“US Israel Iran War”

Iran secretly acquired a Chinese spy satellite that gave the Islamic republic a powerful new capability to target US military bases across the Middle East during the recent war, according to a Financial Times investigation.

Leaked Iranian military documents show the satellite, known as TEE-01B, was acquired by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Aerospace Force in late 2024 after it was launched into space from China.

Time-stamped coordinate lists, satellite imagery and orbital analysis show that Iranian military commanders later tasked the satellite to monitor key US military sites. The images were taken in March before and after drone and missile strikes on those locations.

A recurring illusion in American foreign policy is that removing the most visible layer of oppression in a brutal regime, as in Haiti, Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq, is enough to claim victory. It is politically convenient and media-friendly, but in the instance of the Islamic Republic of Iran, looks to be strategically disastrous.

Today, as pressure mounts on Iran and US President Donald J. Trump signals a willingness to seize a perceived opening — most recently through a 15-day ceasefire — the same illusion is once again taking shape. The issue is no longer whether the regime in Tehran is under strain — it clearly is — but whether Washington is preparing, consciously or not, to replace a brutal clerical dictatorship with a brutal military one.

The Pentagon is sending thousands of additional troops into the Middle East in the coming days, as the Trump administration attempts to pressure Iran into a deal that could end the weeks-long conflict there while considering the possibility of additional strikes or ground operations if a fragile ceasefire does not hold, U.S. officials said.

The forces moving into the region include about 6,000 troops aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush and several warships escorting it, said current and former officials, who like some others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss military movements. About 4,200 others with the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group and its embarked Marine Corps task force, the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, are expected to arrive near the end of the month.

CAIRO (AP) — Mediators moved closer Wednesday to extending the ceasefire between the United States and Iran and restarting negotiations to salvage the fragile truce before it expires next week. A senior Iranian military official threatened to halt trade in the region if the U.S. does not lift its naval blockade, underscoring tensions that are overshadowing the diplomacy.

The U.S. blockade on Iranian ports and renewed Iranian threats have imperiled the week-old agreement, but regional officials said Wednesday they were making progress, telling The Associated Press that the United States and Iran had given an “in principle agreement” to extend it to allow for more diplomacy.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump spoke about ending the Iran War in a currently unreleased interview filmed Tuesday with Fox News.

Trump: “I had to divert because if I didn't do that, right now, you would have Iran with a nuclear weapon. And if they had a nuclear weapon, you would… pic.twitter.com/HkN2Slsxlz

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) April 15, 2026

Historical analogies are never exact, and some can be misleading. With the announcement by President Trump of a naval blockade or quarantine of the Strait of Hormuz, the specter of another Cuban Missile Crisis comes to mind. In October 1962, President John F. Kennedy ordered the U.S. Navy to institute a blockade of Cuba to prevent more offensive weapons from being supplied to the Castro regime in Cuba by the Soviet Union. Kennedy used a blockade instead of air strikes on missile installations in Cuba to give maximum flexibility for diplomacy to end the crisis. Kennedy’s blockade worked, a deal was struck, but it was, to quote the Duke of Wellington about Waterloo, a “close run thing.”

The entire Western world needs to take a clear stand.

Iran’s regime — not to be confused with its tormented people, many of whom have sacrificing their lives since 1999 trying to oust it — has, since its installation in 1979, threatened “Death to America” (“the Great Satan”) and “Death to Israel” (“the Little Satan”).

President Donald Trump has maintained that increased U.S. pressure on Iran, including a blockade of its oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, will eventually force the regime to give in to his demand that it will “never have a nuclear weapon.”

Calling Tehran’s refusal to make that promise the sticking point that led to failure at last weekend’s negotiations in Islamabad, Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday that he was confident he would prevail. “We agreed to a lot of things, but they didn’t agree to that,” he said of the nuclear pledge. “I think they will agree to it. I’m almost sure of it. In fact, I am sure of it.”

I’m trying to get some work done — so glad we’re running out of GPUs 😂 pic.twitter.com/qz2uemjm9I

— @jason (@Jason) April 13, 2026

h/t Mauser

Saudi Arabia is pressing the U.S. to drop its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and return to the negotiating table, fearing President Trump’s move to close it off could lead Iran to escalate and disrupt other important shipping routes, Arab officials said.

The blockade is aimed at raising the pressure on Iran’s already crippled economy. But the officials said Saudi Arabia has warned Iran might retaliate by closing the Bab al-Mandeb—a Red Sea chokepoint crucial for the kingdom’s remaining oil exports.

The pushback is a sign of the risks and limitations of U.S. efforts to pry open the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran shut early in the war by attacking ships in the waterway, cutting off around 13 million barrels a day in oil exports and sending futures prices above $100 a barrel.

I was just getting used to Strait Of Hormuz and now this “Bab al-Mandeb”.

There’s no doubt the US military has the capability to mount a blockade of vessels moving in and out of the Gulf. The question is: to what end?

“I do think it’s doable,” retired US Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery told the BBC this morning. “And it’s certainly less risky than the alternative, which would have been to forcibly push back the Iranians and create the conditions for a convoy.”

Some of the options floated by President Trump in recent weeks – the seizure of Kharg Island or militarily escorting convoys through the Strait of Hormuz – would have proved hazardous and potentially costly.

U.S. to Blockade Ships Entering or Exiting Iranian Ports