Tag: iran

Report: Israel built secret Iraq base, struck forces that nearly exposed it

Israel established a secret military outpost in the Iraqi desert to support its air campaign against Iran and carried out airstrikes against Iraqi forces that nearly discovered it at the start of the war, people familiar with the matter, including senior U.S. officials, told The Wall Street Journal.

According to the sources, Israel built the facility shortly before the war began, with U.S. knowledge. It housed special forces and served as a logistics hub for the air force. Rescue teams were also stationed there in case Israeli pilots were shot down. No Israeli pilots were downed during the war.

When a U.S. F-15 was shot down near Isfahan, Israel offered to help, but American forces rescued the crew themselves. However, according to the report, Israel did carry out airstrikes to help secure the rescue operation.

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WaPo Satellite Analysis: Iran Hit More Than 225 U.S. Military Assets Across Region Through Mid-April

Iranian airstrikes that were launched to retaliate for the unprovoked U.S.-Israeli attack on the country have hit almost 230 U.S. military assets across the region, a review of satellite imagery by The Washington Post shows.

The damage, the Post reported, exceeds that reported by the Defense Department.

The report comes a week after the department’s head bean-counter low-balled the cost of the war during testimony before the U.S. House Armed Services Committee.

In late March, The New York Times revealed that Iranian strikes had wrecked 13 military bases across the Middle East.

But this latest report suggests that Iran hit back hard. And, it shows, Trump’s war planners underestimated Iran’s ability to defend itself and inflict costly damage.

The 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,” the imagery showed:

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 out of the range of Iranian fire at the start of the war, officials have said.

While imagery of the region is difficult to obtain, the newspaper scrutinized more than 100 images that Iran released. It validated 109 against the European Union’s low-resolution Copernicus system and the Planet system’s high-resolution imagery. While the Post excluded some images, none was manipulated.

“In a separate search of Planet imagery, Post reporters found 10 damaged or destroyed structures that were not documented in the imagery released by Iran,” the newspaper continued:

In all, The Post found 217 structures and 11 pieces of equipment that were damaged or destroyed at 15 U.S. military sites in the region.

In other words, Iran had no trouble hitting targets:

“The Iranian attacks were precise. There are no random craters indicating misses,” said Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a retired Marine Corps colonel, who reviewed the Iranian images at The Post’s request. The Post previously revealed how Russia provided Iran with intelligence to target U.S. forces.

Some of the damage may have occurred after U.S. troops already left the bases, making protection of the structures less vital. Cancian and other experts said they do not believe the attacks have significantly limited the U.S. military’s ability to conduct its bombing campaign in Iran.

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Deep State Leaks CIA Iran War Dossier to WaPo

The Deep State leaked a CIA Iran war dossier to the Washington Post that refutes Trump’s claims that the Iranian Regime’s missiles are mostly decimated.

On Wednesday, President Trump sparred with a reporter in the Oval Office during a meeting with UFC fighters.

The reporter asked Trump about his decision to pause Project Freedom amid a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump told the reporter that the US military has decimated Iran’s missile capabilities and they probably only have about 18 percent left.

“You’re facing an opponent right now in Iran that has refused to submit. You seem optimistic announcing you may be closer to a deal – but what’s different now?” a reporter asked Trump about his latest decision to pause Project Freedom.

“Well, why do you say they refused to submit? You don’t know that! You don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors,” Trump said.

The reporter tried to interject: “They were firing on US troops a few days ago…”

“Yeah, a few days ago is a long time ago. You know, in the world of war, a few days ago, no, they want to make a deal badly. And we’ll see if we get there,” Trump said.

“If we get there, they can’t have nuclear weapons. You know, it’s very simple. But what’s not to submit? So they had a Navy with one hundred and fifty nine ships and now every ship is blown to pieces and lying at the bottom of the water,” Trump added.

“They had an air force, lots of planes, and they don’t have any planes. They don’t have any anti aircraft. They don’t have any radar left,” the president said.

“Their missiles are mostly decimated. They have some. They have probably 18, 19 percent, but not a lot by comparison to what they had,” he said.

“And their leaders are all dead. So I think we won. Now it’s only a question of, look, if we left right now around, it would take them 20 years to rebuild!” Trump said. “We’re in good shape.”

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Oil trader pockets reported $125 mn on suspiciously well-timed Iran bet – media

A massive crude oil bet placed shortly before reports of a possible US-Iran peace deal sent prices crashing and fueled suspicion of insider trading, after the position reportedly generated a $125 million profit in just over an hour.

According to market commentary platform the Kobeissi Letter, nearly 10,000 crude oil short contracts were placed around 3:40 AM (07:40 GMT) on Wednesday “without any major news,” describing the roughly $920 million position as unusually large for that time of day.

At 4:50 AM, Axios reported that Washington and Tehran were nearing an agreement to end the conflict and resume negotiations. Oil prices plunged more than 12% within two hours of the report, turning the short position into an estimated $125 million profit before the price later rebounded, the platform said.

During the US-Israeli war against Iran, prediction and traditional financial markets were flooded with suspiciously well-timed bets linked to airstrikes, ceasefire announcements, and diplomatic developments.

