A ceasefire to the Iran War entered its 17th day on Friday, one day after President Donald Trump announced a three-week extension to the declared ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israel has waged war in recent weeks.
After Trump’s announcement, Israeli and Lebanese media both reported continued violence and blamed the other side for violating the ceasefire.
In a post on X Friday morning, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said that “for the first time in decades, three aircraft carriers are now operating in the Middle East at the same time.” Those carriers are the USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Gerald R. Ford, and USS George H.W. Bush
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon, Trump said that if Tehran doesn’t make a deal, he’ll restart the war and destroy remaining targets inside Iran. Trump also said that the Iranian government is “disorganized,” while the U.S. is “in no rush” to make a deal.
Iran’s leadership issued nearly identical statements on X Thursday in an attempt to reject Trump’s statement that Iran’s leadership is too fractured to negotiate. “In Iran, there are no ‘radicals’ or ‘moderates.’ We are all Iranian and revolutionary,” wrote the accounts of Iran’s speaker of parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and President Masoud Pezeshkian.
The Iranian foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, arrived in Pakistan on Friday for what Aragchi said were bilateral talks focused on “consultations” with Pakistani officials. Tehran has not confirmed that Iranian diplomats will meet with American negotiators, and Iran has previously said it will not negotiate with the U.S. until the blockade is lifted.
Israel’s minister of defense, Israel Katz, said Thursday that Israel is waiting for the “green light,” from the U.S. to bomb Iran’s energy sites and leadership. Israel will “return Iran to the Dark Age and the Stone Age by destroying key energy and electricity facilities and dismantling its national economic infrastructure,” Katz said in a recorded address.
The price of Brent crude went above $104 on Friday while gasoline prices remained elevated in America. AAA reported the national average price of gas at $4.06.
Read the full article here
