Wednesday, April 08, 2026

04/07 Links Pt1: Trump: US To Enter Two-Week Ceasefire if Islamic Republic Allows opening of the Strait of Hormuz,’; 1 attacker killed in gun battle with police outside Israeli consulate in Istanbul

From Ian:

Three Things the Consensus Gets Wrong About the Iran War
First, the war has not, despite what many claim, trashed America’s alliances. NATO was battered by Donald Trump well before the war began, and not least by his egregious threats to wrest Greenland from Denmark. No doubt, some of our European allies have bristled at this war and in some cases refused to assist with it. Not all, though: German bases are important for the air bridge to the Middle East. In a moment of candor during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran last June, Chancellor Friedrich Merz allowed that the fight against Iran was “dirty work Israel is doing for all of us.” He understood, in other words, that Iran poses a challenge to European security that Europe chooses not to address on its own. “We are also victims of this regime,” he said.

More to the point: The United States is actually working very closely with a group of allies, just not the Europeans. Israel, of course, is actively engaged in the war, employing an air force twice as large and more than twice as capable of conducting this kind of campaign than the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force. The Gulf states are providing basing, and some Asian nations have been quietly supportive. Several hundred Ukrainian drone experts, who have behind them the most advanced military industry of its kind anywhere, are sharing what they’ve learned. If the Trump administration could only see Ukraine as a powerful partner rather than a charity case, even more could be done. A new partnership, joining Gulf finance with Ukrainian military technology, appears to be emerging from this war, to the advantage of the United States.

Second, the common claim that the war is a boon for Russia and China is exaggerated. Will it provide a short-term boost for Russian oil earnings? Probably, although it will be offset by the spectacular success the Ukrainians are having in hitting its petrochemical industry and its ability to export. Russia has profoundly deformed its backward economy, and now appears to be getting the worst of it on the battlefield. Meanwhile, the prospect that Ukrainian military innovation might be powered by Saudi and Emirati money cannot be a happy one for Moscow.

China, for its part, might indeed be licking its chops at the idea of the United States depleting its stocks of expensive interceptor missiles in this war. If governments choose to attack because they think they know exactly how many exotic munitions their opponents have in their warehouses, then China might well invade Taiwan. But, by and large, that is not how governments decide to launch global wars. Rather, they look at a host of considerations, including the nature of their opponents. In this case, the Chinese will see a president quite willing to wage an unpopular war and employ extreme violence. That president possesses a remarkably capable armed force, and is willing to spend the money ($1.5 trillion in the latest budget) to build an even larger and considerably more modernized one. Sober Chinese analysts, moreover, will have some appreciation of how the United States and its armed forces have a history of innovating and adapting when the pressure is on.

And finally, there are people who argue that Iran has been turned into a great power by this war. But being subjected to tens of thousands of precision air strikes; having your senior leadership assassinated, your air defenses almost entirely destroyed, your navy virtually annihilated; and losing crucial parts of your industrial infrastructure do not make you stronger. Can Iran keep the Strait of Hormuz closed? For now, yes. Perpetually? That is harder to believe. Ukraine has been able to keep its grain corridor in the Black Sea open despite Russian attacks; the U.S. Navy, ill-prepared as it was for the mine-clearing mission that it should have anticipated, is no doubt working full-time on solving what is essentially a tactical problem, albeit one with strategic implications.

Iran’s leaders and their sympathizers may declare that survival means that Iran wins this war, but that is, on the face of it, preposterous. The regime has profoundly alienated its neighbors by lashing out at them, brought the two most powerful air forces in the Middle East into intimate cooperation against it, and suffered new blows to its already impoverished economy. Is Iran’s new leadership—the members of whom have not fallen to Israeli bombs, that is—inclined to take an even harder line than its predecessors? Possibly. But the pictures published this week of the niece and grandniece of Qassem Soleimani—the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force killed in Trump’s first term—who have been living the good life in the United States, should trigger the thought that the elite leadership of Iran might be less pure and hard than one might think. And even committed ideologues have their breaking point; Heinrich Himmler was as hard-core as they come, yet attempted open negotiations with Allen Dulles of the Office of Strategic Services in 1945.

