Mideast on Brink
Trump May Order Fresh Strikes on Iran (Again)
Tehran Warns ‘We Are Ready’
U.S. Embassies Urge Departures
President Donald Trump has reportedly ordered a new round of strikes against Iran that could begin as soon as this weekend, as Tehran threatens sweeping retaliation, Israel moves to heightened alert, and U.S. embassies across the Middle East urge Americans to consider leaving the region amid fears of imminent escalation.
The new offensive could begin within days and last several days, according to a Wall Street Journal report Friday, while separate reports said Washington is considering some of its harshest strikes yet against Iranian energy and infrastructure targets. Although Trump reportedly authorized an attack plan presented to him Friday at Camp David, CBS News and Axios reported that a final execution order had not yet been issued, leaving open the possibility that a diplomatic breakthrough could still avert the operation.
Trump publicly signaled Friday that his patience with Tehran is rapidly running out.
“We’ll be hitting them very hard,” Trump told reporters during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David. “And you know at some point, they’re going to say, ‘We just can’t take it anymore.’”
Iran attacks Kuwait, US urges citizens in region to ‘exercise caution’
- Kuwait‘s army says it detected and destroyed hostile drones in the country’s airspace, in what it described as an Iranian attack against several vital facilities.
- The commander of Iran’s top joint military command has said the US actions against Iran increasingly risk igniting widespread regional conflict, warning regional countries against being “consumed by the flames of war”.
- A tanker has been struck by an unknown projectile 11 nautical miles (equivalent to about 20km) northeast of Limah, Oman.
- Yemen’s Houthis say they forced eight Saudi ships to change course, without specifying when.
Iran war live: Iran says it has a plan to respond to any US attacks
Houthis deny plans to charge traffic through Bab al-Mandeb Strait
- US President Donald Trump says he has cancelled planned attacks on Iran “subject to being able to rapidly make a deal”.
- He claims Iran and other countries in the Middle East had asked him to hold off any strikes and that “the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to” including on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.