Jon Rahm arranges private jet for LIV golfers stranded in Middle East amid Iran’s counterattacks: report
Several LIV Golf players were reportedly stranded in Dubai amid attacks by Iran, but they are safe thanks to one of their own.
Seven players and a caddie were stuck in the United Arab Emirates as Iran committed retaliatory attacks on Israel and several of its neighbors.
The Saudi-backed league is playing in Hong Kong this weekend, so those who have homes in Dubai were there before heading to China. But once the attacks began, airports closed and flights were canceled.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
LIV reportedly explored options to get its players to Hong Kong safely, but Jon Rahm took matters into his own hands, according to Golf.com.
The two-time major winner and his team arranged a charter flight through his partnership with VistaJet, a private aviation company, to fly the members from Oman to Hong Kong. LIV had planned on getting its players to London first.
“Do whatever you have to do, but get them get out of there,” Rahm reportedly told his team.
Two of the members were part of Rahm’s Legion XIII squad.
It was no easy commute, as a typical four-plus hour drive was much longer due to traffic with others also trying to get to Oman. But after leaving at around midnight local time Wednesday morning, they landed in Hong Kong nearly eight hours later.
Caleb Surratt, one of the golfers stuck in Dubai, told Golf Channel that it was “terrifying.”
“There’s a lot of relief just knowing that they’re going to see their teammates today, and they’ll be able to compete alongside of them starting tomorrow,” one source told Golf.com.
Rahm joined LIV in late 2023 in what has been rumored to be a deal worth more than $300 million. There has been some speculation that the deal was worth even double that.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
He won the Masters months before joining LIV after winning the U.S. Open in 2021 at Torrey Pines.
Sri Lanka offloads 208 crew members from second Iranian ship a day after US strike sinks frigate
Sri Lanka began offloading 208 crew members from a second Iranian vessel a day after 87 people were killed and several others were still missing following a U.S. submarine strike on an Iranian warship in the same region.
“After detailed discussions with all parties, Sri Lanka has decided to assist the Iranian vessel,” Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told reporters at a press briefing in Colombo, Reuters reported.
Among the crew members being offloaded the ship, which is near the port of Colombo, were 53 officials, 84 cadets, 48 senior sailors and 23 sailors, Dissanayake said.
The Iranian ship, the IRIS Dena, was sunk Wednesday off Sri Lanka’s coast in the Indian Ocean. Officials there have dispatched two freezers to store 87 bodies recovered at sea.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the ship was “effectively neutralized” in a Navy “fast attack” using a single Mark 48 torpedo. He added that the U.S. Navy achieved “immediate effect, sending the warship to the bottom of the sea.”
TRUMP OVERSEES US STRIKES ON IRAN FROM MAR-A-LAGO, SPEAKS WITH NETANYAHU: WH
Iran contends the ship was sunk in international waters without warning.
“The U.S. will bitterly regret the precedent it has set,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a post on X.
Iran has asked Sri Lanka to assist with the repatriation of the bodies.
Sri Lankan officials said the Dena was on its way home after taking part in a naval exercise organized by India in the Bay of Bengal from Feb. 18 to 25.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Search and rescue operations would continue for an estimated 10 people who remain unaccounted for, they said.
Iranian women’s soccer fans show support for Trump as team appears to pivot on national anthem stance
The Iranian women’s soccer team appeared to pivot from its silent stance at the Women’s Asian Cup Thursday, singing and saluting during its national anthem before its match against Australia.
Iranian fans voiced support for President Donald Trump in the stands amid the ongoing joint military campaign against Iran.
Before the start of the match against Australia, the women’s team notably participated in the performance of the anthem. The women saluted as rain added to the somber moment.
It was in stark contrast to the opening match against South Korea, when the women’s squad stood silent as Iranian head coach Marziyeh Jafari, also silent, smiled at her team. The silence was interpreted by some as an act of resistance amid the ongoing joint military strikes by the U.S. and Israel against Iran.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
But, according to reports, the squad was “instructed” to participate in their next match. The team has remained silent on the subject since before the start of the tournament. The Women’s Asian Cup did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The night before Iran’s 4-0 loss to Australia, Iranian striker Sara Didar choked back tears as she shared the concerns of players and management for families and loved ones during the war.