There is so much that we do not know—including which targets have been hit, what damage has been done, and to what effect. But when we see things like the extraordinary rescue of the aircrew of the F-15E shot down over Iran, we need to remember that the military organizations pounding Iran are extremely formidable. That does not guarantee success. But it should make us, at the very least, thoughtful about where this war may go.
Seth Mandel: Unfrozen
Iran’s ability to open and close the strait at will is similar to its attacks on regional energy infrastructure, its demonstration of missile-firing capabilities that threaten Europe, and its use of cluster munitions against Israeli civilians. All three made the West adjust its war aims to prevent Iran from being able to hold the region and near-abroad hostage in the future. To this list we can add a pre-existing goal—the destruction of Iran’s nuclear weapons program—and the recent fixation on the Strait of Hormuz, which seems to have overtaken the others (except for the nuclear threat) in Trump’s mind.

There are two ways of looking at this, and they are not necessarily mutually exclusive. The first is that Trump backed himself into this corner by showing his sensitivity to oil prices without having put into place a strategy to preempt Iran’s ability to flip that switch. The second is that Trump’s fixation on the strait is a post-hoc realization that Iran must be divested from its leverage over the shipping lanes.

A cease-fire without a mechanism for enforcing the opening of the strait would make it what Trump seems to really want to avoid: a frozen conflict.

Take Gaza. The cease-fire between Israel and the remnants of Hamas may turn into its own new status quo, which would be less than ideal. But it is far superior to the state of the frozen conflict that was in place on October 7, 2023. If the Israel-Hamas war ends here, then Gaza’s genocidal and barbaric government has paid a permanent price for its aggression.

Likewise, Trump has been surprisingly hawkish on Lebanon, at times more so than Israel, regarding Hezbollah. As it currently stands, either Lebanon will disarm Hezbollah or much of “Hezbollahland” in South Lebanon will remain open space. Israel has proposed the following deal: If Israelis can return to their homes in the north without fear of quickly being displaced again by rocket storms from Lebanon, then the residents of South Lebanon will be welcome to return to their own homes. Lebanon has thus far rejected these terms. Trump, at the moment, is backing Israel’s position—in part, surely, because Israel has proposed a permanent peace rather than a return to the frozen conflict.

Trump’s penchant for finality can be seen in his approach to Venezuela as well. The decision to greenlight the capture of Nicolas Maduro was a bold one, but it was not done in the name of Venezuelan democracy. It was an attempt to permanently alter the relationship between Washington and Caracas. If the remnants of the Maduro regime are willing to play ball with Trump, they’ll stick around. That’ll mean the end of what Trump saw as the Venezuelan tail wagging the American dog.

This template cannot be applied at will—there will be no “Venezuelan option” in Iran, and lord knows what Trump even thinks he is accomplishing in the Russia-Ukraine war. It isn’t a doctrine, or an -ism. But the president does seem to have a preference for avoiding the “pause” button if a status quo can be radically and permanently changed in America’s favor.
Jonathan Tobin: Unlike Israel, many of America’s NATO allies aren’t really allies
Other countries will cheer or jeer from the sidelines, but Israel not only has a powerful military but is willing to use it, along with its unmatched intelligence capabilities and operations, to fight a war alongside America. And it is doing so with the knowledge that Trump could end the war before the Jewish state has achieved the objectives that Netanyahu has set.

Contrary to the largely antisemitic myth that the world’s most powerful man in charge of a superpower was dragged into a war by the prime minister of a country the size of New Jersey with a mere 10 million people, this war was America’s idea. And it is being fought to protect America’s interests as well as Israel’s. Stopping nuclear and missile threats—and the world’s largest state sponsor of terror—isn’t a favor to Israel. It’s vital for the security of the Middle East, which affects the economies of all, as has been shown in Iran’s stranglehold of the Strait of Hormuz and international shipping.

A clear look at the events of the last two months doesn’t just show Israel’s value as an ally, even though there is no pact of alliance between Washington and Jerusalem as there is with America’s 31 NATO allies, which the United States is obligated to defend under that treaty’s Article V provision. It has also done invaluable damage to what remains of American support for the belief that the alliance is vital to the country’s defense.

