And another one bites the dust

The late, not great, Alireza Tangsiri

There have been loads of eliminations by the IDF of senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders, Basij leaders, nuclear scientists, heads of the air force, ballistic missile scientists, government spokesmen, and many others. 

Well now, the long list recently got longer by one additional scumcrumpet with the announcement by Israel that it had removed IRGC naval commander, Alireza Tangsiri, from the game of life. Tangsiri was the guy who organized the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and now he is with his virgin Capra aegagrus hircuses.

The IAF strike killed Tangsiri in Bandar Abbas, adjacent to the Strait of Hormuz. The IDF and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed it after an Israeli official informed The Jerusalem Post earlier on Thursday.

Israeli defense sources have confirmed to the New York Post that the strike that killed Tangsiri took place early Thursday morning at 3 a.m. local time. The sources said that a number of Tangsiri’s top naval aides were killed in the same attack.

In a video statement issued on Thursday, the prime minister said Tangsiri had “a great deal of blood on his hands” and was the person “who led the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.” . . . Tangsiri was widely seen as taking an increasingly aggressive stance in recent weeks on Iran’s actions in the Gulf, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz, but now his stance is forever prone.

Last week he threatened retaliation against US facilities in the region, warning civilians and workers to stay away. 

“Our list of targets is updated. Oil facilities associated with America are now on par with American bases and will come under fire with full force,” Tangsiri said at the time, before being blown into fish chum.

Scary stuff, no? Too bad that Admiral Tangsiri couldn’t be around to see how even more of his ships, now amounting to more than 100, and among them 92 percent of Iran’s largest warships, are now at the bottom of the Persian Gulf.

After Israel’s first main attack on Iran on October 26, 2024, when the IDF destroyed almost all of Iran’s air defenses, the Iranians promised a terrible revenge. Like the Monty Python Black Knight's call for retaliation, it never came. 

Then the Iranian regime rolled their shoulders, grabbed their crotches and threatened that if Israel launches any further attack on their country they would “wipe Israel off the face of the earth forever.” All bluster.

Why wait for another attack by Israel? Wasn’t that 12-day aggression by the Jewish state enough to justify an Iranian response that would end the Jewish state’s existence? If Iran was so all-powerful, why did it refrain from responding to that Israeli attack? 

The IRGC has its excuse: according to its version of events, Iran delivered a terrific blow against Israel in that war and has no need to respond further unless of course the Israelis were foolish enough to attack Iran again. Then Iran would not only repeat its previous “victory” but would wipe Israel “off the face of the Earth.” 

Yet another attack came and Am Yisrael Chai, baby. 

And now Alireza Tangsiri, author of yet more threats on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is dead.

Alireza Tangsiri did his best for his home team, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He was the naval mastermind who carried out the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, directed maritime attacks on civilian structures and military targets in the Gulf Arab states, and supported the Houthis with intelligence that will be wasted on that group of cretins.

Who’s next on the IDF’s To-Do List?

The crown prince of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, has his own sources of information inside Iran. Many Iranians are fed up with the regime and have been for decades.

They have seen the hundreds of billions of dollars invested in the nuclear program go up in smoke. The tens of billions of dollars that Iran has spent on supporting its proxies with weaponry and money, especially Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, have similarly evanesced as a result of Israeli attack.

Finally, the crushing blow delivered by the IDF to Iran, and then the further damage done by the American bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities at Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan, have so demoralized many members of the IRGC that some of them now want out. Also, not getting paid for their terrorism doesn't help the morale very much either.

They can no longer support a regime that has destroyed the country’s economy, with more than 30 percent of Iranians now living below the poverty line, that crushes peaceful dissent, and has misspent hundreds of billions of dollars both on failing proxies (Hamas, Hezbollah) and on a nuclear program that has just been demolished.

They sense the regime is crumbling and want to get out while there is still time.

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There's a new guy actually running Iran and he's an obstacle to peace

Happy-Go-Lucky Ahmad Vahidi

After the US-Israeli airstrikes had shaken the very foundations of Iran’s leadership and left dozens of its top officials dead in the opening phase of the conflict, one figure emerged from the shadows to seize control of the Islamic Republic. This was no moderate reformer or reluctant pragmatist, but a terrorist and opportunist in waiting who had long prepared for such a moment.

Major General Ahmad Vahidi, the happy-go-lucky commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, gathered his inner circle and assumed direction of both the military campaign and the negotiating effort. Analysts noted the shift immediately. As soon as Vahidi, now a spritely 67, and his allies took charge, Iran hardened its position still further. 

Officials refused outright to join peace talks with the United States this week, while Tehran intensified its attacks on vessels attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

Vahidi, long sanctioned by the West and tied to terror attacks in Argentina, embodies the most extreme faction within the regime, so don't let his religious zabiba [A zabiba (Arabic for "raisin") is a dark, hardened callus on the forehead of some Muslims, known as a prayer bump or "devout sign"] make you think otherwise.

He has pushed aside Tehran’s so-called moderates, including those nominally leading negotiations with America. Even if Washington were somehow to extract a deal from Iran’s delegation, that agreement would carry no weight so long as Vahidi and his hardliner scumcrumpets remain the true power behind the throne. And with the gay junior Ayatollah laid up uni-legged, and probably looking like ten miles of bad road, there is nobody else running things for the regime.

Vahidi had commanded Iran’s goose-stepping, Hitler-esque elite Quds Force in the 1990s. In that role he laid the groundwork for Iranian influence across the Middle East before passing the position to the terror mastermind, the late but not forgotten Qasem Soleimani. Together, Vahidi and Soleimani helped create the network of proxies that now stretches from Lebanon to Yemen, most notably the Hezbollah terrorist group. 

