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Trump Approved Military Action Against Iran, Then Called Strike Off

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President Donald Trump reportedly approved a military strike against Iran on Thursday, and, with planes in the air and ships in position, the strike was reportedly pulled back at the last minute.

“As late as 7 p.m. Thursday, military and diplomatic officials were expecting a strike, after intense discussions and debate at the White House among the president’s top national security officials and congressional leaders, according to multiple senior administration officials involved in or briefed on the deliberations,” The New York Times reported.

“Officials said the president had initially approved attacks on a handful of Iranian targets, like radar and missile batteries,” The Times continued. “The operation was underway in its early stages when it was called off, a senior administration official said. Planes were in the air and ships were in position, but no missiles had been fired when word came to stand down, the official said.” . . .

Navy Capt. Bill Urban, U.S. Central Command spokesman, said in a statement: “CENTCOM confirms that a U.S. Navy drone was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile system while operating in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz at approximately 11:35 p.m. GMT on June 19, 2019. Iranian reports that the aircraft was over Iran are false. This was an unprovoked attack on a U.S. surveillance asset in international airspace.”

“Congressional Democrats emerged from the president’s classified briefing in the Situation Room and urged Mr. Trump to de-escalate the situation,” The Times added. “They called on the president to seek congressional authorization before taking any military action.”

(Read more from “Trump Approved Military Action Against Iran, Then Called Strike Off” HERE)

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Ilhan Omar Goes All in to Defend World’s Leading State Sponsor of Terrorism

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Far-left Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) repeatedly advocated for Iran — the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism — on Thursday, tweeting multiple times that the United States should not take action against Iran, even as Iran has repeatedly attacked cargo ships in the area and shot down a U.S. military drone this week.

Omar then falsely suggested that the U.S. was the “aggressor” in the situation with Iran, completely ignoring Iran’s multiple attacks on oil tankers in the region in recent weeks and Iran’s decision to shoot down a military drone this week. . .

Later in her tweet thread, Omar wrote: “So I urge you: be strong. Do not listen to the warmongers and war profiteers whispering in your ear. Do not send our men and women into harm’s way. And I urge the American people to make your voice heard. Organize. Call your member of Congress. Let all our leaders know that a war with Iran would be a catastrophe. #NoWarOnIran”

(Read more from “Ilhan Omar Goes All in to Defend World’s Leading State Sponsor of Terrorism” HERE)

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President Trump Sends Ominous Warning to Iran After U.S. Drone Was Shot Down

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President Donald Trump on Thursday responded with a warning after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard shot down a U.S. drone.

Taking to Twitter, the president declared Iran has “made a very big mistake!”

According to the Associated Press, the Iranian military said it shot down a RQ-4 Global Hawk drone over Iranian airspace. Revolutionary Guard commander General Hossein Salami commented that the shooting of the drone was intended to send “a clear message” to America and added that Iran does “not have any intention for war with any country, but we are ready for war.”

The U.S. says the drone was shot down over international airspace in the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. military’s central command characterized the incident as an “unprovoked attack.”

The attack on the drone comes amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran, just days after the Trump administration says Iran attacked two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. President Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., have been the most outspoken proponents of threatening retaliatory military action against Iran. The president himself has reportedly shown skepticism about military intervention in Iran, calling the oil tanker attack “very minor.”

Could the president’s tweet mean his position has changed? (For more from the author of “President Trump Sends Ominous Warning to Iran After U.S. Drone Was Shot Down” please click HERE)

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Mike Pompeo: Trump Does Not Want War with Iran

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By Breitbart. . .[Mike] Pompeo said, “President Trump had sent President Abe to take a message of his to the leadership in Iran. You have to remember, these are messages for the leadership. I think the Iranian people are being misserved by that leadership, but yes, we’re engaged in — we have been engaged in many messages, even this moment right here, communicating to Iran that we are there to deter aggression. President Trump does not want war. And we will continue to communicate that message while doing the things that are necessary to protect American interests in the region.” (Read more from “Mike Pompeo: Trump Does Not Want War with Iran” HERE)

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Trump: Alleged Iranian Oil Tanker Attacks ‘Very Minor’

By USA Today. In an interview posted this week, President Donald Trump contradicted his top advisers on the threat posed by Iran, saying recent attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman were “very minor.”

“So far, it’s been very minor,” Trump told TIME, discussing two attacks on oil tankers that he and other administration officials have blamed on Iran. The regime has denied responsibility for the attacks.