“Obviously, we’re all concerned, and we’re sad at what has happened to Iran and our families in Iran,” Didar said in comments translated into English during a news conference. “I really hope for our country to have good news ahead. And I hope that my country will be strongly alive.”
Jafari and other players declined to answer questions about the war at their opening news conference Sunday. On Wednesday, moderators asked reporters to stick to soccer-related questions.
Meanwhile, supporters of Iran voiced their support for Trump and a free Iran during Thursday’s match. Pre-Islamic Revolution flags were waving in the crowd, while others held up signs with letters spelling Trump’s name.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
In video remarks posted to Truth Social, Trump encouraged the Iranian people to take over their government once the United States and Israel finished “major combat operations” in Iran.
“The hour of your freedom is at hand. Stay sheltered. Don’t leave your home. It’s very dangerous outside,” he said, addressing the Iranian people. “This will be, probably, your only chance for generations.
“For many years, you have asked for America’s help, but you never got it. No President was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight. Now you have a President who is giving you what you want.”
Iran’s ‘death by 1,000 cuts’ strategy backfires as US refuses ‘nuclear roulette,’ ex-special ops soldier says
A former U.S. special operations soldier told Fox News Iran’s strategy of incrementally eroding its enemies’ forces has become ineffective, and the United States signaled it will not engage in what he calls “nuclear roulette.”
Iran’s campaign of attacks across the Middle East and beyond has hit at least 12 countries, raising concerns the regime could be intentionally prolonging the war.
“Iran’s strategy has always been this death by a thousand cuts. Launch a few drones here, arm a proxy militia there, threaten shipping lanes somewhere else,” Brett Velicovich said Thursday on “The Faulkner Focus.”
“But that strategy only works if the United States hesitates,” he added, arguing that the United States has responded reservedly in the past.
“But we are done abandoning our red lines, and it’s clear our leadership is no longer going to play nuclear roulette with this regime. … We’re watching the entire chessboard,” he said. “We’re prepared to respond wherever American interests are threatened.”
FORMER TOP GUN PILOT DECLARES IRAN MILITARY ‘OVER WITH’ AMID US AIR SUPERIORITY, BUT WARNS OF ANOTHER DANGER
Velicovich made his comments as U.S. forces launch precision strikes on Iranian missile infrastructure.
Rather than sending neighbors into a tailspin, Velicovich said Tehran’s attempt at regional escalation has instead unified adversaries and triggered a more forceful response.
Iran has fired on Israel, Turkey, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Cyprus and Bahrain, among others.
Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin said Thursday on “The Faulkner Focus” that the seemingly erratic strikes support Iran’s strategy of widening the war and forcing its adversaries to burn through limited supplies of high-tech missile interceptors and raise oil prices by threatening ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
“This is not a country defending itself anymore,” Velicovich said. “It’s a regime exporting chaos in every direction. It’s a regime full of psychopaths that should not exist in modern society.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The United States and Israel on Saturday launched strikes targeting Iran’s leadership, including its Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed. Iran’s missile arsenal and nuclear facilities were also hit in the campaign, dubbed Operation Epic Fury.
Iran has carried out retaliatory strikes since then, with the latest wave coming one day after the United States sank an Iranian warship, killing at least 87 Iranian sailors.
Red Cross shares audio of Iranian civilian explaining situation on the ground in Tehran: ‘No respite’
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) released audio Thursday of a civilian in Tehran describing what it’s like on the ground as Operation Epic Fury rocks Iran.
“To us here, the war did not start four days ago. It started when we heard the initial news of a piling up of the forces in the region and preparations for war. Now, with the war going on, we hear constant explosions, and there is no respite from this,” the unidentified civilian said.
The civilian said the frequency of explosions has made people so nervous that even everyday noises can cause panic attacks.
“Any moment you can expect a loud noise. This has made us so nervous that any loud noise, including the noise of a car passing by, gives us a panic attack,” the civilian said.
Even with the noise of the explosions, the civilian, who said he was born and raised in Tehran, noticed the city had become a ghost town as people had either fled the war or limited movements to stay safe from aerial attacks.