Unlike the last two IRGC chiefs, Vahidi moved comfortably between the military and political worlds. He served as defense minister and interior minister under different administrations. Last December the now dead Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei appointed him deputy chief of the IRGC. When Khamenei and former IRGC Chief Mohammad Pakpour were killed in US-Israeli strikes on 28 February, Vahidi rose to the top like a log in a cesspool, if you know what I mean.

The question that now hangs over Tehran is simple: who is really in charge in Iran? 

Following Khamenei’s death, Vahidi championed the late leader’s unimpressive gay son, Mojtaba Khamenei, as successor, despite reports that the old ayatollah had never intended him for the role due to his embarassing sexual taste and less than desired cognitive abilities. 

Mojtaba was injured in the 28 February strikes and has not been seen in public since. Khosro Isfahani, research director for the Washington-based National Union for Democracy an Iran think tank, offered a blunt assessment.

“If Mojtaba is alive, and that is a big if, he is just a sock puppet. He is the first AI-generated supreme leader in human history,” Isfahani told The Post, referencing the fake photos the regime had posted of Mojtaba following his appointment. “He has zero political capital, zero public support, and zero sway over the decision-making. The regime has and will continue attributing statements to him,” Isfahani added.

Vahidi’s grip on the negotiating team became unmistakable when he installed Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, an IRGC veteran and secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, into the delegation earlier this month. Zolghadr’s task, according to the Institute for the Study of War, was to ensure the team followed the IRGC’s hardline instructions. He fulfilled that role with ruthless efficiency. When Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi appeared to hint at possible concessions in the first round of talks, Zolghadr promptly reported him.

“Zolghadr sent a complaint to senior IRGC leaders, almost certainly including Vahidi, that Araghchi had surpassed his mandate during the negotiations by expressing flexibility regarding Iran’s support for the Axis of Resistance,” the ISW said of the initial peace talks. “Zolghadr’s anger caused senior leaders in Tehran, including former IRGC Intelligence Organization Chief and long-time member of Mojtaba’s inner circle, Hossein Taeb, to call the negotiating delegation back to Tehran,” the think tank added.

Iran’s delegation has still not returned to Pakistan to resume talks with the United States. The message is clear. Vahidi and his allies, not the diplomats or the figurehead supreme leader, now dictate the course of the Islamic Republic. The regime’s most extreme elements hold the reins, and they show no intention of loosening their grip as they continue to get their butts kicked by US and Israeli forces.

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Iran is a total clusterfrack today

The Iranian government appears deeply divided and weakened with power struggles.

Reports indicate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has gained significant influence to the point that the situation can be considered to be a coup, sometimes overriding civilian officials like the Foreign Minister. There's indications that IRGC commanders are controlling military decisions and even isolating parts of the leadership. 

President Masoud Pezeshkian’s administration seems sidelined in key areas and he is even less of a figurehead than ever before.

The current ceasefire is nearing its end (or extension deadline) but it looks like President Trump is going to hold off attacking the regime . Iran has sent mixed signals, some officials announced the Strait of Hormuz was "open," but the IRGC contradicted this and attacked vessels, so it's as if the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. 

The situation is highly volatile,

Iran has stated it has "no plans" for further peace talks (e.g., in Islamabad, Pakistan), accusing the US of bad faith [because we refuse to allow them to continue with their nuclear ambitions]. The Trump administration has threatened to resume strikes on infrastructure if no deal is reached, while also signaling a possible short extension tied to Iran's internal fractures.

Meanwhile, the regime continues executions, torture of detainees, and crackdowns on dissent, including against protesters from earlier this year. Opposition groups like the PMOI (Mujahedin-e Khalq) report ongoing anti-regime activities despite the risks.

Pro-regime rallies in Tehran supporting the government, showing some remaining base of support amid the chaos. However, these Islamists are significantly fewer in number than the Iranian people who are attempting to replace the current government with non-terrorist people.

Broader ContextThe regime survived the immediate aftermath of the strikes and Khamenei's death without collapsing, but it is "seriously fractured," as Trump has noted. Economic damage from sanctions, protests, and the war has compounded long-standing issues. The IRGC's hardline stance seems to be driving more aggressive or inconsistent policies compared to the Foreign Ministry.

No one knows exactly "who’s in charge" at every moment, with the IRGC appearing to hold significant de facto power. The situation remains fluid--talks could resume, the ceasefire could extend (or break), or escalation could return quickly. 

It's a veritable clusterfrack.

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IRGC grows like a tumor and puts their president on the sidelines

Dancing to the song "Gloria, Gloria"

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, that charming bunch of regime enforcers who make the old-school mullahs look almost reasonable, has decided it’s tired of pretending the civilians are in charge. According to a report out Tuesday from Iran International, the IRGC has blocked President Masoud Pezeshkian’s presidential appointments and thrown up what sources are calling a security cordon around the gay Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

The IRGC has basically grabbed the wheel on key state functions, the report claimed. Color us shocked.

"It was always a matter of when, not if, the IRGC was going to step forward even more than it has in the last three decades," Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital.

Pezeshkian has hit a "complete political deadlock" as the knife fight between his administration and the military brass gets uglier by the day, according to the report.

The reported power grab could echo way beyond Iran’s dusty borders. Analysts figure a pumped-up IRGC means an even more belligerent Tehran, one that will laugh in the face of any serious talks with Washington and keep cranking up the military chaos across the region. With U.S.-Iran negotiations already circling the drain and nobody sure if Tehran will even bother showing up for the next round, this IRGC dominance raises some fresh and unpleasant questions about who is actually calling the shots in Iran and whether any civilian stooge can still pretend to speak for the terrorist regime.

"But it’s a mistake to assume this is some sort of coup," Ben Taleblu said. "This has been the process in Iran for years now, as the regime has chosen conflict over cooperation and emboldened its security forces at every juncture."

