Yemen : Houthis Claim Blocking 48 Saudi Oil Tankers, Launching Strikes Inside Kingdom – Yemen Online
Yemen : Houthis Claim Blocking 48 Saudi Oil Tankers, Launching Strikes Inside Kingdom – Yemen Online
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Trump World
U.S. Military Opens Hormuz Shipping Corridor, Restoring Millions of Barrels of Oil to Global Market › American Greatness– amgreatness.com
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EXCERPT:
The U.S. military has established a protected shipping corridor through the Strait of Hormuz that is moving nearly 10 million barrels of oil a day into global markets despite continued Iranian attacks, according to U.S. officials.
The operation has been underway for several weeks, with 15 to 20 tankers regularly traveling through a southern channel near Oman, two U.S. officials told Axios. Current shipments amount to roughly half the oil that passed through the strait before the war disrupted traffic.
The effort provides a significant boost to global energy supplies after the conflict sent oil prices sharply higher.
“We have been controlling the southern lane of the Strait of Hormuz for two months now,” one U.S. official told Axios. “The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps can be a nuisance, but they don’t control the strait. We do.”
The operation includes escorting loaded tankers out of the Persian Gulf while helping empty vessels enter, collect oil from Gulf countries and return safely through the strait.
New US carrier strike group arrives in Middle East to relieve long-deployed USS Abraham Lincoln– www.euronews.com
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EXCERPT:
A new US aircraft carrier strike group has arrived in the Middle East, the US military announced on Thursday, after conditions aboard a long-deployed carrier provoked fresh criticism of President Donald Trump’s war against Iran.
“The George Washington Carrier Strike Group is operating in Middle East during a scheduled deployment after arriving in the CENTCOM theatre yesterday,” Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees US forces in the Middle East, said in a post on X.
The update comes just days after media reports on grim conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier, deployed since November 2025, had created an unwelcome distraction for Trump in his attempt to sell the already unpopular war.
Trump dismissed concerns last Friday over living conditions and the mental health of service members on the Lincoln, while confirming the ship would soon rotate out.
Asked by reporters whether family members were worried about the situation on the USS Abraham Lincoln, Trump said “no, they’re not.”
Netanyahu, Kushner agree US general to verify Hamas disarmament before Israel withdraws from Gaza– www.france24.com
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EXCERPT:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US envoy Jared Kushner agreed on Monday that an American general would verify Hamas‘s disarmament, an Israeli official said, as the premier insisted there would be no pullout from Gaza until then.
The understanding marks a new attempt by President Donald Trump‘s administration to satisfy Israel after Netanyahu, facing a tough re-election fight, publicly rejected the latest part of a US plan aimed at ending the devastating Gaza war.
Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a longtime family friend of Netanyahu, met the Israeli leader in Jerusalem a day after holding rare direct talks in Egypt with Hamas, which has publicly committed itself to the plan.
Read moreKushner, Hamas delegation in Egypt for talks on Gaza peace plan
The two sides “agreed that no redeployment or reconstruction would take place in the Gaza Strip before Hamas is disarmed throughout Gaza”, a senior Israeli official told AFP.
Chinese automaker Chery buys Nissan plant in Africa amid EV market shift – 1News
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Trump says there are no talks between US and Iran– www.washingtonexaminer.com
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“There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the president wrote Tuesday on Truth Social. “The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated.”
The memorandum of understanding with Iran was initially signed in June at the Palace of Versailles in France, as Trump was wrapping up his attendance at the G7 summit. The agreement was meant to “instantly reopen” the Strait of Hormuz and“immediately lift” the U.S. naval blockade on all Iranian vessels.
But the 60-day deadline passed without either side agreeing on how to end the Iran war that began on Feb. 28.
On Monday, Trump signaled that no extension of the agreement would occur, although the ceasefire had already fallen apart between the two sides.
“Look, we’re in there for one reason: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, you understand that?” Trump told reporters while speaking in the Oval Office. “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and they won’t have a nuclear weapon.”
