Good afternoon, everyone. There is a lot of news to cover today, with a major focus on Iran. Right now, parts of Iran are covered in thick black smoke following U.S. and Israeli strikes on oil depots around the country, with residents reporting black, oily rain. Meanwhile, Fox has admitted to airing the wrong video of the dignified transfer of troops after we called them out.
Switzerland says the U.S. and Israel are violating international law, the U.S. is warning that strikes near civilian populations may occur, and the Middle East’s water supply is at risk as desalination plants have been targeted.
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Here’s the news:
- Oil-laden rain fell across Tehran after major Israeli airstrikes hit oil facilities in the south and west of the capital, sending smoke and toxic hydrocarbons into the air.
- Israeli airstrikes on Tehran’s oil depots and a refinery ignited massive fires, blanketing the city in thick black smoke and causing reports of oily “black rain” from polluted storm clouds.
- Switzerland’s defense minister said US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran violated international law and called on all sides to stop the violence and protect civilians. He warned the war could spill into Europe through terrorist attacks and refugee flows, adding that Switzerland currently lacks defenses against long-range missile threats.
- According to Axios, the U.S. and Israel have discussed a potential operation to send special forces into Iran to secure its roughly 450 kilograms of 60%-enriched uranium, which could be converted to weapons-grade material for multiple nuclear bombs within weeks. Officials said the mission could involve special operations troops and nuclear experts seizing, removing, or diluting the uranium at heavily fortified sites like Isfahan, Fordow and Natanz if Iran’s military is sufficiently weakened during the war.
- Fox News admits to airing an old dignified transfer video on its program this morning, one that did not show Donald Trump wearing a white ball cap.
- Fox’s dignified transfer footage now just completely excludes Trump.
- Asked whether he was concerned about risks to Americans from the ongoing war with Iran, President Trump told ABC News reporter Mary Bruce that he was “not worried about anything,” dismissing concerns about potential threats inside the United States.
- Video circulating online appears to show storm drains in Tehran erupting in flames after oil from the bombed Shahran Oil Depot and nearby infrastructure reportedly spilled into the city’s drainage system following Israeli airstrikes.
- According to the New York Times, desalination plants in Iran and Bahrain were struck during the escalating conflict, with Iran accusing the U.S. of hitting a facility on Qeshm Island that supplies water to about 30 villages, while Bahrain blamed an Iranian drone for damaging a plant there. Analysts warned that attacking desalination infrastructure — a primary source of drinking water for millions in the Gulf — marks a serious escalation that could threaten civilian survival and broaden the war’s impact beyond military targets.
- U.S. Central Command warned Iranian civilians to shelter in place, accusing the Iranian government of launching ballistic missiles and one-way attack drones from densely populated areas in cities such as Dezful, Esfahan, and Shiraz. The U.S. military said operating from civilian neighborhoods endangers residents and could make those locations potential military targets, though it says it is taking precautions to minimize civilian harm.
- President Trump told ABC News that Iran’s new supreme leader “is not going to last long” without U.S. approval, suggesting Washington should have influence to prevent future conflicts. Iran’s foreign minister rejected the idea, saying the selection of a new leader is solely the business of the Iranian people through the Assembly of Experts.
- House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said he would not support sending U.S. ground troops into Iran, noting that even candidate Trump previously argued American servicemen and women should not be put in harm’s way in “another endless war in the Middle East.”
- Sen. Lindsey Graham warned that major military action could be coming soon, saying, “Israel and the United States — you just wait to see what comes the next two weeks,” adding: “We’re going to blow the hell out of these people.”
- Norwegian police said an explosive device detonated around 1:00 a.m. outside the consular entrance of the U.S. Embassy in Oslo, causing minor injuries and damage to the building. Authorities confirmed the embassy was the target and are investigating the blast, according to a statement given to NRK by the Oslo police chief.
- U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said the United States should win any conflict quickly and suggested broader action beyond Iran, declaring that “the liberation of Cuba is upon us” and that the U.S. is “marching through the world” to “clear out the bad guys.”
- President Trump said he will refuse to sign any new legislation until Congress passes the SAVE America Act banning vote-by-mail along with several bills related to transgender policies.
- According to Reuters, Iran’s Assembly of Experts has reportedly reached a broad consensus on a successor to the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, though final procedural issues remain before the decision is formally announced. Officials said the choice was guided by Khamenei’s view that Iran’s leader should be someone “hated by the enemy,” while the assembly may finalize the decision remotely due to security risks during the war.
- A former detainee at the Camp East Montana ICE facility said he overheard guards allegedly placing bets on which detainee would die by suicide next, with one guard claiming to have put $500 into a betting pool. The allegation surfaced amid an AP investigation documenting repeated suicide attempts, medical emergencies and widespread mental distress among detainees at the overcrowded Texas detention center.
- Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran has a “strategic partnership” with Russia and acknowledged the relationship will continue, but declined to confirm whether Moscow is providing military assistance such as helping locate U.S. forces.
See you soon.
— Aaron
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