According to The Guardian, traders placed more than $1 billion in seemingly prescient wagers, including an $850,000 bet shortly before US strikes against Iran and around $950 million in oil futures hours before Trump announced a ceasefire in April. AP reported that the ceasefire announcement alone generated more than 413 million predictions and over $100 million in wagers across prediction markets within days.

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Report: Saudi Arabia Blocked ‘Project Freedom’ by Denying U.S. Access to Bases

Two unnamed U.S. officials told NBC News on Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s “Project Freedom” — the plan for American military forces to safely escort commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz — was “paused” after less than 48 hours because Saudi Arabia denied the use of its airbases to protect ships from attacks by Iran.

According to NBC’s sources, the Saudi government was “surprised” and “angered” when Trump announced Project Freedom with a Truth Social post on Sunday afternoon.

Trump said he was acting in response to requests from “countries from all over the world” who were “neutral and innocent bystanders” to the conflict between the U.S. and Iran.

“For the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States, we have told these countries that we will guide their ships safely out of these restricted waterways, so that they can freel and ably get on with their business,” the president wrote.

Trump dubbed the initiative “Project Freedom” and said it would begin on Monday, only a few hours after he wrote his Truth Social post. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said it was ready to support the effort immediately, as part of America’s commitment to freedom of navigation.

“Our support for this defensive mission is essential to regional security and the global economy as we also maintain the naval blockade,” CENTCOM commander Adm. Bradley Cooper said on Sunday.

CENTCOM’s statement suggested Project Freedom was an extension of an initiative announced by the Department of War the previous week to “enhance coordination and information-sharing among international partners in support of maritime security in the strait.”

“Project Freedom is defensive in nature, focused in scope, temporary in duration [and] with one mission: protecting innocent commercial shipping from Iranian aggression,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on Monday, announcing that two ships had already passed through the Strait of Hormuz under the protection of U.S. destroyers.

Hegseth said Iran “cannot be allowed to block innocent countries and their goods from an international waterway.”

“Iran is the clear aggressor, harassing civilian vessels, threatening mariners from every nation indiscriminately, and weaponizing a critical choke point for its own financial benefit,” he said.

On Tuesday, Hegseth praised the success of Project Freedom at a Pentagon press conference, and said “hundreds more ships from nations around the world are lining up to transit.”

“As a direct gift from the United States to the world, we have established a powerful red, white and blue dome over the strait,” he said.

“American destroyers are on station, supported by hundreds of fighter jets, helicopters, drones and surveillance aircraft providing 24/7 overwatch for peaceful commercial vessels — except Iran’s, of course,” he said.

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US and Iran Exchange Fire in the Strait of Hormuz – US Intercepts Iranian Attacks on 3 Navy Ships

Ceasefire is hanging by a thread.

While military sources still insist that the ceasefire between the US and Iran is still ongoing, worrying reports have arisen of a new exchange of fire between the two countries.

According to the official CENTCOM X post, the US forces intercepted unprovoked Iranian attacks and responded with self-defense strikes as U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers transited the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman, May 7.

Iranian forces reportedly fired missiles and drones at the USS Truxtun, USS Rafael Peralta, and USS Mason as the ships transited the strait.

No US assets were reportedly struck.

The US military eliminated the inbound threats, and fired at the Iranian military facilities responsible for the attack.

Missile and drone launch sites, as well as command and control locations, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance nodes were targeted.

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DOJ Investigating Suspicious Iran War Oil Trading Trend: Report

Ups and downs in the war with Iran may have been an opportunity for insiders betting on oil prices to make a killing, according to a new report.

The report from ABC News said the Department of Justice is taking a close look at several oil market trades that came just before critical moments in the war with Iran.

In four transactions under review, the Justice Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are examining trades that netted more than $2.6 billion to individuals who bet oil prices would drop immediately before they did so.

From the start of the conflict on Feb. 28, the oil market has been up and down depending upon Iran’s strategy, America’s response, and expectations that oil might again flow freely.

The London Stock Exchange Group highlighted the trades, which began on March 23, when 15 minutes before President Donald Trump announced a delay on attacks against Iranian infrastructure, a $500 million bet was placed that oil prices would dip.

On April 7, only hours ahead of Trump’s announcement of a temporary halt in hostilities, a $960 million bet was placed that oil prices would fall.

On April 17, 20 minutes before Iran said the Strait of Hormuz would be opened, a $760 million bet was placed that oil prices were going to drop.

On April 21, 15 minutes before the ceasefire was extended, $430 million worth of bets was placed predicting oil prices were going down.

The Guardian noted last month that the conflict has been accompanied by unprecedented betting on events through online betting platforms, with many bets being precisely timed to events in the war.

For example, according to one complaint before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, six so-called insiders reaped $1.2 million from betting when former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei would be killed.

Reining this in through legislation is a complex task, if it can be done at all, one expert said.

“Is the problem that we don’t have legislation or that we don’t have enforcement capabilities?” Joshua Mitts, a law professor at Columbia University, said.

“To have a law that can’t really be enforced effectively given the technological limitations, it’s sort of putting the cart before the horse,” he said.

