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Mojtaba Khamenei had to be ‘Pulled from the Rubble’ of Hospital after US Strikes Nearly Killed Him a Second Time: Report

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. . .Mojtaba Khamenei was rushed to a Tehran hospital after the February strikes targeting his father nearly killed him, only to be “pulled from the rubble” again after the United States and Israel bombed the medical center, an Iranian cleric revealed in an interview with Qatari television this week.

After obliterating Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Tehran compound — which killed the 86-year-old supreme leader and dozens of his top leaders — the allies also reportedly bombed three different hospitals in Tehran on Feb. 28 to launch the war.

The younger Khamenei, 56, was pulled from underneath the rubble of one of the hospitals, before going vanishing to an unknown location — and has not been seen in public or his voice heard since.

“Even after he had been wounded and taken to the hospital, three hospitals in Tehran were bombed,” Mohsen Heydari, a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, told Qatari television network Al Araby Thursday.

“Mojtaba Khamenei was in the third hospital and was pulled from the rubble.” (Read more from “Mojtaba Khamenei had to be ‘Pulled from the Rubble’ of Hospital after US Strikes Nearly Killed Him a Second Time: Report” HERE)

Senate Shoots Down Final War Powers Resolution Before Midterm Elections

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A war powers resolution narrowly failed to pass the Senate Thursday after only four Republicans voted for its passage.

Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted with Democrats in favor of the resolution while a growing number of Republicans began breaking with President Donald Trump on the Iran war. It failed in a 49 to 50 vote.

Democratic Maryland Sen. Angela Alsobrooks did not vote. Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Jon Husted of Ohio, who have been critical of the Iran war, voted against the resolution.

The resolution directed Trump to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities in Iran, although the president is not obligated to comply with a concurrent resolution since it does not have the force of law.

More Republicans called on the war to end as they faced competitive races in Texas, Ohio, Iowa and Kansas, which traditionally are not seen as competitive states for Democrats. Republicans ramped up spending and campaigning in these states to rescue their candidates, including Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his Senate bid against Democratic Texas state Rep. James Talarico. (Read more from “Senate Shoots Down Final War Powers Resolution Before Midterm Elections” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Trump Says He has a ‘Big Decision’ Coming up on Iran: ‘Do I Want to go in and Annihilate Them?’

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President Trump said Thursday that he was at a crossroads over whether to renew attacks in Iran to wipe out the regime and bring the war to an end.

“I have a big decision coming up. Do I want to go in and annihilate them or do I not?” he told Axios. “It’s a big decision. Anything could happen with me.”

Trump’s comments echo previous threats he’s levied against Tehran since the war began.

But this time, he said, his next move is likely to be influenced by his meetings with Gulf allies at next week’s United Nations General Assembly meeting.

“I want to find out where they are and how they are doing. We have been very protective of them,” Trump added.

Tensions are expected to be high at the gathering after the Iran-backed Houthis launched fierce attacks on Saudi Arabia this past week, threatening global oil and gas supplies. (Read more from “Trump Says He has a ‘Big Decision’ Coming up on Iran: ‘Do I Want to go in and Annihilate Them?’” HERE)

US Airman Rescued from Iran Shares Unbelievable Tale of Survival with ‘60 Minutes’: ‘Most Terrifying Thing I’ve Ever Seen’

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The US Air Force colonel rescued from Iran in April revealed Sunday that the “most terrifying moment” of surviving nearly two days on enemy lines was plummeting to earth with a damaged parachute after his F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down.

The weapons systems officer — identified only by the mission call sign Dude 44 Bravo — spoke publicly about his unbelievable tale of survival for the first time in an interview with CBS “60 Minutes” host Norah O’Donnell for the show’s 59th season premiere Sunday evening.

Bravo’s plane was shot down by an Iranian with a shoulder-fired missile on April 3, and crashed in the Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province in the southwestern part of Iran near Iraq.

The impact of the missile was like “getting hit by a freight train,” Bravo said.

