DNI Tulsi Gabbard says Trump acted because he concluded the Iranian regime ‘posed an imminent threat’
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Tuesday issued a post on X in which she noted that President Donald Trump targeted Iran based on his conclusion that the regime “posed an imminent threat.”
She issued the post in the wake of Joe Kent’s resignation from his role as National Counterterrorism Center director over his opposition to the Iran war that Trump launched more than two weeks ago in conjunction with Israel.
“Donald Trump was overwhelmingly elected by the American people to be our President and Commander in Chief. As our Commander in Chief, he is responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat, and whether or not to take action he deems necessary to protect the safety and security of our troops, the American people and our country,” Gabbard noted in her post.
WHITE HOUSE, AFTER TOP COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL QUITS, SAYS TRUMP HAD ‘STRONG’ EVIDENCE IRAN WOULD ATTACK US
“The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is responsible for helping coordinate and integrate all intelligence to provide the President and Commander in Chief with the best information available to inform his decisions,” she added.
“After carefully reviewing all the information before him, President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent threat and he took action based on that conclusion,” Gabbard wrote.
TRUMP BIDS GOODBYE TO INTEL OFFICIAL WHO RESIGNED OVER IRAN: ‘GOOD THING THAT HE’S OUT’
Kent publicly shared his resignation letter on Tuesday, asserting that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the U.S.
“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Kent wrote.
“Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” he asserted in the resignation letter.
TOP COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL RESIGNS IN PROTEST OF US WAR AGAINST IRAN
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Trump pushed back on Tuesday, saying that “it’s a good thing that he’s out because he said that Iran was not a threat. Iran was a threat. Every country realized what a threat Iran was. The question is whether or not they wanted to do something about it.”
Trump resurfaces old tweet from intel official who resigned
In the wake of Joe Kent’s resignation from the position of National Counterterrorism Center director over his opposition to the Iran war, President Donald Trump highlighted a years-old tweet in which Kent had urged the president to “wipe Iran’s ballistic capability out.”
In the January 2020 post on X, Kent tagged the president and wrote, “We should not sit and wait for the next attack, wipe Iran’s ballistic capability out and get our troops out of Iraq – they are only targets now. No US WIA/KIA is a tribute to the professionalism of our military and intel professionals not Iranian restraint.”
Kent made the post in January 2020 after a U.S. strike earlier that month killed Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force.
TOP COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL RESIGNS IN PROTEST OF US WAR AGAINST IRAN
In the resignation letter that he posted to X on Tuesday, Kent asserted that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the U.S.
“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” Kent wrote.
IRANIAN INTELLIGENCE MINISTER KILLED IN PRECISION AIRSTRIKE, WHILE US MILITARY TARGETS MISSILE SITES
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard issued a post on X in which she noted that the president targeted Iran due to his view that the regime represented “an imminent threat.”
“The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is responsible for helping coordinate and integrate all intelligence to provide the President and Commander in Chief with the best information available to inform his decisions,” Gabbard said in the post.
TRUMP BIDS GOODBYE TO INTEL OFFICIAL WHO RESIGNED OVER IRAN: ‘GOOD THING THAT HE’S OUT’
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“After carefully reviewing all the information before him, President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent threat and he took action based on that conclusion,” she noted.
Winning the battles, losing the war? America must define the endgame in Iran
The Pentagon’s briefings on Operation Epic Fury leave no room for debate: the U.S.-Israeli air campaign has hammered Iran. War Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed more than 15,000 targets were struck. Tehran’s air defenses are in ruins. Its navy is wrecked. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine reported Iran’s ballistic missile launches against Israel and Gulf partners are down 90% since the first day of the war. By every battlefield measure, this campaign has delivered a punishing blow to the regime.
But wars are not won on target lists. They are won when military force produces a durable political outcome. More than two weeks into this campaign, that outcome remains undefined. That is the problem.
Consider the economic fallout. The Strait of Hormuz — the choke point through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s daily oil supply moves — is effectively closed. Tanker traffic has stopped. Oil has blown past $100 a barrel, with Brent crude touching $119 before Iran’s new supreme leader doubled down on keeping the strait shut. The International Energy Agency called it the largest oil supply disruption in the history of the global oil market. That is not a rounding error. That is inflation, economic drag and political pressure on every Western government involved.