Israel has friendly relations with other countries, including some in Europe. And it has strong security ties with key regional nations like Saudi Arabia, even though they remain under the table rather than out in the open. But it has only one genuine ally. There are no plausible alternatives, even when Washington is run by those who are lukewarm or worse about the relationship, as under the administrations led by former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

NATO may yet be revived at some point in the future. Even now, it still serves some use, if only to help ensure that Russia’s troublemaking can be contained. But the stark truth of 2026 is that it has largely become a vestige of the past that has outlived much of its usefulness.

At the same time, the idea that Washington’s affection for Israel is a hindrance to the pursuit of U.S. national interests or makes it difficult for it to make friends in the Middle East has been conclusively exploded by recent events.

It is the alliance with Israel that is the one irreplaceable asset for American foreign policy and security needs in the region. And one is hard-pressed to think of another such reliable ally elsewhere with both the military assets—and the willingness to use them in a difficult fight— and common values of democracy. It’s high time that American pundits and politicians, whether seduced by antisemitic tropes and arguments or wallowing in hatred for Trump, stop speaking of Israel as an American problem and start acknowledging this reality.


US To Enter Two-Week Ceasefire if Islamic Republic Allows ‘COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz,’ Trump Announces
President Donald Trump announced that the United States will suspend its military campaign against the Iranian regime for two weeks as long as Tehran agrees to allow commercial vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

"Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Tuesday evening. "This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE! The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East."

Iranian negotiators, Trump added, presented the U.S. team with a "10 point" counterproposal that the president deemed a "workable basis on which to negotiate."

"Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated," the president continued, saying the "Longterm problem" is "close to resolution."

Trump’s announcement came less than two hours before the 8 p.m. deadline he set for Iran’s leaders to accept his 15-point peace plan, which requires that the Islamic Republic fully reopen the strait and dismantle its nuclear program. Israel has also agreed to put its military campaign against the regime on hold for two weeks, CNN reported.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi responded to Trump’s announcement in a post on X, saying, "If attacks against Iran are halted, our Powerful Armed Forces will cease their defensive operations."

"For a period of two weeks, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via coordination with Iran’s Armed Forces and with due consideration of technical limitations," Araghchi continued.

Trump’s post follows a last-minute diplomatic bid from Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, who attempted to convince Trump that Tehran is moving closer to accepting his terms.

"Diplomatic efforts for peaceful settlement of the ongoing war in the Middle East are progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully with the potential to lead to substantive results in near future," Sharif wrote on X less than four hours before Trump announced the temporary ceasefire. "To allow diplomacy to run its course, I earnestly request President Trump to extend the deadline for two weeks."

Sharif implored his "Iranian brothers to open [the] Strait of Hormuz for a corresponding period of two weeks as a goodwill gesture."

Sharif’s diplomatic bid was meant to keep Trump from making good on his threat to take out "the entire country" of Iran in "just one night" if the regime would not meet his terms. The president affirmed that position on Tuesday morning, writing on Truth Social that "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again" unless Tehran capitulated.


Sirens sound across Israel as Iran launches missile barrage, despite ceasefire agreement
Iran launched a series of missile barrages towards Israel overnight Wednesday, shortly after a ceasefire agreement between the US, Israel, and Iran was announced by US President Donald Trump.

Sirens sounded across southern, central, and northern Israel, including Tel Aviv, Haifa, and the Jerusalem area.

Magen David Adom (MDA) reported three shrapnel fall sites in central and northern Israel.

Additionally, fallen missile cluster fragments were reported in the Sharon area. Central District police, Border police, and bomb disposal experts were dispatched to the scenes to investigate and conduct safety assessments.

Four people were lightly injured in the southern Bedouin town of Tel Sheva, according to MDA. 15 people were reported to be suffering from anxiety.

Additional police were dispatched to sites in the Negev region after interceptor fragments fell in the area, causing some property damage.


U.S. Shouldn't Negotiate with Iran until It Realizes How Badly It's Losing
On Monday, Iran rejected an intermediate ceasefire framework and resisted any immediate move to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran's refusal should be seen as evidence that the regime still believes time, pressure on global energy markets, and outside fears of escalation can rescue it from a deteriorating position.

Iran remains dangerous, but danger is not the same thing as strength. It has demonstrated an ability to inflict pain, but not an ability to force an American or Israeli strategic retreat. Their military operations continue against Iranian targets.