Pezeshkian’s latest pathetic attempt to name a new intelligence minister went belly-up after IRGC commander Ahmad Vahidi applied the usual gentle persuasion. Sources told Iran International that every candidate, including former Defense Minister Hossein "Hoss" Dehghan, got the boot.

Vahidi reportedly insisted that under wartime conditions, all critical and sensitive positions must be chosen and managed directly by the Revolutionary Guard until further notice.

"By any standard, Vahidi is considered a radical even within the regime’s hardline elite, and his rise is a warning that Tehran’s war machine now calls the shots," Lisa Daftari, foreign policy analyst and journalist, told Fox News Digital.

Under Iran’s delightful theocratic setup, the president is supposed to nominate an intelligence minister only after getting the supreme leader’s blessing. But with Mojtaba Khamenei’s condition and whereabouts looking sketchy lately, the IRGC seems perfectly happy operating without any civilian fig leaf.

The report claims Pezeshkian has been begging for an urgent sit-down with Khamenei and keeps getting ghosted.

Instead, Iran International says a "military council" of senior IRGC officers is now guarding the gates to real power, blocking government reports from reaching Mojtaba and basically keeping the elected government on the outside looking in.

Still, the smart analysts point out this is less a shocking twist and more the logical endpoint of a long, ugly trend. The Revolutionary Guard has been slowly swallowing Iranian politics, the economy, and national security for years.

Ben Taleblu argued that anyone getting worked up over Pezeshkian’s apparent sidelining should remember the guy never had real juice to begin with. It has always been the mullahs and the Ayatollahs.

"Those who worry about Pezeshkian’s potential sidelining need to consider what he realistically was or wasn’t able to do mere months ago when the regime slaughtered 40,000 Iranians in the streets," he said.

Pezeshkian, who won in 2025 by promising moderation and reform like every other reformist sucker before him, has spent his whole time in office getting slapped down by the security goons and the clerical overlords. The latest report just suggests that slap has turned into a full-on beatdown as Iran stares down more external heat and internal mess.

One of the juicier details involves Ali Asghar Hejazi, a heavyweight security guy inside the supreme leader’s office. Some of Mojtaba’s straight pals are now trying to shove Hejazi out the door because he had the nerve to oppose Mojtaba inheriting the throne from daddy.

The report said Hejazi warned the Assembly of Experts that Mojtaba didn’t have the chops to be supreme leader and that turning the job into a family business would trash the principles old man Ali Khamenei supposedly laid out.

Hejazi reportedly also warned that installing Mojtaba would basically gift-wrap the whole country for the Revolutionary Guard and shove civilian institutions into the dumpster for good.

That warning is starting to look less like prophecy and more like today’s headlines.

The Revolutionary Guard, cooked up after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the regime from its own people, long ago stopped pretending it was just a military outfit. It now runs big chunks of Iran’s economy, babysits the missile and nuclear programs, and has its tentacles in pretty much every corner of government. The latest moves suggest the IRGC isn’t even bothering to lurk in the shadows anymore. It’s out in the open, flexing as the real boss in Tehran. And the mullahs wonder why the world keeps treating them like the threat they are.

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Distress call captures tanker under fire, Iran shuts Hormuz trapping thousands of sailors

Fox News is reporting on skyrocketing tensions in the Middle East as Iran's Revolutionary Guard doubles down on its iron grip over the Strait of Hormuz and opens fire on passing ships.

President Trump, speaking from the Oval Office, made it crystal clear that the U.S. naval blockade will stay in full force. White House correspondent Alex Hogan is on the ground with the latest on this rapidly escalating diplomatic and military standoff.

Hundreds of commercial tankers are now stranded on both sides of the Strait of Hormuz after Iran slammed shut this critical chokepoint on April 18, bringing traffic to a complete halt and leaving crews trapped amid reports of gunfire and "traumatic experiences" on board.

The Strait of Hormuz is considered an international waterway under international law, through which ships have the right of transit passage, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz, making it a critical chokepoint for global energy markets, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said Iranian gunboats opened fire on a tanker the same day, while a projectile struck a container vessel, damaging cargo.

U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that "U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers are among the assets executing a blockade mission impacting Iranian ports." (CENTCOM)

Audio released by maritime monitoring group TankerTrackers appears to capture the moment a vessel and its crew came under fire while approaching the strait, including a distress call from a crew member.

"Sepah Navy! Motor tanker Sanmar Herald! You gave me clearance to go… you are firing now. Let me turn back!" the crew member can be heard saying in the recording, according to TankerTrackers.

Iranian state media confirmed that shots were fired near vessels to force them to turn back, while the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India said the foreign secretary was deeply concerned.

Hapag-Lloyd, the world’s fifth-largest container shipping line, told Fox News Digital that it had activated a crisis team as its crews remain stuck on board vessels in the region.

"We have been working from Friday afternoon until today with the entire crisis team to bring the vessels out — in vain, unfortunately," said Nils Haupt, senior director of group communications at Hapag-Lloyd AG.

"These events can easily lead to traumatic experiences. There is also a significant risk from sea mines, which has made insuring vessels for passage through the Strait nearly impossible."

"The crews are well, but they are becoming increasingly impatient and frustrated. It is very unfortunate that we could not leave today," he added. "Many ships are still stuck in the Persian Gulf."

"Our six ships are anchored near the port of Dubai, and all crews hope for an improvement in the situation," Haupt said.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on April 18 that the strait would remain closed until the U.S. lifts its blockade on Iranian ports, warning ships not to move from anchorage or risk being treated as "enemy" collaborators.

Iran has previously argued that restrictions on its oil exports and shipping amount to "economic warfare," framing actions in the Strait of Hormuz as a response to foreign pressure on its economy, according to statements from Iranian officials and state media in past incidents.

"Approaching the Strait of Hormuz will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and any violating vessel will be targeted," the IRGC said in a statement carried by the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.