“As a person who was born and lived his whole life in this city, I have never seen the city so quiet,” the civilian said. “Some of the people of my city have left. Many others stayed in, trying to limit movements to avoid getting caught in the aerial attacks on the city that never seem to come to an end. You don’t see people around. My city was a very big city and busy. I’m not used to seeing my city so calm and quiet.”
The U.S. and Israel have carried out air and sea attacks on Iran since the operation began Saturday. The operation has killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, according to The Associated Press. Additionally, six U.S. service members in Kuwait were killed in the hostilities.
“The ICRC is alarmed by growing threats to the safety and dignity of civilians in Iran, Israel, Lebanon and the Gulf region as major military operations continue to escalate. Civilians are already paying a very heavy price. They are being injured and killed, and civilian infrastructure including houses, schools, hospitals and airports is being affected. Collective political will is needed to stop the catastrophic chain reaction that is endangering countless lives,” an ICRC spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
IRAN’S DRONE SWARM ATTACKS UNLEASH ‘EXPONENTIAL COSTS’ ON US, PROLONGING WAR: ‘ASYMMETRIC CAPABILITY’
“Across the region, civilians are confined to shelters or scrambling in search of safety. Many have spent sleepless nights shaken by the sound of explosions and lost contact with family members. They are living in fear for their lives and the lives of their loved ones. With airspace restrictions, people are trapped within an expanding battlefield that is already affecting populated urban areas,” the ICRC spokesperson added.
The ICRC has previously expressed concerns about the situation in Iran, and the organization’s president said on day one of Operation Epic Fury that it could have “devastating consequences for civilians.”
“The military escalation in the Middle East is igniting a dangerous chain reaction across the region, with potentially devastating consequences for civilians,” ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric said.
In a statement issued a few days later, Spoljaric warned that “the scale of major military operations flaring across the Middle East risks embroiling the region — and beyond — into another large-scale armed conflict that will overwhelm any humanitarian response.”
“Without urgent steps to de-escalate the situation and respect the rules of war, further civilian lives will be lost,” Spoljaric added. “Civilians are already suffering the consequences of war.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
According to the civilian, Iranians on the ground are worried about the future and wonder how the war will play out. Another fear among the people is the possibility of supplies running out.
“The supplies are available in the shops that are open and work. But what if the situation gets worse or continues as it is now? Will the supplies being stocked be of any help, or will they be meaningless in the face of what can happen?” the civilian wondered.
“It is especially more worrying for people like me, who have to take care of people with medical complications that require special care. We are now under a lot of stress, worried to see what can come next.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the ICRC for comment.
Kurdish fighters watch for opening to strike Iran as Trump voices support
FIRST ON FOX: As U.S. and Israeli military pressure on Iran intensifies, and President Donald Trump signals support for Kurdish forces, Kurdish opposition groups along the country’s western frontier tell Fox News Digital they are watching closely for an opportunity to strike back against the Islamic Republic, which they have fought for decades.
Kako Aliyar, a member of the leadership committee of the Kurdish opposition party Komala, told Fox News Digital from an undisclosed location in Iraq that the Kurdish movements are ready to act if conditions allow.
“Kurds have been waiting for a moment to do something,” Aliyar said. “We believe that those moments are not far from us.”
But Aliyar said Kurdish forces cannot yet move against the regime because Iran still retains the ability to launch missile and drone attacks, which opposition fighters would struggle to defend against.
Aliyar said Iranian forces continue to target Kurdish opposition bases across the border in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
Trump signaled support for Kurdish fighters launching an offensive against Iran, saying in a telephone interview with Reuters Thursday that he would back such a move.
“I think it’s wonderful that they want to do that — I’d be all for it,” Trump said.
Asked whether the United States would provide air cover for a Kurdish offensive, Trump declined to elaborate.
“I can’t tell you that,” he said.
Aliyar said Kurdish groups remain under pressure from Iran and continue to face attacks on their bases across the border in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
“Our camps, the Kurdish political parties, are still under attack by the Iranian regime, and we can’t go into detail,” he said.