Just last week, Trump had told Fox and Friends that, “We don’t take it lightly, that I can tell you,” in reference to the alleged attacks

When asked if he was currently considering military action against Iran, Trump replied, “I wouldn’t say that. I can’t say that at all.”

“I would certainly go over nuclear weapons,” Trump said when asked what would prompt him to go to war against Iran, “and I would keep the other a question mark.” (Read more from “Trump: Alleged Iranian Oil Tanker Attacks ‘Very Minor'” HERE)

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Pentagon Approves Sending 1,000 More Troops to Mideast After Oil Tanker Attack

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U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) released new images Monday showing the aftermath of mine attacks against two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman last week, including some images purporting to show Iranian forces removing an unexploded device from the hull of one of the vessels.

Hours later, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said he had approved a request from CENTCOM to send approximately 1,000 additional troops to the Middle East “to address air, naval, and ground-based threats” in the region.

“The recent Iranian attacks validate the reliable, credible intelligence we have received on hostile behavior by Iranian forces and their proxy groups that threaten United States personnel and interests across the region,” Shanahan said. “The United States does not seek conflict with Iran. The action today is being taken to ensure the safety and welfare of our military personnel working throughout the region and to protect our national interests.”

The military says that some of the 11 new images taken from a Navy helicopter show members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy removing a limpet mine from the side of the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous oil tanker. Other photos show a large hole on the side of the Courageous, above the water line, that officials say appears to have been caused by another mine.

In a statement, Central Command reaffirmed the Trump administration’s previous claim that Iran was responsible for the attacks on the Kokuka Courageous and the Front Altair “based on video evidence and the resources and proficiency needed to quickly remove the unexploded limpet mine.” (Read more from “Pentagon Approves Sending 1,000 More Troops to Mideast After Oil Tanker Attack” HERE)

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Ex-Iranian Diplomat Blames Israel for the Oil Tanker Attacks

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By Breitbart. A former Iranian diplomat claimed that Israel [was] responsible for Thursday’s attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, an Iranian media outlet reported.

Without offering any evidence, Hamid Reza Asefi, who served as Iran’s ambassador to France and Foreign Ministry spokesman, claimed the motive behind the attack was “clear.”

“I think the directing of such incidents in the region are done by the Zionist regime and this has no hidden dimensions,” Asefi told Iran Online in an interview cited by the Tehran Times.

srael benefits the most from accusations against Iran, Asefi theorized, and therefore “logically the Zionist regime is the agent of this incident.”

He added that Israel seeks to drag the Islamic Republic into turmoil with the rest of the world. (Read more from “Ex-Iranian Diplomat Blames Israel for the Oil Tanker Attacks” HERE)

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Oil Prices Rise After Tanker Attacks Stoke Middle East Tensions

By Reuters. Oil prices rose on Monday after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington will take all actions necessary to guarantee safe navigation in the Middle East, as tensions mounted following attacks on tankers last week.

Brent futures had climbed 26 cents, or 0.4%, to $62.27 a barrel by 0314 GMT. They gained 1.1% on Friday.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 17 cents, or 0.3%, at $52.68 a barrel. They rose 0.4% in the previous session.

Prices had jumped as much as 4.5% on Thursday after the attacks on two oil tankers near Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.

It was the second time in a month tankers have been attacked in the world’s most important zone for oil supplies as tensions increase between the United States and Iran. Washington blamed Iran for Thursday’s attacks, prompting a denial and criticism from Tehran. (Read more from “Oil Prices Rise After Tanker Attacks Stoke Middle East Tensions” HERE)

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Top Obama Adviser Downplays Iran Attacks — Dan Crenshaw Hits Back with Stinging Fact Check

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. . .On Thursday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo publicly blamed Iran for attacking two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

“This assessment is based on intelligence, the weapons used, the level of expertise needed to execute the operation, recent similar Iranian attacks on shipping, and the fact that no proxy group operating in the area has the resources and proficiency to act with such a high degree of sophistication,” Pompeo said.

In response, Rhodes — one of former President Barack Obama’s most trusted advisers, who also architected the failed Iran nuclear deal — downplayed the significance of Pompeo’s announcement.

“This definitely feels like the kind of incident where you’d want an international investigation to establish what happened,” Rhodes said. “Huge risk of escalation.” . . .