Fishing boats dot the sea as cargo ships, in the background, sail through the Arabian Gulf toward the Strait of Hormuz off the United Arab Emirates, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo)The United States imposed the blockade on Iranian ports to pressure Tehran to reopen the strait, with U.S. Central Command saying the measures are being enforced "impartially against all vessels."

Hapag-Lloyd said its vessels have been stuck for weeks following the initial closure after the outbreak of war with Iran on Feb. 28.

"For us, it is critical that our vessels can pass through the strait soon," Haupt said."We offer all crew members unlimited data so they can video call loved ones and access entertainment. Crews are strong, but after weeks on board there is growing monotony and frustration."

"One crew experienced a fire on board from bomb fragments. Others have seen missiles or drones near their vessels," he added.

"They are resilient, but each additional day makes the situation more difficult, more monotonous, and more stressful."

President Trump said Iran had agreed not to close the strait again but after the closure, Trump called the situation "blackmail" and said the U.S. would not back down.

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Trump tells Iranian regime what will happen if there's no deal

President Donald Trump may be the funniest and most amusing president the country has ever seen, but he isn't kidding around with the Iranian regime. He told Fox News Sunday what he planned to do if the regime fails to agree to his deal once the ceasefire ends

"If the deal isn’t done, the deal that we made, then I’m going to take out their bridges and their power plants," he said as he fired off another warning to repeat his threat to end "civilization" in Iran. "If they don’t sign this thing, the whole country is going to get blown up." Hopefully, he wasn't including the anti-regime citizens who so bravely stood up against the Ayatollah and have lost tens of thousands of peaceful protesters in the events that followed.

"We’re preparing to hit them harder than any country has ever been hit before because you cannot let them have a nuclear weapon," Trump added.

Those remarks came as Trump mocked the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in a Truth Social post for staking claim to a Strait of Hormuz "blockade" the U.S. military had already put in place.

"Iran recently announced that they were closing the Strait, which is strange, because our BLOCKADE has already closed it," Trump wrote. "They’re helping us without knowing, and they are the ones that lose with the closed passage, $500 Million Dollars a day! The United States loses nothing.

"In fact, many Ships [sic] are headed, right now, to the U.S., Texas, Louisiana, and Alaska, to load up, compliments of the IRGC, always wanting to be 'the tough guy!'"

Notably, Trump told Fox News that there is turmoil in Iran, over control of a country whose multiple layers of leadership had been killed over the past few months of strikes by Israel and the U.S.

"There's a little bit of a fight between the moderates [in Iran] and the crazies," Trump said. "Nobody's winning it."

"Our Navy has done an unbelievable job," he continued. "We haven't even been challenged." 

Trump declared that Saturday's IRGC fire was "a total violation" of the ceasefire."Iran decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz — A Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement!" his Truth Social post began.

"Many of them were aimed at a French Ship, [sic] and a Freighter [sic] from the United Kingdom. That wasn’t nice, was it? My Representatives [sic] are going to Islamabad, Pakistan — They will be there tomorrow evening, for Negotiations [sic]."

Trump remains hopeful, albeit not completely grammatical, about diplomacy, while he is not ruling out a return to force, where he once warned about ending "civilization" in Iran as they know it.

"We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran," Trump's stern warning continued.

"NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!

No more [sic]s.

"They’ll come down fast, they’ll come down easy and, if they don’t take the DEAL, it will be my Honor to do what has to be done, which should have been done to Iran, by other Presidents, for the last 47 years. IT’S TIME FOR THE IRAN KILLING MACHINE TO END!"

Trump's Middle East peace envoys are going to take the next step toward a diplomatic resolution first, he told the outlet.

"Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are heading to the Middle East," Trump said. "They will be leaving [Monday]. Their meeting will begin on Tuesday morning. It’s a very simple deal, they’ve agreed to much of it."

"It's almost like they don't learn," he said.

Trump added that he has not made a decision on targeting water infrastructure, including desalination plants.

"I hate to do that one," he said.

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Iran warns US Navy their ships in Strait of Hormuz are within missile range

Iranian military personnel took part in the “Smart Control of the Strait of Hormuz” exercise in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz on February 16, 2026. (Press Office Of The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

A senior Iranian official has issued a stark warning: American warships now sailing through the Strait of Hormuz lie within easy striking range of Iranian missiles. The United States Navy, he declared, is “under our missile launchers.” 

Try not to chuckle.

According to Iran International, Mohsen Rezai, a military adviser to the now deceased Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, delivered the threat in a video that does nothing to calm the rising tensions in one of the world’s most vital waterways.

“The launchers have most likely been moved by our brothers and are now aimed at the Abraham Lincoln and all American warships,” Rezai said. “They are all under our launchers now and we will sink them all. We will not allow a single one to escape us.”

Such language is not new from Tehran, yet it carries the familiar blend of bluster and menace that has long defined the regime’s posture toward the West. 

The Islamic Republic delights in painting itself as the bold David to America’s lumbering Goliath, even as its own economy buckles under sanctions and its people grow restive under clerical rule. One wonders how many times the mullahs must issue these theatrical threats before the world ceases to treat them as serious statements of policy and begins to recognize them for what they are: the desperate posturing of a regime that senses its own fragility.

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IDF readies for immediate return of high level fighting

The officials are clear, even if the diplomats are not: despite the much-vaunted official truce, the United States continues to quietly amass undisclosed forces across the Middle East. They are preparing, coldly and methodically, for the moment when force is not merely an option but the only one left.

With the peace talks in Islamabad collapsing without so much as a scrap of agreement, the Israeli security establishment is steeling itself for a rapid and uncompromising return to full-scale military operations.

Senior officials have made plain that the Israel Defense Forces now stand at their highest state of alert, braced for what one described as the “immediate collapse” of the entire diplomatic charade.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has summoned an emergency session of the small security cabinet for 7:00 PM this evening, to confront the latest grim developments and align next steps with Washington.