TRUMP SUDDENLY SEEMS ANXIOUS TO END THE WAR AS AMERICAN CASUALTIES MOUNT AND IRAN FINDS WAYS TO HIT BACK
The military cost is just as serious. Tomahawks, Patriots, long-range strike missiles — the precision weapons that define American warfighting — are being burned at extraordinary rates. The Pentagon told Congress this week that the first six days of Operation Epic Fury cost more than $11.3 billion, and that figure does not include pre-deployment costs or munitions replacement. Defense analysts and current officials warn the Iran campaign is drawing down the precise weapons stockpiles the United States would need to deter China in the Pacific — and that depleted inventories will take years to replace. Every Tomahawk fired over Tehran is one less available for the Taiwan Strait.
The human cost is real and irreversible. At least seven American service members were killed in combat operations before Thursday. Then all six crew members of a KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft were confirmed dead after the tanker went down over western Iraq while supporting combat strikes. Secretary Hegseth acknowledged the loss, saying “war is hell, war is chaos” and calling the airmen “American heroes, all of them.” They are also sons and daughters of American families — a fact that demands an honest accounting of what we are asking them to achieve.
Despite the pounding, the Iranian regime has not collapsed. Tehran installed Mojtaba Khamenei — the slain supreme leader’s son, described by analysts as a hardliner with deep IRGC ties — as the new ruler within days of the war starting. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps backed him immediately, and he has already vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed and promised to attack every U.S. base in the region. This is not a regime on the verge of surrender.
The IRGC and Iran’s ruling clerics do not view this war purely as a geopolitical contest. They see it as a religious fight — a defense of the Islamic Republic against what they describe as an American-Zionist assault. Regimes that fight in God’s name are not easily coerced by bomb tonnage. That is not an excuse for weakness. It is a reality that must shape strategy.
EX-NAVY SEAL WARNS WITHDRAWING FROM IRAN NOW WOULD HAND ‘VICTORY’ TO REGIME
History drives the point home. Conventional airpower has never toppled a determined government by itself. Not in World War II. Not in Korea, Vietnam, Kosovo, Iraq or Afghanistan. Air campaigns degrade capability and shape battlefields. They do not deliver political collapse — not without a ground force or an internal revolt. Neither is coming.
That raises the central strategic question: what exactly is the United States trying to achieve? President Donald Trump set clear objectives — deny Iran nuclear weapons and destroy its ability to threaten its neighbors with missiles and drones. After almost three weeks of strikes, those goals are within reach. But Trump has also suggested he wants to approve Iran’s next leader and questioned whether the Islamic Republic itself should survive. That is not counterproliferation. That is regime change — and regime change requires far more than an air campaign.
The question now is not whether America can keep striking Iran. Of course it can. The question is whether more strikes move the country toward a defined end state — or simply run up the cost of a war with no finish line.
Three steps point the way out.
First, complete the remaining military objectives: suppress residual missile launch capability, clear Iranian mines threatening the Strait of Hormuz, and finish the nuclear infrastructure work. Get the job done, then stop.
Second, define publicly what “done” looks like. The administration has been deliberately vague on the campaign’s end point. That ambiguity may serve short-term messaging, but it rattles markets, unnerves allies and leaves the American public in the dark about what this war is for.
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Third, shift from large-scale strikes to sustained pressure: maritime security operations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, aggressive sanctions enforcement, interception of Iranian weapons transfers and a credible deterrent posture against renewed aggression. Keep the boot on Tehran’s throat without an open-ended air campaign.
In plain terms: finish the military mission, then stop widening the war.
The United States and Israel have won the opening rounds of this fight. The danger now is the pattern that played out in Iraq and Afghanistan — early military success followed by years of costly, inconclusive war that erodes the original victory. America has the firepower to keep striking Iran indefinitely. What it needs is the strategic discipline to stop when the mission is accomplished.
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The men and women executing this campaign deserve more than tactical wins. They deserve a strategy as disciplined as their service.
And so does the country.
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US bunker-buster bombs hammer Iranian anti-ship missile sites near Strait of Hormuz
U.S. forces hammered Iran’s anti-ship missile sites near the Strait of Hormuz with 5,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on Tuesday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
The strikes near the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil choke point, come as Iran’s stranglehold over the vital waterway has grown concerns over the regime’s threats to oil tankers.
“Hours ago, U.S. forces successfully employed multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM posted Tuesday evening on X.
Deep GBU- 72 penetrator weapons, often referred to as bunker busters, are designed to cut through hardened or underground targets before detonating. The munition was first tested by the Air Force in 2021.
