🇺🇸 🇮🇱 🇮🇷 Netanyahu plans to brief Trump on possible new Iran strikes
Israeli officials believe Iran is expanding its ballistic missile program. They are preparing to make the case during an upcoming meeting with Trump that it poses a new threat.
Israeli officials also are concerned that Iran is reconstituting nuclear enrichment sites the U.S. bombed in June, the sources said. But, they added, the officials view Iran’s efforts to rebuild facilities where they produce the ballistic missiles and to repair its crippled air defense systems as more immediate concerns.
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are expected to meet later this month in Florida at the president’s Mar a Lago estate. At that meeting, the sources said, Netanyahu is expected to make the case to Trump that Iran’s expansion of its ballistic missile program poses a threat that could necessitate swift action.
They said part of his argument is expected to be that Iran’s actions present perils not only to Israel but also to the broader region, including U.S. interests. The Israeli leader is expected to present Trump with options for the U.S. to join or assist in any new military operations, the sources said.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/netanyahu-plans-brief-trump-possible-new-iran-strikes-rcna250112
Israeli officials believe Iran is expanding its ballistic missile program. They are preparing to make the case during an upcoming meeting with Trump that it poses a new threat.
Israeli officials also are concerned that Iran is reconstituting nuclear enrichment sites the U.S. bombed in June, the sources said. But, they added, the officials view Iran’s efforts to rebuild facilities where they produce the ballistic missiles and to repair its crippled air defense systems as more immediate concerns.
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are expected to meet later this month in Florida at the president’s Mar a Lago estate. At that meeting, the sources said, Netanyahu is expected to make the case to Trump that Iran’s expansion of its ballistic missile program poses a threat that could necessitate swift action.
They said part of his argument is expected to be that Iran’s actions present perils not only to Israel but also to the broader region, including U.S. interests. The Israeli leader is expected to present Trump with options for the U.S. to join or assist in any new military operations, the sources said.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/netanyahu-plans-brief-trump-possible-new-iran-strikes-rcna250112
NBC News
Netanyahu plans to brief Trump on possible new Iran strikes
Israeli officials believe Iran is expanding its ballistic missile program. They are preparing to make the case during an upcoming meeting with Trump that it poses a new threat.
🇺🇸 🇻🇪 🇨🇳 US interdicting sanctioned vessel off Venezuelan coast, officials say
Dec 20 (Reuters) - The United States is interdicting a sanctioned vessel off the coast of Venezuela in international waters, three U.S. officials told Reuters on Saturday.
🛢 China is the biggest buyer of Venezuelan crude, which accounts for roughly 4% of its imports, with shipments in December on track to average more than 600,000 barrels per day, analysts have said.
For now, the oil market is well supplied and there are millions of barrels of oil on tankers off the coast of China waiting to offload. If the embargo stays in place for some time, then the loss of nearly a million barrels a day of crude supply is likely to push oil prices higher
As of this week, of more than 70 oil tankers in Venezuelan waters that are part of the shadow fleet, around 38 are under sanctions by the U.S. Treasury, according to data from TankerTrackers.com. Of those, at least 15 are loaded with crude and fuel, it added.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-interdicting-sanctioned-vessel-off-venezuelan-coast-officials-say-2025-12-20/
Dec 20 (Reuters) - The United States is interdicting a sanctioned vessel off the coast of Venezuela in international waters, three U.S. officials told Reuters on Saturday.
🛢 China is the biggest buyer of Venezuelan crude, which accounts for roughly 4% of its imports, with shipments in December on track to average more than 600,000 barrels per day, analysts have said.
For now, the oil market is well supplied and there are millions of barrels of oil on tankers off the coast of China waiting to offload. If the embargo stays in place for some time, then the loss of nearly a million barrels a day of crude supply is likely to push oil prices higher
As of this week, of more than 70 oil tankers in Venezuelan waters that are part of the shadow fleet, around 38 are under sanctions by the U.S. Treasury, according to data from TankerTrackers.com. Of those, at least 15 are loaded with crude and fuel, it added.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-interdicting-sanctioned-vessel-off-venezuelan-coast-officials-say-2025-12-20/
Reuters
Exclusive: US intercepts oil tanker off Venezuelan coast, officials say
This would mark the second time in recent weeks that the United States has seized a tanker near Venezuela.