According to well-placed defense sources, the cooperation between Israel and the United States has reached a level of intimacy and seriousness without modern precedent. The two nations now maintain a joint “target bank” of staggering scope, encompassing a vast array of maritime and land-based Iranian assets.
The Israeli military’s gaze is not fixed solely on the northern front. It is also immersed in meticulous planning for what could become a full-scale naval war in the Persian Gulf.

“The IDF is ready for the immediate collapse of the negotiation process and a return to intense fighting in both defense and offense,” a security source told reporters with characteristic Israeli bluntness.

This state of readiness rests upon a deep, almost seamless synchronization with U.S. Central Command, and a shared, clear recognition that a naval blockade may now be the only realistic means of strangling the Iranian regime’s nuclear ambitions.

Israeli officials understand with cold clarity that a total maritime siege would do far more than merely halt oil exports. It would cut off the very “oxygen” that sustains the Revolutionary Guard's iron grip on the country.

Though the ceasefire between the United States and Iran remains technically intact for the moment, the Israeli cabinet meeting tonight is expected to grapple with a harsher truth: that the so-called “diplomatic bridge” is not merely under strain, but actively crumbling before our eyes. Officials note that despite the official truce, the U.S. military is continuing to build up undisclosed forces in the Middle East, preparing for a scenario where force becomes the only option.

The Israeli leadership is sending an unmistakable signal to the world: it does not believe a genuine deal is anywhere in sight. It is therefore preparing both its military and its people for the grim likelihood that this war will reignite with a ferocity even greater than before.

With the Saturday summit in Pakistan ending without signature or substance, the “high tension” now palpable in Jerusalem leaves little room for doubt: the window for diplomacy has narrowed almost to the point of vanishing.

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US military begin mission to clear mines in Strait of Hormuz, says CENTCOM

Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121)
(Photo US Navy)

In a region long accustomed to the theatrics of revolutionary bluster and the quiet calculus of power, the United States has once again demonstrated that freedom of navigation is not a slogan but a necessity enforced by steel and resolve. While negotiations between Washington and Tehran stutter onward in Pakistan, U.S. Central Command has moved with characteristic directness: its forces have begun the deliberate, painstaking work of clearing Iranian mines from the Strait of Hormuz, that narrow artery through which a fifth of the world's oil once flowed, now choked by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as an act of economic self-harm.

“USS Frank E. Peterson (DDG 121) and USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) transited the Strait of Hormuz and operated in the Arabian Gulf as part of a broader mission to ensure the strait is fully clear of sea mines previously laid by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps,” CENTCOM stated plainly.

This marks the first transit by American guided-missile destroyers through those contested waters since the current hostilities with Iran erupted, a quiet but unmistakable signal that the era of Iranian impunity in international sea lanes is drawing to a close.

Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of CENTCOM, put the matter with naval understatement: “Today, we began the process of establishing a new passage and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon to encourage the free flow of commerce.”

The two destroyers had been operating in the Arabian Sea before making their crossing. CENTCOM was at pains to remind the world what should require no reminder: the Strait of Hormuz is “an international sea passage and an essential trade corridor that supports regional and global economic prosperity.” Additional American forces, including underwater drones, will join the clearance operation in the coming days.

One cannot help but note the irony. The regime in Tehran, which has spent decades railing against “imperialist” interference while happily profiting from the very global commerce it now seeks to disrupt, has once again overplayed its hand. By sowing mines in waters that belong to no single nation, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have not only endangered innocent mariners and spiked energy prices worldwide; they have invited the very response they claim to dread. The United States, for its part, is not engaged in conquest but in restoration, reopening a chokepoint that serves Arabs, Europeans, Asians, and yes, even the Iranian people far more than it serves the clerical elite clinging to power through provocation.

As the destroyers cut through those historically fraught waters, the message is clear: chokeholds on global trade will not be tolerated indefinitely. Civilization, after all, runs on predictable lanes of commerce, not on the capricious threats of a theocracy that mistakes mine-laying for strategy.

The work of clearing the strait is technical and dangerous; the principle behind it is simple and ancient. The seas must remain open.

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Search for missing pilot of downed F-15E jet now in second day

The ejector seat

The desperate search for the missing American pilot of an F-15E that was shot down over Iran stretched into the second day after his co-pilot was rescued in a daring search and rescue mission that saw other US aircraft targeted.

Crews were racing against time to find the second pilot of the Strike Eagle, which is believed to have gone down Friday in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province in the southwestern part of the country near Iraq, The New York Times reported. Iranian officials quickly placed a bounty on the pilot’s head, calling on civilians to help capture him or her.

Retired Marine combat pilot Capt. Ron Alvarado told The Post the timing of the attack may bode in the US’s favor in terms of finding the pilot because of better night vision and infrared communication technology than Iranian combatants.

“We own the night,” Alvarado said. “Hopefully, he or she will be rescued by morning.”

By early Saturday local time there were no updates on the status of the missing pilot.

Both pilots reportedly ejected from the plane, with one located and rescued by US forces hours later. That pilot was being medically treated.

The Strike Eagle has an emergency locator beacon as part of a survival kit that can be activated automatically or manually, Alan Diehl, a former investigator for the Air Force Safety Center, said.Other US aircraft were caught in the crosshairs as crew members rushed into action after the first plane plunged to the ground.

Another US aircraft was also targeted after the initial attack that took down an A-10 Thunderbolt [aka Warthog]. 

The Warthog crashed in the Persian Gulf area after it was struck by Iranian forces, but the lone pilot was safely rescued, according to US officials.

The A-10 Warthog was able to reach Kuwaiti airspace, where the pilot ejected and the plane crashed, an official told liberal network NBC News.

