As I forecast two weeks ago, Trump did attack Iran. I immediately suspected that Israel was behind the final push that tipped Trump into action, probably with crucial insight into the location and vulnerability of the Ayatollah and asking for backup as they struck the first deadly blow that killed Iran’s supreme leader. Even though President Trump got talked into attacking Iran by PM Netanyahu, it’s now fully Trump’s war because he gave the go ahead and is backing Israel’s goal of total decapitation of Iran’s military. Despite the initial signs of success, there are many things to criticize in this war, but of primary concern to all conservatives is that, without a declaration of war by Congress, this air war on Iran is in clear violation of the constitution. Republicans let him get away with it by failing this week to restrict the president’s ongoing attacks as required by the War Powers Act of 1973. This week, I’ll cover how the war is going, Trump’s claims on how long the war will last, his changing objectives, how the war is quickly depleting US stockpiles of missile interceptors, and how the war is widening into a regional conflict. To receive a free, one-time sample of the Brief, along with option on how to subscribe, click on Request a Sample on the left.
A pair of cargo ships tied to a sanctioned Iranian state shipping line have quietly departed a Chinese chemical hub and are now sailing toward Iran carrying what analysts suspect is missile fuel precursor, according to fresh Washington Post analysis of ship-tracking data and satellite imagery.
Trump's mixed messaging as war could end 'soon' while saying Iran's military is crippled, but also warns Tehran would be hit "20 times harder" if it disrupts oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Signs of Washington officials looking for an offramp. A mere few days ago Trump stressed the US would stop at nothing short of Iran's "unconditional surrender" - but that continues to look dubious.
A pair of cargo ships tied to a sanctioned Iranian state shipping line have quietly departed a Chinese chemical hub and are now sailing toward Iran carrying what analysts suspect is missile fuel precursor, according to fresh Washington Post analysis of ship-tracking data and satellite imagery.
Iran is reportedly using smaller crafts that can carry 2 to 3 mines each. While Iran’s mine stock isn’t publicly known, estimates over the years have ranged from roughly 2,000 to 6,000 naval mines of Iranian, Chinese and Russian-made variants. That sent oil prices dramatically higher...
“I think the war is very complete, pretty much,” Trump told Weijia Jiang, CBS’s senior White House correspondent. “They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no Air Force,” he said, according to Jiang.
Trump’s ultimatum could add renewed pressure on Senate Republicans to consider procedural workarounds. Some Republicans have called for changing the filibuster rules to give the voter ID bill a path to passage
Weeks after New Mexico officials launched an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's Zorro Ranch in New Mexico - which has since been purchased to turn into a Christian retreat, the FBI and local law enforcement descended on the 7,500 acre property in search of dark secrets, including the possible graves of trafficked girls who may have been strangled to death
Ten days into the U.S.-Israeli Operation Epic Fury against Iran, which has forced shut-ins at major Gulf oil and gas facilities, disrupted production at key oil fields, sent stockpiles soaring, sparked a global energy crisis (Brent crude hit $119/bbl highs overnight) and severely disrupted commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most critical energy chokepoint, new satellite imagery data from TankerTrackers, first cited by Bloomberg, suggests Tehran has recently moved substantial volumes of crude through the waterway.
U.S. President Donald Trump told The Times of Israel that Iran was ‘going to destroy Israel and everything else around it.’
Iran claims it hoarded enough enriched uranium for 11 nukes As the U.S.-Israel coalition pounds Iranian targets in the ongoing Operation Epic Fury, Tehran is reporetedly desperately scrambling to recover its enriched uranium from bombed-out facilities. President Trump is now weighing a high-stakes commando raid to neutralize the threat, ensuring Iran never crosses the nuclear threshold that could endanger America and its allies.
Hungarian authorities have launched an investigation into potential money laundering, but Ukraine insists those facilitating the transfer were state-owned bank employees carrying out their job
As was rumored and widely expected, the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mojtaba, will become Iran’s next supreme leader, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency announced, taking over after his father was killed in an attack by the US and Israel. Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, is the third person to lead the Islamic Republic and the first example of hereditary succession since the overthrow of the Pahlavi monarchy in the 1979 revolution. In other words, it appears that Iran overthrew a monarchy 47 years ago to institute a... monarchy.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said he will not seek reelection in his southern California district, which had been redrawn to favor Democrats in last year’s redistricting.