TRUMP SAYS MOST NATO ALLIES ‘DON’T WANT TO GET INVOLVED’ IN IRAN OPERATION, BUT US ‘NEVER’ NEEDED THEIR HELP
“The Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles in these sites posed a risk to international shipping in the strait,” the command said.
Most shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway for global oil and gas transport that supplies roughly one-fifth of the world’s crude oil, has been halted since early March, after the war started. About 20 vessels have been attacked in the area.
Oil prices have jumped more than 40% to above $100 per barrel since the Iran war began, and Iran has threatened it won’t allow “even a single liter of oil” destined for the U.S., Israel and their allies to pass through.
TRUMP WARNS NATO OF ‘VERY BAD’ FUTURE IF ALLIES DON’T HELP SECURE STRAIT OF HORMUZ
At least 89 ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz between March 1 and 15 — including 16 oil tankers, The Associated Press reported, citing Lloyd’s List Intelligence. The number of vessel passages per day was down from roughly 100 to 135 before the war, it said, with more than one-fifth of the 89 vessels believed to be Iran-affiliated and others being Chinese- and Greece-affiliated ships.
As crude prices spiked above $100 a barrel, President Donald Trump pressured allies and trade partners to send warships and reopen the strait, hoping to bring oil prices lower. No allies, however, have yet to commit.
“I think NATO’s making a very foolish mistake,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Tuesday when a reporter asked about getting America’s allies to assist the U.S. in escorting oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. “And I’ve long said that, you know, I wonder whether or not NATO would ever be there for us.”
Trump added: “So this was a great test because we don’t need them, but they should have been there.”
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The U.S. on Friday bombed military sites on Kharg Island off the Iranian coast, which is key for Iran’s oil network and exports, but Trump said he had left its oil infrastructure alone for now.
Fiery aftermath of Iran missile strike near Tel Aviv caught on video after 2 killed
Video footage captured the fiery aftermath of a ballistic missile strike that hit Ramat Gan, a neighborhood east of Tel Aviv, overnight Tuesday, killing at least two people, according to Israeli officials.
The footage shows a car engulfed in flames, with wreckage scattered across the street as emergency responders assess the scene and ambulance sirens sound in the background.
The missile was launched by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which said it targeted central Israel to avenge the killing of Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and one of the country’s most powerful figures.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it launched Khorramshahr-4 and Qadr multiple-warhead missiles, which it claims have an increased chance of evading missile defense systems and can overwhelm radar tracking.
ISRAEL HITS BACK AFTER COORDINATED IRAN-HEZBOLLAH MISSILE, DRONE STRIKES, URGES BEIRUT TO REIN IN TERRORISTS
Israel said the two victims killed in the overnight strike were a couple in their 70s.
The attack is part of a rapidly escalating tit-for-tat conflict that began Feb. 28 following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, which have since killed multiple senior Iranian officials. Those include Larijani and Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, head of the Revolutionary Guard’s Basij militia, who was killed Tuesday.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz also said Iran’s Intelligence Minister Esmaeil Khatib was killed in an overnight strike, though Iran has not confirmed his death.
Iran has responded with a widening campaign of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel, U.S.-linked positions and energy infrastructure across the Persian Gulf, including strikes reported in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain.
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The broader conflict has raised fears of a regional war and potential disruptions to global energy supplies, as Iran has also threatened shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — a critical transit route for the world’s oil.
Iranian wrestler who saw ayatollah abuse athletes defends American women speaking out against trans inclusion
Former Iranian wrestling champion Sardar Pashaei witnessed female athletes from his country face lashings simply for being seen without a hijab.
Now, he is also witnessing mistreatment of female athletes in America in a different way.
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Pashaei objects to the alleged silencing and retaliation against American female athletes who have spoken up for the protection of women’s sports from biological male trans athletes.
“For me, it’s not really acceptable if I hear that people will be silenced when they think that something is unfair to them,” Pashaei told Fox News Digital.
“I’m against silencing athletes. If they have a concern, if they think that something is not fair for them, because as an athlete, you know, you have to have a lot of discipline, spend a lot of energy to get to that level, and then you know, this is your dream to become a world champion or an Olympic champion. So for all of athletes, it should be an equal opportunity and also atmosphere that everybody can speak and also share any concern that they have.”