Iran terrorists using rifles also struck a pair of US military helicopters involved in the F-15E rescue, but all crew members are safe, a US official told NBC News.

Some of the crew were injured, but the choppers safely returned to their base, the Washington Post reported.

The F-15E is the first US aircraft to be shot down in Iran during Operation Epic Fury, in which the US and Israel have launched 20,000 strikes on the evil regime as the war stretched into its sixth week.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed its “newly developed and advanced air defenses” had downed the jet, which was “completely destroyed and crashed,” Tehran’s Press TV reported. 

A photo circulating online appeared to show one of the ejected seats seen at the top of the post.

The anchor of a local affiliate of the state TV broadcaster earlier urged Iranians to hunt down the downed “enemy” pilots and the regime is offering a reward for his capture.

“If you capture the enemy pilot or pilots alive and hand them over to the police, you will receive a precious prize,” the anchor said, according to the Associated Press.  Sources at Brain Flushings believes the reward to be 72 virgin goats.

President Trump, in a brief NBC News interview Friday afternoon, declined to discuss the specifics of the ongoing search for the outstanding pilot but insisted the series of strikes against US jets and choppers won’t sidetrack negotiations.

“No, not at all. No, it’s war,” he said. “We’re in war.”

The good news is that the pilot has not been captured and is likely using tactics to avoid detection, giving him a good chance of escape and return to friendly forces.

Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth have boasted about how the operation against Tehran has knocked out much of Iran’s capabilities.

Hegseth said in early March near the start of the war that the US was “establishing total dominance over the skies we fly over and seas we fly over.”

Meanwhile, President Trump, in a primetime address to the nation Wednesday, said thanks to progress made during the war, his administration was “on track to complete all of America’s military objectives shortly, very shortly.”

More than 90% of Tehran’s missile and drone capacities have been eliminated in the month-long war, US officials have said. Still, Trump has refused to rule out putting American boots on the ground during the conflict.

On Friday, Iran used the successful attacks to taunt the US, reminiscent of Monty Python's "Black Knight."

Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf criticized the US in an X post Friday that its “no-strategy war … has now been downgraded from ‘regime change’ to ‘Hey! Can anyone find our pilots? Please?’”

A US F-35A was also damaged over Iran on March 19 during a combatmission, and 16 MQ-9 drones have been shot down. Three American F-15 fighter jets were also shot down over Kuwait in a friendly fire incident.

Hegseth revealed in a Pentagon news conference that the six downed crew members in those jets had “never left the theater” and returned to drop bombs on Tehran Tuesday.

Since the start of the war, 365 US service members have been wounded in action while the death toll is at 13, according to the Pentagon data available online.

It’s unclear if Friday’s incidents have been included in those figures.

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POTUS briefed on F-15 pilots

President Donald Trump has been briefed on the downing of an F-15 fighter jet over Iran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and state media claimed to have shot down a U.S. fighter jet over central Iran. While this is possible, the chances are better that there was a malfunction and the pilots had to bail.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and state media claimed to have shot down a U.S. fighter jet over central Iran, specifically in the mountainous Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province.

Initial Iranian reports claimed the aircraft was an F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter. However, subsequent photos of wreckage released by Iranian media suggest the aircraft may be an F-15E Strike Eagle, likely from the 494th Fighter Squadron based at RAF Lakenheath. So it's more likely the IRGC is using propaganda photos and got it wrong.

U.S. officials for weeks have insisted the U.S. and Israel have "complete control over Iranian skies," and recently sent the slower, non-stealthy B-52 bombers into Iran, underscoring how confident they were that Iranian airpower had been nearly eliminated.

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"We are in this military operation . . .  for 32 days," Trump said in an address Wednesday. "And the country has been eviscerated and essentially is really no longer a threat."

"They have no anti-aircraft equipment," Trump added. "Their radar is 100% annihilated. We are unstoppable." 

Aviation experts say the aircraft seen in the circulating footage appears consistent with an F-15 based on several distinctive features, including its twin vertical tails, wide fuselage, and dual-engine configuration. The F-15s widely spaced engine intakes and rectangular air inlets are also key identifiers that distinguish it from other U.S. fighter jets.

Hopefully, the pilots are in hiding or have been taken in by friendly Iranians. We will likely soon find out.

More to follow from this breaking story.

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IDF soldiers send 20 Lebanese terrorists to their deaths in under a day

The IDF just took out Hassan Ali Marwan, commander of the Imam Hussein Division, in Beirut, about a week after they already dropped his predecessor. Boom. One less terrorist middle manager off the board.

Listen, folks, Israel Defense Forces soldiers mowed down over 20 terrorists and wrecked dozens of Hezbollah infrastructures during ops in Southern Lebanon on Wednesday. The military put it out there plain and simple.

In one case, these Hezbollah goons tried to launch an anti-tank missile at IDF troops. Big mistake. The soldiers hit back with a rapid operational response and eliminated five of them right then and there.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Air Force dropped in and took out two more terrorists. Clean work.Our guys on the ground confiscated a whole arsenal too, RPGs, anti-tank rockets, ammo, even a hunting rifle and other combat gear. Hezbollah's getting stripped bare.

"The IDF will continue to operate with determination against the Hezbollah terrorist organization, which chose to join the war and operate under the sponsorship of the Iranian terror regime. The IDF will not allow harm to Israeli civilians," the military warned. And they mean it.

On top of that, the IDF struck and destroyed two more bridges over the Litani River in Southern Lebanon. Defense Minister Israel Katz called it out: they were "being used to smuggle weapons and facilitate the movement of Hezbollah terrorists southward."

"This is a direct action against Hezbollah’s use of Lebanese state infrastructure to advance terror activity, and also a clear message to the Lebanese government: The State of Israel will not allow such a reality," Katz said.

"We will not permit any threat to Israeli citizens, and we will continue to act with full force until complete security is achieved in the north."

