🇮🇷🇺🇸⚡️ — NEW: Iran hasn't been able to open the Strait of Hormuz to more shipping traffic because it cannot locate all of the mines it laid in the waterway and lacks the capability to remove them, according to NYT, citing U.S. officials.

➡️ The "safe routes" announced by the IRGC are limited in large part because Iran mined the strait haphazardly, U.S. officials said.

➡️ The officials say it is unclear whether Iran accurately tracked the location of every mine it deployed in the Strait of Hormuz, and even when positions were recorded, some mines may have drifted or shifted over time.

🇺🇸⚡️ — WATCH: The Artemis II crew has returned to Earth with a successful splashdown off the coast of San Diego after their 10-day lunar flyby mission.

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡️ — The U.S. is continuing to build up forces in the Middle East ahead of this weekend’s renewed talks with Iran, with more fighter and attack aircraft already deployed and plans to send 1,500–2,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division, WSJ reports.

➡️ Additional naval and Marine forces are also moving into the region, including the USS George H.W. Bush carrier strike group and the USS Boxer with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

🇺🇦❌🇷🇺 — WATCH: Ukraine’s General Staff announced its forces struck two Russian drilling platforms in the northern Caspian Sea last night.

➡️ The targets were the ice-resistant stationary platforms at the V. Graifer and Yuri Korchagin fields, located nearly 1,000 kilometers from the front line.

🇺🇦❌🇷🇺 — NEW: Several Ukrainian drones have struck Tver in central Russia.

➡️ CCTV footage shows three impacts.

🇷🇺❌🇺🇦 — WATCH: A Russian Geran-2 drone struck a multi-story building in Odessa, southwestern Ukraine, earlier tonight.

🇮🇱❌🇵🇸 — An Israeli airstrike struck a police checkpoint in the Bureij refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, earlier tonight, killing six people and injuring several others.

🇵🇰🇮🇷🇺🇸⚡️ — A Pakistani diplomatic source told Al Jazeera that efforts are being made to arrange direct talks between U.S. and Iranian delegations in Islamabad, but if a face-to-face meeting doesn’t happen, negotiations will be indirect and limited to one day.

🇮🇷🇺🇸🇵🇰⚡️ — The Iranian delegation in Islamabad, Pakistan.

🇮🇷🇺🇸🇮🇱🇵🇰⚡️ — An informed Iranian source told Fars News Agency that Tehran rejects any effort to portray Israel as acting independently while exonerating the U.S., insisting Washington is fully responsible for the outcome of the talks.

➡️ The source added that despite ongoing diplomacy, attempts to blame Israel for sabotage are misleading, as Iran does not view it as separate from U.S. decision-making.

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡️ — The U.S. has not agreed to release any Iranian frozen assets, according to CBS News, citing a senior U.S. official.

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡️ — The talks between the U.S. and Iran in Islamabad have still not started, according to CBS News, citing U.S. officials.

➡️ Vice President JD Vance held a bilateral meeting with Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif, but negotiations have not started yet and no agreements have been discussed.

🇺🇸🇨🇳⚡️ — U.S. intelligence suggests China may be preparing to supply Iran with new air defense systems in the coming weeks, potentially using third countries to conceal the shipments’ origin, CNN reports.

➡️ China has denied the claims and is urging de-escalation.

🇮🇷⚡️ — Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is still recovering from serious facial and leg injuries sustained in the airstrike that killed his father on the first day of the war, according to Reuters.

➡️ His face was badly disfigured and he suffered major leg injuries, with one U.S. intelligence source saying he may have lost a leg, but he remains mentally sharp and is continuing to take part in key decisions, including war strategy and negotiations with Washington, via audio calls.

🇮🇷🇵🇰🇺🇸⚡️ — Iran has conveyed its red lines to Pakistani mediators ahead of potential talks with the U.S., outlining key conditions for any agreement, IRIB reports.

➡️ These include Iranian control and sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, receiving war reparations, securing the release of frozen assets, and achieving a comprehensive, lasting ceasefire across the entire region.

➡️ Tehran insists these demands must be met before any final deal.