During a live phone interview earlier with Fox News, President Trump was asked if he had been told by the CIA that Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader and the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was gay, to which Trump responded:

“Well, they did say that, but I don't know if it was only them. I think a lot of people are saying that, which puts him off to a bad start in that particular country.”

While evidence of a potential invasion of Iran’s Kharg Island in the Northern Persian Gulf continues to grow, as landing assets from the U.S. Army and Marine Corps begin to arrive in the Middle East, traders on Polymarket remain split on the chances of such an operation, with the chance that Kharg Island is no longer under the control of Iran the end of May currently sitting at 50%.

Despite today’s announcement by President Trump, Iran has not requested a 10-day pause on strikes against its energy plants from the United States and is yet to deliver a final response to the Trump Administration’s 15-point plan to end the war, peace talk mediators tell the Wall Street Journal.

The Pentagon has suggested seizing the Iran-controlled Island of Abu Musa, located in the eastern Persian Gulf near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, roughly 40 miles from both Iran and the United Arab Emirates, sources tell Axios.

Iran’s state-run Fars News Agency has released a target list of energy infrastructure within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that they plan to strike if the U.S. conducts a ground operation against the strategically and economically important Kharg Island or any other Iranian territory. These include desalination plants, nuclear power plants, and other power hubs across the UAE.

According to the Wall Street Journal, citing Department of Defense officials with knowledge on the matter, the Pentagon is considering the deployment of an additional 10,000 ground troops, including armored vehicles, to the Middle East, in preparation for potential ground operation in Iran.

These 10,000 U.S. Servicemembers, most likely to come from combat units with the Army, will join well over 50,000 Servicemembers already deployed to air and army bases, as well as on naval ships, across the Middle East in the lead up and since the start of Operation Epic Fury.

On February 26, 2026, the U.S. Army tested the Altius-700 (A-700) Rocket Medium-Range Launched Effect (MR-LE), a loitering munition produced by Anduril. The A-700 was launched from the pylon of an AH-64E “Apache” Attack Helicopter as a part of ongoing tests that have been in motion since its first live-fire test back in 2024.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump is weighing several options for dramatically escalating the Iran War should his latest push for diplomacy fail, with Pentagon officials preparing for the next phase of war by drawing up scenarios for deploying troops to seize various targets within Iran, more than half a dozen people familiar with the discussions told CNN.

Officials have developed options for capturing Kharg Island, which handles roughly 90% of Iran’s crude exports, or authorizing a bombing raid aimed at effectively wiping out all oil infrastructure on the island in the Persian Gulf. And the administration has examined the potential for taking over other strategically placed islands near Iran that might weaken the regime’s ability to threaten tankers trying to traverse the Strait of Hormuz.

White House officials believe that taking Kharg Island in particular would “totally bankrupt” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), one official told CNN, potentially paving the way for a definitive end to the Iran War.

New pixelated image posted by the White House, with this one appearing to not be of President Trump and instead of Vice President JD Vance.

A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle takes off from a base in the Middle East for combat operations against Iran, in support of Operation Epic Fury.

The White House and the Pentagon are considering sending at least 10,000 additional combat troops to the Middle East in the coming days, significantly increasing the number of ground forces the United Stated has in the region as another signal that a major ground operation in Iran is being seriously prepared, a senior U.S. defense official confirmed to Axios.

Defense official expects the decision to be made next week and said the troops will be from different combat units than the ones which have already been sent to the region, while more reinforcements, including several fighter jet squadrons and thousands of troops, are expected to arrive in the Middle East in the coming days and weeks, as President Trump continues to consider escalation against Iran.

The Head of the Ugandan Armed Forces has announced that “any talk of destroying or defeating Israel” would bring Uganda to the side of Israel in the Iran War. “If Israel needs help, it only need ask,” said Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the son of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

Explosions reported within the last hour over Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.