WASHINGTON — Three fired FBI agents sued on Tuesday to try to get their jobs back, saying in a class-action lawsuit that they were illegally punished for their participation in an investigation into President Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
The federal lawsuit adds to the mounting list of court challenges to a personnel purge by FBI Director Kash Patel that over the last year has resulted in the ousters of dozens of agents, either because of their involvement in investigations related to Trump or because they were perceived as insufficiently loyal to the Republican president’s agenda.
The lawsuit in federal court in Washington was technically filed on behalf of just three agents but may have much broader implications given that its request for class-action status could open the door for agents fired since the start of the Trump administration to get their jobs back.
The three agents — Michelle Ball, Jamie Garman and Blaire Toleman — were fired last October and November in what they say was a “retribution campaign” targeting them for their work on the investigation into Trump. The agents had between eight and 14 years of “exemplary and unblemished” service in the FBI and expected to spend the remainder of their careers at the bureau but were abruptly fired without cause and without being given a chance to respond, the lawsuit says.
“Serving the American people as FBI agents was the highest honor of our lives,” they said in a statement. “We took an oath to uphold the Constitution, followed the facts wherever they led and never compromised our integrity. Our removal from federal service — without due process and based on a false perception of political bias — is a profound injustice that raises serious concerns about political interference in federal law enforcement.”
Trump’s indictment
The investigation the agents worked on culminated in a 2023 indictment from special counsel Jack Smith that accused Trump of illegally scheming to undo the results of the presidential election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. Smith ultimately abandoned that case, along with a separate one accusing Trump of illegally retaining classified records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., after Trump won back the White House in 2024, citing Justice Department legal opinions that prohibit the federal indictments of sitting presidents.
The lawsuit notes that the firings followed the release by Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Republican chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, of documents about the election investigation — known as Arctic Frost — that he said had come from within the FBI. Those records included files showing that Smith’s team had subpoenaed several days of phone records of some Republican lawmakers, an investigative step that angered Trump allies inside Congress.
The complaint names as defendants Patel and Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi, accusing them of having orchestrated the firings despite being “personally embroiled” either as witnesses or attorneys in some of the legal troubles Trump has faced.
Patel, for instance, was subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury investigating Trump’s retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and had his phone records subpoenaed, while Bondi was part of the legal team that represented Trump at his first impeachment trial, which resulted in his acquittal.
“And now, by virtue of presidential appointment to the pinnacle of federal law enforcement, Defendants are abusing their positions to claim victories that eluded them on the merits,” the lawsuit states.
Spokespeople for the FBI and the Justice Department declined to comment on the ongoing litigation. Patel and Bondi have said the fired agents and prosecutors who worked on Smith’s team were responsible for weaponizing federal law enforcement, a claim that was also asserted in their termination letters but that the plaintiffs call defamatory and baseless.
Fired agents call for ‘fundamental constitutional protections’
Dan Eisenberg, a lawyer for the agents, said in a statement that his clients were fired without any investigation, notice of charges or chance to be heard.
“This lawsuit seeks to reaffirm fundamental constitutional protections for FBI employees, ensuring they can perform their duties without fear or favor. We all benefit when law enforcement officers’ only loyalty is to facts and the truth,” said Eisenberg, who is with the firm of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel.
The lawsuit asks for the agents to be reinstated to their positions and for a court declaration affirming that their rights had been violated. It also seeks to represent a class of at least 50 agents who have been terminated since Jan. 20, 2025, or will be. Those agents also stand to recover their jobs in the event the case is successful and the requested class-action status is granted.
Others have been fired too
Other fired employees who have sued include agents who were photographed kneeling during a racial justice protest in 2020; an agent trainee who displayed an LGBTQ+ flag at his workspace; and a group of senior officials, including the former acting director of the FBI, who were terminated last summer.
The firings have continued, with Patel last month pushing out a group of agents in the Washington field office who had been involved in investigating Trump’s hoarding of classified documents. Trump has insisted he was entitled to keep the documents when he left the White House and has claimed without evidence that he had declassified them.
District Judge Richard Leon says construction has to stop until Congress provides statutory authorisation.
Published On 1 Apr 20261 Apr 2026
A judge has ruled that US President Donald Trump cannot proceed with his planned $400m ballroom on the site of the White House’s demolished East Wing without approval from Congress.
District Judge Richard Leon on Tuesday granted a request for a preliminary injunction filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued after alleging Trump had exceeded his authority by razing the historic East Wing and launching construction on the new building.
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“I have concluded that the National Trust is likely to succeed on the merits because no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have,” Leon, an appointee of former Republican President George W Bush, wrote in the ruling.
“The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner!” he said. “Unless and until Congress blesses this project through statutory authorization, construction has to stop!”
Leon said the order does not affect “construction necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House”.
His ruling keeps the 90,000 square-foot (8,360 square-metre) ballroom project on hold while the lawsuit continues.
The judge said he was pausing his order for 14 days to allow the Trump administration to appeal. Hours later, the Justice Department filed an appeal at the Washington, DC-based US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Artist renderings of the new White House East Wing and Ballroom [Jon Elswick/AP]
Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the National Trust, welcomed Leon’s ruling.
“This is a win for the American people on a project that forever impacts one of the most beloved and iconic places in our nation,” Quillen said in a statement.
In a social media post, Trump called the National Trust a group of left-wing “lunatics” and said his ballroom is “under budget, ahead of schedule, being built at no cost to the Taxpayer, and will be the finest Building of its kind anywhere in the World”.
The Republican has championed the ballroom as a defining addition to the White House and a lasting symbol of his presidency.
WASHINGTON — A Florida airport was cleared to be renamed after President Trump on Monday, hours before the president separately revealed plans for a Miami skyscraper planned to house his presidential library.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill allowing Palm Beach International Airport to be renamed the President Donald J. Trump International Airport. The change is set to take place in July, formally rebranding the airport near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
Later Monday, Trump posted a video to social media that appears to show digital renderings for his presidential library. Set to dramatic music, the video unveils a piercing tower along the Miami skyline emblazoned with the signature “Trump” lettering seen on his other towers.
The video includes panning shots of the tower’s exterior and interior, with a presidential jet parked in the lobby alongside a gold escalator like the one Trump rode down while launching his presidential campaign in 2015. Other shots show a giant ballroom like the one he’s planning for the White House, a replica Oval Office, rooftop gardens and a large, gold statue of Trump.
A credit says the design comes from Bermello Ajamil, a Miami-based firm. Trump posted the video with no explanation beyond a link to a new website for the library. The website says, “coming soon,” with a link to donate money.
The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the plans.
Miami Dade College gave up a nearly three-acre plot of downtown real estate as a gift for the future library. A judge in December dismissed a complaint challenging the gift on grounds that the college’s board didn’t give sufficient public notice. The site is valued at more than $67 million.
Trump’s son Eric previously said the library will be “one of the most beautiful buildings ever built” and “an Icon on the Miami skyline.”
Since he returned to the White House, Trump has pressed to get his name on all manner of American institutions, including the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and U.S. currency.
In Palm Beach, a stretch of road from the airport to Trump’s estate was recently renamed Donald J. Trump Boulevard.
President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday purporting to place new federal controls on voting by mail in states such as California, repeating his long-held but unsubstantiated claim that mail-in ballots are a source of widespread fraud in U.S. elections.
California leaders immediately responded with promises to fight the order in court. They said mail ballots are a safe and secure method for voting relied on by millions of Californians, that Trump’s order infringes on the state’s constitutional right to administer elections as it sees fit, and that it amounts to an “illegal power grab” ahead of midterm elections in which his party is poised to suffer substantial losses.
The order directs the United States Postal Service to take control of mail balloting by designing new envelopes with special bar codes that will allow the federal government to ensure that such ballots go out only to eligible voters, and that only eligible voters return such ballots.
It requires states to submit to the USPS process if they plan to use the federal mail system for sending or receiving ballots, and to submit to the USPS lists of eligible voters in advance of such ballots passing through the mail system.
It also requires the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the Social Security Administration to “compile and transmit to the chief election official of each State a list of individuals confirmed to be United States citizens who will be above the age of 18 at the time of an upcoming Federal election and who maintain a residence in the subject State.”
Those lists will be drawn from federal citizenship and naturalization records, Social Security records and “other relevant Federal databases,” and the USPS will be barred from transmitting ballots that do not match those lists, the order says.
“Secure ballot envelope identifiers provide a reliable, auditable mechanism to enforce Federal law without unduly burdening or infringing on the rights of eligible voters,” the order reads. “Unique ballot envelope identifiers, such as bar codes, enable confirmation that only citizens receive and cast ballots, reducing the risk of fraud and protecting the integrity of Federal elections.”