The IDF laid it out further: this Iranian terrorist proxy was using those crossings to move thousands of weapons, rockets, rocket launchers, all aimed at hitting Israel south of the Litani.They even released footage Wednesday, aerial and ground ops in Southern Lebanon as part of "Operation Roaring Lion." Troops have taken out dozens of Hezbollah operatives, blown up weapons depots, anti-tank positions, you name it, ever since Hezbollah started attacking Israeli territory "in defense of the Iranian regime." Yeah, right, defending Iran by targeting civilians. Classic.

And again, the IDF confirmed they killed Hassan Ali Marwan in Beirut, that Imam Hussein Division commander, right after his predecessor got the same treatment.This Iran-backed unit runs under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, pushing Tehran's agenda and launching attacks. Marwan was coordinating between the division, Hezbollah, and the Quds Force, overseeing missile, drone, and rocket launches straight at Israel.

Folks, this is what happens when you poke the bear long enough. Israel isn't playing games. They're dismantling Hezbollah piece by piece, commander by commander, bridge by bridge. And good riddance.

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IRGC spokes ghost: [aka Propaganda Pete] eliminated by IDF

The Israel Defense Forces dropped the hammer overnight, announcing that Ali Mohammad Naini, the mouthpiece and head of public relations for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was taken out in an Israeli Air Force airstrike.

The IDF confirmed on Friday that Naini, who served as the IRGC's chief propagandist, was eliminated. “Throughout the years, Naini served in several propaganda and public relations roles. For the past two years, he served as the IRGC's main propagandist as part of the Iranian terror regime,” the IDF said.

They didn't stop there. “In his role, Naini disseminated the regime's terrorist propaganda to its proxies across the Middle East in order to influence and advance terror attacks against the State of Israel from the different fronts,” the statement added.

Israel's military made it clear this was no accident: the strike came courtesy of the Israeli Air Force, guided by solid IDF intelligence. [See photo below of Naini's last known location.]

“Naini’s elimination joins a series of eliminations of dozens of senior figures of the Iranian regime during the operation,” the IDF added. “The IDF will continue to operate with determination against the commanders and senior officials of the Iranian terror regime.”

Another key player in Tehran's terror network is off the board, and Israel shows zero signs of letting up in the fight against the ayatollahs' proxy empire.

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Biden's secret sweetheart deal with Iran group backing anti-Amereican mosque

In the dying days of the Biden administration, as the clock ticked inexorably toward the end of an era marked by moral equivocation and strategic retreat, a quiet but extraordinary transaction took place, one that ought to alarm anyone who still believes in the integrity of American sovereignty.

[H/T The Daily Wire.]

The government, in its final hours, entered into what can only be described as a sweetheart settlement with an entity long identified as a front for the Iranian regime. In exchange for what passes in certain quarters for "justice," the United States relinquished its claim to a $174 million interest in prime Manhattan real estate, property previously seized precisely because of its prohibited ties to a terror-sponsoring state.

This was no ordinary legal resolution. A federal court approved the agreement on January 17, 2025, a mere three days before the administration departed the scene. And in a further flourish of opacity, on March 11, 2026, Judge Loretta A. Preska agreed to “seal the Order in its entirety,” not only from the public but “from any litigant that is not a party to the Settlement Agreement.”

The terms, unearthed first by Jewish Insider through a routine filing with the New York State Charity Board on January 12, are as remarkable as they are disturbing. Assets are to be transferred to a successor entity, the Amir Kabir Foundation, which, by no coincidence, shares most of the same leadership as the Alavi Foundation. The latter, originally established under the Shah but swiftly commandeered after the 1979 revolution by hardline figures loyal to the Islamic Republic, has for years concealed its forbidden connections through layers of front organizations. As the DOJ stated plainly in its 2008 forfeiture action against Assa Corp., that entity was nothing more than an offshore shell employed by Alavi to mask its ties to Iran.

The settlement obliges payments or releases totaling $318 million to the United States and to victims of Iranian terror. Yet a majority of this sum is to be satisfied not through genuine contrition or independent funds, but through the government's own decision to return the 40% partnership interest in the Fifth Avenue Company previously held by Assa, an arm of Bank Melli, and now in U.S. hands. That interest, valued at $174 million, effectively becomes the vehicle for meeting the obligations. The Alavi Foundation, which retains $300 million in real estate holdings, including properties near the capital and the remaining 60% of the Fifth Avenue skyscraper, thus finds itself largely relieved of liability courtesy of a gift from the American taxpayer.

Rental income accumulated over nearly sixteen years of litigation, held in an account controlled by the U.S. Marshals Service, will help fund this arrangement. The New York Attorney General, Letitia James, has agreed to monitor the new foundation for five years, a thin reed of oversight in what is otherwise a remarkably lenient outcome.

Lara Burns, a former FBI agent and now head of terrorism research at George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, put the matter starkly to Jewish Insider:

“Allowing Alavi to obfuscate their identity and basically start with a clean slate creates risks related to a continued foreign influence campaign on behalf of a regime that has called for the death of U.S. leaders and who has blatantly stated its intent to cause America harm through a variety of nefarious activities.”

The foundation’s attorney, Daniel Ruzumna, offered the predictable defense: the board has turned over completely since the litigation began, the new entity’s leaders were vetted by the Biden-era Department of Justice (which raised no objection), and “AKF and its board members have no relationship to the Government of Iran.”

One might be forgiven for a certain skepticism. This is, after all, the same Alavi Foundation that funded the Manassas Mosque, thirty miles from the capital, which, following the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Operation Epic Fury, held an event “Honoring Our Leader Shaheed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.” 

In 2023, nine Republican congressmen warned the Biden administration’s Attorney General and Director of National Intelligence that the mosque, having received $200,000 from Alavi, was displaying images of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and forming part of a network of regime-sponsored institutions acting as agents of a foreign adversary.

