Trump Weighs Iran Talks, Sends Second Carrier
Various international reports have said that the White House is seriously considering Iran's proposal for indirect nuclear talks, however, on Tuesday the US slapped more sanctions on the Islamic Republic as part of the Trump's restored 'maximum pressure' campaign.
The Treasury Department in this latest move sanctioned several entities based in Iran, the UAE, and China – saying they are involved in 'procurement of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) components on behalf of Iran-based Qods Aviation Industries (QAI)—a leading manufacturer for Iran's UAV program.'
At the same time, it has become a central White House talking point that Iran and the Houthis are like hand-in-glove. The administration has been declaring that the over two week bombing mission in Yemen is huge blow to Iran.
Currently a second US aircraft carrier is en route to the Middle East. This was confirmed Tuesday with an order by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to send the USS Carl Vinson and accompanying warships to the region. There it will join the USS Harry Truman – which has already come under repeat attempts of the Houthis to attack it in the Red Sea region.
The Vinson is traveling to the area from the Asia Pacific. Hegseth has also 'ordered the deployment of additional squadrons and other air assets that will further reinforce our defensive air-support capabilities.'
Paris is on Wednesday hosting Iran-related diplomatic talks over finding a way forward. France's Foreign Ministry has issued a statement saying the window of opportunity for a new nuclear agreement with Iran is 'narrow and if a deal cannot be reached then a military confrontation seems to be almost inevitable.'
President Trump has basically laid out a strong, provocative ultimatum: Tehran can either sign a fresh deal or face American bombs.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has hit back, warning a 'strong counterattack' would certainly ensue. Iranian state media has been highlighting that some ten US military bases in the region are in range of Iranian missiles.
Another sign that Trump might be serious about preemptive strikes is that last week the Pentagon dispatched at least five B-2 bombers to the American base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
The wildest intercept video I've ever seen. A F/A-18F and F-35C escort a Ilyushin Il-38N low level past the USS Carl Vinson. 🤯Do you think they did the whole SEDLO SEDLO SEDLO. DELTA ECHO. IVORY EAGLE thing over the radio? pic.twitter.com/m4xxPTMqDF — Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) March 27, 2025
This puts the bombers within close striking distance of either Iran or Yemen. Likely any escalation between Tehran and Washington would occur outside Iran, with the US likely to strike at 'proxies' first.
Russia and Iran have meanwhile still been talking about Moscow running point as an outside mediator between Tehran and Washington over its nuclear energy program. The US administration has so far seemed open to this.
Also read: Indian Refiners Seek Alternatives To Russian Oil After Trump Tariff Threat
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Tribune
5 hours ago
- Daily Tribune
Israeli military says killed Iran's Hamas coordinator
Israel's military said Saturday it had killed a top Iranian commander in charge of military coordination with Palestinian militant group Hamas in a strike on Qom, south of Tehran. Israeli "fighter jets struck and eliminated in the area of Qom the commander of the Palestine Corps of the Quds Force, and the key coordinator between the Iranian regime and the Hamas terrorist organisation, Saeed Izadi", the military said in a statement. The Quds Force is the foreign operations arm of Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Izadi, who is under US and British sanctions, was described by the Israeli military as "one of the main orchestrators of the October 7th massacre and one of the few people who knew about it in advance". Iran has repeatedly rejected accusations that it was involved in Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza. Izadi "was responsible for military coordination between the senior commanders of the IRGC and the Iranian regime with key figures in the Hamas terrorist organisation," the Israeli military said. The Israeli military added that he had directed Hamas forces operating from Lebanon, and helped Hamas rebuild its armed wing in Gaza. A military official told reporters during a briefing Saturday that Israel had killed two other Iranian commanders overnight, Behnam Shahriyari and Aminpour Judaki. Shahriyari was the head of Unit 190 in Iran's Quds Force, whose goal was to "annihilate Israel", the official said. "What Izadi was for Hamas, Shahriyari was for Hezbollah," the official said on condition of anonymity, adding that he "was responsible for transferring funds to these terror organisations who aimed to destroy Israel". Judaki was in charge of the drone unit in the IRGC, said the official, adding that he was "responsible for hundreds of UAV attacks against Israel". Iran did not confirm the deaths of its three commanders, nor their role in its military organisation. Fighting between the two foes began last week when Israel launched a massive wave of strikes on Iran, arguing that Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. The Israeli military campaign has combined targeted assassinations of key Iranian military personnel, destruction of Iran's air defences and repeated strikes on nuclear sites. The death toll in Israel from retaliatory Iranian missile strikes since June 13 is 25 people, according to authorities. Iran said on Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians, but the toll has not been updated since.