Iran is outmanned, outgunned, and outclassed in any sustained contest with the U.S. and Israel combined. Yet it continues to make demands as if it is holding the cards and that the U.S. should be the one begging for concessions. If Tehran refuses to negotiate in a way that reflects the battlefield, then the U.S. and Israel should continue degrading the regime's capabilities in recognition that the current diplomacy is detached from reality.

There is no virtue in reaching an agreement that allows Iran to emerge claiming it stared down a superior force and won better terms. The correct policy is to continue the campaign until Tehran surrenders the illusion of leverage.
Why the Islamic Republic May Survive the War but Not the Peace
The war in Iran struck a regime already burdened by a series of major setbacks over the past three years. The joint U.S.-Israeli attack became possible only after those earlier setbacks changed the landscape. The Islamic Republic is now in direct confrontation with the world's most formidable military power, the U.S., and the region's strongest army, Israel. Why should the regime not survive the bombing campaign as it has survived so many earlier shocks? The Islamic Republic says it is winning the war. History will deliver its answer soon enough.

For years, the Islamic Republic spoke of control over four Arab capitals, of a Shia crescent, and of strategic depth. It presented itself as a power on the march - expanding, advancing, and shaping the region around itself. When Assad fell, when Syria was lost, and when the proxies took crippling blows, that image began to collapse. What had been presented as strategic depth looked increasingly like an expensive illusion.

Israel's attack in June 2025 exposed the gap between propaganda and reality. For years, Ali Khamenei and his IRGC commanders boasted about indigenous air-defense systems. They told Iranians that even the most sophisticated U.S. and Israeli aircraft could not operate over Iran. Billions were spent developing these systems and building an image of invulnerability. That myth collapsed on first contact with reality when the 12-day war began.

The 12-day war shattered the regime's image of competence, control, and strength for millions of Iranians. Much of the population that opposed the regime saw it humiliated and were openly pleased to see it struck so hard. At the same time, parts of the regime's own support base were stunned to see Israeli bombers operate over Iran with such ease.

The events of Jan. 8-9, 2026, marked a decisive shift in Iran's political landscape. In Tehran, an estimated 1.5 million people took to the streets, with similar scenes repeated in 400 cities, with total participation reaching 5 million. The state responded with lethal force that killed 36,500 people in 48 hours. The scale of the violence shattered the narrative that the Islamic Republic still ruled with some measure of public consent. A state that still commands genuine consent does not need to kill on such a scale to clear the streets.

The scale of the damage from the Israeli-U.S. military operation that began on Feb. 28 is now impossible to ignore. The Supreme Leader is dead, along with more than fifty senior IRGC commanders. If the war ends without the immediate fall of the regime, many will label it a defeat for the U.S. and Israel. But battlefield metrics are a poor measure of political reality. The economy is in dire condition. Sanctions will not disappear.

Political systems do not always collapse during war. Often, they collapse in the aftermath, when military failure gives way to elite fracture and a society no longer willing to live as before.
What an “Iranian Proxies” Agreement Should Encompass
Late last month, the Trump administration presented Iran with a fifteen-point plan to end the war, including a demand that Tehran cut off its support for foreign proxy and partner groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Yemeni Houthis, among others. The regime appears likely to reject this proposal—unsurprising given how vital these groups have been to “exporting the revolution” and extending Tehran’s influence throughout the region. Yet it is still important to consider what such an agreement would entail, and how the United States could verify and enforce its terms—in part to bolster the international community for potential postwar scenarios in which the regime simply redoubles its terrorist proxy activities.

Composition of an Agreement
Any U.S.-Iran agreement on “proxy” support would need to be as detailed and comprehensive as possible, covering the full scope of financial, military, terrorist, and training activities in support of such groups, and tailored to reflect the nuances of Iranian assistance to each specific group. (Note: for simplicity’s sake, the term “proxy” is hereinafter used to mean any subnational terrorist group or militia that has operationally allied with the Iranian regime; this includes groups like the Houthis, whom many experts regard more as strategic partners with Tehran than fully subordinate proxies.) The aim would be to leave Tehran with minimal space to exploit any ambiguities. Policymakers also need to understand that effectively enforcing such a deal would be an incredibly complex effort, requiring the cooperation of many governments, multilateral organizations, and the private sector, not to mention top-priority U.S. attention in terms of allocating diplomatic, intelligence, and law enforcement resources.