Trump — who recently voted by mail himself in Florida — framed the order as a solution to “massive cheating” in U.S. elections currently, which he did not back up with evidence.
“The cheating on mail-in voting is legendary. It’s horrible what’s going on,” Trump said.
“He’s going to make sure that mail-in ballots are safe secure and accurate,” said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who appeared alongside Trump and whose agency the order requires to be involved in the coordination of the new voting measures.
California officials blasted the president for attacking and undermining election integrity, rather than shoring it up, and said they would fight the order from taking effect.
“President Trump’s Executive Order marks a dangerous and unprecedented escalation in his ongoing attacks on our elections. The power to regulate elections belongs to the States and to Congress — he has no role to play. We blocked his previous Executive Order on elections in court, and we are prepared to stop him again,” said California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta.
“The reality is that President Trump and Congressional Republicans see the writing on the wall — that they are likely to lose in the upcoming midterms — and they are pushing to make it harder for people to vote,” Bonta added. “We won’t stand idly by.”
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), in a statement to The Times, said Trump’s actions were “a clear and present threat to our democracy,” that he will “use every tool I can to stop him,” and that he expects “immediate legal challenges in order to protect our free and fair elections.”
“Instead of focusing on lowering the cost of energy, groceries, and health care, Donald Trump is desperately attempting to take over and rig our elections and avoid accountability in November. This executive order is a blatant, unconstitutional abuse of power,” said Padilla, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration.
“The President and the Department of Homeland Security have no authority to commandeer federal elections or direct the independent Postal Service to undermine mail and absentee voting that nearly 50 million Americans relied on in 2024,” he said. “A decade of lies about election fraud does not change the Constitution.”
“In the middle of an unauthorized war abroad and an escalating authoritarian crackdown by ICE here at home, Trump is attempting another illegal power grab,” Padilla said.
A vast majority of Californians vote by mail. In the state’s 2025 special election on Proposition 50, the state’s mid-decade redistricting measure, nearly 89% of votes were cast by mail, according to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber’s office — or nearly 10.3 million out of about 11.6 million votes cast.
Trump has long criticized mail-in ballots — without evidence — as a source of fraud and a factor in his losing the 2020 election to President Biden, which he still contends was illegitimate.
Election experts, voting rights advocates, local elections officials and other California leaders have all dismissed those claims as unfounded and inaccurate. They have also been preparing for Trump to act to curtail such voting.
Padilla previously warned colleagues that he would force a vote on any effort by Trump to declare a national emergency in order to seize control of this year’s midterm elections from the states, forcing them to either co-sign on the power grab or resist it.
Critics of mail ballots have also been actively working to end or curtail the practice. Just last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case in which the Republican Party challenged a Mississippi law that allows ballots to be accepted and counted if they arrive up to five days after election day.
During those arguments, the court’s six conservatives sounded ready to rule that federal law requires ballots to be received by election day in order to be counted as legal.
Weber, California’s top elections official, has warned that attacks on mail-in voting risked undermining a system the state has spent years building around universal mail voting.
Trump’s executive order is the latest front in a years-long campaign he has led attacking the integrity of U.S. elections — which has contributed to a steep decline in voter trust in U.S. elections.
On Tuesday, Trump said his order was drafted by “great legal minds,” and will survive any legal challenges unless “rogue” judges rule against it inappropriately.
“We want to have honest voting in our country,” he said.
Rick Hasen, an election law expert and director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at UCLA Law, argued otherwise in a post Tuesday, noting that an earlier executive order purporting to place new federal controls on elections was blocked in court, and “this one is likely to fare no better.”
“To put this in plain terms: the order would use the USPS, which is not under the direct control of the President, to interfere with a state’s lawful transmission of ballots. If the state does not comply with these rules, federal law would purport to interfere with a state’s conduct of its own elections,” Hasen wrote. “The President does not have the authority to do this.”
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to suspend its construction of a $400 million ballroom where it demolished the East Wing of the White House, barring construction work from proceeding without congressional approval.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington granted a preservationist group’s request for a preliminary injunction that temporarily halts President Trump’s White House ballroom project.
Leon, who was nominated to the bench by Republican President George W. Bush, concluded that the National Trust for Historic Preservation is likely to succeed on the merits of its claims because “no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have.”
“The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner!” the judge wrote.
Leon suspended enforcement of his order for 14 days, acknowledging that the case “raises novel and weighty issues, that halting an ongoing construction project “may raise logistical issues.” He also recognized that the administration is likely to appeal his decision.
The judge ruled that any construction work that’s necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House is exempt from the scope of the injunction. Leon said he reviewed material that the government privately submitted to him before concluding that halting construction wouldn’t jeopardize national security.
Trump, in a social media post, criticized the trust for suing him over a project that he said is being built at no cost to taxpayers. “Doesn’t make much sense, does it?” he wrote.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.
The preservationists sued to obtain an order pausing the ballroom project until it undergoes multiple independent reviews and receives congressional approval.
The White House announced the ballroom project over the summer. By late October, Trump had demolished the East Wing to make way for a ballroom that he said would fit 999 people. The White House said private donations, including from Trump himself, would pay for the planned construction of a 90,000-square-foot ballroom.
Trump proceeded with the project before seeking input from a pair of federal review panels, the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts. Trump has stocked both commissions with allies.
On Feb. 26, Leon rejected the preservationist group’s initial bid to temporarily halt the ballroom’s construction. He said the privately funded group had based its challenge on a “ragtag group” of legal theories and would have a better chance of success if it amended the lawsuit, which it did.
The administration has said above-ground construction on the ballroom would begin in April.
“We are two weeks away,” plaintiffs’ attorney Thaddeus Heuer said during a March 17 hearing. “The imminence is now imminent.”
During the hearing, Leon sounded skeptical of what he referred to as the government’s “shifting theories and shifting dynamics” for its arguments in the case.
“I don’t think it’s a new theory,” Justice Department attorney Jacob Roth told the judge.
Leon expressed frustration at Roth’s attempts to equate the massive ballroom project with relatively modest construction work at the White House under previous administrations.
“This is an iconic symbol of this nation,” the judge said.
The administration argued that other presidents didn’t need congressional approval for previous White House renovation projects, large and small.
“Many of those projects were highly controversial in their time yet have since become accepted — even beloved — parts of the White House,” government attorneys wrote.
Kunzelman writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON — Citing the First Amendment, a federal judge on Tuesday agreed to permanently block the Trump administration from implementing a presidential directive to end federal funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, two media entities that the White House has said are counterproductive to American priorities.
The operational impact of U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss’ decision was not immediately clear — both because it will likely be appealed and because too much damage to the public-broadcasting system has already been done, both by the president and Congress.
Moss ruled that President Trump’s executive order to cease funding for NPR and PBS is unlawful and unenforceable. The judge said the First Amendment right to free speech “does not tolerate viewpoint discrimination and retaliation of this type.”
“It is difficult to conceive of clearer evidence that a government action is targeted at viewpoints that the President does not like and seeks to squelch,” wrote Moss, who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, a Democrat.
Punishment for ‘past speech’ cited in decision
The judge noted that Trump’s executive order simply directs that all federal agencies “cut off any and all funding” to NPR, which is based in Washington, and PBS, based in Arlington, Virginia.
“The Federal Defendants fail to cite a single case in which a court has ever upheld a statute or executive action that bars a particular person or entity from participating in any federally funded activity based on that person or entity’s past speech,” the judge wrote.
Last year, Trump, a Republican, said at a news conference he would “love to” defund NPR and PBS because he believes they’re biased in favor of Democrats.
“The message is clear: NPR and PBS need not apply for any federal benefit because the President disapproves of their ‘left wing’ coverage of the news,” Moss wrote.
NPR accused the Corporation for Public Broadcasting of violating its First Amendment free speech rights when it moved to cut off its access to grant money appropriated by Congress. NPR also claims Trump wants to punish it for the content of its journalism.
“Public media exists to serve the public interest — that of Americans — not that of any political agenda or elected official,” said Katherine Maher, NPR’s president and CEO. She called the decision a decisive affirmation of the rights of a free and independent press.
PBS chief Paula Kerger said she was thrilled with the decision. The executive order, she said, is “textbook” unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination and retaliation. “At PBS, we will continue to do what we’ve always done: serve our mission to educate and inspire all Americans as the nation’s most trusted media institution.”
Last August, CPB announced it would take steps toward closing itself down after being defunded by Congress.
