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Former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent asserted in a post on X that prior to the start of the Iran war, the U.S. intelligence community agreed that the Islamic Republic was not developing a nuclear weapon. "One of the many tragedies of this war is that before the war began the U.S. Intel Community, including CIA, was in agreement that Iran wasn't developing a nuclear weapon & that Iran would target U.S. bases in the region & shut down the Strait of Hormuz if they were attacked by Israel & the U.S.," Kent wrote in a post on Thursday....

President Donald Trump’s abrupt reversal on his plan to help ships go through the Strait of Hormuz came after a key Gulf ally suspended the U.S. military’s ability to use its bases and airspace to carry out the operation, according to two U.S. officials. Trump surprised Gulf allies by announcing “Project Freedom” on social media Sunday afternoon, the officials said, angering leadership in Saudi Arabia. In response, the Kingdom informed the U.S. it would not allow the U.S. military to fly aircraft from Prince Sultan Airbase southeast of Riyadh or fly through Saudi airspace to support the effort, the officials...

Iranian airstrikes have damaged or destroyed at least 228 structures or pieces of equipment at U.S. military sites across the Middle East since the war began, hitting hangars, barracks, fuel depots, aircraft and key radar, communications and air defense equipment, according to a Washington Post analysis of satellite imagery. The amount of destruction is far larger than what has been publicly acknowledged by the U.S. government or previously reported. The threat of air attacks rendered some of the U.S. bases in the region too dangerous to staff at normal levels, and commanders moved most of the personnel from these sites...

Support for President Donald Trump’s war with Iran has dipped to the same levels as unpopular wars like Vietnam and Iraq, according to a new poll. A survey released by ABC-The Washington Post-Ipsos shows support for the ongoing conflict in Iran is continuing to fall, with six in 10 Americans calling the military action a mistake and just 2 in 10 calling the campaign a success. “President Donald Trump’s war in Iran is as unpopular among Americans as the Iraq War during the year of peak violence in 2006 and the Vietnam War in the early 1970s,” The Washington Post...

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you, as a Democrat, there was this extraordinary vote this past week in the Senate. Forty Senate Democrats tried to block a U.S. weapons sale to Israel, and that adds to this growing rift we have seen between your party and Benjamin Netanyahu. Do you think Democrats are going to come to regret this break in the alliance? HOCHSTEIN: So I hope that it's not a break in the alliance. I think this, what it really demonstrates is for the last several years, Prime Minister Netanyahu has sacrificed Israel's interest in the United States....

In one of the most unfortunate moral and strategic inversions in recent times, Democrats today seem to believe what is good for our national security is bad for the Democratic Party.Republicans have generally supported Democratic presidents in wartime: Kosovo 1999, Libya 2011, Yemen 2024 — all commenced without congressional authorization.Democrats have done mostly the same for Republican presidents: Iraq 1991 and 2003, Afghanistan 2001.But with Donald Trump and Iran, things are different: Democrats are in uniform, rageful opposition. They hector the president daily even amid combat operations, much to the delight of the Iranian mullahs, who avidly consume US media...

US intelligence assessments have suggested that Iran likely still has access to around 70 percent of its pre-war ballistic missile stockpiles, and around 60 percent of its missile launchers, The New York Times reports. It also still retains around 40% of its drone arsenal, the report says, citing US intelligence and military officials. According to the Times, when a two-week ceasefire came into effect between Iran and the US on April 8, Tehran had access to around half of its ballistic missile launchers. Since then, the report says it has managed to dig out another 100 launchers from under the...

As stocks soared this week and oil prices dropped amid an apparent cooling of tensions between the United States and Iran, it may have left the impression that the energy shock that rattled the world would quickly fade, along with the risk of sending the global economy into recession.The optimism may have been short-lived. On Saturday, Iran’s military announced it would reimpose restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz, throwing the critical waterway’s status into doubt.The uncertainty highlights that beneath that surface, a starkly different reality is unfolding. It is defined by disrupted supply lines and damaged infrastructure, sparking increased concern...

U.S. Central Command announced the blockade would involve all Iranian ports, beginning on Monday at 10 a.m. EDT, or 5:30 p.m. in Iran, to be “enforced impartially against vessels of all nations.” Inside Iran, there was new exhaustion and anger after months of unrest that began with nationwide protests against economic issues and then political ones, followed by weeks of sheltering from U.S. and Israeli bombardment.“We have never sought war. But if they try to win what they failed to win on the battlefield through talks, that’s absolutely unacceptable,” Mohammad Bagher Karami said in Tehran.els of all nations.”