His crewmate and pilot, callsign Alpha, ejected them both from the $30 million jet, but Bravo’s parachute failed to inflate, he said.

“My parachute was damaged in the initial attack. At one point, when I looked up and saw no parachute, that was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen,” the heroic officer told O’Donnell. (Read more from “US Airman Rescued from Iran Shares Unbelievable Tale of Survival with ‘60 Minutes’: ‘Most Terrifying Thing I’ve Ever Seen’” HERE)

Saudi Arabia’s Oil Lifeline Just Went Down. The World May Be Out Of Time

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Saudi Arabia could run out of oil available for export within days after an attack shut down a critical pipeline used to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.

The kingdom has enough crude stored at the Red Sea port of Yanbu to maintain current export levels for roughly five to seven days without new supplies flowing through its East-West Pipeline, Reuters reported Sunday citing Saudi oil buyers and traders. If the pipeline remains offline, the world risks losing as much as 4% of its oil supply.

“This is a big outage for the Kingdom, and the damage to its East-West Pipeline appears much more severe than the relatively minor hit it took in April. Saudi storage farms in Egypt can fill in for the pipeline’s lost flows for perhaps a week, but a lingering shutdown beyond that would short global supply by about 4 million barrels per day,” energy public policy analyst David Blackmon told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“Crude prices jumped 3% in overnight trading on the news, and U.S. gasoline prices will follow in the coming days. This incident, combined with lingering problems at the straits of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, is likely to force gas prices at the pump even higher until they are favorably resolved,” Blackmon added.

The nearly 750-mile East-West Pipeline — owned by state-controlled oil company Saudi Aramco — was moving roughly four million barrels of crude per day toward Yanbu before an attack forced it offline, according to Reuters. Industry estimates for restoring the pipeline vary, with some sources telling the outlet repairs could take five to six weeks while others expect partial operations to resume sooner. (Read more from “Saudi Arabia’s Oil Lifeline Just Went Down. The World May Be Out Of Time” HERE)

‘All Signs’ Pointing to ‘Major Escalation’ on World Stage just Ahead of Midterms: Expert

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Foreign policy expert Trita Parsi issued a dire warning Sunday that “all signs” were pointing to a “major escalation” in the U.S. war against Iran, one that “may very well” occur next month.

“All signs point to a major escalation between the US, Iran and Israel. And it may very well be initiated by Tehran itself a week or two before the midterm elections,” Parsi wrote Sunday in a statement published on social media. “Iran’s pattern of behavior suggests preparation for that war, including how they are clearing the path for even more effective strikes against Israel.”

The U.S. war against Iran has seen few direct exchanges of fire since July, a trend that was broken last week after Iran responded to a wave of U.S. strikes by attacking U.S. allies Jordan and Bahrain. On Saturday, the United States struck three Iranian oil tankers, an attack that Iran’s parliament speaker vowed Sunday to answer with a “more intense and more painful response,” CBS News reported.

And yet, Iran’s response to U.S. attacks, as previously noted by Parsi, has been comparatively reserved, suggesting Tehran may be waiting for a more “optimal moment to strike back.” That moment, Parsi previously theorized, could be “two or three weeks before the congressional elections, maximizing the political damage to Trump.”

Should a “major escalation” in war occur, Parsi also warned that it was likely Israel would play a larger direct role in the conflict.

(Read more from “‘All Signs’ Pointing to ‘Major Escalation’ on World Stage just Ahead of Midterms: Expert” HERE)

Iran War Causing ‘Shortfalls’ in Navy Payroll Six Months Into Conflict: Report

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The United States’ war with Iran has caused “shortfalls in payroll” in the Navy, according to a report.

The Navy has transferred money from its payroll and other sources to cover the cost of the ongoing contract, The Guardian reported Friday, citing documents and interviews with sources. It comes as the war, which began on Feb. 28, reached its six-month mark and shows no signs of de-escalating.