A victory, though incremental, for press freedom
Plaintiffs’ attorney Theodore Boutrous said Tuesday’s ruling is “a victory for the First Amendment and for freedom of the press.”
“As the Court expressly recognized, the First Amendment draws a line, which the government may not cross, at efforts to use government power — including the power of the purse — ‘to punish or suppress disfavored expression’ by others,” Boutrous said in a statement. “The Executive Order crossed that line.”
The judge agreed with government attorneys that some of the news outlets’ legal claims are moot, partly because the CPB no longer exists.
“But that does not end the matter because the Executive Order sweeps beyond the CPB,” Moss added. “It also directs that all federal agencies refrain from funding NPR and PBS — regardless of the nature of the program or the merits of their applications or requests for funding.”
While Trump was sued in this legal action, the case did not include Congress — and the legislative body has played a large role in the public-broadcasting saga in the past year.
Trump’s executive order immediately cut millions of dollars in funding from the Education Department to PBS for its children’s programming, forcing the system to lay off one-third of the PBS Kids staff. The Trump order didn’t impact Congress’ vote to eliminate the overall federal appropriations for PBS and NPR, which forced the closure of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the entity that funneled that money to the TV and radio networks.
Kunzelman writes for the Associated Press. AP writer David Bauder contributed to this report.
US President Donald Trump has released a series of posts attacking NATO countries including France, Spain and the UK over their role in securing the Strait of Hormuz. Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher explains what Trump’s latest criticism of US allies means.
WASHINGTON — President Trump is threatening to deploy ground troops to seize critical oil infrastructure on Iran’s Kharg Island, a military gambit that experts say would risk American lives and could still fail to end the war.
If Trump wants to hobble Iran’s oil industry for leverage in negotiations, a better option might be setting up a blockade at sea against ships that have filled up at Kharg Island’s oil terminals, the experts said.
The island — located on the other side of the Persian Gulf from U.S. bases in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia — is the beating heart of Iran’s oil industry, through which 90% of its exports pass. It is important because Iran’s coastline is mostly too shallow for tanker ships to dock.
“Putting people on the ground might be the most psychologically compelling way of striking a blow at Iran,” said Michael Eisenstadt, a former U.S. military analyst who now directs the Military and Security Studies Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
“On the other hand, you’re putting your own troops at jeopardy,” said Eisenstadt, a retired Army reserve officer who served in Iraq. “It’s not far from the mainland. So they can potentially rain a lot of destruction on the island, if they’re willing to inflict damage on their own infrastructure.”
Seizing Kharg Island could escalate the conflict, said Danny Citrinowicz, an Iran expert at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies.
He said Iran and its proxies — including Yemen’s Houthi rebels — could intensify their retaliation, including by laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz or striking targets with drones across the Arabian Peninsula, from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea.
Commodities researchers and investment banks warn major retaliation could have lasting implications for energy prices and the global economy.
“It will be hard to take. It will be hard to hold,” Citrinowicz said of Kharg Island. “And it might damage the economy, but not in a way that will force the Iranians to capitulate.”
Trump says ‘maybe we take Kharg Island’
Trump is under growing pressure to end the monthlong conflict with Iran, which has attacked U.S. bases and allies in the region.
Iran also has largely closed the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow chokepoint through which 20% of the world’s oil normally flows, causing fuel prices to soar and other economic tumult.
Trump said in a social media post Monday that “great progress is being made” in talks with Iran to end military operations. But he said that if a deal is not reached “shortly” and the strait is not immediately reopened, the U.S. would obliterate power plants, oil wells, Kharg Island and possibly even desalination plants.
Trump has raised the idea of American forces seizing Kharg Island.
“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options,” Trump told the Financial Times. “It would also mean we had to be there (on Kharg Island) for a while.”
Asked about Iranian defenses there, he said: “I don’t think they have any defense. We could take it very easily.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that ground troops would not be needed to achieve the Trump administration’s goals. He did not repeat that assertion Monday after being asked about plans for U.S. ground troops, saying “the president has several options at his disposal” but diplomacy is Trump’s preference.
“Now, they are making threats about controlling the Hormuz Strait in perpetuity, creating a tolling system and the like,” Rubio told ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “That’s not going to be allowed to happen. And the president has a number of options available to him, if he so chooses, to prevent that from happening.”
U.S. has hit targets on the island crucial to Iran
The U.S. has already struck various targets on the island, including air defenses, a radar site, the airport and a hovercraft base, according to satellite analysis by the Institute for the Study of War and American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project.
Petras Katinas, an energy researcher at the Royal United Services Institute, said disrupting Kharg Island would not completely halt oil exports as Iran has other small ports. But it would reduce the oil revenue flowing to Iran’s government, “forcing flows through a much smaller, costlier and less efficient export system,” he said.
However, Tehran has too much at stake to surrender over a single asset, no matter how economically significant, said Citrinowicz, the Iran expert at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies.
While occupying Kharg might offer Washington some leverage in any negotiations, he said the notion that control of the island could be traded for Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium was far-fetched.
“It’s in no way a decisive blow,” Citrinowicz said.
U.S. troops face risk from Iran’s mainland if they tried to seize Kharg Island
A U.S. Navy ship carrying about 2,500 Marines recently arrived in the Middle East, while at least 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division are expected soon. Another 2,500 Marines are being deployed from California. The Trump administration has not said what all those troops will be doing, but the 82nd Airborne is trained to parachute into hostile or contested territory to secure key territory and airfields.
One of the reasons American troops would be vulnerable on Kharg Island is its close proximity — about 33 kilometers (21 miles) — to the Iranian mainland, from which missiles, drones and artillery could be fired. Despite continued U.S. and Israeli strikes, the Islamic Republic is still attacking targets across the region, including a Saudi air base hundreds of miles away where more than two dozen American troops were injured last week.
Even with American ships and planes providing support, there would still be a relatively short window of time to shoot down every drone or missile launched from the mainland at the island, Eisenstadt said.
“The coast tends to be mountainous, so the drones can come in through mountain passes where it’s hard for our radar to pick up,” he said. “And we don’t have the warning time.”
Eisenstadt says a sea blockade against ships carrying Iranian oil would be a safer strategy and achieve the same goal of controlling most of Iran’s oil industry.
“Throw up a quarantine that seeks to seize Iranian oil shipments that are exiting the Gulf,” agreed Clayton Seigle, an energy security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. It could be done at a distance “outside the range of the lion’s share of Iran’s weapon systems.”
Seigle argued against destroying Kharg Island’s oil infrastructure, which Trump also suggested.
“We were supposed to be coming to the rescue of the people that had been rising up and protesting for a better future,” Seigle said. “So to cripple Iran’s revenue-generating potential for many years to come would definitely not work in that direction.”
Finley and Metz write for the Associated Press. Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank.
Shortly before the trip was announced on Tuesday, President Trump lashed out at the UK and other countries over the Iran war, telling them to “go get your own oil” from the Strait of Hormuz and “the USA won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us”.
Judd Trump beat Mark Allen in a back-and-forth contest to progress in the first round of the Tour Championship in Manchester.
World number one Trump made a slow start as Allen won the opening four frames, but breaks of 71, 104 and 88 helped the Englishman level the match.
Northern Ireland’s Allen made a break of 121 to move ahead again, before Trump took the next two frames to lead for the first time.
Allen made another 121 break to level at 6-6, but from there Trump kept his nose in front, securing breaks of 114 and 100 as he wrapped up the contest 10-8.
World number one Trump, 36, set up a quarter-final against England’s Shaun Murphy, who received a bye to the last eight.
The match was the only one to reach a conclusion on the opening day of the tournament, with England’s Barry Hawkins leading Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-3 when play ended.
The other first-round tie saw China’s Wu Yize end the day 6-2 up against England’s Chris Wakelin.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Mark Sanford, the former South Carolina congressman and governor whose political ascendancy was stalled by a 2009 affair, wants to return to Congress — again.
Just hours ahead of the deadline to do so, Sanford filed candidacy paperwork with state officials to run in the June 9 GOP primary for South Carolina’s 1st District seat, which he has held twice before.
Sanford’s first political office was in the 1st District. An outsider with almost no name recognition, he navigated a primary for the open seat, finishing second before winning the runoff. He served for six years before his outside run at governor, again pushing his way through a crowded primary, then knocking off the last Democrat to hold the office.
But his eight years were overshadowed by the Appalachian Trail, which became shorthand for Sanford’s disappearance to go to Argentina to see his lover. Sanford’s wife, family and his staff didn’t know where he was.
Beating back both an ethics inquiry and calls to resign, Sanford held fast, leaving office on his own terms.
