Iran’s Foreign Minister tovisitPakistan, Russia, and Oman in regional tour. Third U.S. aircraft carrierarrivesin Middle East. Israelthreatensto return Iran to the “Stone Age.” President Donald TrumpclaimsIran’s oil infrastructure will “explode” within days without a deal.Analysis: Less than a third of buildings hit in Tehran linked to military. NYTsaysSupreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei gravely wounded and governing via handwritten messages. The Iran war has eaten into U.S. stockpiles:report. Israeli strikescontinuein Lebanon despite ceasefire extension. HezbollahtargetsIsraeli troops and downs drone. Trump says Lebanon ceasefire to be extended by three weeks. Israeli attackscontinueacross the Gaza Strip. ParentsdescribeIsraeli attack that killed their children. Gaza’s amputee crisis deepening. Israelapprovesnew settlement-linked school in occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli ministersaysWest Bank settlement expansion has Trump’s support. Netanyahu treated for early-stage prostate cancer. U.S. soldierchargedwith using classified information to win $400,000. Justice Departmentwantsto strip 384 naturalized citizens of citizenship: NYT. Warner Bros shareholdersapprovemerger with Paramount. Meatpacking workerswinhistoric strike against JBS in Colorado. Pentagon emailfloatssuspending Spain from NATO. Javier Mileibarsaccredited journalists from Argentina’s presidential palace. Gunmenkillat least nine at copper-gold mine in Pakistan. Meningitis and measles ineastern Chad. Russian drone strike on Odesakillselderly couple, wounds at least 14.
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Iran’s Foreign Minister to visit Pakistan, Russia, and Oman in regional tour:Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to arrive in Islamabad with a small delegation as part of a regional diplomatic tour that may contribute to efforts to restart talks with the United States. Pakistani officials confirmed the visit following recent phone calls between Araghchi and senior Pakistani leaders. However, Iran’s state news agency IRNAsaidthe trip is currently bilateral in nature, focused on “consultations” with Pakistani officials rather than immediate negotiations with the U.S. Araghchi is also expected to travel to Moscow and Muscat as part of the same diplomatic tour.
Third U.S. aircraft carrier arrives in Middle East:A third U.S. aircraft carrier has arrived in the Middle East in a further buildup of naval firepower. “For the first time in decades, three aircraft carriers are operating in the Middle East at the same time,” U.S. Central Commandsaidin a social media post. “Accompanied by their carrier air wings, the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) and USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) include over 200 aircraft and 15,000 Sailors and Marines.”
Israel threatens to return Iran to the “Stone Age”:Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katzsaidon Thursday that Israeli forces are waiting for a “green light from the United States” to renew war with Iran. Israel is ready, Katz said in a video, “to complete the elimination of the Khamenei dynasty,” and he threatened to “return Iran to the Dark Age and the Stone Age by destroying key energy and electricity facilities and dismantling its national economic infrastructure.”
Trump claims Iran’s oil infrastructure will “explode” within days without a deal:President Donald TrumpwarnedThursday that if a deal is not reached soon, Iran’s “whole oil infrastructure is going to explode” within days. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office he was “in no rush” for a deal and felt no “pressure whatsoever,” repeating his claim that delays were due to the Iranian government being “disorganized.” He also commented on the Strait of Hormuz,sayingthat Iran “came to us and said, ‘we will agree to open the Strait.’” He said, however, that he is the “one who kept” the Strait closed. “And it’ll open,” he threatened, “when they make a deal, or something else happens.”
Analysis: Less than a third of buildings hit in Tehran linked to military:An analysis of damaged and destroyed buildings in Tehran byBloombergfound that between the start of the Iran war on February 28 and the ceasefire on April 8, at least 2,816 buildings were hit in the capital, of which 32%—less than a third—were linked to the military. The analysis found that 25% were linked to industry, 21% to civilians, 19% were commercial and 2% governmental.
NYT says Khamenei gravely wounded and governing via handwritten messages:A report from the New York TimesallegesthatSupreme Leader Ali Khamenei sustained severe injuries during the war—including a leg requiring three surgeries and awaiting a prosthetic, a hand that was operated on, and burns to his face and lips that have made speaking difficult. The Times also says that senior military commanders and government officials no longer visit him directly, fearing Israel could track them to his location; messages are instead passed through a human courier chain by car and motorcycle in handwritten, sealed envelopes. Khamenei is described as “mentally sharp and engaged,” with President Masoud Pezeshkian—a heart surgeon by training—involved in his care.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, top officials issue coordinated rebuke of Trump’s claim that they are too divided to negotiate:Iran’s executive, legislative, and judicial branchesissuednear-identical statements on X Thursday, directly rejecting President Donald Trump’s assertion that Iran’s leadership is too fractured to negotiate. President Masoud Pezeshkian, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Ejei wrote in unison: “In Iran, there are no ‘radicals’ or ‘moderates.’ We are all Iranian and revolutionary. With the firm unity of the nation and the state, and in full obedience to the Supreme Leader of the Revolution, we will make the aggressor criminal regret his actions.” Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei also emphasized national unity in a post, saying that as a result of this unity among Iranians, “the enemy has been fractured.”
Source: Drop Site News: Drop Site Daily
