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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)

Hegseth Confirms He wants $200B to Restock America’s Bombs, Missiles Post-Iran War: ‘It takes money to kill bad guys’

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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth appeared to confirm Thursday that the Trump administration is contemplating asking Congress to approve $200 billion in supplemental defense funding amid the war in Iran.

On Wednesday, the Washington Post reported that the Pentagon had asked the White House to make the $200 billion request to lawmakers in order to replenish America’s munitions stockpile, though it was not clear when or whether the Trump administration would decide to do so.

“As far as the $200 billion, I think that number could move, obviously,” Hegseth told reporters. “It takes money to kill bad guys. So we’re going back to Congress and our folks there to ensure that we’re properly funded for what’s being done.”

The amount requested is believed to be far beyond what the US has actually expended so far in its sweeping bombing campaign to cripple the Iranian regime, indicating a wider goal of beefing up America’s defense industrial base amid fears that the ability to rapidly produce weapons domestically has degraded over time.

“An investment like this is meant to say, ‘Hey, we’ll replace anything that was spent.’ And now … we’re reviving our defense industrial base and rebuilding the arsenal of freedom,” Hegseth added. (Read more from “Hegseth confirms he wants $200B to restock America’s bombs, missiles post-Iran war: ‘It takes money to kill bad guys’” HERE)

US War Stocks Getting Destroyed by War, Iran has Shot Down a Staggering 10% of US Reaper Drones

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More than a dozen unmanned MQ-9 Reaper drones have been lost in combat as part of operations against Iran, two U.S. officials confirmed to ABC News.

The Reaper drones were lost either to Iranian missiles or were destroyed on the ground by incoming fire. . .

The loss of this number of Reapers is indicative of how many of these key unmanned aircraft must be operating as part of the U.S. operations against Iran.

The Air Force announced its final five-year purchasing contract for Reapers in 2020, and manufacturer General Atomics closed the production line last year after building 575 of them. The final lot cost about $16 million each when purchased in a batch of four, according to C. Mark Brinkley, a General Atomics spokesman. (Read more from “US War Stocks Getting Destroyed by War, Iran has Shot Down a Staggering 10% of US Reaper Drones” HERE)

Panicking Trump Aides Left Scrambling by Counterterror Chief’s Shock Resignation Bombshell

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The White House had no idea Donald Trump’s top counterterrorism official planned to post his damning resignation letter protesting the Iran war on social media, according to a report. . .

But he blindsided the White House by posting his bombshell resignation letter on X, where it has been shared more than 250,000 times, causing the president major embarrassment, a senior administration official told The Wall Street Journal.

Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell said the letter contained “virulent anti-Semitism,” while South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham accused Kent of repeating the “oldest storyline in the world” that “if it weren’t for the Jews, we’d all be safe.”

It was previously reported that Vance, who had been skeptical of launching a war with Iran, knew Kent planned to resign and urged him to inform Trump and Wiles first.

A spokesman for the vice president told the Journal that Vance “believes that it’s imperative for the national security team to remain cohesive, trust one another, and avoid mouthing off to the media about internal deliberations.” (Read more from “Panicking Trump Aides Left Scrambling by Counterterror Chief’s Shock Resignation Bombshell” HERE)

US Drops 5K-pound Bunker-Buster Bombs on Underground Missile Sites near Strait of Hormuz

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The US military dropped 5,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on underground Iranian missile sites near the Strait of Hormuz Tuesday, according to authorities.

The massive attack announced by US Central Command came as the war with Iran had stanched the flow of shipping through the vital Persian Gulf waterway.

“Hours ago, US forces successfully employed multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz,” the regional command said on X around 7 p.m. ET.

“The Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles in these sites posed a risk to international shipping in the strait,” CENTCOM added.

A US official told CNN that the munitions were the GBU-72 Advanced 5K Penetrator, an explosive first released by US aircraft in 2021. (Read more from “US Drops 5K-pound Bunker-Buster Bombs on Underground Missile Sites near Strait of Hormuz” HERE)

Iranian Police Commander Pleads with Israeli Agent ‘Please Come Help us’ in Dramatic Leaked Call

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A senior Iranian police commander recently told an agent of Israel’s renowned Mossad intelligence service “I swear on the Koran I’m not your enemy” and begged the Jewish state to “please come help us” overthrow the Islamic Republic, according to the contents of a leaked phone call.

The call, reported by the Wall Street Journal Wednesday, was one of several placed by Israeli intelligence threatening Iranian security officials and their families by name if they did not stand aside in the event of a popular uprising to overthrow the mullahs.

“We know everything about you. You are on our blacklist, and we have all the information about you,” the Mossad agent told the police commander in Farsi. “I called to warn you in advance that you should stand with your people’s side. And if you will not do that, your destiny will be as your leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei]. Do you hear me?”

“Brother, I swear on the Koran, I’m not your enemy,” the commander responded. “I’m a dead man already. Just please come help us.”

The US and Israel have sought to create the conditions for the Iranian people to take down the theocratic regime by systematically striking its military infrastructure and targeting top political leaders for assassination, respectively, since Feb. 28. (Read more from “Iranian Police Commander Pleads with Israeli Agent ‘Please Come Help us’ in Dramatic Leaked Call” HERE)

Top US Security Official Quits, says Iran did Not Pose Immediate Threat

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A top security official in U.S. President ​Donald Trump’s administration resigned over the war in Iran on Tuesday, saying the country had posed no imminent threat ‌to the United States.

Joe Kent, who headed the National Counterterrorism Center, is the first senior official in Trump’s administration to resign over the conflict, now in its third week.

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear ​that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” Kent wrote in a ​letter posted to social media.

Some experts have said an imminent threat would be required for the United ⁠States to launch a war under the international law of war.

Kent’s letter to Trump included “false claims,” said White House spokeswoman Karoline ​Leavitt in a statement. (Read more from “Top US Security Official Quits, says Iran did Not Pose Immediate Threat” HERE)