Broadly speaking, Iran would need to agree not to provide support of any type to any terrorist or militia entities or individuals—whether defined using U.S. government terrorist designation lists or a newly agreed list formulated at the United Nations. As a starting point, the list would need to include Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Houthis, and several Iraqi Shia militias. And in either case, it must have the flexibility to include new entrants, if needed, to ensure that Tehran and its proxies cannot circumvent the process by renaming entities or creating new ones.


Israeli-Iranian TV Star Advocates for an End to Iran's Repressive Regime -
Sogand Fakheri left Iran aged six and went on to star in the hit Apple TV drama "Tehran," which focuses on the shadow war between Mossad and the IRGC.

Fakheri, 24, plays a young conservative woman loyal to the Iranian regime who falls in love with her commander in the IRGC's Basij paramilitary force and goes on to betray her family.

"It was really hard for me," she says of watching the uprising quelled by the Basij militia.

"I had to learn everything about the Basij for the role....I realized the Basij, they are everywhere. They are in your universities, in your schools, they try to have a great impact on youth. So you see how their brainwashing works."

By day she works as head of the Persian media desk at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, and has become a vocal influencer and online advocate - in Persian and in Hebrew - of an Iran free from the repressive regime.

"My hope is that we will make...the right conditions for the people in Iran to be able to go back to the streets, because this regime won't just fall because of our attacks. It will fall because the Iranian people want it to fall."

"So what I hear right now from Iranians is that 'it's OK, just keep the [Israeli and the U.S.] air force here so we can go out in the streets - just be with us, escort us from the sky.'"

"This war is necessary....All I have is bad words to describe the IRGC. They are just so brutal, and the only way to bring them down is by outside forces, because the Iranian people are not armed."

"They have no weapons to fight back. And when they try to fight back, they get murdered in the streets."
1 attacker killed, two hurt in gun battle with police outside unstaffed Israeli consulate in Istanbul
Three assailants opened fire at police outside a building housing the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday, sparking a gunfight that left one attacker dead, Turkish officials said. The two other assailants were injured and captured.

The attack took place around 12:15 pm local time (0915 GMT). Two police officers sustained slight injuries in the clash, Istanbul Governor Davut Gul told reporters. The assailants were carrying long-barreled weapons.

The consulate is located in a high-rise building in Levent, one of the city’s main business districts. It was not immediately clear if the intended target was the empty Israeli consulate.

Israel withdrew its diplomats amid security concerns and deteriorating relations with Turkey, soon after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war.

Turkey recalled its ambassador from Israel in November of that year. Diplomatic relations have been effectively frozen since then, while Turkey has hosted Hamas leaders, and its president frequently compares the Jewish state to Nazi Germany.

The two wounded assailants are brothers, identified as Onur C. and Enes C. The first has a criminal record related to drugs. Both are being interrogated, according to the Turkish interior ministry.

Turkey’s Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said three prosecutors, including a deputy chief prosecutor, have been assigned to lead an investigation.

Video circulating online showed one assailant carrying what appeared to be an assault rifle, wearing a brown backpack, and hiding behind a bus when exchanging fire with police. A police officer falls to the ground, apparently having been shot, and then rolls away to get behind a tree for cover.

Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said the brothers arrived in Istanbul by a rental vehicle from Izmit, a city about 86 kilometers (50 miles) away, and that one of the assailants was affiliated with an “organization that exploits the region.”


The secret, never-before-used CIA tool that helped find airman downed in Iran: ‘If your heart is beating, we will find you’
The CIA used a futuristic new tool called “Ghost Murmur” to find and rescue the second American airman who was shot down in southern Iran, The Post has learned.

The secret technology uses long-range quantum magnetometry to find the electromagnetic fingerprint of a human heartbeat and pairs the data with artificial intelligence software to isolate the signature from background noise, two sources close to the breakthrough said.

It was the tool’s first use in the field by the spy agency — and was alluded to Monday afternoon by President Trump and CIA Director John Ratcliffe at a White House briefing.