He also told Fox News yesterday he has “no time schedule” and is “not in a hurry” to negotiate with Iran.
Iran live: Trump says Tehran cannot have nuclear weapon as ceasefire deal expires – The Independent
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Trump calls on Iran to surrender, threatens Oman over Strait of Hormuz – Al Jazeera– news.google.com
Trump calls on Iran to surrender, threatens Oman over Strait of Hormuz – Al Jazeera– news.google.com
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EXCERPT:
- Trump calls on Iran to surrender, threatens Oman over Strait of Hormuz Al Jazeera
- As Iran Truce Expires and Options Shrivel, Trump Lashes Out The New York Times
- Trump swings hard at Oman and South Korea, but his foreign policy misses are piling up CNN
- Trump threatens to bomb US ally Oman if it ‘gets in the way’ over Iran deal BBC
- CNBC Daily Open: Markets caught between Mideast worries and AI optimism CNBC
Iran’s Enemies Within: The Regime, Its Terror Proxies and the Foreign Powers Devouring a Nation– gellerreport.com
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EXCERPT:
Determining which factions, governments, or movements constitute the greatest threat to a nation relies on subjective political analysis and ideological perspectives. Analysts, political theorists, and citizens view the dynamics surrounding Iran through vastly different lenses depending on their priorities regarding statehood, human rights, international relations, and governance.
To understand the complex political landscape of modern Iran and the broader Middle East, observers evaluate several key internal and external actors.
To begin with, let us analyze the Internal Political Structures and Domestic Governance:
· The clerical establishment systematically diverts domestic economic reserves toward pan-Islamic expansion, starvations of national development, and ideological campaigns. Conversely, supporters view the system as a bastion of anti-imperialist sovereignty that safeguards traditional values against Western dominance.
· Security forces, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), command significant influence over the economy and political administration. These entities are primary agents of domestic repression and regional instability, hiding under the veneer of indispensable defenders against foreign aggression and regional chaos.
U.S. signals it can keep up naval blockade indefinitely, increase economic pressure on Iran– www.cbc.ca
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EXCERPT:
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
The United States on Thursday said it could maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely and would ratchet up economic pressure on Tehran as ceasefire talks have floundered, global oil supply is dropping and regional tensions are rising.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told reporters that the U.S. military could keep a naval presence in the region to enforce its blockade of Iran, which has inflicted severe economic damage on the country.
“Indefinitely, the United States Navy can maintain a blockade like that because we’ll rotate ships in and out, as we have, and we’ll continue to,” Hegseth told reporters on a trip to Panama.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday that the United States planned to inflict more financial damage on Iran.
US senators demand answers after reports of soldiers jumping from USS Lincoln – The Jerusalem Post
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US must return to interim deal, no ceasefire extension talks, senior Iranian source says – Reuters
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US replacing USS Abraham Lincoln amid reports of suffering troops? New aircraft carrier to arrive in Middle East – WION
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Signals Intention to Keep Country on a War Footing– www.nytimes.com
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Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment of hard-line loyalists to top jobs suggests he is prepared to keep the country on a war footing and to quash domestic dissent.
Trump threatens to bomb Oman if it gets in way of Iran deal: Report– www.channelnewsasia.com
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WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Monday (Aug 17) threatened to bomb Oman if it “gets in the way” of a US deal with Iran on the Strait of Hormuz and called for Iran to surrender.
“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them,” Trump told Fox News journalist Trey Yingst, referring to ongoing talks between Oman and Iran on control of the strait, while Washington is also pursuing its own talks.
Iranian and Omani officials have been talking for weeks on future maritime navigation arrangements through the shipping route, and the foreign ministry in Tehran said earlier Monday that the two sides were working on a joint declaration.
However, Trump has repeatedly insisted that the strait – which Tehran effectively closed at the start of the Middle East war on Feb 28 – is under US control despite traffic remaining throttled.
On Friday, Trump claimed that he would even declare the Strait of Hormuz part of US territory, while Iran retorted that the crucial energy waterway it has blockaded “will remain Iranian”.
