The Boxer Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), comprised of the USS Boxer (LHD-4), USS Comstock (LSD-45), and the USS Portland (LPD-27) with the embarked 11th Marine Expeditionary Group (MEU), has been ordered to the Middle East after recently departing San Diego, California.

Four officials tell Newsmax the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and the embarked 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (11th MEU) is deploying ahead of schedule from the West Coast and is expected to sail direct through the Indo-Pacific to the Middle East, after the U.S. Navy was ordered by the Pentagon to surge additional fire power to the U.S. Central Command Area-of-Responsibility near Iran.

According to the French newspaper Le Monde, the near-exact location of the French aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle (R91) was publicly exposed on March 13, when a naval officer utilized the online physical exercise tracker Strava to log his run on the deck of the carrier while it sailed through the Eastern Mediterranean to the west of Cyprus.

Footage from earlier tonight shows the moment that a fragment from an intercepted ballistic missile launched by Iran nearly struck the individual filming said video on a street in Haifa, Northern Israel.

Today, the U.S. State Department released a number of congressional notifications for foreign military sales (FMS) to Gulf nations totaling $16.5 billion. The nations in question include Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait. FMS to the UAE includes, Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs), F-16 munitions and upgrades, Long-Range Discrimination Radar with Terminal High Altitude Area Defense Integration, Fixed Site-Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft Integrated Defeat System (FS-LIDS), and additional supplementary equipment. FMS to Kuwait includes Lower Tier Air and missile defense sensor radars. FMS to Jordan includes aircraft repair and ordnance support.

Pentagon officials have made detailed preparations for deploying U.S. ground forces into Iran, with senior military commanders having submitted specific requests aimed at preparing for such an option if such a decision is made by President Trump, multiple sources briefed on the discussions told CBS News. 

Preparations include how to handle the possible detention of Iranian soldiers and paramilitary operatives, such as where Iranian prisoners-of-war would be sent, two sources said, with the U.S. Army’s Immediate Response Force (IRF) under the 82nd Airborne Division and roughly 5,000 Marines from 11th and 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit deploying to the Middle East.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a 300-for-300 prisoner swap took place between the Syrian Transitional Government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Al-Hasakah City. The swap is part of a wider deal, inked in January of this year, between the two factions that will see the SDF increasingly incorporated into the Syrian Armed Forces.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) released footage earlier today showing strikes against military targets deep inside Iran.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) released imagery of Iran’s Karaj Surface-to-Surface Missile Plant, following strikes that completely destroyed the facility in Northern Iran. The U.S. continues to degrade Iran’s ballistic and cruise missile production capacity, while Iran continues to launch missiles at countries across the Middle East.

The Israeli Air Force has said that in a strike earlier this week that killed Gholamreza Soleimani, the Commander of Iran’s Basij Force, also killed Ismail Ahmadi, who headed the paramilitary security force’s intelligence arm. Ahmadi played a key role in the deadly suppression of widespread protests earlier this year.

Reports earlier today and footage indicated that sirens sounded at NATO’s Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. However local media has said authorities have denied reports of an “adverse threat” to the local area, with this coming after several ballistic missile attacks against the base by Iran.

According to French President Emmanuel Macron, the French Navy and Special Forces intercepted and boarded a vessel that was part of Russia’s Shadow Fleet, the crude oil tanker M/T DEYNA, in the Mediterranean Sea early Friday. According to the President, the ongoing Iran War will not stop France from its continued support for Ukraine and the prosecution of interdiction measures against sanctioned assets assisting Russia.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump once again lashed out at NATO allies today on TruthSocial, calling NATO a “paper tiger” and lambasting them for their reticence to work with the U.S. to realize a framework that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz.