Iran has told the Trump administration through back channels that it would rather negotiate with JD Vance than with Steve Witkoff or Jared Kushner.

Source: CNN

Kim Jong Un said the US conflict with Iran shows why Pyongyang was right to hold onto its nuclear weapons.

In a speech to North Korea’s parliament, Kim said “the present situation clearly proves” North Korea was justified in rejecting US pressure and “sweet talk” to give up its arsenal.

Iranian officials told mediators they believe Trump has “tricked” them twice already and “we don’t want to be fooled again.”

Iranian officials told mediators that recent U.S. troop movements and military buildups make Trump’s peace offer look like “just a ruse.”

Source: Axios

U.S. officials are considering seizing Kharg Island, the Persian Gulf island through which roughly 90% of Iran’s oil exports flow.

Officials believe ground forces could likely seize the island quickly, but they may then have to weather sustained Iranian drone and missile barrages for as long as they remain there.

Source: WaPo

Iranian-backed groups in Iraq released footage showing FPV drone strikes on Camp Victoria in Baghdad.

One drone appears to hit an AN/MPQ-64 radar, while a second seems to target two UH-60 Black Hawks visible at the end of the video.

Iran has set tough conditions for returning to cease-fire talks with the Trump administration. According to people familiar with the matter, Tehran is demanding major concessions, including:

Closure of all U.S. bases in the Gulf
Reparations for attacks on Iran
A new system in the Strait of Hormuz allowing Iran to collect transit fees
Guarantees the war won’t restart
An end to Israeli strikes on Hezbollah
Full sanctions relief
The right to keep its missile program without limits

A U.S. official dismissed the demands as unrealistic, and Arab and U.S. officials said they make any deal harder to reach.

Source: WSJ

A New York Times investigation found that a military strike in northern Ecuador, promoted by U.S. and Ecuadorian officials as the destruction of a drug traffickers’ training camp, appears to have actually destroyed a working dairy and cattle farm.

Residents, farm workers, and the owner said Ecuadorian soldiers raided the property, beat and tortured workers, burned buildings, and later returned to drop explosives on the remains. The video later shared by U.S. officials as evidence of a strike on a narco camp was reportedly filmed during that second attack.

The Ecuadorian military claimed the site was used by the Colombian armed group Comandos de la Frontera for weapons storage, rest, and training, but offered no public evidence.

Source: NYT

Israel struck Iran’s Caspian Sea port of Bandar Anzali, targeting a key Russia-Iran supply route used to move drones, ammunition, and other military goods.

The route has been important for both countries, especially for transferring Shahed drones and other weapons since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The port is also used for civilian trade, including wheat and oil, raising concerns that the strike could affect Iran’s food and supply chains as well as its military operations.

Source: WSJ

Trump:

VIKTOR ORBÁN WILL NEVER LET THE GREAT PEOPLE OF HUNGARY DOWN. I AM WITH HIM ALL THE WAY!

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei:

We have a very catastrophic experience, I should say, with the United States diplomacy.

We were attacked two times within a span of nine months when we were in the middle of a negotiating process to resolve the nuclear issue.

This was a betrayal of diplomacy. It is a very famous phrase in Iran right now because it happened not once, but twice. So no one can trust the United States diplomacy.

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei:

I understand that the world economy is impacted by what is going on in our region, but this is not our fault.

You are concerned about the price of oil, the price of groceries, but we are concerned about the life of our citizens.

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei:

The impact, the consequences for the world economy is directly because of the United States and Israel’s reckless illegal war they have imposed on Iran and on the whole region.

Pete Hegseth argued in a 2017 PragerU video that George W. Bush had effectively "won" the Iraq War through the 2007 troop surge, and that President Obama later squandered that "victory" by withdrawing U.S. troops.

Fox News interviewed spring breakers in Fort Lauderdale, and the answers were rough.

Asked what issue mattered most right now, one woman said, “What bikini I’m gonna wear next,” while another answered, “Getting a tan on the beach.”

Things only got worse when the questions turned to politics. One student said, “We’re going to war with Iraq,” and others responded to mention of the ayatollah with “Who the f–k is ayatollah?” and “I’ve never heard that word before.”

The United States is preparing to deploy thousands of additional troops to the Middle East, significantly expanding its military presence as tensions with Iran continue into a fourth week despite signals of possible diplomacy.

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A Pentagon official says recent U.S.-backed strikes in Ecuador are “just the beginning” of a wider military campaign across Latin America.

The operation, called “Operation Total Extermination,” began with joint U.S.–Ecuador strikes near the Colombia border and may expand to more land attacks across the region.

Source: The Intercept

Former U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken:

The regime in Iran will be there until it’s not.

No one knows. It could go tomorrow. It could go in five years.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken:

There’s no hierarchy of trauma — the trauma in Israel, the trauma among Palestinians, the same.

Antony Blinken defends the Biden administration’s decision to continue arming Israel during the Gaza War:

Cutting off arms — sure, that was an option. But I don’t actually believe that, at least in the near term, it would have changed things.

I also believe it would have led to an even wider war, as Israel’s enemies — and they were multiple — jumped in, and that only would have extended the war in Gaza, not ended the war in Gaza.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken:

In so many problems we deal with — but maybe more than any other problem, the Middle East — all sides are both entirely right and entirely wrong at the same time.

Trump Approval Falls to 36% Amid Iran War, Fuel Surge

U.S. President Donald Trump’s approval rating has dropped to 36%, the lowest level since returning to office, as rising fuel prices and growing opposition to the Iran war weigh heavily on public opinion, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

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