🇮🇷⚡️- BREAKING: Iran has seized two oil tankers in the Persian Gulf and detained roughly 15 foreign crew members.

🇮🇷 - Note, both tankers were smuggling illegal Iranian crude. The seizure of tankers carrying smuggled crude from Iran by the Iranian navy is normal, and occurs frequently.

Iranians see a 15-20x incentive to sell on the black market, which are typically ship-to-ship transferred to East Asian markets.

🇺🇸🇷🇺⚡- The US and Russia are open to negotiating an extension to the START treaty, Axios reports.

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡- BREAKING:

Turkey, Egypt and Qatar have proposed a possible US-Iran deal, al-Jazeera reports. The framework of the deal will be discussed this Friday between Washington and Tehran in Muscat.

- Iran would cease all enrichment on its soil for three years,

- After three years, Iran will limit enrichment to 1.5%,

- Its current stock of 440kg of 60% enriched uranium would be transferred to a third country,

- Iran would cease arming non-state actors in the region (alluding to Hamas, Hezbollah, Iraqi-based groups and Ansarullah),

- Iran would cease transferring technology to non-state actors in the region,

- Iran would pledge to not use ballistic missiles,

- The US and Iran to sign a non-aggression pact.

🇶🇦🇹🇷🇪🇬 - Note, the three mediators, Turkey, Egypt and Qatar, also played a major role in designing the 20-point Hamas-Israel ceasefire agreement in late 2025.

The agreement, just like the US-Iran proposal, was and is one-sided, in which Hamas effectively signed their capitulation. The agreement 'forced' the Palestinian group to either sign for peace, or lose the mediators support.

The three regional mediators are now cornering Iran into a similar position.

🇺🇸🇮🇷🇮🇱⚡- Israeli military correspondent for Channel 14, Yaakov Bardugo, threatens unilateral action if the US does not address Israel's red-lines in negotiations. Bardugo also claims Israel has received the greenlight for military action against Iran's ballistic missile program.

"If the US fails to address Israel's red-lines, Tel Aviv will retain the right to attack on the issue of ballistic missiles, and as far as I understand, the approval to strike ballistic missiles was already given in Mar-a-Lago. President Trump said on the issue of ballistic missiles: 'I won't intervene if you attack and end this matter,'" - Yaakov Bardugo.

🇮🇷🇷🇺🇮🇱⚡- Israel raised Iran's ballistic missile program concern with Russia's Sergei Lavrov, Yaakov Bardugo of Israeli Channel 14 reports.

🇮🇷🇮🇱⚡- "We will not leave ballistic missiles in Iran's hands.

Ballistic missiles are an existential threat no less than the Iranian nuclear program, and we understand the pressures from Arab parties in the region.

It's possible, as in the Twelve-Day War or in other cases, that Israel will take the first steps to war," - Yaakov Bardugo of Israeli Channel 14.

🇪🇬🇮🇱⚡- "The Egyptian army is growing and must be closely monitored and prevented from excessive growth," - Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister, during the Security Cabinet meeting.

🇺🇸⚡️- Bitcoin has broken down under $67,000.

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡️- “We will not accept the imposition of conditions such as halting enrichment, and we will not negotiate on the missile file or the regional file.” - Ebrahim Rezaei spokesperson for Iran’s parliamentary national security committee to Al Mayadeen.

🇮🇷🇮🇱 - The Israeli security cabinet meeting has ended, lasting three and a half hours.

🇵🇸🇮🇷🇮🇱⚡- The Palestinian file dominated talks during the Israeli security cabinet meeting, Iran was not discussed in detail, Israeli Channel 12 reports.

🇺🇸🇬🇧⚡- "I have had very productive discussions with Prime Minister Keir Starmer about the Island of Diego Garcia.

It is the site of a major U.S. Military Base, strategically situated in the middle of the Indian Ocean and, therefore, of great importance to the National Security of the United States.

We have the most powerful Military in the World. Our Military Operations, over the course of the last year, were successful because of the strength of our warfighters, modern capability of our equipment and, very importantly, the strategic location of our Military Bases for staging, and other reasons.

I understand that the deal Prime Minister Starmer has made, according to many, the best he could make. However, if the lease deal, sometime in the future, ever falls apart, or anyone threatens or endangers U.S. operations and forces at our Base, I retain the right to Militarily secure and reinforce the American presence in Diego Garcia.

Let it be known that I will never allow our presence on a Base as important as this to ever be undermined or threatened by fake claims or environmental nonsense.

Thank you for your attention to this matter," - President Trump.

🇺🇸🇯🇵⚡- "The Great Country of Japan is having a very important Legislative Election on Sunday, February 8, 2026. The results of this Election are very important to the future of Japan.

The Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, has already proven to be a strong, powerful, and wise Leader, and one that truly loves her Country. I look forward to welcoming Prime Minister Takaichi to the White House on March 19th.

In my visit to Japan I, and all of my Representatives, were extremely impressed with her. In addition to National Security, the United States and Japan have worked closely together on making a very substantial Trade Deal, one that strongly benefits both Countries.

Prime Minister Takaichi is someone who deserves powerful recognition for the job she and her Coalition are doing and, therefore, as President of the United States of America, it is my Honor to give a Complete and Total Endorsement of her, and what her highly respected Coalition is representing.

SHE WILL NOT LET THE PEOPLE OF JAPAN DOWN!

Good luck on your very important Sunday Vote," - President Trump.

🇺🇸🇷🇺⚡- "Rather than extend “NEW START” (A badly negotiated deal by the United States that, aside from everything else, is being grossly violated), we should have our Nuclear Experts work on a new, improved, and modernized Treaty that can last long into the future," - President Trump.

🇺🇸🇮🇷🇴🇲⚡- Iran's Foreign Minister Araghchi has arrived in Muscat, meanwhile Special Envoy Witkoff is currently discussing the Iranian question with the Qataris in Doha.

🇺🇸🇲🇽🇨🇺⚡️- “Mexican officials are evaluating how to send fuel to Cuba to help meet basic needs such as electricity and transportation without triggering reprisals from Washington, which has threatened tariffs against countries supplying fuel to the Caribbean island,” - Reuters.

🇺🇸⚡️- BREAKING: CBS reports that an unidentified person was seen entering Jeffrey Epstein’s jail tier at approximately 10:39 p.m. on the night of his death, according to newly released DOJ video footage.

This was never reported in any official accounts or reports until now.

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡️- BREAKING: The U.S. Embassy tells citizens to leave Iran now.