Prior to the launch of the US-Israeli war against Iran, the Hormuz Strait was considered an open, international waterway. It carries significant portions of global energy shipments, as well as other commodities.
Trump cuts military drills with South Korea citing ‘very good relationship’ with Kim Jong-un – US politics live | Donald Trump– www.theguardian.com
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US president Donald Trump said he ordered the Pentagon to scale back “inappropriate and hostile” military drills with South Korea, hours before the exercises began on Monday.
The drills under Ulchi Freedom Shield, one of two major annual exercises held by South Korea and the US, start on Monday and run until 27 August.
They were expected to involve about 18,000 South Korean troops, alongside US forces and personnel from 11 of the 18 member states of the United Nations Command (UNC), the multinational body that oversees the 1953 armistice that halted hostilities of the Korean war.
However, on Sunday evening, the US president said he was “not happy” with US participation “based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong-un”. He added that they were costly and “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a country that, as long as Donald J Trump has been president, has been unthreatening and respectful”.
Iran suspected in wave of US water-system cyberattacks – The Arab Weekly
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Iran executes man over involvement in anti-government protests – WION
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Iran-US war latest: Tehran’s army chief tells Trump ‘we’ll break your legs’ and places $30k bounty on US soldiers– www.independent.co.uk
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An Iranian military official said on Sunday that Qatar should let an Iranian team in to investigate the fate of Iranian pilots who Tehran says are being held there, Iranian media said on Sunday. Qatar denies holding any pilots.
Mohammad Baqerzadeh, commander of the Committee for the Search for Missing Persons of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff, said the air force and fact-finding team had been waiting for months to enter Qatar, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Baqerzadeh accused Qatari officials of repeatedly delaying the investigation and preventing the pilots’ return to Iran. He called for the International Committee of the Red Cross to urgently follow up on the case.
Iranian drones target Iraqi Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Barzani’s office, security chief’s home – i24NEWS
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100,000 Ton US Navy Nimitz-Class Nuclear Aircraft Carrier USS Abraham Lincoln Is Finally Coming Home After Record Breaking Deployment – 19FortyFive
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Houthi attack kills six in first death in Red Sea since Iran war began– www.cnbc.com
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EXCERPT:
The US Coast Guard seized advanced weapons and lethal aid from Iran, destined for Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen in the Red Sea on Jan. 28, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Thursday, on February 15, 2024 in Tampa, Florida, United States. The boarding team discovered over 200 packages that contained medium-range ballistic missile components, explosives, unmanned underwater/surface vehicle (UUV/USV) components, military-grade communication and network equipment, anti-tank guided missile launcher assemblies, and other military components. (Photo by CENTCOM / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Iran-backed Houthi rebels killed six people aboard a cargo ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Tuesday, the first reported fatalities from attacks targeting Red Sea shipping in more than a year.
Within hours, U.S. forces said they had fired missiles at a container ship that allegedly attempted to breach Washington’s blockade of Iranian ports in the Gulf of Oman.
The twin incidents illustrate how the war, stretched into its sixth month, is inflicting a widening toll on two of the world’s most critical shipping lanes, even as diplomats signal progress towards reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump Responds to WaPo Leak on His Secret Flight From Turkey and Plane Switch Amid Iranian Threat (VIDEO) * The Gateway Pundit * by Cristina Laila– www.thegatewaypundit.com
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EXCERPT:
President Trump on Tuesday evening confirmed he secretly switched planes last month as he departed Ankara, Turkey.
Trump stopped to talk to reporters after he returned to DC from attending the Patriot Games final in Ohio.
A reporter asked President Trump about a leak to the Washington Post that revealed he secretly switched planes as he departed Turkey for the UK and used Air Force One as a ‘decoy.’
“It’s only up to the Secret Service. I just follow what they’d like to do. So, I go by the Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane,” Trump told reporters.
“I guess there was a threat out there. I didn’t really ask too much about it,” Trump said.
“I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk. I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for,” Trump said.
US says it fired missiles to disable ship breaking Iran blockade– www.bbc.co.uk
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The US military says one of its helicopters has fired missiles to disable “the steering gear” of a cargo ship attempting to violate the US blockade of Iranian ports.