Forwarded from Rerum Novarum // Intel, Breaking News, and Alerts 🇺🇸
🇺🇸⚡️- File 468 has been removed from the Epstein files. It was one of the few files showing Trump’s involvement. A clear sign of a cover up.
Forwarded from TabZ - Alternative Media (TabZ)
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🇺🇸 Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie are planning to draft articles of impeachment and pursue inherent contempt against AG Pam Bondi for failing to fully release the Epstein files.
📎 AF Post
📎 AF Post
Rerum Novarum // Intel, Breaking News, and Alerts 🇺🇸
🇷🇺🇺🇦⚡- BREAKING: Ukraine has struck yet another Russian shadow tanker, QENDIL, but this time in the Mediterranean. The ship has suffered critical damage – no coast guard has yet responded to provide assistance.
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🇺🇦 🇷🇺 At least 10th tanker attacked in the Mediterranean in the past year
On December 19th, Oman-flagged sanctioned Crude Oil Tanker MT QENDIL (IMO 9310525) was attacked in the Mediterranean with multiple drones.
MT QENDIL is listed under EU/UK sanctions and associated with Russia’s shadow fleet.
QENDIL departed the Gulf of Kutch, India on 30 Nov after discharging. India continues to import Russian crude oil that is subject to Western sanctions.
Ukrainian media, including RBC-Ukraine, reported that the vessel was struck by drones in neutral Mediterranean waters by Ukraine’s SBU.
⚡️ Interesting difference between this and previous attacks is the use of UAV rather than limpet mine at such range. Also that it dropped what appears to be a small munition (grenade or similar). Which also suggests the drone was small and did not fly from Ukraine
📎 Martin Kelly
On December 19th, Oman-flagged sanctioned Crude Oil Tanker MT QENDIL (IMO 9310525) was attacked in the Mediterranean with multiple drones.
MT QENDIL is listed under EU/UK sanctions and associated with Russia’s shadow fleet.
QENDIL departed the Gulf of Kutch, India on 30 Nov after discharging. India continues to import Russian crude oil that is subject to Western sanctions.
Ukrainian media, including RBC-Ukraine, reported that the vessel was struck by drones in neutral Mediterranean waters by Ukraine’s SBU.
⚡️ Interesting difference between this and previous attacks is the use of UAV rather than limpet mine at such range. Also that it dropped what appears to be a small munition (grenade or similar). Which also suggests the drone was small and did not fly from Ukraine
📎 Martin Kelly
/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global
🇺🇦 🇷🇺 At least 10th tanker attacked in the Mediterranean in the past year On December 19th, Oman-flagged sanctioned Crude Oil Tanker MT QENDIL (IMO 9310525) was attacked in the Mediterranean with multiple drones. MT QENDIL is listed under EU/UK sanctions…
🇷🇺 🇹🇷 🇺🇦 Analysis | Russia struck two Turkish-operated vessels near Odesa and framed the attacks as intentional warnings to Kyiv. Turkey responded by shooting down a Russian reconnaissance drone over the Black Sea.
Turkey is one of the few NATO states still providing Russia commercial and diplomatic space. Turkish ports handle oil products and dual-use components Russia struggles to source elsewhere. Turkish banks help navigate sanctions. Turkish firms keep Russian logistics chains running.
President Erdoğan publicly demanded Putin stop attacks on ports and energy infrastructure. Turkish officials warned against turning the Black Sea into a confrontation zone.
If Ankara rethinks this relationship, Russia faces slower trade, fewer loopholes, and tighter restrictions on the goods sustaining its war economy.
📎 Euromaidan Press
Turkey is one of the few NATO states still providing Russia commercial and diplomatic space. Turkish ports handle oil products and dual-use components Russia struggles to source elsewhere. Turkish banks help navigate sanctions. Turkish firms keep Russian logistics chains running.
President Erdoğan publicly demanded Putin stop attacks on ports and energy infrastructure. Turkish officials warned against turning the Black Sea into a confrontation zone.
If Ankara rethinks this relationship, Russia faces slower trade, fewer loopholes, and tighter restrictions on the goods sustaining its war economy.
📎 Euromaidan Press
FxTwitter
Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress)
Russia struck two Turkish-operated vessels near Odesa and framed the attacks as intentional warnings to Kyiv. Turkey responded by shooting down a Russian reconnaissance drone over the Black Sea.