The mosque’s imam, Abolfazl Bahram Nahidian, once claimed Israel was behind 9/11 and is now reportedly in Iran; his daughter-in-law has been prominent in anti-Israel activism in Washington, posting images declaring that “Soon we will avenge (your death) from the Zionists and the Americans . . .  They’ve dug their own graves.”

Recall the history: in 2017, a New York jury found the 36-story tower at 650 Fifth Avenue, worth at least $500 million, and other properties forfeitable as proceeds of Iran sanctions violations and money laundering. The Department of Justice called it “the largest terrorism-related civil forfeiture in United States history,” declaring that the building had “hiding in plain sight, secretly served as a front for the Iranian government and as a gateway for millions of dollars to be funneled to Iran in clear violation of U.S. sanctions laws.” 

Alavi, the 60% owner, knew its minority partner was an Iranian front. Plans to sell the building and compensate victims were thwarted on appeal in 2019.

Earlier still, in 2009, Alavi’s then-head, Farshid Jahedi, was indicted for destroying subpoenaed documents. Under President Barack Obama, he received a notably lenient sentence: three months in prison and a $3,000 fine on two felony counts.

In response to revelations about the mosque, Rep. Keith Self (R-TX), a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, declared: “The enemy is inside the gates.”

Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) was blunter still: “We need to get them the hell out of our country.” 

One might ask: what signal does this settlement send at a moment when the mullahs’ regime is at war, when its proxies and sympathizers operate openly on American soil, and when the United States has just lost a figure it once treated with kid gloves? The answer is depressingly clear: accommodation, obfuscation, and a willingness to trade strategic clarity for the quiet life. In the twilight of one administration, the foundations of influence were quietly re-laid, while the rest of us are left to wonder how many more such deals were sealed in the dark.

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Report: US service members wounded in Iranian drone strike in Kuwait

The CBS News report published on Wednesday reveals a far grimmer picture than previously admitted of the Iranian drone strike on American forces in Kuwait.

United States service members suffered brain injuries, shrapnel trauma, and burns in the attack, which struck a tactical operations center at the Shuaiba port outside Kuwait City on March 1.

Sources described a “grim and chaotic scene” in the strike’s aftermath, according to CBS, and more than 30 American military members were hospitalized.

What emerges here is not merely an underreported incident but a stark illustration of how rapidly the costs of confrontation can mount, and how initial accounts—whether from design or caution—can obscure the true human toll when Iran chooses to strike directly at American personnel in the opening hours of open conflict. The injuries detailed, from traumatic brain effects to severe burns and embedded shrapnel, speak to the indiscriminate violence of such drone assaults, even against a fortified position. That dozens were wounded so badly, with some facing possible amputation and many requiring urgent evacuation to facilities in Germany, Walter Reed, and elsewhere, underscores a reality that polite official statements had earlier downplayed.

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Mojtaba Khamenei better not shop at Target because that's what he has become: next Supreme Leader in the crosshairs

Ali Khamenei's kid popped into the world back in 1969 and the U.S. has had him on the sanctions naughty list since 2019 for playing mini-dad and representing the old man in official regime business.

President Donald Trump confirmed that the mullahs' new brain trust has already reached out to talk turkey following the death of bushy bearded Ayatollah Khamenei, because nothing says "we're serious about change" like begging the guy who just helped turn your supreme leader into handy bite-size pieces.

Iran's Assembly of Experts, an oxymoron if there ever was one, has now crowned Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the country's shiny new supreme leader, per Iranian state television. He better not go shopping at Target. Actually, he'd be smart to have his flunkies go shopping for him rather than being out in fresh air, 

Mojtaba, 56, is the second-eldest spawn of Ali Khamenei. His toddler years lined up perfectly with his father's glow-up from dissident cleric to anti-Shah revolutionary rock star.

After the 1979 Islamic Revolution flipped the script, Ali Khamenei traded protest signs for power suits, grabbing plum gigs like deputy defense minister. The family packed up from Mashhad and headed to Tehran, where young Mojtaba enrolled at Alavi High School where he starred in the stone toss. That's the go-to academy for Iran's future political and religious VIPs, aka terrorists.

Mojit, as his mom calls him, got the full package there: regular classes plus heavy religious indoctrination, and he walked the stage in 1987. Then, in 1989, after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini checked out to the great goat pastures, Ali Khamenei scored the supreme leader job.

That same year, Mojtaba kicked off his official clerical training in Tehran, studying under his dad and Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, who would go on to become Iran's chief justice.

Over time, Mojtaba was glued to his father's side and built a reputation as the shadowy power broker pulling strings from behind the curtain.

In an Axios interview last week, when pressed on chatter that Mojtaba was about to take the throne, President Donald Trump said: "Khamenei's son is unacceptable to me. We want someone who will bring harmony and peace to Iran." He doubled down with, "They are wasting their time. Khamenei's son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy [Rodriguez] in Venezuela."

Back in 2019, the U.S. slapped sanctions on Mojtaba under Executive Order 13867. The Treasury Department explained that he had been "representing the supreme leader in an official capacity despite never being elected or appointed to a government position aside from work in the office of his father."

They also noted that dear old dad had handed off chunks of his leadership duties to the boy wonder. Mojtaba worked hand-in-glove with IRGC Quds Force commanders and the Basij thugs, making him a major player in Iran's domestic crackdowns and overseas mischief.

So there you have it: another generation of Khamenei family rule locked in, complete with U.S. sanctions and Trump basically saying, "Not on my watch, pal." The regime's idea of progress is apparently just handing the keys to the same dynasty. Color me unsurprised.

THIS JUST IN: Mojtaba Kamenei has been eliminated by the IDF.

Just kidding. He hasn't left his confines yet, but Israel has him in their crosshairs.

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