📸 Hellenic Army Leopard 2A6HEL, 2A4, and 1A5 tanks fitted with cope cages in Athens.

Trump has told aides he wants to avoid a prolonged war in Iran.

Nearly a month in, he believes the war is in its final stages and hopes it will be wrapped up before a mid-May summit with Xi Jinping in Beijing.

Source: WSJ

Iran's Tasnim posted this.

Trump on Iran:

I thought that the oil prices would go up higher. I thought the stock market would go somewhat lower, but it didn't matter to me.

Trump on Iran:

I won't use the word war because they say if you use the word war, that's maybe not a good thing to do.

They don't like the word war because you are supposed to get approval. So I will use the word military operation.

Trump on Iran:

There has never been a head of a country that wanted that job less than being the head of Iran.

"I don’t want it" we listen to some of the things they say we hear them very clearly they say "no thank you I don’t want it."

Trump:

We settled eight wars. People sort of forget.

A Turkish tanker, M/T Altura, carrying about 1 million barrels of Urals crude, was hit by a drone attack 15 nautical miles from the Bosporus Strait in the Black Sea.

An explosion hit the bridge, and the engine room took on water, but no casualties were reported.

Kuwait says it has uncovered a Hezbollah plot to assassinate state leaders.

The Interior Ministry reported that six suspects, five of them Kuwaiti, confessed to espionage and terrorist activities, including assassination training.

Trump administration officials are reviewing the economic impact of oil potentially reaching $200 a barrel, particularly amid the Iran conflict.

This assessment is part of regular contingency planning, not a prediction.

White House officials deny officials are specifically “worried” about $200 oil.

Source: Bloomberg

Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Uganda’s military chief:

We want the war in the Middle East to end now. The world is tired of it.

But any talk of destroying or defeating Israel will bring us into the war. On the side of Israel!

Trump on Iran:

We had an attack. 100 missiles were shot by Iran at a very important thing that we had. I won't tell you what it was for certain reasons.

We shot down all missiles.

John Bolton on Iran:

Trump doesn’t have a philosophy, so I don’t think he even understands what motivates these people.

John Bolton on Iran:

Gulf Arab States may not have wanted this war to start, but they have always favored regime change in Iran.

I think they still want regime change.

Venezuela’s Acting President, Delcy Rodríguez, has promoted longtime intelligence chief Gustavo González López—known for overseeing torture and political repression under Nicolás Maduro—to Defence Minister.

González, 65, was central to crushing protests in 2014, 2017, and 2019, and is sanctioned by the US, EU, and UK for human rights abuses.

Source: FT

Iran rejects US ceasefire plan, Trump says deal is possible. Iran says it is reviewing a U.S. ceasefire proposal without entering talks.

Tehran submits its own five-point proposal, insisting the war ends only on its terms, while Washington claims negotiations are ongoing.

READ MORE

WATCH: Iranian MANPADS hit came very close to taking out a U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet jet over Iran yesterday.

Iranian cluster munition hit in Israel's Kafr Qasim earlier today, flipping a car.

Iran’s recent missile hits in Dimona and Arad have exposed cracks in Israel’s air defenses, raising fresh concerns about interceptor availability, system limits, and whether Israel can sustain protection in a long war.

Iranian missiles penetrated Israeli defenses and directly hit civilian areas, injuring 115+ people, including 11 seriously.

Israeli officials say this reflects a long-standing fear: that Iran could build enough missiles to overwhelm Israel’s layered defense system.

A former Israeli security official warned: “Israeli defenses cannot absorb 3,000 to 5,000 missiles.”

Another issue is cost and stock: interceptors are expensive, but officials say the real concern is availability, not price.

Source: WaPo