Iran plans to extend its ongoing nationwide internet blackout, which has been in place now for over a week, until at least the Iranian New Year (Nowruz) which falls around March 20, according to the Iranian opposition outlet IranWire.

U.S. Forces arrived in the Northern Syrian town of Dayr Hafir in the Eastern Aleppo Governorate earlier today, meeting with a delegation from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), amid attempts to cool increase tensions which could lead to major clashes soon between the SDF and the Syrian Army.

David Barnea, the Director of the Israeli Intelligence Agency, known more commonly as Mossad, arrived in the United States on Friday morning for talks on the situation in Iran, with him expected to meet in Miami with Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who is currently managing a direct channel of communication between the Trump Administration and Iran, according to an Israeli source who spoke to Axios.

In a post earlier on Truth Social by President Donald J. Trump, the President praised the Iranian Regime’s decision to cancel the hanging of 800 protesters scheduled for Thursday, stating, “I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (Over 800 of them), have been cancelled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!”

President Donald J. Trump spoke to reporters earlier outside the White House about his decision to not carry out military strikes against Iran.

Reporter: “Did Arab and Israeli officials convince you to not strike Iran?”

Trump: “Nobody convinced me, I convinced myself. You had, yesterday, scheduled, over 800 hangings. They didn't hang anyone. They cancelled the hangings. That had a big impact.”

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday issued several Notice-to-Airmen (NOTAM) for the airspace over Mexico, and parts of Central and South America, including Colombia, Ecuador and Panama, urging airlines to “exercise caution” over the region due to “military activities” and potential interference to navigation systems, with the NOTAMs going into effect on January 16, 2026, and lasting until March 17, 2026.

In addition to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, satellite imagery from Thursday, January 15, showed that Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia had also been evacuated of some military aircraft in recent days, including over a dozen U.S. Air Force and Saudi C-130 “Hercules” Cargo Aircraft. However, the number of aerial-refueling tankers at the base appears to have been bolstered, possibly by arrivals from Al Udeid, with 7 KC-46 Pegasus and 3 KC-135 Stratotankers seen on the tarmac at Prince Sultan.

Image credit provided to @GeoPoliticJosh on X.

European military personnel and equipment from Denmark, Britain, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands have begun to arrive in Greenland as part of an “advance team” to coordinate the deployment of a full force to the island as part of Dutch exercise Arctic Sentry, which will see the defense of the island and the Arctic bolstered by aircraft, ships, and troops from allies in Europe.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has issued a statement directed at the Kurdish people, announcing his signing of a special decree aimed at the protection of Kurdish rights and privacies in Syria, while urging them to return to their lands in the north of the country and to lay down their arms against the Syrian Government.

Mazloum Abdi, the Commander-in-Chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has announced that paramilitary forces under the SDF will begin to withdraw from their defensive positions east of Aleppo at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 17, and redeploy to the east of the Euphrates River in Northern Syria.

Two Danish F-35A Lightning IIs, supported by an Airbus A330 Multirole Tanker Transport (MRTT) with the French Air Force, flew from Denmark to the Northern Atlantic earlier today in order to conduct a training in operating under the conditions of the Arctic off Greenland’s eastern coast near Kulusuk.

Early Friday morning, an Israeli CH-53 “Sea Stallion” Heavy-Lift Transport Helicopter suffered a sling-load failure while transporting a UH-60 Black Hawk near Gush Etzion in the West Bank, causing the UH-60 to slam into the ground just to the south of Jerusalem.

The UH-60 Black Hawk suffered significant damage as a result of today’s incident in the West Bank, with it likely to be declared a total loss by the Israeli Air Force. An investigation into the incident and its cause had been ordered by the Head of the Israeli Air Force, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar.

Text messaging services have reportedly begun to be restored across certain parts of Iran.

Footage showing another angle of today’s incident which resulted in the loss of an Israeli UH-60 Black Hawk to the south of Jerusalem in the West Bank, after a CH-53 “Sea Stallion” Heavy-Lift Transport Helicopter suffered a sling-load failure and dropped the UH-60.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued an advisory Friday recommending that airlines do not fly through Iranian Airspace, stating that the recent potential for military action by the United States has caused air-defense forces in Iran to be placed on a heightened state of alert, increasing the likelihood of a possible misidentification within the Tehran Flight Information Region (OIIX).

U.S. Special Forces and other officials meeting with members of the Kurdish-led People's Defense Units (YPG) and Women's Protection Units (YPJ), paramilitary groups under the umbrella of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), earlier today in Dayr Hafir, to the east of Aleppo in Northern Syria.

U.S. Forces seen withdrawing from Dayr Hafir in Northern Syria earlier tonight, shortly before the announced withdrawal of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from all positions near Aleppo, to the east of the Euphrates River.