In 2013, Sanford won back his old seat, beating 15 other candidates in a primary and runoff. He won two more full terms before falling to a GOP challenger in 2018 who had President Trump’s backing.
The seat would go on to flip to Democratic hands that fall for the first time in decades, won back by GOP Rep. Nancy Mace in 2020. Mace is running for governor this year.
Sanford, 65, also briefly ran for president in 2020, challenging Trump for the nomination in what he characterized as a “long shot” effort around warnings about the national debt. Some, including Sanford’s former gubernatorial staffers, initially questioned whether the effort was a serious one, positing that it might be an effort to stay relevant after the 2018 defeat.
Sanford dropped out of the contest just ahead of the New Hampshire primary. Sanford’s home state would ultimately opt not to hold a 2020 GOP presidential primary, clearing the way for Trump’s nomination in South Carolina.
Sanford did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Monday. True to the themes that have dominated his political thinking, an email release on Sanford’s candidacy focused on the national debt, with the candidate saying he felt 1st District voters wanted a representative “who is an advocate for financial sanity that has been lost in Washington for all too long.“
Since leaving the U.S. House, Sanford has hung onto more than $1.3 million in a federal campaign account, funds that he can now use in a primary already crowded with multiple Republican and Democratic candidates.
Kinnard and Collins write for the Associated Press.
Venezuela contains extensive gold reserves in the east of the country. (AP)
Caracas, March 30, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The US Treasury Department has published three sanctions waivers related to the Venezuelan mining sector.
On Friday, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued general licenses 51A (GL51A), 54 (GL54) and 55 (GL55) to authorize Western conglomerates’ dealings with Venezuelan minerals.
GL51A allows US entities to engage in operations to purchase, transport, and sell “Venezuelan-origin minerals, including gold.” However, it does not permit extraction or refining activities. The waiver replaced General License 51, which established conditions only for gold-related operations.
GL54 allows US entities to provide “goods, technology, software, or services” connected to mining activities in Venezuela. Finally, GL55 grants corporations permission to engage with Venezuelan state entities to negotiate contracts, but requires them to apply for a specific license before the contracts are enacted.
The latest US Treasury sanctions exemptions mirror recent licenses related to the Venezuelan energy industry, blocking transactions with entities from Cuba, China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. They likewise mandate that all Venezuela-bound payments be made to a US Treasury-run account. Since January, the Trump administration has imposed control over Venezuelan oil exports, collecting revenues before disbursing a portion at its discretion to Caracas.
On Friday, Canadian conglomerate Roland Mineral Enterprises announced plans to “aggressively seek out and acquire interests in Venezuelan mineral properties.”
“Recent material events in Venezuela, including the new Draft Mining Law, make Venezuelan gold, silver and copper deposits and resources especially attractive for pioneering, transformative and rapidly adaptable resource companies like Roland Mineral Enterprises,” a press statement read.
Roland went on to disclose deals to access information on Venezuelan natural resource deposits and declare interest in gold projects such as Las Cristinas, estimated to contain over 14 million ounces of gold.
Western interest in Venezuelan minerals was boosted by a recent visit from US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who holds the natural resource portfolio. Burgum, accompanied by over 20 US and Canadian mining executives, held a meeting with Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez and trumpeted the lucrative opportunities in the sector.
Burgum’s visit also saw US $100 million worth of gold bars shipped to the US in a deal involving Trafigura.
The negotiation of mining contracts remains contingent on an ongoing process to introduce new legislation. On March 9, the Venezuelan National Assembly preliminarily approved a new Organic Mining Law establishing favorable conditions and incentives for foreign capital.
Legislators have advanced in debating a second and updated version of the law, approving the first 55 of its 130 articles on Thursday. A final session is expected in early April. According to a draft of the latest version of the law seen by Venezuelanalysis, the bill establishes a new regulatory framework for mining at different scales, while also allowing private companies to take disputes to international arbitration.
The law expands conditions for private mining concessions, which can last up to twenty years and be renewed for two additional ten-year periods, and do not require National Assembly approval. Additionally, the executive can lower fiscal responsibilities for mining firms at its discretion. The law establishes 13 and 6 percent caps for royalties and a mining tax.
The law’s approval will repeal the current mining law, approved by the Hugo Chávez government in 1999, as well as a 2015 decree imposing state control over mining activities. Since 2015, the Nicolás Maduro administration looked to mining as a potential revenue source, particularly in the 112,000 square-kilometer Orinoco Mining Arc. Nevertheless, the sector was targeted by US sanctions, while the proliferation of irregular mining groups has generated environmental and human rights concerns.
Venezuela possesses vast proven reserves of gold, iron, and bauxite, as well as lesser quantities of copper and nickel. Analysts have also drawn attention to Venezuela’s significant reserves of coltan.
Venezuela’s mining reform follows a pro-business overhaul of the country’s Hydrocarbon Law. In recent weeks, Western energy giants Chevron, Eni, Repsol, and Shell have signed agreements for oil and gas exploration under the improved conditions of the new law. Acting President Rodríguez has touted the country’s reforms in lobbying foreign investors.
In parallel to oil and mining, Venezuelan authorities are also preparing to open the state-run electric sector to private capital. Acting President Rodríguez announced legislative reform plans, while a spokesman for the FEDECÁMARAS business lobby reported that Siemens and General Electric recently sent delegations to evaluate Venezuela’s electrical infrastructure.
WASHINGTON — President Trump threatened Monday to destroy vital Iranian energy and water infrastructure if a peace deal is not reached, as Tehran continued to deny negotiations were taking place and said it was preparing for a ground invasion following the arrival of thousands of American troops in the region.
If a ceasefire agreement is not reached quickly, the president said in a social media post, “We will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!).”
The threats came within hours of the president insisting on Sunday night that diplomatic efforts would “probably” lead to a deal soon, and that Iran had allowed 20 more oil cargo ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz as a “sign of respect.”
Trump said the United States is in “serious discussions with A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME in Iran” but offered no details.
Iran, however, continued to throw cold water on the negotiations Monday when Esmail Baghaei, the foreign ministry spokesperson, dismissed the Trump administration’s terms as “unrealistic, unreasonable and excessive.”
“I do not know how many people in the United States take American diplomacy claims seriously. Our mission is clear, unlike the other side, which constantly changes its position,” he said in comments carried by the semi-official Iranian agency Tasnim News.
Baghaei said that there have been no direct negotiations, but only messages through intermediaries stating that the U.S. wants to confer.
On Saturday, the USS Tripoli, a naval warship, arrived in the Middle East carrying about 3,500 sailors and Marines and a transport of fighter planes. Earlier this month, the San Diego-based USS Boxer and two warships from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit departed from Camp Pendleton to join the buildup of troops in the region.
The deployments have made Iranian diplomatic envoys even more dubious that American peace efforts are sincere.
“The enemy publicly sends messages of negotiation and dialogue while secretly planning a ground offensive. [They] are nothing more than a cover to hide preparations for a land invasion,” Iran’s top lawmaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said in a statement Sunday.
He added that Iranian forces were waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to “set them on fire” and “punish their regional partners forever,” according to state media.
As officials in both Washington and Tehran strike increasingly hard lines, neighboring countries are desperate for a truce.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi pleaded with Trump to stop the war during a speech at an Egyptian energy conference on Monday.
“I tell President Trump: Nobody can stop the war in our region in the gulf but you,” Sisi said.
“Please, Mr. President, please. Please help us stop the war. You are capable of doing so.”
Egypt, though not directly involved in the war, has contended with its repercussions on energy, fertilizer and food prices, not to mention disruptions to shipping income Cairo receives through the Suez Canal.
“Wealthy countries might be able to absorb this, but for middle-income and fragile economies, it could have a very, very severe impact on their stability,” Sisi said, noting that predictions of oil reaching $200 per barrel were “not an exaggeration.”
Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1979, which saw Israel return territory it seized during the 1967 war. Though the agreement is deeply unpopular with most Egyptians, it has held despite escalating tensions during Israel’s campaign against Hamas.
In December, the two nations formally announced a $35-billion agreement expanding Israel gas exports to Egypt. But the war with Iran has disrupted supplies, tripling the cost of imports, according to Egyptian officials.
Last week, the government ordered energy-saving measures for a one-month period, including early closing times for most commercial establishments as well as reductions in street lighting and allocations for government vehicles.
Jordan, another U.S. regional ally that is also energy-starved, took similar steps, enacting bans on air conditioning in government offices and private use of government vehicles.
Despite talks of negotiations, the fighting showed little sign of abating.