NEW OLYMPICS CHIEF CALLS FOR ‘PROTECTING’ WOMEN’S CATEGORY AMID GLOBAL TRANS ATHLETE WAVE
Pashaei, who won the 1998 World Youth Wrestling Championship, has also urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to exercise vigilance in protecting the women’s category.
“I think the International Olympic Committee should pay attention to this and also based on the scientific norm, try to create an equal field opportunity for everybody to compete,” he said.
“And everybody should compete in the sport in the field in the level that they are supposed to be in. And I know this is becoming complicated but I think every athlete in the world, they want to have a fair game to compete.”
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A recent poll by the Center Square Voters’ Voice found 68% of registered voters support the Supreme Court upholding state bans on trans athletes in women’s sports. The poll had 2,659 respondents, including 952 Republicans, 934 Democrats, and 773 Independents.
In the poll, 88% of Republican voters supported upholding state bans on transgender women competing in women’s sports whereas 49% of Democrat voters said the same.
Trump’s strait showdown: Five bold moves to crush the Iran threat now
“It won’t be long now.” That was President Donald J. Trump, speaking on the timeline for commercial traffic to flow again through the Strait of Hormuz at the White House on Tuesday. U.S. forces are “knocking the hell out of the coast,” Trump said. “As soon as that war is over, which it will be soon, prices are going to drop like a rock,” he added. “You watch.”
Control of the Strait of Hormuz is a top geopolitical prize, and one of the core objectives of Operation Epic Fury. On a good day, 130 ships transit the Strait every 24 hours, moving cargo and about 20 million barrels of oil products. Currently, about 6 million barrels per day of oil from Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates have been rerouted to Red Sea pipelines.
China takes 40% of the oil flowing through the strait. All told, 89% of the oil transiting the strait goes to Asian markets. In contrast, U.S. crude oil imports coming through the Strait of Hormuz are at a 40-year low, accounting for just 2% of U.S. petroleum liquids consumption, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
You can see the potential for leverage with China.
MULTIPLE ALLIES DECLINE US CALLS FOR STRAIT OF HORMUZ SUPPORT AMID RISING MIDDLE EAST TENSIONS
From March 1 to 9, only an estimated 10 tankers and 39 cargo vessels transited. Two Indian tankers carrying LPG, made it through, along with several sanctioned, shadow-fleet vessels likely carrying Iranian oil. The bulk carrier Iron Maiden, registered in the Marshall Islands, slipped through by describing itself as “all Chinese-crewed,” according to a Maritime Executive report.
But most of the big VLCC tankers are still on pause because Lloyd’s of London and other insurers jacked up oil cargo insurance rates. They fear a repeat of the 1980s tanker war, when Iran’s navy attacked 168 ships. One was the oil and bulk ore carrier Norman Atlantic which was set ablaze after attacks by Iranian gunboats on Dec. 6, 1987. The burning hulk was towed out of the shipping lane and sunk off Oman.
With more than 100 Iranian ships destroyed so far in Operation Epic Fury, there is practically no way Iran can sustain naval attacks. In fact, no ship has been targeted since March 12.
However, the persistent tactical problem is that large ships following a predictable route are easier to target, even given Iran’s degraded status. The strait is 104 miles long, and just 21 miles wide at its narrowest point. The shipping channel is even tighter. There is an inbound lane and an outbound lane, each two miles wide. As Trump put it on Monday afternoon, “literally a single terrorist can put something in the water, or shoot something, or shoot a missile, a small missile, and it’s really close range, because it is a tight area.”
TRUMP WARNS NATO OF ‘VERY BAD’ FUTURE IF ALLIES DON’T HELP SECURE STRAIT OF HORMUZ
On Monday, Trump warned he would “strongly encourage other nations whose economies depend on the strait far more than ours” to help out. He’s steamed at the slow response and no wonder. Last year, more than 20 nations participated in Operation Prosperity Guardian, a maritime task force countering Houthi attacks in the Red Sea from 2023 to 2025. Japan and South Korea import 70% of their oil via the strait.
“We thought that Europe would help, because they do have some minesweepers,” Trump said Tuesday. “I think it’s very unfair to the United States,” he complained.
So, the world is waiting for U.S. Central Command to announce a plan. This won’t be like the convoys you see in World War II movies. Surveillance, rather than side-by-side vessel escort, will be the basis for assisting merchant traffic.
Here are five technologies essential to control of the Strait.