“The Department of the Navy is actively managing its resources to meet current pay obligations on time,” a Navy spokesperson told The Guardian. “We continue to work closely with Congress to address ongoing operational demands and sustain our personnel and readiness throughout the fiscal year.”

The publication said that one Department of Defense (DOD) memo alluded to “shortfalls in payroll” in Navy funding because the department had been “raiding” them to fund the war.

It added that one official and one navy contractor, both unnamed, said officials had deferred non-emergency maintenance and shore-based facilities because of financial concerns. (Read more from “Iran War Causing ‘Shortfalls’ in Navy Payroll Six Months Into Conflict: Report” HERE)

Iran-Oman Deal on Strait of Hormuz ‘Doesn’t Matter’ as Trump Controls Blockade, US Official Says

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A purported deal between Iran and Oman to control the Strait of Hormuz and share revenue from fees is “not even close to done” and would be meaningless so long as President Trump’s blockade of Iran remains in effect, a US official told The Post.

A spokesman for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed Wednesday that the two nations had agreed to terms to control the shipping bottleneck — but The Post’s source said that ill-defined terms are still believed to lack full approval from Iran’s leadership.

“The deals don’t mean anything unless we approve it. It doesn’t matter what the two of them — Iran and Oman — do. There is no deal without Trump pulling the blockade,” the official said.

A deal is “not even close to done [and] we know for a fact that this is still subject to approval within Iran,” he added.

“The last time we heard something was subject to approval… we all know what happened to it. It died.” (Read more from “Iran-Oman Deal on Strait of Hormuz ‘Doesn’t Matter’ as Trump Controls Blockade, US Official Says” HERE)

Iran Faces Massive New Triple-Threat as Hormuz Begins to Open, Cash Gets Tight and Pols Call to End the War

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Iran’s supreme leader is under mounting pressure over the war — as the regime’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz weakens, cash finally starts to get tight and top political leaders publicly urge the Islamists in charge to find a way out of the conflict.

The latest phase of the conflict has seen more and more ships quietly slipping through Hormuz, with nearly 200 vessel sailing through the strait last week, according to data from the UK Maritime Trade Operations Center.

The flow represents a 400% spike in the last two weeks, with maritime analysts Kpler noting that the traffic finding safe passage — aided by US Navy escorts — effectively means Iran has lost partial control of the strait.

And while more ships and oil are getting out, Iran’s own oil exports have dropped to near zero, under the renewed American blockade on its ports and President Trump’s “economic D-Day” measures.

There has been little to no activity seen at Iran’s Kharg Island oil hub, according to recent satellite images, leaving Iran with few options to offset its already ailing economy hit by historically high inflation and unemployment. (Read more from “Iran Faces Massive New Triple-Threat as Hormuz Begins to Open, Cash Gets Tight and Pols Call to End the War” HERE)

Iran Vows ‘Devastating’ Response as US Threatens Crushing Sanctions Designed to ‘Collapse’ Regime

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Iran threatened “devastating” consequences if the US moves ahead with imposing crippling sanctions against the regime — after the Trump administration pledged to hit the Islamic Republic with the toughest financial penalties in history.

“With preparedness across land, sea, air, air defense and cyberspace, Iran’s armed forces will respond to the enemy’s new threats with crushing, punishing and devastating responses,” Major General Ali Abdollahi, chief of staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, said on Iranian media.

The US and Iran cobbled together two cease-fire deals, one in April and the other in June, with the goal of restoring the normal flow of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and ending the nearly six-month-old war — but both were short-lived.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on CNBC Friday that the US would “collapse the regime,” likening the naval blockade reimposed on Iran in July and the impending “toughest sanctions in history” as a “one-two punch.”

President Trump warned any country providing “any type of lifeline to Iran” would face economic consequences, and Bessent said he would “talk about exactly what we’re going to do” at a press conference on Monday. (Read more from “Iran Vows ‘Devastating’ Response as US Threatens Crushing Sanctions Designed to ‘Collapse’ Regime” HERE)