Daily Tribune
5 hours ago
- Daily Tribune
Internet partially restored in Iran: UK-based watchdog
Internet service was partially restored in Iran on Saturday, after Tehran imposed a blackout during its war with Israel, London-based online watchdog NetBlocks said. "Metrics show a partial restoration in internet connectivity in Iran after a ~62 hour government-imposed shutdown," NetBlocks posted on social media. "However, service remains diminished in some areas and overall connectivity remains below ordinary levels," the internet watchdog added. Iran on Thursday imposed a "nationwide internet shutdown" according to NetBlocks, resulting in the most extensive blackout since widespread anti-government protests in 2019. On Saturday, access to the internet remained highly unstable and patchy in Tehran, with many websites still inaccessible, according to AFP journalists. Israel launched strikes over a week ago against Iran, claiming its long-time rival was close to developing a nuclear weapon, which Iran denies. The two arch-foes have since exchanged waves of deadly strikes, with the US mulling whether or not to enter the war. In Iran, people fleeing Israel's attacks described frightening scenes and difficult living conditions, including food shortages and limited internet access. Earlier on Saturday, NetBlocks said the internet shutdown had "severely limit(ed) the public's ability to express political viewpoints, communicate freely, and follow safety alerts."
Gulf Insider
9 hours ago
- Gulf Insider
Alarming Fox Report Says Tactical Nukes 'Not Off The Table' For Trump's Iran Response
The Pentagon's Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) has reportedly informed American officials that destroying Iran's heavily fortified Fordow nuclear facility might require the use of a nuclear weapon, based on The Guardian . Officials, briefed on the limitations of the GBU-57 — a 30,000-pound conventional bunker-buster bomb — are worried that even if President Trump give the order it may not be powerful enough to reach and destroy the deeply buried site. The report described that conventional bombs might have to be used to soften the terrain, followed by the dropping of a tactical nuclear weapon from a B-2 stealth bomber. The latest reporting has sought to clarify that President Trump is not considering the nuclear option, nor has it yet to be formally presented to him by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. From fresh 'anonymous' White House statement present contradictory information. So very quickly, here we are … there's prominent public discourse about the 'possibility' or eventual 'necessity' of a nuclear bomb. As the Quincy Institute's Eli Clifton observes: It's disturbing but not surprising how the entire Executive Branch communications apparatus can be activated into total war-hysteria mode seemingly overnight. Israel is urging the US under Trump to target Fordow with whatever it takes, given it lacks the capability to carry out such a strike. But at least it's 'comforting' that a tactical nuke is off the table, for now… or wait: 'none of the options are off the table' – a fresh FOX report claims, citing a senior White House official. Heinrich on Iran: An article stated that Trump was not considering a tactical nuke— that it was not one of the options that was presented to him. I was just told by a top official here that none of that report is true— that none of the options are off the table — Acyn (@Acyn) June 19, 2025 All this is premised on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claim that Iran is in fact pursuing a nuclear weapon. Dangerously the White House seems to be siding with Israeli intelligence over the assessment of the US intelligence community, as presented by DNI Tulsi Gabbard, who may have already been sidelined in White House Situation Room discussions. * * * The Publication Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists are meanwhile warning that it's possible that the Fordow enrichment facility could be destroyed and yet still it won't make the Iranian nuclear threat go away … If the Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear program, started on June 13, is to prove successful in preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, then a necessary—but not sufficient—step will involve the elimination of the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant. At the Fordow plant, located near the city of Qom, the Iranians have enough centrifuges (including IR-6s, their more advanced type) and uranium hexafluoride gas to produce several nuclear weapons. They could probably produce enough weapon-grade (90 percent) enriched uranium for one nuclear weapon within five to six days. Perhaps more important, Fordow itself is a hardened facility, built within a mountain and protected from many forms of attack. It could—in theory—continue to operate even after other nuclear facilities in the country have been destroyed, with its material then fueling nuclear weapons to be produced clandestinely. If Israel decides to continue down the military path against Iran's nuclear program, it has no choice but to ensure that the Fordow enrichment plant no longer poses a threat.