Maritime Moving Target Indicator. As seen in the Caribbean, the U.S. Navy has crystalline maritime surveillance. Technologies blend visual, heat detection and subtle radar shifts to cover wide areas or drill down on specific targets. Maritime moving target indicator (MMTI) on planes like the Navy’s P-8 and the MQ-4C, a high-altitude drone with a 130-foot wingspan, are normally used to keep tabs on China’s navy. They know how to cut through the coastline clutter of radar return and atmospheric distortion and find any IRGC small boats still in the strait.
Airpower. To get after drones and shoreline anti-ship cruise missiles, “the United States will be bombing the hell out of the shoreline, and continually shooting Iranian boats and ships out of the water,” as Trump said Thursday.
Mine Counter Measures Ships. Drifting, moored or placed on the sea bottom, mines are a high anxiety threat, but one well-known to the U.S. Navy. Iran has 3,000 to 6,000 mines of Russian, North Korean and Chinese origin, including China’s nasty EM-52 bottom mine with a 600-pound warhead. U.S. Navy Independence-class littoral combat ships like USS Tulsa, carry sensors and unmanned vessels that locate, identify and destroy mines.
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Underwater Drones. For hunting mines, its U.S. Navy underwater drones to the rescue. They range from the 12-foot-long MK 18 Mod 2 Kingfish, which looks like a torpedo, up to the new, massive Orca, a 54-foot autonomous submarine that lurks underwater to carry out “diverse missions.” Consider, too, that China has an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 naval mines, and the Navy has been training to defeat them in the Pacific. You can bet the U.S. will know exactly what types of mines Iran tries to emplace, and will find and neutralize them.
The Marines. Much more than a technology, the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit embarked on USS Tripoli, is in high-speed transit en route to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility in the Middle East. It will provide options for interdicting any ships unwise enough to cause mischief. Tripoli also brings more F-35B fighters. Historical fact:Tripoli, was hit by an Iraqi contact mine years ago during Operation Desert Storm in 1991 but was back in action in less than 24 hours.
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Global shipping does not turn on a dime. Vessels are on precise schedules down to the minute for entering and departing harbors. A rerouting decision takes time to correct.
Still, I have no doubt that in a matter of days, shipping traffic will ramp up, with the U.S. in control of the Strait of Hormuz. And China will just have to watch.
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White House, after top counterterrorism official quits, says Trump had ‘strong’ evidence Iran would attack US
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back Tuesday on “false claims” in the resignation letter of the nation’s top counterterrorism official, saying President Donald Trump had “strong and compelling evidence” that Iran was going to attack the United States first.
Joe Kent wrote on X earlier this morning that, “After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today.” Kent said he could not in “good conscience” support the ongoing war with Iran, claiming that “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”
“There are many false claims in this letter but let me address one specifically: that ‘Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation,” Leavitt responded. “This is the same false claim that Democrats and some in the liberal media have been repeating over and over.”
“As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first,” she added.
TRUMP BIDS GOODBYE TO INTEL OFFICIAL WHO RESIGNED OVER IRAN: ‘GOOD THING THAT HE’S OUT’
Leavitt said, “This evidence was compiled from many sources and factors,” and, “President Trump would never make the decision to deploy military assets against a foreign adversary in a vacuum.”
The press secretary said Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism – a sentiment that House lawmakers agreed with earlier this month when they passed a resolution containing the same language.
“The Iranian regime is evil. It proudly killed Americans, waged war against our country, and openly threatened us all the way up to the launch of Operation Epic Fury,” Leavitt continued.
EU PUSHES FOR END OF IRAN WAR IN A MANNER WHERE ‘EVERYBODY SAVES FACE’
“Iran was aggressively expanding their short-range ballistic missiles to combine with their naval assets to give themselves immunity – meaning they would have a degree of a capabilities that would give them immunity to hold us and the rest of the world hostage,” she added. “The regime aimed to use those ballistic missiles as a shield to continue achieving their ultimate goal – nuclear weapons.”
Leavitt said the president “ultimately made the determination that a joint attack with Israel would greatly reduce the risk to American lives that would come from a first strike by the terrorist Iranian regime and address this imminent threat to America’s national security interests.”
She also slammed the “absurd allegation that President Trump made this decision based on the influence of others, even foreign countries,” calling Kent’s claim “insulting and laughable.”
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“President Trump has been remarkably consistent and has said for DECADES that Iran can NEVER possess a nuclear weapon,” Leavitt said. “As someone who actually witnesses President Trump’s decision-making process on a daily basis, I can attest to the fact that he is always looking to do what’s in the best interest of the United States of America — period. America First.”