Trump’s call for peace followed a fresh round of U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran Monday. Tehran retaliated by hitting a major water and power facility in Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates said they intercepted incoming Iranian missiles.
Two U.N. peacekeepers were killed on Monday when an “explosion of unknown origin” hit their vehicle near the village of Bani Hayyan, in south Lebanon.
The deaths mark the second fatal incident in two days involving the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, a peacekeeping force established in 1978 and which later monitored cessation of hostilities between the two nations.
UNIFIL also reported a peacekeeper was killed Sunday night when a projectile exploded in a UNIFIL position.
“We do not know the origin of the projectile. We have launched an investigation to determine all of the circumstances,” a UNIFIL statement on Monday said.
Meanwhile, Israel continued its bombardment of Lebanon, hitting areas near the capital and in the country’s south. One strike targeted a Lebanese army checkpoint, killing a soldier, the Lebanese military said. Lebanese authorities said on Monday that the death toll since hostilities broke out between Hezbollah and Israel earlier this month continues to rise.
The Israeli military said one of its soldiers was killed in a Hezbollah anti-tank missile attack in southern Lebanon, which also wounded four other soldiers. Six soldiers have been killed since Israel restarted its campaign in Lebanon.
Hezbollah rockets also killed two civilians, according to Israeli health authorities.
Israel’s fire and rescue service said a fuel tanker and a building at the oil refinery in the northern city of Haifa were hit by debris from an intercepted missile, according to a report from Israeli daily the Times of Israel.
It was unclear whether the missile was launched by Iran, the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah or Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Deaths from the conflict continue to rise, with 1,900 people killed in Iran, over 1,200 in Lebanon, 19 in Israel and 13 U.S. military members. Millions of people have been displaced from their homes in Iran and Lebanon.
Ceballos and Quinton reported from Washington, Bulos from Beirut.
“Nobody can stop the war in our region in the Gulf but you.” Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has called on Trump to end the war on Iran, saying Washington holds decisive influence.
United States President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he wishes to “take the oil” in Iran, as the US-Israel war against Iran enters its second month.
On Monday, President Trump threatened to target Iran’s energy infrastructure, including oil wells, if Tehran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which has been under a de facto Iranian blockade for weeks, triggering a global energy crisis.
The Trump administration has unveiled no clear goal behind its military campaign against Iran, one of the world’s biggest oil producers and under US sanctions for decades.
Here is more about what Trump says, how much oil Iran has, and whether Trump could take it.
What has Trump said about Iran’s oil?
Trump told the Financial Times that his “preference would be to take the oil” in Iran and that US forces could seize Iran’s export hub at Kharg Island.
Kharg is a 22-square-kilometre (8.5-square-mile) coral outcrop in Iran’s Bushehr province. Closely guarded by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), entry to the island is restricted to those with official security clearance.
Kharg processes 90 percent of Iran’s total oil exports, handling approximately 1.5 million barrels every day.
On March 14, Trump announced that the US Air Force had bombed Iranian military facilities on the island.
“For reasons of decency, I have chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island. However, should Iran, or anyone else, do anything to interfere with the Free and Safe Passage of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider this decision,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Critics say the Trump administration was emboldened by the success of its brazen military operation in January to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from Caracas. Washington says it is now in control of Venezuela’s oil exports.
Earlier this month, Trump claimed that 100 million barrels of Venezuelan oil had been brought to refineries in Houston, Texas in the US. He added that an additional 100 million barrels of Venezuelan oil were on the way.
Ties between Venezuela, which has the world’s largest proven reserves of crude oil, and Washington had deteriorated under former President Hugo Chavez, who decided to nationalise the oil sector. Relations collapsed further under Maduro, who succeeded Chavez in 2013. Venezuela’s current interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, has since opened the sector for private investment.
The country holds the world’s second-largest proven natural gas reserves and the third-largest crude oil reserves, according to the United States Energy Information Administration.
Iran holds around 24 percent of the Middle East’s and 12 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves, with about 157 billion barrels of proven crude oil.
It is the ninth-largest oil producer globally, and the fourth-largest within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), producing about 3.3 million barrels of crude oil per day.
Before the war, Iran was exporting around two million barrels of crude and refined fuel each day, though its exports dropped dramatically after Trump slapped sanctions on Iran in 2018 during his first term in power. The Iran nuclear deal signed under US President Barack Obama in 2015 – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – placed limits on Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief in place for decades.
The US cut diplomatic ties with Iran after pro-Washington ruler Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was toppled in the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the subsequent hostage crisis involving US citizens.
Can the US seize Iranian oil?
The Pentagon is preparing for limited ground operations in Iran, potentially including raids on Kharg Island and coastal sites near the Strait of Hormuz, according to US officials quoted by the Washington Post newspaper.
The plans, which fall short of a full invasion, could involve raids in special operations and by conventional infantry troops, the newspaper reported on Saturday.
However, even if the US invades or occupies Kharg Island, this would not give the US access to Iranian oil.
In order to access Iranian oil, the US would have to occupy Iran’s oil production sites and refineries. In essence, the US would need to occupy mainland Iran.
(Al Jazeera)
What would it mean if the US were to take Iranian oil?
In 2023, Iran’s gross domestic product (GDP) was around $457.5bn, according to World Bank data.
In the same year, Iran’s net oil export revenues were estimated at $53bn.
That export figure is equivalent to roughly 12 percent of Iran’s GDP, although export revenues and GDP are not directly comparable.
At the same time, if the US were to lift sanctions on Iranian oil after seizing it, it could lead to a flow of more Iranian oil into global markets, bringing down oil prices.
Iran is one of the most heavily sanctioned countries in the world. The US first imposed sanctions on Iran in November 1979, after Iranian students stormed its embassy in Tehran and took Americans hostage. The hostage crisis ended when dozens of US citizens were released after more than a year.
The US-Israeli war on Iran has sent global oil prices soaring. Benchmark Brent crude rose to more than 3 percent on Monday to $116 a barrel – the highest level in nearly two weeks. The oil price was about $65 per barrel before the war.
Has the US tried to interfere in Iranian oil before?
Yes; this is not the first time the US has shown an interest in Iranian oil.
In 1953, the government of Mohammad Mossadegh, Iran’s first democratically elected prime minister, was toppled in a CIA-orchestrated coup after he nationalised the British-controlled firm Anglo‑Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), the predecessor of modern-day BP.
Washington framed the operation – codenamed “Operation Ajax” – as a Cold War necessity to keep Iran and its energy reserves out of Soviet hands.
The coup restored and entrenched the shah’s rule, a turning point that still haunts Iran’s relationship with the West.
Neighbouring Iraq’s oil revenue is still effectively under US control more than two decades after the US invaded the Middle East nation. Iraq’s oil revenues are deposited into an account at the Federal Reserve Bank in the US before making it to Baghdad.
March 30 (UPI) — Iran has agreed to allow 20 more oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump said late Sunday, as he claimed negotiations with Iran over ending the war were going “extremely well.”
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said the tankers will be allowed through the key Persian Gulf oil transit route starting Monday, describing the gesture by Iran as “a tribute” or “a sign of respect.”
Iran has not confirmed the announcement. Trump late last week said Iran had permitted about 10 tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.
The press conference was held after Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar of Pakistan announced that Iran agreed to allow 20 Pakistani-flagged vessels through the Hormuz at a rate of two per day.
Pakistan is seeking to mediate the U.S.-Iran talks.
“This is a welcome and constructive gesture by Iran and deserves appreciation,” Dar said in a statement. “It is a harbinger of peace and will help usher stability in the region.”
About 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran has all but closed it since the United States and Israel attacked Tehran on Feb. 28.
The closure has sent prices higher at U.S. gas pumps. Brent futures early Monday hit $116 a barrel, up from about $72 a day before the war began.
More than a week ago, Trump gave Iran a 48-hour ultimatum to open Hormuz or risk further attacks on its energy infrastructure. He has since extended the deadline until April 6, citing progress in talks with Iran.
“We’re doing extremely well in that negotiation,” he said, while adding that “you can never know with Iran because we negotiate with them and then we always have to blow them up.”
“We’ll make a deal with them. Pretty sure,” he said. “But it’s possible we won’t.”
Immediately after the Feb. 28 U.S. strikes on Iran, Trump called for regime change, a goal that U.S. military and White House officials quickly walked back.
On Sunday, Trump claimed regime change had been achieved saying Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader, was killed early in the war and that they were now conducting negotiations with other officials.
“We’ve had regime change. If you look already because the one regime was decimated, destroyed, they’re all dead. The next regime is mostly dead and the third regime, we’re dealing with different people than anybody’s dealt with before,” he said. “It’s a whole different group of people. And, frankly, they’ve been very reasonable.”