In response to Rhodes’ comments, Crenshaw hit back on Friday with a fact check and brief history lesson, calling Rhodes “not really a trusted source to weigh in on Iran.”

(Read more from “Top Obama Adviser Downplays Iran Attacks — Dan Crenshaw Hits Back with Stinging Fact Check” HERE)

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Mike Pompeo: Iran Is Responsible for Oil Attacks

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Iran is responsible for the attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared on Thursday. He came to that conclusion “based on intelligence, the weapons used, the level of expertise needed to execute the operation,” recent similar Iranian attacks on shipping, etc.

Pompeo took a hard line on Iran and said the U.S. will defend its forces, interests and stand with our partners and allies. Yet, the secretary also hoped they could bring Iran “back to the negotiating table.”

(Read more from “Mike Pompeo: Iran Is Responsible for Oil Attacks” HERE)

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Hamas ADMITS It Receives Money from Iran’s Terrorist Regime

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In an unusually stark and blunt admission this week, Yahya Sinwar, chieftain of the Sunni sharia supremacist death cult Hamas, which was democratically elected to govern the Gaza Strip following Israel’s 2005 unilateral withdrawal from the area, openly admitted that the jihadist group takes funding from the terrorist Shiite sharia supremacist regime in Iran. . .

Iran is mainly known for funding Hamas rival Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which is a fellow terrorist group also operating in the Gaza Strip. Sunni nations Qatar and Turkey, by contrast, have emerged over the past decade as the chief benefactors of Hamas.

Since its unilateral withdrawal in 2005, Israel has been forced into three full-scale wars with Hamas, which routinely bludgeons Israeli civilians and metropolitan areas with indiscriminately fired terrorist rockets. In a March Daily Wire op-ed, I laid out the case for Israel to utterly destroy Hamas once and for all:

Try as the Israel Defense Forces might to keep on “mowing the grass” when the “infidel”-loathing jihadists of Hamas flare up in impulsive paroxysms of “anti-Zionism” Jew-hatred, the status quo in Gaza is completely unsustainable. No other sovereign country on Earth would deal so passively with such a cancerous threat living on its border — with its biggest civilian centers under constant fear of city-wide sirens signaling the incoming threat of crude Iran-manufactured rockets fired haphazardly from a bordering terroristic death cult. Indeed, no sovereign country on Earth should have to deal with such a threat. If the Sinaloa Cartel or Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion ever decided to shoot terrorist rockets at Texan or Arizonan ranchers, the United States would (rightfully) send in M1 Abrams tanks across the Rio Grande tomorrow. …

(Read more from “Hamas ADMITS It Receives Money from Iran’s Terrorist Regime” HERE)

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Obama Officials Collude with Iran to Thwart U.S. Foreign Policy

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By Jordan Schachtel. The Daily Beast has published a disturbing piece revealing that senior Obama administration officials are actively attempting to undermine the Trump administration’s foreign policy. And worse, they are collaborating with the terrorist regime that rules Iran to do so.

The publication has offered anonymity to the select Obama administration officials, breaking journalistic standards and allowing them to be quoted at length while cloaked in anonymity, about their plans to collude with Iran and thwart the elected president’s agenda.

The leftist writers of the piece do their best to attempt to write off this endeavor as a normal occurrence. But make no mistake, attempting to run a shadow government and colluding with America’s enemies, to the detriment of the American people, is anything but normal. (Read more from “Obama Officials Collude with Iran to Thwart U.S. Foreign Policy” HERE)

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U.S. Cuts Funds for ‘Anti-Propaganda’ Iran Group That Trolled Activists

By The Guardian. The US state department has cut off funding to a group that purported to combat Iranian propaganda, after it was found to be trolling US journalists, human rights activists and academics it deemed to be insufficiently hostile to the government in Tehran.

The Iran Disinformation Project was funded by the state department’s global engagement centre which was created to counter foreign propaganda and disinformation. In recent weeks however, the group’s Twitter account @IranDisinfo targeted BBC journalists, thinktank experts and civil society advocates, denouncing them as being “mouthpieces” and supporters of the Iranian government.

In one case they singled out a researcher for Human Rights Watch (HRW), Tara Sepehri Far, because she had looked into the human rights impact of sanctions on ordinary Iranians. (Read more from “U.S. Cuts Funds for ‘Anti-Propaganda’ Iran Group That Trolled Activists” HERE)

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