White House slams ‘fake narrative’ that Vance is absent from Iran strikes amid Operation Epic Fury
White House officials balked at reporting that Vice President JD Vance had been distant from Operation Epic Fury as strikes continued from both Iran and U.S.-Israeli forces in the Middle East Tuesday.
Critics have claimed that Vance has intentionally distanced himself from public appearances and potentially negotiations related to U.S. active military engagement in Iran and the Middle East.
“This fake narrative is absolutely laughable to every single person who is in the know in Washington,” a White House official told Fox News Digital. “It’s a classic mainstream media creation.”
ABC News had reported that a senior White House official punched back at the idea that Vance wasn’t present during the early days of the strikes, saying the national security team had been huddled “all day” and “was deliberate on letting the president’s statements and addresses to the nation stand as the operation unfolded.”
EX-NAVY SEAL WARNS WITHDRAWING FROM IRAN NOW WOULD HAND ‘VICTORY’ TO REGIME
“The vice president and other administration officials conducted multiple media interviews and will continue to do so,” the senior White House official told ABC. “The national security team also held multiple briefing calls with members of the press and key stakeholders after the operation began.”
Vance appeared on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime” March 2, making him the first Trump administration official outside of President Donald Trump’s pre-recorded announcement to speak on live TV about the strikes. The interview was one of nine reported public appearances Vance has made since the beginning of Operation Epic Fury.
During the interview, Vance emphasized the White House’s reasoning behind striking Iran and addressed the idea of an unnecessary, elongated war.
KT MCFARLAND: OPERATION EPIC FURY PROVES IT IS BOTH AMERICA FIRST AND PROUDLY MAGA
“President Trump will not get the United States into a years-long conflict with no clear objective,” Vance told Watters.
“The vice president hasn’t been keeping a low profile,” a spokesperson for Vice President Vance’s office told Fox News Digital. “He’s attended two dignified transfers at Dover Air Force Base, went on primetime TV after the start of Operation Epic Fury, held a press gaggle and delivered two speeches in which he discussed the heroic sacrifice of America’s service members.”
Dignified transfers at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware took place after American soldiers were killed during the beginning days of the U.S. military operation against Iran.
TOP COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL RESIGNS IN PROTEST OF US WAR AGAINST IRAN
Reports have also indicated that Vance has been averse to the idea of a war with Iran and alluded to comments the former Ohio senator made about some of the basis for his support for Trump stemming from Trump not having started a war during his first presidential term.
Vance joined Bill Hemmer on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” for a State of the Union reaction on Feb. 25, days before the strike on Iran, and Vance echoed the president’s condemnation of the Middle Eastern country obtaining nuclear weapons.
“You can’t let the craziest and worst regime in the world have nuclear weapons,” Vance told Hemmer. “That’s what the president is accomplishing. That’s what the president has set as our goal. He’s going to try to accomplish it diplomatically.
MIKE PENCE PRAISES TRUMP FOR ‘DECISIVE LEADERSHIP’ ON IRAN AFTER BIDEN ‘SQUANDERED’ US DETERRENCE
“The president has a number of other tools at his disposal to ensure this doesn’t happen,” Vance continued. “He’s shown a willingness to use them, and I hope the Iranians take it seriously in their negotiations tomorrow, because that’s certainly what the president prefers.”
With regard to the status of the ongoing conflict and his involvement with strategy itself, Vance addressed reporters at an event in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Friday, saying negotiations among White House officials are classified but noting he has been involved with discussions.
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“I sit there with [Secretary of War] Pete Hegseth and [Joint Chiefs Air Force] Gen. [Dan] Caine and [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio and the entire White House team, and the president and I and the entire senior team are talking about the options and about what we need to do and about how we must best protect the American people,” Vance told reporters.
“I’m not going to show up here and in front of God and everybody else, tell you exactly what I said in that classified room, partially because I don’t want to go to prison and partially because I think it’s important for the president of the United States to be able to talk to his advisors without those advisors running their mouth to the American media.”
FIFA rejects Iran’s push to move World Cup matches out of US to Mexico
The 2026 World Cup will take place as scheduled, FIFA announced Tuesday after the Iranian ambassador and embassy in Mexico City claimed the country was negotiating with FIFA to move Iran’s three group-stage matches out of the U.S.