Still, he indicated that if the opportunity arises, Kurdish fighters would attempt to return to Iranian territory.
“If we get an opportunity to go back to our own country, we will use it,” he said.
Kurdish opposition signals unity
The comments come as Iranian Kurdish opposition groups attempt to present a united front against Iran.
In February, several factions formed the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan, bringing together parties including Komala, the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), PJAK and the Kurdistan Freedom Party.
Aliyar said the coalition is still organizing itself but carries an important political message.
“Politically, it’s a huge message for the Kurdish people inside the country and the international community that Kurds are united,” he said. “We are working together, and we are trying to reach our goals together.”
Kurdish groups have long fought the Iranian government. Armed clashes between Kurdish militants and Iranian forces date back to the years following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when Kurdish factions sought autonomy and were violently suppressed by Tehran.
Today, many Kurdish opposition groups operate from neighboring Iraqi Kurdistan, where they maintain political offices and limited military forces.
NETANYAHU INSISTS US AND ISRAEL’S STRIKES ON IRAN WON’T LEAD TO ‘ENDLESS WAR’
Waiting for Iran’s military capabilities to weaken
Aliyar suggested Kurdish forces would only be able to move if Iran’s military capabilities are significantly degraded.
“I believe those missile and drone abilities have to be more weakened or totally removed because we are not able to defend ourselves against them,” he said.
Iran’s ability to launch missiles and drones remains one of the regime’s strongest deterrents against internal or external challengers.
“They can still launch missiles and they can still kill people,” Aliyar said.
If those capabilities were reduced, he believes Kurdish forces could attempt to exploit the moment.
“I think everyone has the capacity to do so because Kurdish political parties have huge legitimacy among the people,” he said. “People support them, people support us.”
However, Aliyar cautioned that no one can predict how events will unfold.
“When a war starts, you are trying to find a way to use it in your best way, but you cannot predict what happens tomorrow,” he said.
Kurdish resistance rooted in decades of struggle
Kurds in Iran represent one of the country’s largest ethnic minorities and have historically maintained organized opposition movements.
Kurdish parties developed armed wings and political networks decades ago, giving them a level of organizational structure that many other Iranian opposition movements lack.
Jino Victoria Doabi, an international political analyst focused on Iran and Kurdistan, told Fox News Digital, “Kurds inside Iran have their own history and tradition of struggle and resistance with political parties and armed forces.”
Doabi said Kurdish forces are unlikely to move without clear backing from Washington.
TRUMP TELLS IRANIANS THE ‘HOUR OF YOUR FREEDOM IS AT HAND’ AS US-ISRAEL LAUNCH STRIKES AGAINST
IRAN
“For that to happen, they need assurance from America, both politically but also security-wise,” Doabi said.
“Kurds have learned that they cannot just do it for the good cause anymore, because that’s going to cause civilians a lot of pain and destruction and killings.”
Discussions about the idea of Kurdish involvement may have been underway long before the recent escalation, according to Doabi.
“I don’t think this has happened overnight,” she said. “I think this has been discussed for a long time.”
Regional complications
Despite the growing attention on Kurdish groups, Aliyar emphasized that Iraqi Kurdish authorities are not directly involved in any potential campaign.
“Iraqi Kurds are not part of it,” he said. “I am not Iraqi, so I cannot comment on that.”
Analysts say Kurdish insurgents alone are unlikely to topple the Iranian regime. But if internal unrest spreads and Kurdish forces coordinate with broader opposition movements, Iran’s western frontier could become a serious pressure point for Iran.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
For Aliyar and other Kurdish leaders, however, the goal remains clear after decades of opposition to the Islamic Republic.
“We have had this desire for 47 years,” he said. “If we get an opportunity, we will use it.”
Expert warns radical Islamist networks could shift West after Iran regime shakeup
Radical Islamist networks pushed out of the Middle East amid Operation Epic Fury could soon attempt to regroup in the West, Hudson Institute research fellow Ayaan Hirsi Ali warned Thursday.
“You have to ask yourself, where are these people going to go? Where will the Islamists, the people who run the Houthis, the people that run Hezbollah, the people that benefited from the Islamist regime of Iran, where will they go? They will try and come to the West,” she told “Fox & Friends.”
