Iran responds to Trump:

Last time the U.S. blundered into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, it squandered over $7 trillion and lost more than 7,000 American lives.

Iran stands ready for dialogue based on mutual respect and interests—BUT IF PUSHED, IT WILL DEFEND ITSELF AND RESPOND LIKE NEVER BEFORE!

U.S. officials say there are currently no real negotiations with Iran, though Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and Qatar are acting as intermediaries between the two sides.

Source: Axios

Germany's Merz on Iran:

A regime that can only stay in power through sheer violence and terror against its own population has its days numbered.

It may take weeks, but this regime has no legitimacy to govern the country.

Germany's Merz on reports that Trump's health is in worrying state:

From my encounters with President Trump, I have no reason to doubt his health.

He will be 80 years old in June, but I have the impression that he is fully up to his office.

Fake news and AI-generated videos targeted Türkiye–Azerbaijan relations, falsely claiming President Erdogan offered aid to Armenian families and that Baku suspended military ties with Ankara.

Both governments denied the reports, saying they were disinformation.

Officials stressed the “two states, one nation” partnership is too strong to be shaken by perception operations.

Rubio on Venezuela:

You can have elections all day, but if the opposition has no access to the media, if the opposition candidates are unable to be on the ballot, those are not free and fair elections.

We want free, fair, prosperous, and friendly Venezuela. We are not going to get there in three weeks. This is going to take some time.

Israel Prepares Large Camp for Palestinians in Gaza, Israeli Retired General Reveals

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Rubio:

The new authorities in Venezuela deserve some credit; they have passed a new law that basically eradicates many of the Chávez-era restrictions on private investment in the oil industry.

Rubio on Venezuela:

They have released up to 200 political prisoners, according to some estimates.

They are releasing them; they are releasing them probably slower than I would like them to. But they are releasing them.

You are starting to see some of the people being released beginning to participate in the political life in the country.

Reporter: Are we intervening in the currency market right now? Strengthening the yen?

Bessent: Absolutely not. We don't comment. We have a strong dollar policy.

Rubio on Venezuela:

We made multiple attempts to get Maduro to leave voluntarily; you couldn’t make a deal with this guy.

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Rubio on Venezuela:

Venezuela pre-Chávez was a very strong U.S. ally; we hope to get back to that point.

We are not there; this thing is still in its infancy.

But a lot of progress has been made.

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Rubio on Venezuela:

This was leaked; we know that it was leaked by a contractor at the Department of War.

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Rubio:

We can’t have the same soldiers or the same ships in both Europe and in the Indo-Pacific.

We have to pick; no matter how many ships we build or how many capabilities we grow, we are going to have to make these adjustments.

Senator Kaine: Trump repeatedly mistook Iceland for Greenland, right? We're not mad at Iceland, correct?

Rubio: Yeah, he meant to say Greenland, but I think we're all familiar with presidents who have verbal stumbles. Some made a lot more than this one.

Nicki Minaj:

I am probably the President's number one fan.

That's not going to change.

Rubio on Iran:

The protests may have ebbed, but they will spark up again in the future because this regime, unless they are willing to change and or leave, have no way of addressing the legitimate and consistent complaints of the people of Iran who deserve better.

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Rubio on Cuba:

I think we would love to see the regime there change.

That doesn't mean that we're going to make a change, but we would love to see a change.

Senator Rand Paul: What if a foreign country indicts our President for violating a foreign law, should we extradite him or be okay if they come and get him by force?

Rubio: We're always going to act in our national interest...

Rubio on the Middle East:

We have 30,000 to 40,000 American troops stationed across eight or nine facilities in that region.

All are within the reach, in reality, of an array of thousands of Iranian, one-way UAVs and Iranian ballistic missiles that threaten our troop presence.

We have to have enough force and power in the region just on a baseline to defend against the possibility of an Iranian attack.

The President always reserves the preemptive defensive option.

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The US is pushing Israel and Syria to finalise a security agreement by March, with talks close to completion.

The main obstacle is Israel’s refusal to withdraw troops from Mount Hermon, which it considers a “red line.”

Trump told Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa he has given Netanyahu a month to conclude the deal and said he wants a unified Syria.

Source: MEE

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