President Trump asserts the US military has decimated Iran's forces and no longer requires assistance from NATO allies to secure the Strait of Hormuz, despite earlier requests for support.
Trump also asserted that US forces had struck hundreds of targets across Iran, including facilities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and air defence systems.
India has issued an advisory for its citizens in Israel to exercise utmost caution and remain vigilant at all times, following a joint attack by Israel and the US against Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that recent missile attacks demonstrate Iran's capacity to strike globally, posing a threat to Europe and the rest of the world. He highlighted the need for international action to counter Iran's nuclear and missile programmes.
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) said it struck several targets in Tehran, Shiraz and Ahvaz simultaneously over the past 24 hours, targeting sites linked to Iran's ballistic missile programme, air defence systems and military headquarters.
Trump claimed that he "got a call from Prime Minister Modi saying, 'we're done'. I said, 'you're done with what?'" Trump said and claimed Modi replied: "We're not going to go to war."
US President Donald Trump's threats against Iran have drawn strong condemnation from Democrat leaders, who are calling for his removal from office, while some Republicans express concern.
The delegations from the US and Iran head to Islamabad on Friday, carrying a ceasefire that is already fraying, a Strait that is technically open and practically closed, and a negotiating agenda that would challenge even parties actually negotiating in good faith, which these groups are not. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
'No, India and China were not about to go to all-out war over a few rocks of Galwan.' 'The full picture of what went on at the highest level between two heads of State will not be known for a very, very long time and rightly so,' points out Colonel Anil A Athale, former head of the history division, ministry of defence.
'American stature has been reduced because they have not been able to achieve their aims.'
Trump also said that Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif, who had visited the White House last year, credited him for saving millions of lives by stopping the conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Hours after ceasefire, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned against any country supplying military weapons to the Islamic Republic, stating that he would impose a 50 percent tariff on all goods exported to the United States.
If Trump wants peace with Iran, Pakistan will offer to help. If Trump seeks Pakistan's aid to spy on Iran, then too Munir will not hesitate to chip in. At the same time, the ISI will not hesitate to tip off Iran now and then, points out M R Narayan Swamy.
Trump also praised Chinese President as "a great leader of a great country" and said the two sides had "already agreed to a lot of things."
Tensions escalate at the UN Security Council as the US and Israel defend their military actions against Iran, while Iran condemns the strikes as war crimes, raising fears of a wider Middle East conflict.
Operation Sindoor compelled Pakistan to undertake constitutional amendments, which is an acknowledgement that things did not go well for the neighbouring nation, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan has said.
Nearly all of the nine nuclear-armed States, including India and Pakistan, continued intensive nuclear modernisation programmes in 2024, upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions, according to a report by a global think-tank.
United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday said 'we' now have 'complete and total control of the skies over Iran' and 'we know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding'.
Israel wishes to continue its bombing campaign until Iran's military and industrial infrastructure are degraded to a point where it ceases to pose a threat to Israel. Iran, for its part, has learnt from its experience in the 12-day war of last June. Any ceasefire, it believes, will only be a prelude to another attack on itself. It is determined to convey that any attack on Iran will impose heavy costs on Israel, the US, America's allies in the Gulf -- and on the world at large, points out T T Ram Mohan.
This is part of the reason the US advised some Americans to leave the region earlier Wednesday, with the State Department ordering non-emergency government officials to exit Iraq due to 'heightened regional tensions', CBS News reported.
With the fight now having been taken to the seizure of nuclear plants, it is one more warning to Europe that this prolonged war could end up with disastrous consequences, observes Rashme Sehgal
The USS Tripoli, carrying around 3,500 US Marines, has entered the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility, marking the deployment of one of America's largest amphibious assault ships into an active combat theatre in West Asia amid the ongoing conflict.
The US blockade on Iranian ports is aimed to curb Iranian energy exports, thereby crippling its economy to force Iran back to the negotiating table, points out Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Possible convergence of interest among China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh may result in serious implications for India's stability and security dynamics, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan said on Tuesday.
'What we have yet to see on either the US or the Iranian side is willingness to compromise on their ultimate demands and the flexibility to reach an agreement to end the war.
'Our diplomacy should have been focused on preventing war and avoiding the inevitable disruptions it would cause, posing a real risk to India's growth story,' asserts former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
The intriguing bit is that Trump is likely to attend the talks in Islamabad this weekend -- if he does, it will be the clearest signal yet that the US is ready to exit the war with some sort of win to show, since he cannot afford to go for the talks and return empty-handed, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War
Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey met in Islamabad in what analysts say is the formal opening of a new diplomatic formation that could reshape the post-war regional order. Their immediate goal is a ceasefire; their larger ambition is to ensure that neither Iran nor Israel emerges from this war in a dominant position. Pakistan's foreign minister then flew directly to Beijing and mooted a Chinese role as guarantor of any eventual agreement. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
'Torpedoes travel at more than 100 kilometres per hour, about 50-60 knots.' 'It must have been a matter of a few minutes before it detonated under the Iranian ship.' 'The Iranian ship would have probably got three, four minutes and wouldn't have known till they actually heard the whirr of the torpedo.'
Iran has announced the Strait of Hormuz is open to commercial vessels, coinciding with a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel.
The 'rescue' operation occurred within kilometres of Iran's underground tunnel complex at Isfahan, assessed by the IAEA and US intelligence as holding a substantial portion of the country's 60 per cent enriched uranium stockpile. Retired senior US military officers have highlighted that the mission's footprint -- hundreds of special operators, multiple heavy-lift aircraft deep inside Iran -- appears outsized for recovering a single airman. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
The US Navy seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman, escalating tensions as ceasefire talks face uncertainty. The incident raises concerns about the fragile ceasefire and the ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
'India for its survival has to change its doctrine from no first use to a pre-emptive attack in case of any hostile move by Pakistan,' recommends Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
16 days into the war, US forces were already running out of ground-attack missiles and Israel is about to expend its entire Arrow interceptor missiles by end March. To be sure, the Iranians are watching closely and that explains their defiant stance that 'Iran will end the war when it decides to do so and when its conditions are met', notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A large fire was reported on Saturday night at a strategic complex near Haifa in northern Israel after Iran launched a barrage of missiles and drones, MEHR News Agency reported, citing local media.
Donald Trump claimed that his intervention prevented a war between India and Pakistan, citing trade negotiations as leverage. India has refuted claims of US mediation in past conflicts.
The United States used an array of weapons in the strikes conducted against Iran as part of Operation Epic Fury on Saturday -- which included artificial intelligence services from Anthropic, according to a report by Reuters.
Karex, the Malaysian company that makes roughly one in five of the world's condoms -- about five billion a year, supplying Durex and Trojan among others -- announced this week that it is raising prices by up to 30 percent. The reason is the Strait of Hormuz.
Beijing's latest weapon, 15 times more powerful than TNT, signals a new frontier in high-impact, non-nuclear military technology.
On the table are additional batches of S-400 surface-to-air missile systems from Russia, which India used with immense success during Operation Sindoor. India could buy at least two squadrons of Su-57 fighter jets plus joint production of S-500 air defence systems.