“It’s like hearing a voice in a stadium, except the stadium is a thousand square miles of desert,” a source briefed on the program told The Post. “In the right conditions, if your heart is beating, we will find you.”

This source and another with knowledge of Lockheed Martin intelligence collection tools told The Post that Ghost Murmur was developed by Skunk Works, the aerospace giant’s secretive advanced development division. The company declined to comment.

The technology has been successfully tested on Black Hawk helicopters for future potential use on F-35 fighter jets, the second source said.

The missing and wounded weapons systems officer — known publicly only as “Dude 44 Bravo” — was hiding in a mountain crevice after his F-15 jet was shot down late last week, surviving two days in desolate terrain as Iranian troops scoured the area for the American with a bounty on his head.

The relatively barren landscape made for “an ideal first operational use” of Ghost Murmur, the first source said.

“The name is deliberate. ‘Murmur’ is a clinical term for a heart rhythm. ‘Ghost’ refers to finding someone who, for all practical purposes, has disappeared,” the source said.


Mojtaba Khamenei reportedly in ‘severe’ condition, unable to govern Iran
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is unconscious and being treated for a “severe” medical issue, rendering him unable to govern the country, according to an intelligence assessment obtained by The Times British news outlet on Tuesday.

“Mojtaba Khamenei is being treated in [the Iranian city of] Qom in a severe condition, unable to be involved in any decision-making by the regime,” read a diplomatic memo, which The Times said is based on US-Israeli intelligence and shared with their Gulf allies.

It marked the first time a report has revealed Khamenei’s location publicly since the beginning of the war. He is believed to have been wounded in the opening wave of US-Israeli strikes on February 28.

The document also revealed preparations for the burial of his father and former supreme leader Ali Khamenei in Qom — considered a holy city in Shi’ite Islam — after he was killed in the same strikes that launched the fighting.

Intelligence agencies surmised preparations were underway to lay the “groundworks needed to build a large mausoleum in Qom,” south of Tehran for “more than one grave,” the memo read.

The memo apparently implied that other family members — possibly Mojtaba himself — would be buried alongside the late ayatollah.


US Strikes Kharg Island Weapons Depots and Air Defense Facilities in 'Message' to Tehran Ahead of Trump's Deadline
The United States bombed dozens of weapons depots and air defense facilities on Kharg Island overnight in a "message" to Tehran about what will happen if the Islamic Republic does not accept the terms of President Donald Trump's ceasefire deal by 8 p.m. Tuesday.

U.S. airstrikes on the island—which hosts Iran's central oil hub—targeted "military bunkers and storage facilities, air defense systems and other military facilities," NBC News reported, while oil infrastructure remains unscathed for the time being. The Israeli military hit petrochemical sites at the South Pars gas field earlier this week, but Fox News reported that the Monday night attack on Kharg Island was solely a U.S. operation.

"This is a message to the Iranians," a senior U.S. official told Fox News's Jennifer Griffin.

Video posted on social media showed plumes of smoke rising from the island.

Trump warned that Tehran will face devastating consequences if it does not accept the terms of his 15-point peace plan.

"A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again," Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday morning. "I don't want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!"

On Monday, after Trump threatened to take out "the entire country" in just "one night" should the regime refuse his peace offer, Tehran's leaders signaled that they are unpleased with the U.S. proposal. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the terms are "incompatible with ultimatums and threats to commit war crimes."
IDF admits Tehran synagogue was ‘collateral damage’ in strike on Iran commander
The Israel Defense Forces admitted late Tuesday that it was behind a strike early in the day that damaged a synagogue in Tehran, saying it was targeting a senior Iranian commander and that it regretted the “collateral damage” to the Jewish house of worship nearby.

According to Iranian media, heavy damage was caused to the Rafi Niya synagogue.

In response to a query by The Times of Israel, the IDF said that it struck a top commander from Khatam al-Anbiya, Iran’s military emergency command.

“Reports were received that a nearby synagogue was also damaged in the strike. The IDF regrets the collateral damage to the synagogue and emphasizes that the strike was directed at a senior military target within the regime’s armed forces,” the IDF said.

The army insisted that it took steps to “minimize the risk of harm to civilians” in the strike, “including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance.”