The oil price bets appear suspicious, another expert said.

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OOPS: Iranians Strike Cargo Ship Owned by Their Chinese Allies in the Strait of Hormuz

Not a very friendly move by Tehran.

Just yesterday (6), the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Beijing, meeting with his counterpart, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The two ministers reportedly discussed bilateral ties, the Iran-U.S. conflict, the Strait of Hormuz, and regional issues.

But today, as Araghchi is already back in Tehran, the unpredictable happened, with the Iranians reportedly striking a Chinese-owned cargo ship in the Hormuz waterways.

The attack was confirmed by US Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz.

Newsmax reported:

“A Chinese-owned oil products tanker was attacked near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, Chinese media outlet Caixin reported, as President Donald Trump launched a U.S. plan that day to help stranded vessels but suspended it a day ‌later.

This was the first time a Chinese oil tanker has been attacked, a ​person with knowledge of the matter told Caixin on Thursday. The unnamed vessel’s deck caught fire and the ship was marked ‘CHINA OWNER & CREW’, according to ⁠Caixin.”

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Israel Says Preparing For Escalation With Iran, Didn’t Know Deal Was Close: ‘Series Of Targets Ready’

Wednesday saw yet another early morning Axios ‘scoop’ that within hours of being issued proved premature and too out front, given talk of Iran and the US being ‘close’ to a deal was quickly denied by Tehran and even President Trump quickly acknowledged it’s “too soon” to plan peace talks with Iran.

But the headline of “US and Iran closing in on one-page memo to end war” was enough to raise alarm bells in Israel, which has insisted that the conflict must end with a nuclear-free Iran.

“Israel was unaware that US President Donald Trump was close to reaching an agreement with Iran to end the fighting and open the Strait of Hormuz,” an Israeli official told Army Radio soon after the optimistic peace deal headlines went international.

“We were preparing for an escalation,” the official said. Indeed the last couple weeks of stalled Pakistan-mediated talks have seen several reports out of Israel saying the Netanyahu government is waiting for the ‘green light’ from Washington to renew the aerial bombing campaign, which took place over prior 38 days as part of Operation Epic Fury.

But as of Tuesday Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Epic Fury was ending, and that Project Freedom – to open the Strait of Hormuz – is the new focus. But even after that President Trump in the evening announced a ‘pause’ to allow negotiations to proceed.

So there has been much confusion and contradictory signaling out of Washington to say the least. Tehran has meanwhile made clear its “finger is on the trigger” – but Israel is also saying the same thing.

For example, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir on Wednesday made it known that military has a “series of targets” ready to strike in Iran at the moment the war resumes.

“Cooperation with the United States military and coordination continue at all times, and we are monitoring the situation,” he stated during a visit to southern Lebanon, where Israel ground forces are occupying territory.

“In Iran, we have a further series of targets ready for attack. We are on high alert to return to an intense and broad campaign that will allow us to deepen our achievements and further weaken the Iranian regime,” Zamir said further.

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Trump’s War on Iran Is Destroying America

The very first story on the Drudge Report on both April 23 and 24 was headlined with a quote from Bernard Arnault saying if the Iran war was not quickly settled, it could be a “world catastrophe.”

I apparently do not keep up with world business as much as I should, because I did not know that Arnault is one the three richest men in the world along with Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. They trade first, second and third depending on fluctuating stock prices.
Arnault heads a French conglomerate, LVMH, which specializes in luxury brands like Louis Vuitton and many others. He bought a struggling Christian Dior in 1984 for $15 million and Tiffany & Co. in 2021 for over $15 billion.

Arnault told the annual meeting of his Company: “Either it (the Iran War) will be a world catastrophe with very serious and very negative economic impacts – in which case, who can say how 2026 will unfold – or it will be resolved more rapidly in some shape or form that we all hope for – even if it doesn’t seem easy – in which case businesses will recover and resume their normal course.”

Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House, almost always tries to speak in a positive way about Republican chances in elections. But he told the New York Times on April 28 that if the elections were in May, Republicans would lose.

He said: “The war, the sense of affordability, and gasoline – some of that has to be cleared up in order to win. If it doesn’t change, I’ll start tearing my hair out.”
President Trump is in an almost impossible situation. He is in between possibly the greatest rock and hard place in history.

I think Trump realizes that both the U.S. economy and the world economy will be greatly damaged and possibly go in to a major recession if the war is not ended very soon. JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said it “will be worse than people think.”
The President seems to be trying very hard to reach an agreement, but he knows Israel wants to go in the other direction and escalate the war even further. And he knows the Israel Lobby has almost total control of the Congress and will go along with Netanyahu no matter what.

John Mearsheimer is a West Point graduate, Air Force veteran, and longtime professor at the University of Chicago. He is one of the most well-respected foreign policy experts in this Country.

In an interview on April 27, he said “The world economy is teetering, and the longer this war goes on the worse the damage… and if we go up the escalation ladder, it will be another hammer blow to the world economy.”

He added: “Israel wants to continue the war. They want us to continue hammering away at Iran to try to beat them into submission and if we can’t beat them into submission, well we’ll just destroy them and do what we did in Gaza to Iran.”

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