Abas Aslani, senior research fellow at the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies, says a premature ceasefire in the US-Israeli war on Iran could spark another round of fighting, pointing to a lack of trust in talks as the US ramps up troop deployments despite calls for de-escalation.
IRGC spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfaghari dismisses threats of US ground operations. He says the US president ‘only understands force’ as the Pentagon prepares plans that could involve thousands of troops on the ground in Iran, according to a report by The Washington Post.
Rep. Eric Swalwell, a leading Democratic candidate for governor of California, has accused President Trump of trying to sway the election following reports that FBI Director Kash Patel may release documents from a decade-old investigation into the congressman’s ties to a suspected Chinese spy.
According to a report by the Washington Post, Patel has directed agents in the bureau’s San Francisco office to redact the case files for public release. According to the outlet, it’s highly unusual for the FBI to release case files tied to a probe that did not result in criminal charges.
The investigation centered on Swalwell’s ties to a suspected intelligence operative, Christine Fang, or Fang Fang, who worked as a volunteer raising money for his congressional campaign. Swalwell cut off ties to Fang in 2015, after intelligence officials briefed him and other members of Congress about Chinese efforts to infiltrate the legislative body.
Swalwell was not accused of impropriety.
The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Through great reporting, we now know the outrageous ends the White House will go to target political opponents,” Swalwell said in a prepared statement Saturday, calling the decade-old story “nonsense.”
“Donald Trump is targeting me. He’s trying to influence the election,” Swalwell said in a post on X. “There is only one reason why: he’s scared.”
Swalwell accused Trump of “desperately trying” to stop him, because he’s now the favored candidate for California governor.
“What Trump wants the most is to have a Western White House. An enabler on the opposite coast,” he said. “A lot of people have bent the knee to this administration. But I will not. And neither will the people of California.”
It’s not the first time Swalwell has accused the administration of targeting Trump’s political opponents.
Last year, Swalwell sued Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, accusing him of criminally misusing government databases to target Trump’s political opponents. Pulte had accused Swalwell of mortgage fraud and referred him to the Justice Department for a potential federal criminal probe. Swalwell dropped that suit this month.
Swalwell, a former prosecutor who ran for president in 2020, announced his bid for California governor in November. Swalwell said his decision was driven by the serious problems facing California and the threats posed to the state and nation with Trump in the White House.
U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who has endorsed Swalwell for governor, shared the Post story on X Saturday, saying, “This abuse of the FBI is as dangerous as it is unlawful.” Schiff served with Swalwell on the House Intelligence Committee, where they riled Republicans by investigating President Trump during his first term.
Schiff served as the lead manager of Trump’s first impeachment and Swalwell as a manager of Trump’s second impeachment.
“Time and again, the President and his appointees have weaponized the Department of Justice against those who dare stand up to Trump,” Schiff wrote. He added that there was no doubt that Trump and Patel “will stop at nothing to try to tell Californians who their next governor should be.”
The Post story unleashed a flood of critiques from California politicians, including Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles), who sits on the House Intelligence Committee. On X, Gomez accused Patel of “wasting resources” on a “closed, decade-old case where Swalwell cooperated with the FBI and was found innocent of any wrongdoing.”
“Reopening it now, right as he leads in the polls and ballots are about to drop, is a political hit-job!” Gomez said. “Trump and Kash Patel are weaponizing the FBI against people they deem political enemies.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, released a statement accusing Patel of working at “the behest of the White House” and “wasting the resources of the FBI and perhaps violating the Hatch Act by ordering agents to spend hours preparing a political smear file for a personnel vendetta.”
According to the Associated Press, Fang came into contact with Swalwell’s campaign as he was first running for Congress in 2012. She also participated in fundraising for his 2014 campaign and helped place an intern in his office, the report said. Federal investigators alerted Swalwell to their concerns — and briefed Congress — about Fang in 2015, at which point the California Democrat says he cut off contact with her, the AP reported in 2021.
In 2023, the House Ethics Committee closed a two-year investigation into the allegations of his ties to Fang.
In closing the probe, the ethics committee wrote in a letter to Swalwell that it had “previously reviewed allegations of improper influence by foreign agents and in doing so, cautioned that Members should be conscious of the possibility that foreign governments may attempt to secure improper influence through gifts and other interactions.”
Times staff writer Kevin Rector contributed to this report.
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
President Donald Trump claims that Washington and Tehran have had “very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East.” On the back of this development, the U.S. leader said today that he would order a five-day pause in all U.S. airstrikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure. Iran has denied any knowledge of these talks, however. Over the weekend, the Trump administration had also given 48 hours for Tehran to lift its blockade of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, or to face the consequences.
Speaking to reporters today, Trump reaffirmed his claim that discussions were taking place with Iran about ending the war and that there were “major points of agreement” between the two parties. He said he expects a deal to be agreed on very soon, adding “I didn’t call, they called — and they wanted to make a deal.”
Trump on Iran:
We have major points of agreement and we both want to make a deal.
On Saturday, Trump had threatened to bomb Iran’s power plants after 48 hours unless Iran agreed to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic oil shipping route that Iran has effectively blocked.
As of today, however, Trump says he has instructed the Pentagon to postpone all airstrikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five-day period, which he said reflected the progress made on a possible deal.
BREAKING: Trump:
I HAVE INSTRUCTED THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR TO POSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST IRANIAN POWER PLANTS AND ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A FIVE DAY PERIOD, SUBJECT TO THE SUCCESS OF THE ONGOING MEETINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. pic.twitter.com/HmCFLFYSa1
LONDON, March 23 – Oil prices fell by over 13% on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would order the military to postpone any strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump added that his latest instruction to the Pentagon is subject to the “success” of ongoing “meetings and discussions.”
“We’re doing a five-day period, and we’ll see how that goes. If it goes well, we’re going to end up with settling this,” Trump told reporters, referring to earlier comments about the bombing pause. “Otherwise, we’ll just keep bombing our little hearts out.”
A U.S. Air Force B-1B bomber takes off on a sortie from RAF Fairford, England, on March 14, 2026. Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Christopher Furlong
Trump has said that the latest talks took place on Sunday and involved his Middle East envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. Trump claims they were talking to a “respected” Iranian leader, but that it was not the new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.
The status of Mojtaba Khamenei remains unclear, after U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth last week said that the new supreme leader was wounded and “likely disfigured,” presumably as the result of an airstrike.
Trump says he has not heard from Iran’s Supreme Leader, but does not want him killed.
For its part, Tehran has denied that it has conducted talks with Washington and instead has said that the U.S. president’s comments show that he has “backed down.”
Iran’s Fars News Agency, which is linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), quoted a source as saying there has been “no direct or indirect” contact between Iran and Trump.
March 23 (Reuters) – Iran’s Fars news agency, citing a source, said there are no direct or indirect communications with the United States, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent statement about “productive” talks with Tehran.
Iran continues to warn that it will “irreversibly destroy” essential infrastructure across the Middle East, a message that it began to push in response to U.S. threats to hit Iranian power plants. Iran said it would hit power plants in all areas that supply electricity to American bases, “as well as the economic, industrial, and energy infrastructures in which Americans have shares.”
An IRGC-affiliated news outlet recently listed 29 ‘tech targets’ Iran plans to strike across the Middle East. How should the U.S. help these countries & protect their own data assets?
More from CSIS’s Intelligence, National Security, & Technology Program: https://t.co/lt1dMG1CVu
The U.S. president also said that “we’re gonna get” the “nuclear dust,” referring to the enriched uranium in Iran. Asked how, he said, “We’re going down, and we’re going to take it ourselves.”
Trump has said that ending Iran’s nuclear program is critical for any deal and has now claimed that Iran has agreed to that.
“We are very willing to make a deal. It’s got to be a good deal, and it’s got to be no more wars, no more nuclear weapons. They’re not going to have nuclear weapons anymore. They’re agreeing to that. Any of that stuff, there is no deal,” Trump said when asked about the Iranian nuclear program.
It should be recalled that Iran has always insisted it was not going to pursue the development of nuclear weapons, and that its uranium-enrichment efforts were entirely peaceful.
Iran’s foreign ministry hit back at Trump’s statements, saying they were “part of efforts to reduce energy prices and buy time to implement his military plans,” which could still involve a possible occupation or blockading of Iran’s strategically crucial Kharg Island — a prospect that we have discussed in detail in the past.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry says that they are not talking with the US.
“[Trump’s] statements are part of efforts to reduce energy prices and buy time to implement his military plans.”