MS NOW’s Stephanie Ruhle and Richard Stengel compared the Iranian regime’s “deep belief” and even its use of human shields at power plants and other vulnerable targets favorably to President Donald Trump’s worldview on Wednesday evening. Ruhle and Stengel’s comment came after The Financial Times’ Gillian Tett submitted that “President Trump comes from a background where he assumes that money can buy everything, and money drives everything, and he wants to cut a deal with everyone using money, and he assumes other people will basically fall in line on the back of that.” “So the fact that the Iranian regime...

Hide the sharp objects—at least if you take Nicolle Wallace seriously. On Friday’s edition of Deadline White House, Wallace began by painting an apocalyptic picture of the situation in Iran. Grim enough to have Trump supporters reaching for the Lexapro—if they believed her. After laying out her bleak scenario, Wallace went a step further, warning of: “A full-scale global economic crisis that might actually be even worse than those headlines, and worse than we think.”Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

There’s nothing really new in the uproar surrounding the loss of a USAF F-15E Strike Eagle over Iran this past weekend. Media hysteria over the downing of a single U.S. aircraft has become a commonplace schtick in coverage of American wars over the past three decades. During WW II, the U.S. lost over 23,000 planes in combat. I kid you not, playmates: 23,000+ – and that’s only combat losses. Overall losses, including accidents, amounted to 65,164. The media talking heads would have had to be carried out in straitjackets if they’d been active at the time. Losses dropped sharply following...

The chief of the Federal Communications Commission is confirming U.S. broadcasters must "operate in the public interest," and delivering fake news is not that. It is FCC chairman Brendan Carr who issued a statement calling for broadcast corporations to correct how they are report about the Iran war. "Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions – also known as the fake news – have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up," he confirmed.

With Passover poised to begin Wednesday at sundown, a new poll shows a majority of American Jews oppose the joint U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, even as 90% of them say they oppose the Iranian regime. The poll, commissioned by J Street, the liberal Zionist advocacy and lobby group, found that 60% of U.S. Jews oppose the war and 77% do not believe “President Trump has a clear plan and mission for the war.” Another poll of U.S. Jews, by the Jewish Electorate Institute, released Monday, showed similar results, with 55% of American Jews opposing military action against Iran. The two...

Legacy media is doing what it does best – spread misinformation and confusion – in regard to Friday’s downing of a USAF F-15E Strike Eagle in western Iran. Legacy media is doing what it does best -- spread misinformation and confusion -- in regard to Friday’s downing of a USAF F-15E Strike Eagle in western Iran. According to the usual suspects, this means that America has lost “air supremacy” and marks the moment when the tide turns completely in Iran’s favor and, sweeping all before them, enables them to achieve absolute victory by Sunday. Monday at the latest. In truth,...

The United States has spent EIGHT TRILLION DOLLARS fighting and policing in the Middle East. Thousands of our Great Soldiers have died or been badly wounded. Millions of people have died on the other side. GOING INTO THE MIDDLE EAST IS THE WORST DECISION EVER MADE.....

n Friday, tensions escalated between the US and Iran as Iranian forces shot down a US UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, which was reportedly involved in a rescue mission for an F-15E pilot previously downed by Iran.

Trump supporters who backed his promise to avoid new Middle East wars worry Iran’s attacks on shipping are pushing the U.S. toward escalation — and maybe even boots on the ground.When the U.S. started firing Tomahawk missiles at Iran late last month, many of President Donald Trump’s allies hoped it would be a quick, surgical operation, similar to last year’s strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities or the ouster of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in January. Though uneasy, they were reassured by the belief that Trump’s open-ended objectives gave him the flexibility to declare victory whenever he saw fit. Now, more...

President Donald Trump and some of his closest advisers were caught off guard by the scope of Iran’s military response to U.S. strikes, while key Gulf allies have privately expressed anger at the White House’s decision to escalate the conflict, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The publication reported Friday that “the president and some aides were surprised at the breadth and scope of Iran’s retaliation,” which included missile and drone launches targeting regional countries from Azerbaijan to Oman, according to people familiar with the matter.” Gulf allies have reacted sharply behind closed doors. “Allies in the Gulf are...