💬 🇪🇬 Egyptian President el-Sisi to Trump:

Nobody can stop the war, but you.

#️⃣ 🇮🇷 Despite the war and sanctions, Iran has nearly doubled its oil revenues, exporting about 2.4–2.8 million barrels per day at much higher prices.

China is buying over 90% of exports.

#️⃣ 🇪🇸🇮🇷 Spain has closed its airspace to aircraft involved in the operation in Iran. Overflights and landings will be allowed only in emergencies, reports El País.

💬 🇺🇸🇮🇷 Trump: Iran’s leader Mojtaba Khamenei is seriously wounded or dead.

“We haven’t heard anything about him. He has disappeared.”

💬 🇺🇸 Trump:

The United States of America is in serious discussions with A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations in Iran.

Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately “Open for Business,” we will conclude our lovely “stay” in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet “touched.”

This will be in retribution for our many soldiers, and others, that Iran has butchered and killed over the old Regime’s 47 year “Reign of Terror.”

#️⃣ 🇨🇳 Two Chinese-owned cargo ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday—the first major container vessels to do so since the conflict began, according to MarineTraffic.

The ships, bound for Malaysia, crossed after earlier delays, potentially signaling easing conditions after Iran restricted the key oil and gas route.

- NYT

💬 🇺🇸 Marco Rubio on Iran:

They are making threats about controlling the Strait of Hormuz in perpetuity, creating a tolling system and the like. That's not going to be allowed to happen.

Trump has a number of options available to him if he so chooses to prevent that from happening.

💬 🇺🇸 Marco Rubio on Iran:

These people are lunatics. They are insane. They are religious zealots...

💬 🇺🇸 Marco Rubio on Iran:

There are clearly people there talking to us in ways that previous leaders in Iran have not spoken to us before.

Some of the things they’re saying they’re willing to do — we have to see if they can actually do them.

We have to test that very strongly.

😮‍💨 🇺🇸🇮🇷 TRUMP IS ONCE AGAIN MAKING UNFOUNDED CLAIMS ABOUT NEGOTIATIONS WITH TEHRAN — IRANIAN MEDIA.

💬 🇩🇪🇪🇺🇮🇷 GERMAN CHANCELLOR MERZ: A possible war with Iran would have an impact on Germany and Europe as serious as the COVID pandemic if it spreads.

💬 🇮🇹 Italy’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto on Iran War:

We did not support this war, and no one asked for our opinion.

The length of wars does not depend on the power of the strongest, but on the resistance of the weakest.

Iran is larger than Ukraine, has more people, and thousands of years of history.

💬 🇺🇸🇮🇷 Professor Robert Pape:

For 50 years, America’s number one goal in the Middle East has been to prevent an oil hegemon.

That means control over the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has never been an oil hegemon before. Now it is. Twenty percent of the world’s oil flows through Hormuz, more than the 16% the United States produces.

So now Iran has more influence over oil prices than anyone else. They’re leveraging that for geopolitical gain with countries like India and others.

They’re also making money, about $1.5 billion so far from this oil. The funds are sitting in Chinese banks, so we can’t seize them.

And if this continues for another six weeks, another six months, then Iran will not only be an oil hegemon but one with nuclear capability.

At that point, the balance of power will change dramatically.

💬 🇺🇸🇮🇷 Marco Rubio to Al Jazeera:

Iran must stop producing all the drones and missiles we’ve seen recently.

💬 🇺🇸 Marco Rubio to Al Jazeera:

Israel’s focus differs from what we are focusing on, and they have their own objectives.

#️⃣ 🇸🇦🇺🇸 THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS ASSESSING THE POSSIBILITY OF TRANSFERRING URANIUM ENRICHMENT TECHNOLOGY TO SAUDI ARABIA — BBG.

#️⃣ 🇻🇪🇺🇸 U.S. State Department: The U.S. Embassy in Venezuela is resuming operations after seven years.

🚀 🇮🇷🇹🇷 A ballistic missile was intercepted in the skies over Turkey, the defense ministry reported. It is claimed to have been launched from Iran.

💬 🇺🇸🇮🇷 Rubio: Here are the clear objectives of the operation. You should write them down:

1. Destruction of the Iranian Air Force

2. Destruction of their navy

3. Significant reduction of their missile launch capabilities

4. Destruction of their factories

#️⃣ 🇺🇸🇮🇷🇮🇱 TRUMP, when asked how he would respond to an Iranian attack on an Israeli oil refinery:

“You’ll see soon.”

💬 🇮🇷🇺🇸 TRUMP: The U.S. negotiating partner in Iran is the Speaker of Parliament Ghalibaf.

In about a week, we will know more about whether we can actually work with him.