White House Special Envoy for Middle East Peace Steve Witkoff and Presidential Advisor Jared Kushner expressed disappointment with the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s position during the negotiations in Geneva, Axios reporter Barak Ravid reported on Thursday, citing a source familiar with the details. The two sides engaged in direct talks in addition to those facilitated by Omani mediators, but no details concerning the substance or even the length of the discussions were provided in media reports.
USS Gerald R. Ford was spotted leaving the Greek island of Crete on Thursday and reportedly sailing toward the Eastern Mediterranean. The military vessel is rumored to dock at an Israeli port, as Washington continues to increase its military presence in the Middle East. Previously, the US had already deployed another aircraft carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln, to the Arabian Sea, along with three destroyers. Moreover, recent satellite data indicated that strategic bombers, surveillance, and refuelling aircraft have been deployed to the Diego Garcia military base in the Indian Ocean, which US President Donald Trump suggested could be used to strike Iran in case of conflict.
The latest talks in Geneva between the U.S. and Iran on the nuclear issue are ongoing. The U.S. has been increasing military presence in the Gulf as pressure, while both sides are under time constraints to reach a deal. The U.S. wants permanent restrictions, while Iran seeks enrichment rights. The outcome could influence oil markets—a diplomatic solution may ease prices, while escalation could push oil past $100 a barrel.
The United States has begun moving another six F-22 stealth fighter jets toward the Middle East, The Times of Israel reported on Wednesday, citing analysts monitoring open-source flight tracking data. According to the report, the new batch of American fighter jets took off earlier today from the US and flew alongside their accompanying refuelling aircraft, heading for the Royal Air Force base at Lakenheath, England. The six additional fighters are expected to be deployed to an Israeli Air Force base in southern Israel, where another 11 F-22 Raptors landed yesterday. The movement of fighter jets comes as the US is building up its military assets in the Middle East, while US President Donald Trump weighs whether to launch strikes against Iran.
American F-22 stealth fighter jets, which departed from the United Kingdom earlier today, landed at an Israeli Air Force base in southern Israel, Israeli media reported on Tuesday, claiming that the total number of US aircraft deployed to the country is 12. According to the reports, the US fighters deployed in Israel are intended to help intercept missiles and drones launched by Iran in case the United States decides to mount a military operation against this Middle Eastern country. The US has been building up its military assets in the Middle East in recent weeks as President Donald Trump weighs whether to take military action against Iran. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed that a nuclear deal with Washington is possible if “diplomacy is given priority.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei dismissed accusations by the United States administration regarding its nuclear and missile programs on Wednesday, calling them propaganda and “the repetition of big lies.” Baqaei wrote on X, “Professional liars are good at creating the ‘illusion of truth’,” adding that repeating falsehoods does not make them valid, citing Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels. He accused the US administration and what he described as the “genocidal Israeli regime” of spreading systematic disinformation about Iran’s nuclear activities, ballistic missiles, and casualty figures during the January unrest. US President Donald Trump, speaking at the State of the Union, said Iran is the “number one sponsor of terror” and warned it is developing missiles that could eventually reach the United States, while stating he prefers diplomacy over military confrontation.
NN: So they want you to believe its lies. Iran’s hypersonic intercontental rocket systems in development and in production is for peaceful purposes, Of course that does not explain the fact Iran constantly threatens the US and Israel with said rockets.
United States President Donald Trump addressed the State of the Union, emphasizing Iran’s nuclear program. He said the US “will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror … to have a nuclear weapon.” Trump added that he prefers to handle the situation through diplomacy, signaling a desire to avoid military confrontation despite maintaining pressure on Tehran. Trump also claimed Iran is advancing missile technology capable of striking US territory. “They’ve already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas and they’re working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America,” he said.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated on Tuesday that United States President Donald Trump prioritizes diplomacy, but is willing to use “lethal force” against Iran if necessary. Speaking to journalists, Leavit addressed various media reports circulating currently about a potential attack on Iran, saying that they are “completely untrue.” “Anyone speculating to the media, hiding behind an anonymous source, pretending to know what Trump is thinking or a decision he will make with respect to action against Iran has no idea what they’re talking about,” she stressed.
NN: Screw the Iranian civilians. We are talking about protecting the world from these bloodthirsty religious fanatics with hypersonic rockets soon to be tipped with nukes
The State Department is pulling out non-essential government personnel and their eligible family members from the U.S. embassy in Beirut, a senior State Department official said on Monday, amid growing concerns about the risk of a military conflict with Iran. “We continuously assess the security environment, and based on our latest review, we determined it prudent to reduce our footprint to essential personnel,” said a senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The Embassy remains operational with core staff in place. This is a temporary measure intended to ensure the safety of our personnel while maintaining our ability to operate and assist U.S. citizens,” the official said. A source at the U.S. embassy said 50 people had been evacuated, while an official at Beirut airport said 32 embassy staff, along with family members, had flown out of Beirut airport on Monday.