“Yes, there are initiatives from regional countries to reduce tensions, and our response to all of them is clear: We are not the party that started this war, and all these requests should be referred to Washington,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying.
UPDATES:
We have ended today’s rolling coverage.
3:50PM EST—
Iranian officials have repeatedly threatened the United States and Israel with secretive new super-weapons, the details of which are notably thin.
The latest such threat comes from Major General Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi, who heads up the unified combatant command headquarters of the Iranian Armed Forces. “The use of a new, secret weapon will begin soon, and it will bring an end to the enemy’s operations,” he claimed.
Iranian Major General Abdollahi:
“The use of a new, secret weapon will begin soon and it will bring an end to the enemy’s operations.” pic.twitter.com/GCX8PK0r7p
The U.K. Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon has arrived on station in the eastern Mediterranean. The U.K. government faced criticism for the slow pace of response, three weeks after an Iranian-made drone hit the British base of RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey said that the destroyer will begin “operational integration into Cyprus’s defense” starting on Monday night.
3:45PM EST—
Abigail Hauslohner, Washington-based correspondent for the U.K. Financial Times, reports that Trump today claimed the idea of launching a war against Iran came from the U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“Pete, I think you were the first one to speak up, and you said: ‘Let’s do it because you can’t let them have a nuclear weapon’,” Trump is quoted as saying.
Trump suggests it was actually @secwar Pete Hegseth’s idea to launch the war against Iran. “Pete, I think you were the first one to speak up, and you said: ‘Let’s do it because you can’t let them have a nuclear weapon'” – Trump just now in TN
There are signs, too, that Hegseth may be lined up as a negotiating partner with Iran. Abas Aslani, a journalist and senior research fellow at the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies (CMESS), reports that Washington has suggested that Vance take part in talks with Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Iran has not yet responded to the idea, which apparently derives from Iranian distrust of Steve Witkoff.
3:35PM EST—
Barak Ravid, global affairs reporter with Axios, writes that U.S. Vice President JD Vance spoke today with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, updating him on plans for negotiations between the United States and Iran. Ravid cites an unnamed source who says that Vance and Netanyahu discussed the components of a possible agreement to end the war with Iran. Such a development would seem to suggest that Trump’s talk of an imminent deal with Iran may be premature.
🚨סגן נשיא ארה״ב ג׳יי-די ואנס שוחח בטלפון היום עם ראש הממשלה נתניהו ודן עמו בנסיון לפתוח במו״מ בין ארה״ב לבין איראן, כך לפי מקור שמעורה בפרטים. המקור ציין כי ואנס ונתניהו דנו על המרכיבים של הסכם אפשרי לסיום המלחמה עם איראן https://t.co/ObparWASYR
A video circulating on social media this evening shows apparent Israeli airstrikes targeting what is reported to be an Iranian missile complex in Isfahan. Iran’s largest missile production and assembly facility is in Isfahan, and the plant has manufactured solid and liquid rocket fuels as well as various missile components. Also located close to Isfahan city is the Isfahan Nuclear Research Center, formerly known as the Uranium Conversion Facility.
Open-source intelligence sources have collated more information pointing to the ongoing deployment of U.S. forces from the Continental United States. Based on this, at least 35 C-17 transport flights to the Middle East have been identified since March 12, with 11 more flights on the way. Among the origins of these flights are key CONUS military installations, including Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Fort Bragg is notably the home of the 82nd Airborne Division. Reported destinations of these flights include airbases in Israel and Jordan.
A significant movement is underway from US Army, Navy and Air Force bases in CONUS to the Middle East comprised of at least 35 C-17 flights since March 12th, with 11 more flights on the way.
Origins: 12-Hunter Army Air Field/Fort Stewart, GA 8-Unknown 7-JB Lewis-McChord, WA… pic.twitter.com/iqU9Wq3K3G
Additional details about the talks with Iran, as reported by Barak Ravid, global affairs reporter with Axios:
Turkey, Egypt, and Pakistan are the countries that conveyed messages between the US and Iran in the last two days
Senior officials from the three countries held separate talks with White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi
“The mediation continues and is progressing. The discussion is about ending the war and resolving all remaining open issues. We hope to receive answers soon,” the source said
🚨טורקיה, מצרים ופקיסטן הן המדינות שהעבירו מסרים בין ארה״ב לאיראן ביומיים האחרונים 🚨בכירים משלוש המדינות קיימו שיחות נפרדות עם שליח הבית הלבן סטיב וויטקוף ועם שר החוץ האיראני עבאס עראקג׳י 🚨“התיווך נמשך ומתקדם. הדיון הוא על סיום המלחמה ופתרון כל הסוגיות שנותרו פתוחות. אנחנו… https://t.co/8HytxRWHYx
This is in line with other reporting, including from the British Financial Times, that suggests that Pakistan is taking an increasingly important role in brokering talks between Tehran and Washington.
Iranian police say they have arrested 68 people for filming areas hit by airstrikes. It also says 67 were basically anti-regime individuals. Regardless, arrests for doing similar activities are also happening in allied Arab countries.
Iranian police said 68 people were arrested for allegedly filming locations hit by Israeli and US missiles and sending the images to what authorities called hostile media.
Police said 67 of those detained were “operational elements” linked to monarchists and one was accused of… pic.twitter.com/XeHPPegzMI
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) March 23, 2026
If the war explodes into a focus on targeting basic infrastructure, desalination plants would be among the most troubling targets, as they provide clean water to populations and industry.
MAP: Desalination plants are the lifeline of the Gulf. From Saudi Arabia’s massive Ras Al Khair (~1M m³/day) to the UAE’s Taweelah RO, this map shows the critical infrastructure securing water for the region’s cities and industries. pic.twitter.com/FskrFhn9en
Prime Minister of the U.K. Keir Starmer says it is totally unclear if Diego Garcia was targeted by Iranian ballistic missiles, which has been the prevailing narrative of the strange long-range missile attack by Iran.
UK’s Keir Starmer:
There were no missiles that hit the Chagos Islands (Diego Garcia).
B-52s are now launching from the United Kingdom with full loads of GBU-31 JDAMs equipped with BLU-109 bunker buster warheads. This indicates that the bombers are now making direct attacks on targets in Iran, although these would still be in the lowest threat areas, and especially not deep into the eastern part of the country. Up until now, B-52s, which are the most vulnerable type within the U.S. bomber force, have been burning through stealthy AGM-158 JASSM cruise missiles for standoff strikes in Iran, as air supremacy has not been in place across the country, which you can read all about in our past report here.
בי 52 ממריא מפיירפורד אתמול רק חימושי סטנד אין האמריקנים מרביצים לאיראנים עם הצד המעליב של היד pic.twitter.com/j1VLJgNS6n
Some tankers are trickling through the Strait of Hormuz:
An oil supertanker hauling two-million barrels of Iraq’s crude got through the Strait of Hormuz, the first vessel observed moving Baghdad’s barrels through the the vital waterway https://t.co/ZoSlo8X96c
Iran’s missile technology continues to be quite impressive, with more advanced types still being fired at Israel and eluding air defenses. We have seen multiple occasions where Iranian maneuverable reentry vehicles (MaRVs) have been able to pierce interceptor barrages during the terminal stage.
“The attacks on QatarEnergy’s Ras Laffan complex involved sophisticated missiles that were manoeuvrable and able to evade US-made Patriot air-defence systems, according to an official briefed on the attack.”
The U.S. and Israel continue to strike at Iran’s ability to quickly restart production of standoff weaponry.
The damage done to energy production infrastructure in the Middle East is becoming more clear. AFP states at least 40 energy assets have been destroyed or badly damaged in nine countries. The long-term economic fallout from Iran’s strikes on these targets remains unclear, but economists are warning that the damage done, as well as the Strait remaining closed for a prolonged period, could spark a global recession.
BREAKING The head of the International Energy Agency says at least 40 energy assets have been “severely or very severely damaged across nine countries” in the Middle East due to the war in the region pic.twitter.com/VbUpTUE5Xm
BREAKING The war in the Middle East could see the world face its worst energy crisis in decades, International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol warns, describing the situation as “very severe” pic.twitter.com/CxLA1PmF5W
Iran has released a new video showing its underground ‘missile cities,’ this time showcasing air defense weapons still stored there. Clearly, this is intended to convey that air supremacy is not achieved and won’t be achieved, although many of these facilities have had their entrances collapsed by strikes, trapping everything inside from being used.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has released new footage showing an underground facility housing intact meduim-to-long range air‑defense systems, including the Iranian‑built Khordad‑15 surface‑to‑air missile (SAM) system alongside stockpiles of interceptor canisters. pic.twitter.com/uhjwzPtsU6
South Korea’s military is active in the UAE and has supplied air defense assets to help counter the Iranian barrages, according to The Diplomat.