Turkey is one of the few NATO states still providing Russia…
Turkey is one of the few NATO states still providing Russia…
🚢 🌍 🏴☠️ Taken Vessels | Tanker Trackers
"This is a publicly-accessible page showing the latest whereabouts of vessels that are being held by the Iranians and the Houthis. We are doing this for the benefit of the crews' families as well as stakeholders."
https://tankertrackers.com/report/taken
📎 Tanker Trackers
"This is a publicly-accessible page showing the latest whereabouts of vessels that are being held by the Iranians and the Houthis. We are doing this for the benefit of the crews' families as well as stakeholders."
https://tankertrackers.com/report/taken
📎 Tanker Trackers
🚢 🇻🇪 The current tanker AIS picture off Venezuela is pure fiction.
Massive spoofing and misidentification are taking place.
📎 Sal Mercogliano
Massive spoofing and misidentification are taking place.
📎 Sal Mercogliano
Forwarded from /CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global (FRANCISCVS)
🛰 🌏 🏴☠️ "You might think that in a time of satellite megaconstellations all of the Earth's surface would be imaged regularly, & if something big happened, we'd see it.
⬛️ Well, you'd be wrong...
🔶️ The truth is that most well-known EO satellites don't image areas of the ocean away from land.
🔶️ It is surprisingly difficult to get an exact answer for 'why' here. I've heard different combinations of power-saving, downlink limitations, & land-optimized instrumentation.
🔶️ It's worth noting here, that I am talking about satellites with a high enough resolution to monitor human activity on the open ocean (eg. vessels), not lower resolution sats that monitor sea state or help with weather forecasting (eg. Sentinel-3).
🔶️ The coverage of major EO satellite platforms used by OSINT researchers, including Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, and Landsat can be seen below.
🔶️ The (non-open-source) PlanetScope constellation of Dove/SuperDove satellites, is also frequently used by OSINT researchers and covers coastal areas, the Mediterranean, Persian Gulf, and South China Sea. Govt. clients may be able to access more areas.
🔶️ Outside of these platforms (and the areas they cover), your only option would be to task a high-resolution optical or SAR satellite to image an area of the ocean at an extremely high cost. Moreover, you would need forewarning about where/when something was about to happen.
🔶️ Notably, the same trade-offs (likely) exist for current generation spy satellites, in that high resolution = narrow field of view, and thus necessitates foreknowledge when combined with the limitations imposed by orbital mechanics.
🔶️ The end result of this is that >50% of the Earth's surface is simply unmonitored in any useful way. A ship with its AIS transponder off, or spoofed, can simply disappear. Illegal cargos can be traded, sanctions can be dodged, and fisheries plundered."
📎 Michael Cruickshank
⬛️ Well, you'd be wrong...
🔶️ The truth is that most well-known EO satellites don't image areas of the ocean away from land.
🔶️ It is surprisingly difficult to get an exact answer for 'why' here. I've heard different combinations of power-saving, downlink limitations, & land-optimized instrumentation.
🔶️ It's worth noting here, that I am talking about satellites with a high enough resolution to monitor human activity on the open ocean (eg. vessels), not lower resolution sats that monitor sea state or help with weather forecasting (eg. Sentinel-3).
🔶️ The coverage of major EO satellite platforms used by OSINT researchers, including Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, and Landsat can be seen below.
🔶️ The (non-open-source) PlanetScope constellation of Dove/SuperDove satellites, is also frequently used by OSINT researchers and covers coastal areas, the Mediterranean, Persian Gulf, and South China Sea. Govt. clients may be able to access more areas.
🔶️ Outside of these platforms (and the areas they cover), your only option would be to task a high-resolution optical or SAR satellite to image an area of the ocean at an extremely high cost. Moreover, you would need forewarning about where/when something was about to happen.
🔶️ Notably, the same trade-offs (likely) exist for current generation spy satellites, in that high resolution = narrow field of view, and thus necessitates foreknowledge when combined with the limitations imposed by orbital mechanics.
🔶️ The end result of this is that >50% of the Earth's surface is simply unmonitored in any useful way. A ship with its AIS transponder off, or spoofed, can simply disappear. Illegal cargos can be traded, sanctions can be dodged, and fisheries plundered."
📎 Michael Cruickshank