The U.S. has built up one of its biggest military deployments in the Middle East, with President Donald Trump warning on Monday that it will be a “very bad day” for Iran if no deal is reached to solve a longstanding dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Iran has threatened to strike American bases in the region if it is attacked. “Should employees occupying emergency positions wish to depart post, please review alternative arrangements to fill the emergency position and consult with your regional bureau Executive Office as necessary,” said an internal State Department cable on the pullout, which was seen by Reuters. The State Department on Monday updated its travel advisory for Lebanon, repeating its warning that U.S. citizens should not travel to the country. Remaining embassy personnel are restricted from personal travel without advance permission and additional travel restrictions may be imposed “with little to no notice due to increased security issues or threats,” the advisory said. American interests were repeatedly targeted in Lebanon in the 1980s during the 1975-90 civil war, during which the U.S. held the Iran-backed Hezbollah responsible for attacks including the 1983 suicide bombing against the U.S. Marines’ headquarters in Beirut, which killed 241 servicemen, and a 1983 suicide attack on the U.S. embassy in Beirut that killed 49 embassy staff. The United States wants Iran to give up its nuclear program, but Iran has adamantly refused and denied it is trying to develop an atomic weapon. Washington views enrichment inside Iran as a potential pathway to nuclear weapons. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday that he expects to meet with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff in Geneva on Thursday, adding that there was still “a good chance” of a diplomatic solution. A U.S. official confirmed the meeting. Both sides remain sharply divided – even over the scope and sequencing of relief from crippling U.S. sanctions – following two rounds of talks, a senior Iranian official told Reuters.
“I am the one that makes the decision, I would rather have a Deal than not but, if we don’t make a Deal, it will be a very bad day for that Country and, very sadly, its people, because they are great and wonderful, and something like this should never have happened to them,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
On Friday, citing officials on both sides and diplomats across the Gulf and Europe, Reuters reported that Tehran and Washington are sliding rapidly toward military conflict as hopes fade for a diplomatic settlement. It would be the second time the U.S. and Israel have attacked Iran in less than a year, following U.S. and Israeli airstrikes against military and nuclear facilities last June.
NN: Don’t buy into the bullshit. A US attack will not lead to a all out regional war… Just the opposite… It will prevent it. In fact if Trump backs down and accepts another Irian trick negotiation maneuver. The Islamic crazies will declare it a great miracle during Ramadan.
Oil price spikes to $90-$100 per barrel are “within reach” as the United States and Iran appear close to war, Fereidun Fesharaki, Chairman Emeritus at energy market consultancy FGE NexantECA, told Bloomberg Television on Monday.
“I don’t think the US has a choice but to go to war,” Fesharaki told Bloomberg, adding that he expects something to happen as soon as this coming weekend.
The U.S. and Iran are preparing for last-ditch indirect talks on Thursday in Geneva, according to the Omani mediators. So far, no breakthrough has been reached in the talks. U.S. President Donald Trump last week gave Iran 10-15 days to agree to ditch its nuclear program. “It is very hard for me to see a scenario that they would just avoid this, and turn the ships around and go home,” Fesharaki told Bloomberg TV. “If the Iranians accept what the US says, there is no legitimacy left to the regime anymore; they have to say ‘no’,” the expert added, noting that the talks later this week are bound to fail.
This time around, the oil market may be underestimating the potential consequences as Iran could hit production facilities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait, or try to block the Strait of Hormuz, according to Fesharaki.
Oil prices of $90 to $100 a barrel are “within reach,” if supply from the Middle East is indeed disrupted, he added. The massive U.S. military buildups near the Middle East suggest that “The US military is ready for a sustained, highly kinetic campaign should President Trump order it, and also prepared to defend allies and partners in the Middle East from Iran’s missiles,” Dana Stroul, a former senior Pentagon official, told Fox News Digital on Sunday. President Trump could consider an initial targeted attack on Iran, but if that fails to persuade Tehran to give up its nuclear enrichment program, the U.S. President could consider a larger campaign in the coming months to oust the current Iranian leadership, the New York Times reported on Sunday, citing sources briefed on internal deliberations in the U.S. Administration.
NN: You know my position on this for the past two years.
USS Gerald R. Ford, the largest aircraft carrier in the world, arrived in Greek waters on Monday, with the most recent reports placing its location close to the island of Crete. The move comes amid the American military buildup in the Middle East as negotiations on Iran’s nuclear enrichment reach a critical phase. In recent weeks, Washington has amassed its largest concentration of air and naval strike power in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq invasion. The combined air and naval power features dozens of aircraft, and the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is already stationed in the Arabian Sea. The 337-meter USS Gerald R. Ford displaces 100,000 tons and uses two A1B nuclear reactors to generate triple the electrical power of previous carriers, and hosts over 75 aircraft.
NN: Still 7 days away to be in strike distance of Iran from the Gulf of Oman. Its 50 fighters the FA 18 Super Hornets have a fully loaded range of 500 nautical miles