“They’ll try to come to America. They’ll come to Europe.“
“In America, we have an administration that has closed the borders. Thank you, Donald Trump, for that, and I think as we get into the next phase of this, we’re going to start to look at networks all across the United States of America of subversion through Islamists, whether it’s the Muslim Brotherhood or the Shia branches of that.”
Ali issued a stark warning to European leaders, arguing that liberal open-border policies have created prime conditions for radical Islamists to gain influence and possess “enormous clout” politically and financially.
She warned that Europe in particular faces what she called a growing “red-green alliance,” an informal alignment between far-left political movements and Islamist groups that she argues share overlapping anti-Western goals.
“That is what I call the red-green alliance, where the red are the communists, the Marxists, the far leftists, and the greens are the Islamist movements,” she explained.
ENEMY WITHIN: COUNTERTERRORISM EXPERTS FEAR SLEEPER CELLS COULD BE POISED INSIDE US
Ali’s comments come as joint U.S.-Israeli military strikes continue pummeling Iranian military infrastructure and eliminating key regime leaders.
The campaign has intensified pressure on Tehran, raising questions about the fate of the Islamic regime.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
U.S. and allied forces have carried out extensive air and missile strikes on Iranian military and command targets in an effort to degrade Tehran’s capabilities, including its ballistic missile sites and nuclear enrichment facilities.
The operation follows stalled diplomatic efforts and aims to prevent Iran from advancing its nuclear and military ambitions. Iranian forces have launched retaliatory missile and drone attacks on U.S. and allied positions across the Middle East.
Watch shipping through the Strait of Hormuz grind to a halt amid Iran conflict
Few places on the planet matter more to the global economy than the Strait of Hormuz.
Just about 21 miles wide at its narrowest, the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman is a global energy choke point. The waterway carries roughly 20 million barrels a day and about one-fifth of global liquefied natural gas, making it a top-value target when conflict in the region erupts.
That’s why the latest disruption, triggered by U.S.-Israeli strikes over the weekend and retaliatory Iranian drone and missile attacks across the region, is forcing shippers to rethink whether it’s safe to transit the key waterway.
“You’ve essentially had the Strait of Hormuz grind down to a halt,” explained Matt Smith, an analyst at Kpler, a data and analytics firm.
He said the slowdown isn’t necessarily because Iran has formally closed the waterway, though Tehran has threatened to, but because shippers are weighing the risk of missile or drone strikes in the narrow corridor.
GAS PRICES COULD JUMP AS MIDDLE EAST TENSIONS THREATEN GLOBAL OIL SUPPLY
The result, Smith said, is a growing bottleneck of crude and refined products. And if the disruption stretches from days into weeks, Smith warned, the fallout could intensify quickly.
“If this drags on for weeks, the ramifications are huge,” he said, pointing to early ripple effects already emerging in global energy markets.
Those concerns are already changing behavior in the shipping industry.
Maersk, widely regarded as a bellwether for global ocean freight, said it will suspend all vessel crossings through the Strait of Hormuz until further notice and warned service to Arabian Gulf ports could be delayed.
Insurers are also retreating. Major maritime insurers, including Gard, Skuld, NorthStandard, the London P&I Club and the American Club, said they will cancel war-risk coverage starting this week. Under the changes, war-risk coverage would be excluded in Iranian waters and across the Gulf and nearby waters, the notices said.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
With ships sidelined and insurance tightening, the strain is now showing up on the production side.
The disruptions are also hitting production on the ground. Qatar on Monday halted liquefied natural gas (LNG) production after Iran struck two of its gas facilities. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, suspended operations at its largest oil refinery after an Iranian drone attack sparked a fire.
Smith said the knock-on effects are spreading quickly: Iraq is starting to curb output, some Asian refineries are cutting runs, and Qatar has declared force majeure, a formal notification to buyers that it may not be able to deliver exports as promised because of the conflict.
“This is only going to escalate if this continues for weeks rather than days,” Smith said, warning oil prices could surge into “levels we’ve never seen before” if the disruption drags on.