The results of the strike are still under review, the military added.

Multiple Iranian news sources reported on the strike that damaged the synagogue. In an internal report, Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Ministry said that visual documentation ostensibly from the scene showed rescuers working through piles of rubble and debris, with photographs capturing scattered religious books and damaged interior fixtures. The ministry’s internal report noted that the claim the synagogue was damaged is supported “by several sources, albeit all of them Iranian.”

The AP news agency reported that “video from the site showed rescuers moving around and what looked like a book of Hebrew scripture in the rubble.”
IDF says it has ‘completed deployment’ to anti-tank defensive line in south Lebanon
The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had completed deployment of ground troops along a strategic ridge in southern Lebanon from which Hezbollah could fire anti-tank guided missiles directly at Israeli communities.

The so-called anti-tank line is located several kilometers deep in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah’s anti-tank missiles have an estimated range of around 10 kilometers.

“IDF troops have now completed their deployment along the ‘anti-tank line’ and continue operating in the area to strengthen the forward defensive line and remove the threat to residents of the north,” the military said in a statement.

In recent weeks, the IDF advanced to strategic positions from which the military said Hezbollah could launch attacks on Israel, including the Ras al-Bayada headland, south of the coastal city of Tyre, located around eight kilometers (5 miles) north of Israel’s border.

In the western sector, the Israeli military has been operating near the Litani River — some four kilometers from Israel’s border. And in the central sector, troops have also pushed into villages several kilometers deep into Lebanon.

Israeli officials have said the IDF is establishing a demilitarized “security zone” in southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, and would remain deployed there until the threat of Hezbollah is removed. The buffer zone would be controlled with surveillance and firepower, as well as ground troops in areas deemed strategically necessary, the military has said. IDF troops of the 769th “Hiram” Brigade operate in southern Lebanon, in a handout photo issued by the military on April 6, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

According to a military official briefing reporters, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir defined three lines of defense in southern Lebanon as part of the ground operation and efforts to establish the buffer zone.


US, IDF strikes hit Iranian rail and Kharg Island; Israel faces ongoing missile attacks
The Israeli Air Force bombed eight rail sections and bridges in Iran on Tuesday, as part of efforts to prevent the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from moving weapon systems, the military said.

Ahead of the strikes, the Israel Defense Forces warned Iranians to stay away from trains until the evening.

In a statement, the IDF said it had struck eight rail bridges and sections of roads “used by the Iranian terror regime to transport weapons and military equipment.”

A security official told The Times of Israel that the IRGC had used the “key” rail sections and bridges to transport weapons. Israel had also warned it would strike Iranian “national infrastructure” to cause economic damage to the regime.

The strikes were carried out in several areas of Iran, including Tehran, Karaj, Tabriz, Kashan, and Qom, according to the military.

“The crossings were struck to prevent regime forces from using them to transfer equipment and weapons,” the IDF said in a statement.

In the central city of Kashan, two people were killed in an attack on a rail bridge, a regional official told state media. In Iran’s second-largest city of Mashhad, all train services were canceled until further notice after the Israeli warning, local media reported, citing the governor.

Meanwhile, the US military conducted strikes on military targets on Iran’s Kharg Island, the Axios news outlet reported on Tuesday, citing an unidentified senior US official. The island, located off Iran’s western coast, is a vital oil export terminal for the country.

The attacks occurred hours before US President Donald Trump’s ultimatum to Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was due to expire, after which he has threatened a major escalation in strikes, including on Iran’s power plants and bridges.


Commentary Magazine: Threat Assessment
Contributing editor Eli Lake joins a full house today to discuss the American and Israeli attacks on Kharg Island and president Trump's escalating online threats towards Iran. Is this just bluster and negotiating tactics, or will the president follow through and attack Iranian power plants? Plus, the incredible Artemis 2 moon mission, the podcast learns about Clavicular and mogging, and Eli recommends Menachem Begin's memoir White Nights.


Comedy Cellar USA: Live from the Table: Walter Russell Mead Weighing Action vs Inaction in Iran
Live from the Table: Walter Russell Mead: Weighing Action vs Inaction in Iran

Featuring Walter Russell Mead, this conversation dives into one of the most dangerous questions in the world right now: what happens if Iran gets the bomb—and is it already too late to stop it?

