERE)

Iran Executes 19-year-old Champion Wrestler Saleh Mohammadi, Two Others in Horrific Public Hangings

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Iran executed a 19-year-old champion wrestler in a public hanging Thursday along with two other people who were arrested during the brutal crackdown on anti-regime protesters in January.

Saleh Mohammadi, a rising star from Qom, was allegedly tortured to confess to the capital crime of waging war against God, with the teen executed without a fair trial, according to human rights groups.

“His execution was a blatant political murder, part of the Islamic Republic’s pattern of targeting athletes to crush dissent and terrorize society,” Nima Far, a human rights activist and Iranian combat athlete, told Fox News.

Mohammadi, along with fellow protesters Mehdi Ghasemi and Saeed Davoudi, were accused of killing two police officers “with knives and swords” during the January protests, according to Iranian state media.

Despite appeals from the US, the protesters were found guilty and executed by Tehran. (Read more from “Iran Executes 19-year-old Champion Wrestler Saleh Mohammadi, Two Others in Horrific Public Hangings” HERE)

Trump’s Fiery Response to NATO Allies over Strait of Hormuz: ‘They will do nothing for us’

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President Trump put NATO allies on notice Tuesday after they shunned his request for assistance in keeping the Strait of Hormuz open for international shipping.

Trump, both publicly and on social media, lashed out at European allies – including France and the UK – for their refusal to help and implied their defiance would have broader repercussions for the entire alliance.

“It’s certainly something that we should think about,” he told reporters in the Oval Office when asked if he would remove the United States from NATO. “I don’t need Congress for that decision, as you probably know, I can make that decision myself.”

The president has never been a fan of the Cold War era alliance, complaining, since his first term in office, that its members don’t pay an equitable share of dues and are too dependent on the U.S. for protection.

“I’m very disappointed in NATO, very disappointed,” he said. “We spend trillions of dollars on NATO. Think of it, trillions over the years, many trillions of dollars. It’s one of the reasons we have deficits.” (Read more from “Trump’s Fiery Response to NATO Allies over Strait of Hormuz: ‘They will do nothing for us’” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Netanyahu Confirms ‘Israel Acted Alone’ in Attack on Iran’s South Pars Gas Field

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that “Israel acted alone” and that President Donald Trump had asked Israel “to hold off on future attacks” after Israel attacked Iran’s South Pars Gas Field.

During a press conference on Thursday, Netanyahu poked fun at online rumors that he was dead, stating that he was “alive.” Netanyahu also gave an update on Operation Roaring Lion, explaining that both Israel and the United States were “acting together in Iran with great determination.”

Netanyahu responded to a question from a reporter who stated that Trump “did not like the Israeli strike on the Iranian gas fields,” and asked if Trump “was aware of Israel striking that gas field.”

“Well, I’ll say two things. Fact number one, Israel acted alone,” Netanyahu answered, referring to the news that Israel had launched airstrikes on Iran’s South Pars Gas Field. “Fact number two, President Trump asked us to hold off on future attacks.”

Netanyahu’s comments came after Trump took to Truth Social to reveal that Israel had “violently lashed out at a major facility known as South Pars Gas Field in Iran.”

(Read more from “Netanyahu Confirms ‘Israel Acted Alone’ in Attack on Iran’s South Pars Gas Field” HERE)