In a statement obtained by The Associated Press, FIFA said it is in “regular contact” with all countries competing in the upcoming tournament, which will largely take place in the U.S., but said the matches will take place as previously determined.
“FIFA is in regular contact with all participating member associations, including (the Islamic Republic of) Iran, to discuss planning for the FIFA World Cup 2026. FIFA is looking forward to all participating teams competing as per the match schedule announced on 6 December 2025.”
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Iran is scheduled to play in Inglewood, California, against New Zealand on June 16 and Belgium on June 21 before finishing group play against Egypt in Seattle on June 26. The U.S. is hosting the tournament with Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.
Iran’s ambassador to Mexico Abolfazl Pasandideh urged FIFA to move the team’s games to Mexico in comments posted Monday on the embassy website. He reportedly said that the “best situation” for Iran would be to move the team’s games to Mexico.
FIFA’s statement Tuesday ended speculation that there would be any adjustments to the schedule, including match locations.
IRANIAN WOMEN’S SOCCER PLAYERS PRACTICE WITH AUSTRALIAN CLUB AFTER BEING GRANTED ASYLUM
President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post last week that Iran would be welcome to compete in the World Cup but that it might not be “appropriate” as the conflict in the Middle East continues.
“The Iran National Soccer Team is welcome to The World Cup, but I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety,” he said.
Trump was indifferent the previous week when asked about Iran’s participation in the World Cup, telling Politico, “I really don’t care.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino also said last week that Trump “reiterated” to him in their recent talks that Iran’s soccer team would be “welcome to compete” in the U.S.
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“We all need an event like the FIFA World Cup to bring people together now more than ever, and I sincerely thank the President of the United States for his support, as it shows once again that Football Unites the World,” he said in a post on Instagram.
Previous remarks from Iran’s sports minister have cast doubt on the country’s participation, but the men’s soccer team released a statement Thursday saying that “no one can exclude” the squad from competing, and urged FIFA and the U.S. to ensure the team’s safety.
Next US move on Iran: Seize Kharg Island, secure uranium or risk ground war escalation
As the U.S.–Iran war enters a new phase, the range of options now being discussed stretches from hitting Iran’s economic and oil lifeline at Kharg Island to the far more dangerous prospect of a ground invasion, or a narrower operation focused on Iran’s nuclear material.
The urgency comes as recent U.S. strikes have degraded parts of Iran’s military infrastructure without collapsing the regime, raising pressure on the Trump administration to decide what comes next.
Each option carries significant risks: disrupting Kharg Island could shock global oil markets, a ground invasion could draw the U.S. into a prolonged regional war, and operations targeting nuclear material could trigger escalation while still failing to eliminate the threat.
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What happens next could determine not only the trajectory of the conflict with Iran, but also the stability of global energy supply and the future of Tehran’s nuclear program.
Recent U.S. strikes already hit military targets on Kharg Island, a small island in the Persian Gulf that serves as Iran’s main oil export terminal that has emerged as a central pressure point in the conflict, while sparing its oil infrastructure, underscoring just how consequential the next move could be.
Seizing or neutralizing Kharg Island
Kharg Island is the centerpiece of Iran’s oil export system. The island handles about 90% of Iran’s oil exports, and Iran recently has been exporting roughly 1.1 million to 1.5 million barrels of oil per day, mostly to China.
Recent U.S. strikes on Kharg targeted military installations while leaving key oil facilities intact — a sign that Washington is trying to preserve a major pressure point without immediately detonating global oil markets.
Abdullah Aljunaid, a Bahraini analyst, told Fox News Digital that after Iran’s military capabilities were weakened, the U.S. focus could shift to economic pressure on Iran.
“The Iranian military capacity and offensive abilities have been totally degraded, so we need to probably do something else,” Aljunaid said.
Aljunaid pointed to key strategic sites, including Bushehr — a coastal city in southern Iran on the Persian Gulf that hosts the country’s only operational nuclear power plant and a key port — and Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub.
“We need to take certain strategic assets — geography — like Bushehr and Kharg, out of the equation,” he said. “Those two, especially Kharg, represent the jewel of the crown, and without that, Iran’s economic ability to finance itself is going to be dead.”
He added that control over key maritime choke points could further shift the balance.
“If the U.S. decided to take Bushehr at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, then I believe we can really see a different equation, forcing the Iranians to come to the negotiating table on our terms — the U.S. terms, and probably the rest of the world.”