In a statement, US Central Command (Centcom) says its MH-60 aircraft on Tuesday fired two hellfire missiles into the engine room of the Panama-flagged M/V Vela Nova vessel, as it attempted to transit the Gulf of Oman.
Centcom said it acted after “the ship’s civilian crew ignored repeated warnings from American forces”. The vessel “is no longer transiting to Iran”, it added.
Iran has not commented. The US has been enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports, following failed attempts to end the war it and Israel started on 28 February.
Tehran retaliated by launching attacks on Israel and US-allied states across the Gulf. It has also effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz – a key oil shipping waterway.
A fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas used to transit the strait before the war and prices have fluctuated wildly since then.
Mediators have so far failed to bring the sides to an agreement on reopening the strait – and, since the latest ceasefire collapsed in June, both the US and Iran have exchanged fire intermittently.
No more strikes on Iran? Trump says US going ‘low key’, stresses economic pressure over military op– timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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Trump claims that Iran is facing economic crisis as they have ‘no money’
US President Donald Trump said Sunday that the US is taking a low-key approach towards Iran and is not currently looking to launch a new military offensive, even as tensions over the Strait of Hormuz continue.“We are low keying it,” Trump told Axios in a brief phone call, adding that the US was only “semi-negotiating” with Iran while watching its worsening economic situation.“We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money,” Trump said.Trump said Iran was “in very bad shape” economically and that the US naval blockade has worsened the crisis.
Iran security chief says Strait of Hormuz to remain closed until US meets Tehran’s demands – aa.com.tr
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Iran Taps Longtime I.R.G.C. Commander Mohsen Rezaei to Top Security Post– www.nytimes.com
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EXCERPT:
The appointment of Mohsen Rezaei, a longtime military commander, to a top security post suggests that the country’s establishment is consolidating power.
Iran says Strait of Hormuz ‘not going to return’ to pre-war state – Latest news from Azerbaijan
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US Iran War Strait Of Hormuz: Trump Started Iran War Over Nukes, He Will Give It Up For Hormuz: Report– www.ndtv.com
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New Delhi:
US President Donald Trump may be prepared to abandon the pursuit of a formal nuclear agreement with Iran if Tehran fully reopens the Strait of Hormuz, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
Rather than insisting on a full and final nuclear agreement, Trump’s administration could accept the restoration of shipping through the key oil chokepoint as the basis for ending its military campaign in the region and extending the existing ceasefire, the report states.
The Wall Street Journal, citing US officials, reported that Trump has spent weeks preparing the ground for such an outcome and has privately told senior aides that he could walk away without obtaining a new nuclear agreement with Tehran.
Iran has presented a long list of conditions for reopening the waterway, including billions of dollars in payments, an end to the US naval blockade, the withdrawal of American forces from the region, the lifting of sanctions and the release of frozen Iranian assets.
Iran just appointed a national joke to lead security– www.washingtonexaminer.com
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EXCERPT:
In Tehran, appointments to the Supreme National Security Council are rarely bureaucratic reshuffles. They are signals — about fear, factional power, and the threats the regime believes it is about to face. The return of Mohsen Rezaei, one of the oldest surviving figures of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is therefore more than another personnel change. It is a window into the security mentality of a regime increasingly preoccupied with Israel, its battered regional network, and ultimately its own survival.
The purpose of the Supreme National Security Council is to secure the national interests and safeguard the mullahs’ regime and Khomeini’s upheaval, which, in the wintry, springless season of 1979, brought the Islamic caliphate — or Shiite clerical dictatorship — to power under the name of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The council makes decisions on the regime’s foreign policy and its defense and security affairs. Its members are senior political, military, and intelligence officials of the regime.
The council is chaired by Masoud Pezeshkian — the demagogic and rabble-rousing representative of the so-called reformist mafia — who still prides himself on serving the regime’s supreme leader. The Supreme National Security Council is one of the tools in the supreme leader’s hands.