An 80-year-old nonprofit that advises conscientious objectors says its phone is "ringing off the hook" as American service members who object to the US-and-Israel-initiated war on Iran are seeking guidance on how to avoid being a part of it. Ominously, the group's executive director says the breadth of force mobilization is much like the run-up to the ground invasion of Iraq.
‘I would think a deal would be made very easily with Cuba,’ Trump said.
From data centers in the Gulf area to water desalination plants, the worst-case scenario is now unfolding in the Middle East conflict, with no boundaries regarding civilian infrastructure...Most GCC countries rely heavily on desalination: 90% of Kuwait's drinking water, 86% in Oman, 70% in Saudi Arabia, and 42% in the UAE.
It's looking more and more like the US Navy was responsible for killing more than 150 Iranian schoolgirls in the first hours of Operation Epic Fury, according to separate analyses of new video performed by research firm Bellingcat and the New York Times, who each tapped weapons experts to study the footage. Their conclusions contradict President Trump's casual accusation that inaccurate Iranian weapons were to blame.
Senior Israeli officials say Iran worked covertly after attacks on its nuclear sites during the Twelve Day War, to accelerate its ‘Weapon Group’ project.
Iranian media alleged that US and Israeli warplanes started the tit-for-tat by hitting an oil depot in southern Tehran. The semi-official Fars News Agency reported the storage site was among the latest targets in the ongoing major bombing campaign across the country.
In the ultimate irony of ironies, Financial Times is reporting US officials are discussing the purchase of Ukrainian-made drone interceptors to counter Iranian drones, which some analysts say have proven harder to stop than expected.
While attention is often on Venezuela's vast oil reserves, many experts believe that exploiting its natural gas fields, which were previously neglected, presents a more immediate opportunity for economic success.
First we warned that data centers would become drone targets, and then IRGC strikes hit Amazon AWS and Microsoft-linked AI infrastructure across the Gulf. Next, we flagged water desalination plants as another target. Now, with reports that a desalination facility in Iran has been struck, it is increasingly clear that this conflict has no boundaries when it comes to civilian infrastructure.
The last thing the world needs at this moment of raging war in Iran and the Persian Gulf region is another round of nuclear saber-rattling related to that other raging hotspot - the Ukraine conflict, but that's precisely what is happening again this week.
“We have more tactical aviation flowing into the theater, just based on the time it took to get it out there,” Caine said. “I think we’re just about where we want to be in terms of total combat capacity and total combat power for Adm. Cooper.”
Parents and teachers had asked the high court to rule on the case after a federal appeals court had reinstated the state policy.
Senior Israeli security sources said the strike targeted the Assembly of Experts’ building as a vote was taking place to replace Khamenei.
Iran’s naval headquarters was also ‘largely destroyed’ in the operation, the president says.
The US strike on Iran is Trump’s high-risk gamble to choke China's energy lifeline, flip Tehran to allied control, open the India-Middle East-Europe corridor, weaken Russia, and lock in 21st-century US hegemony—delivering quick regime change and falling oil prices that cement Trumpism as a historic win, OR sparking Middle East chaos and global blowback that hands Beijing the advantage in a new age of empires.
UBS analyst Jonathan Garber told clients that "Iran's Revolutionary Guards commander said the Strait of Hormuz is closed and they will set any ship on fire that tries to pass through, Reuters reports, citing Iranian media. WTI crude oil is now up more than 7% following the headlines." This soon on the heels of CENTCOM having announced that Iran's Navy now has zero ships in the Gulf of Oman. Whether all of this is fully accurate or not amid the natural competing infowar that accompanies any major conflict, it remains: How many ships will be willing to go through with Iranian kamikaze drones taking pot shots?
The footage likely shows the 100 kW-class Iron Beam in action, able to neutralize incoming projectiles for only a few dollars per shot, versus roughly $100,000 for a traditional interceptor rocket....But there is a big caveat, per the Times of Israel: "The main downside of a laser system is that it does not function well in low visibility, including heavy cloud cover or other inclement weather."