Retired Gen. Jack Keane has argued that the U.S. could take Iran’s main oil export hub if it chose to do so, but so far has chosen “not to take that now,” he said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
Keane said such a move would effectively put the Iranian regime in “checkmate,” given how heavily its economy depends on the island.
“Now we (would) own all of their major assets,” Keane said. “It’s 50% of their budget, 60% of the revenue, 80, 90% of the distribution points for their oil.”
That view reflects the logic behind a Kharg scenario: disable the regime’s cash flow without launching a full-scale war across Iran’s interior. At the same time, the fact that Kharg’s oil infrastructure was reportedly spared suggests Washington thinks taking the island fully offline could send energy prices sharply higher and shake global markets.
Kharg’s facilities include major storage capacity and any serious disruption there could remove up to roughly 2 million barrels a day from global supply.
There also is a nonkinetic version of this scenario.
In an analysis shared with Fox News Digital, Rick Clay, who served as a senior deputy advisor in Iraq from 2003 to 2009, argued that maritime insurance can function as a strategic choke point.
His argument is that a tanker without recognized coverage cannot easily dock, finance cargo or operate in compliant markets, meaning the United States could pressure Iran’s export system financially even without physically seizing the island.
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A ground invasion of ‘Fortress Iran’
Public analyses have long described Iran’s geography as deeply unfavorable to invading armies, with mountain barriers and desert terrain complicating any large-scale advance.
Historical comparisons often point to Iraq’s failed 1980 invasion of Iran, which turned into a long and bloody war rather than the quick victory Saddam Hussein expected.
The term “Fortress Iran” is often used by analysts to describe the country’s natural defenses — a combination of vast mountain ranges, including the Zagros and Alborz, along with deserts and difficult terrain that have historically made invasion and occupation extremely challenging.
For those reasons, analysts say a ground invasion remains the most extreme — and least plausible — path, given Iran’s size, terrain and history.
Aljunaid made a similar point, noting that even the 1991 liberation of Kuwait required more than half a million troops, and warning that a war inside Iran would be exponentially more complicated.
That concern is reinforced by the current state of the conflict.
Despite sustained U.S.-Israeli strikes and heavy damage to Iran’s military infrastructure, the regime itself remains intact and more hardline, The Washington Post reported, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps consolidating power rather than collapsing.
In other words, air superiority has not translated into regime collapse, which makes the leap to occupation even harder to imagine.
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“We’re not going to put troops on the mainland,” Clay said. “The only troops you might see, if anything, would be to take out those three islands. That’s it.”
He added that there is “no appetite” for a sustained ground presence inside Iran, arguing that any internal change would ultimately depend on the Iranian people.
“It’s going to be in the Iranians’ hands at that point — the Iranian people — whether they rise up,” he said. “We’ve done damage. We’re still going to do some more damage. We’re not done.”
Pointed ops to secure uranium
A third scenario would aim not at occupying territory, but at Iran’s nuclear program itself.
A narrower operation likely would involve targeting Iran’s enriched uranium stockpiles and deeply buried facilities — potentially including efforts to locate, secure or disable nuclear material that cannot be destroyed from the air.
Although President Donald Trump said the June 2025 U.S. strikes had “obliterated” key nuclear sites, analysts note that critical elements of Iran’s program — particularly enriched uranium stockpiles and deeply buried facilities — likely remain intact.
Iran is believed to possess roughly 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60%, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), with more than 200 kilograms likely stored in the underground Isfahan tunnel complex, Reuters reported March 9.
That matters because the material is small enough to hide and move, unlike oil infrastructure, and some of these deeply buried facilities are believed to have survived conventional air attacks — raising the possibility that securing or neutralizing nuclear material could require more targeted, specialized operations.
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Kharg Island offers a way to squeeze Iran’s economy. A ground invasion offers the possibility of a decisive force at extraordinary cost. Targeted operations against nuclear equipment offer a narrower path, but one with high operational risk and no guarantee of finality.
The next phase of the war may depend on which of those risks Washington is willing to take.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital, “President Trump and the administration have clearly outlined the goals of Operation Epic Fury: destroy Iran’s ballistic missiles and production capacity, demolish their navy, end their ability to arm proxies, and prevent them from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon.”
“This effort will continue until President Trump, as commander in chief, determines that the goals of the operation, including for Iran to no longer pose a military threat, have been fully realized,” she added.
The Pentagon chose not to provide a comment.