From the real stakes behind the Strait of Hormuz to the risk of a global oil shock, nuclear proliferation across the Middle East, and the limits of deterrence, Mead breaks down why the situation is far more complex—and more urgent—than most people realize.

The discussion explores whether war with Iran is avoidable, how U.S. politics and leadership shape these decisions, and why history suggests the cost of inaction could be far higher than we think.

Mead addresses several important questions:
What happens the day Iran gets a nuclear bomb?
Are we already too late to stop Iran?
Would a nuclear Iran trigger World War III?
Could one chokepoint crash the entire global economy overnight?
Is doing nothing the most dangerous option of all?

Walter Russell Mead is the Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship at Hudson Institute, the Global View Columnist at The Wall Street Journal and the Alexander Hamilton Professor of Strategy and Statecraft with the Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida.

He has authored numerous books, including the widely-recognized Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World. His most recent book is titled The Arc of A Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People.




American journalist reportedly freed in Iraq after abduction by Iran-backed militia
American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was abducted in Baghdad on March 31, has been released, according to Iraqi officials and local media reports.

The Iran-backed militia Kata’ib Hezbollah said earlier this week that it would free Kittleson on the condition that she leave Iraq immediately, according to statements circulated on Telegram and cited by Al-Monitor. U.S. and Iraqi officials had previously suspected the group’s involvement, though it did not initially claim responsibility.

An Iraqi official confirmed on Tuesday that Kittleson was released after about a week in captivity, according to The Associated Press. The circumstances of her release remain unclear, though multiple reports indicate it may have involved the release of detained members of Kata’ib Hezbollah.

Kittleson, a freelance journalist based in Rome who has reported extensively from Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, was kidnapped by gunmen in central Baghdad. Iraqi security forces launched an operation following the abduction and detained at least one suspect with alleged ties to the militia.

Neither the U.S. nor the Iraqi government has yet confirmed Kittleson’s release.

Alex Plitsas, a CNN national security analyst and designated point of contact for Kittleson, wrote that “we are still awaiting Shelley to be transferred to U.S. officials. We welcome the news of her pending release, but will save celebratory statements until she is transferred. The video that was released provided proof of life. We will have more to say when she is in U.S. hands.”


Government moves to shut down Palestine Declassified show over Iran links
The studio responsible for the broadcast of hardline anti- Zionist Chris Williamson’s Palestine Declassified programme is facing legal action from the Home Office and possible closure over alleged links to Iran.

Ex-MP Williamson, who presents the show alongside academic David Miller — a prominent critic of Zionism — confirmed the studio behind his programme had received a letter from the Government signalling potential legal action under the National Security Act.

In a post on X, he wrote:”I’ve been presenting a weekly programme alongside David Miller for the last four years, but the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is now trying to shut us down.”

He also revealed he would be “finding a new studio and changing the format of the show.”

“This, unfortunately, will come with associated production issues and costs, so we will be launching an appeal soon to help ensure that Palestine Declassified continues every week.”

The Home Office confirmed to Jewish News that the recently introduced Foreign Influence Registration Scheme was one means used to “tackle threats from the Iranian regime.”

Palestine Declassified is a weekly programme aired on the Iran-backed Press TV channel, which discusses “the worldwide struggle to liberate Palestine”.

Williamson has now accused the Government of “state intimidation”, and insisted that the programme has no relationship to Press TV or Iran as it was “independently produced”.




Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon!

"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

    
 

 



AddToAny

Printfriendly

EoZTV Podcast

Podcast URL

Subscribe in podnovaSubscribe with FeedlyAdd to netvibes
addtomyyahoo4Subscribe with SubToMe

search eoz

comments

Speaking

Speaking

translate

E-Book

For $18 donation








Sample Text

EoZ's Most Popular Posts in recent years

Search2

Hasbys!

Hasbys!

2019 Nobel Peace Prize nominee

Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

Donate!

Donate to fight for Israel!

Monthly subscription:
Payment options


One time donation:

Follow EoZ on Twitter!

Interesting Blogs

Show All

Blog Archive

Copyright © Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News | Powered by Blogger
Blogger Templates