South Korea maintains special forces on UAE soil, has supplied air defense systems that are actively engaged in combat, and has conducted emergency resupply operations under fire. Seoul has thus accumulated a stake in the Iran War – whether it wanted to or not.… pic.twitter.com/xsNj5v2ueZ
NATO Secretary Rutte says 22 nations are working together to reopen the Strait. Currently, this appears to be a diplomatic endeavor not a military one.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that 22 countries, including NATO members along with allies such as South Korea and Japan, are coordinating efforts to reopen navigation through the Strait of Hormuz pic.twitter.com/eRi0IBjMxg
Data centers continue to be new high-profile targets in the age of AI and cloud computing.
An IRGC-affiliated news outlet recently listed 29 ‘tech targets’ Iran plans to strike across the Middle East. How should the U.S. help these countries & protect their own data assets?
More from CSIS’s Intelligence, National Security, & Technology Program: https://t.co/lt1dMG1CVu
In a further effort to put pressure on the United States, Iran’s defense council today threatened to lay sea mines to block the entire Gulf if Iran’s coasts or islands are attacked.
The fact that two U.S. Navy Independence class Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) configured for minesweeping duties — representing a substantial portion of the Navy’s mine countermeasures capacity for the Middle East region — were last reported thousands of miles away in a completely different part of the world is something TWZ has already reported on.
Oman, which has emerged as a key player in terms of its efforts to mediate between Tehran and Washington, is also seeking a way to reopen the strait.
The Omanis are “working intensively” to “put in place safe passage arrangements” for the strait, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi wrote on X.
“Whatever your view of Iran, this war is not of their making. This is already causing widespread economic problems, and I fear they promise to get much worse if the war continues,” Albusaidi added.
Whatever your view of Iran, this war is not of their making. This is already causing widespread economic problems and I fear they promise to get much worse if the war continues. Oman is working intensively to put in place safe passage arrangements for the Strait of Hormuz.
— Badr Albusaidi – بدر البوسعيدي (@badralbusaidi) March 23, 2026
The U.S. military’s recent use of the new Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) short-range ballistic missiles against Iran was the longest field artillery strike launched by the U.S. Army in its history. This is the claim of Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), in his latest update on Operation Epic Fury.
The PrSM strike, on March 19, “took out Iranian military infrastructure, demonstrating the U.S. military’s unmatched reach and lethality,” Cooper said. The CENTCOM chief said that Iran “has lost significant combat capability,” with U.S. forces having destroyed “thousands” of Iranian missiles, advanced attack drones, and “all of Iran’s Navy.”
Cooper also said that the U.S. military has struck a total of 130 Iranian vessels, which constitutes “the largest elimination of a navy over a three-week period since World War II,” Cooper said.
“Their navy is not sailing, their tactical fighters are not flying, and they’ve lost the ability to launch missiles and drones at the high rates seen at the beginning of the conflict,” Cooper added. He also claimed that the U.S. military has been able to “maintain air superiority over Iran’s skies” in the course of over 8,000 combat flights. The reality of the air picture over Iran is somewhat different, as we have discussed in the past, and the continued risk to U.S. and Israeli aircraft appears to have been underscored by the emergency landing of a U.S. Air Force F-35A fighter after a mission over Iran last week.
The F-35 in question was apparently hit by ground fire, and, while the incident is still under investigation, the U.S. military has confirmed that the pilot suffered shrapnel wounds.
Iran’s IRGC posted a video on March 19 purporting to show an F-35 being targeted and struck by an Iranian air defense system. The authenticity of the video has not been confirmed.
Still yet to hear any official denial that this F-35 video is exactly what it purports to be, and the disclosure that the pilot suffered shrapnel wounds only seems to back this up. That the pilot was wounded shows the blast was closer than many have said, and again speaks volumes… https://t.co/8T7tC93zFq
There are signs that the storied 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army could be headed to the Middle East. Based on the movement of cargo flights between Fort Bragg in North Carolina and the Middle East, the Pentagon could be moving elements of the elite paratrooper unit into the region.
There had been earlier signs that the 82nd Airborne was at least being prepared for a possible deployment, with the cancellation of a major training exercise in which its headquarters unit would have been involved.
The division includes a brigade combat team of between 4,000 and 5,000 soldiers that are on constant alert for rapid deployment anywhere in the world within hours. They can be assigned various high-priority missions, including seizing critical objectives, reinforcing U.S. embassies, and enabling emergency evacuations.
It is also quite possible that at least part of the deployment was scheduled in advance of the war.
There are indications, based on plane spotters, that elements of the 82nd Airborne Division—likely the alert brigade—have arrived in the Middle East via cargo flights from Fort Bragg and likely Fort Campbell.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) today said they have launched another wave of strikes in Tehran. Among the claimed targets were a Quds Force base used as a command post, an IRGC aerial defense headquarters, a Ground Forces headquarters, a Quds Force intelligence headquarters, and a naval cruise missile manufacturing site.
🎯STRUCK: Several Iranian terror regime headquarters in Tehran
Dozens of IAF fighter jets used 100+ munitions in the strikes that targeted:
• A Quds Force base used as a command post for coordinating and overseeing intelligence & operational activity • An IRGC aerial defense… pic.twitter.com/tTur69j2EO
While unconfirmed, it appears that the IDF is on board with the U.S.-announced five-day pause on strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure.
A source told Reuters that Israel was kept informed of U.S.–Iran talks and would likely follow Washington in halting attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure. https://t.co/Lj3g2qu57w
Yesterday, the IDF issued details of its overnight airstrikes, claiming to have struck several Iranian weapon production sites and various headquarters of the regime. The IDF said that Israeli Air Force fighters had hit targets including an Iranian Army training base that included a storage site for anti-aircraft missiles; a weapons production and storage site of the Iranian defense ministry; a weapons production site of the IRGC Air Force; a headquarters of the Iranian intelligence ministry; and a headquarters of Khatam-al Anbiya, the Iranian military emergency command.
During a wave of overnight airstrikes in Tehran, the IDF says it struck several Iranian weapon production sites and various headquarters of the regime.
According to the military, the targets hit by Israeli Air Force fighter jets included: an Iranian army training base that… pic.twitter.com/B1kLaV0NgT
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 22, 2026
Meanwhile, Israel continues to fight on a second front in Lebanon. Among the targets that have been struck repeatedly are bridges across from the Litani River in southern Lebanon. The video below purportedly shows an Israeli Air Force strike on the Qasmiya Bridge yesterday. The IDF says strikes like these are meant to prevent Hezbollah from moving operatives and weapons into southern Lebanon.
The Israeli Air Force struck the Qasmiya Bridge on the Litani River in southern Lebanon a short while ago, hours after warning it would bomb the crossing.
Footage shows the moment the bridge, located on the coastal highway, was struck.
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 22, 2026
The U.S. State Department has issued a “worldwide caution” to all Americans. “The Department of State advises Americans worldwide, and especially in the Middle East, to exercise increased caution. Americans abroad should follow the guidance in security alerts issued by the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate,” the State Department said in a statement.
The U.S. State Department has issued a “worldwide caution” to all Americans.
“Groups supportive of Iran may target other U.S. interests overseas or locations associated with the United States and/or Americans throughout the world.” pic.twitter.com/iiZaBXUkrj
Over the weekend, remarkable footage emerged showing the apparent interception of an Iranian medium-range ballistic missile. The video was reportedly captured in the Deir ez-Zor governorate of eastern Syria. While its authenticity cannot be confirmed, it bears the hallmarks of an exoatmospheric interception, of the kind that could be carried out by a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) fired by a U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke class destroyer. It is important to remember that Israel’s own Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile interceptors are also capable of engaging threats outside of the Earth’s atmosphere and use kinetic kill vehicles to destroy their targets.
Exoatmospheric interception of an Iranian medium-range ballistic missile seen earlier tonight over Al-Asharah in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate of Eastern Syria, likely carried out by an SM-3 fired by a U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer positioned in the Eastern… pic.twitter.com/CwkMO7W5pi
Iranian missiles continue to threaten the air defense umbrella over Israel, as the video below confirms. In this case, an apparent cluster munition delivered by an Iranian missile, or otherwise debris from an intercepted missile, struck a car in the city of Tel Aviv.
Footage shows the moment a cluster munition struck a car in Tel Aviv during Iran’s ballistic missile attack this morning. pic.twitter.com/1FcN2LowwO
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 22, 2026
Footage has emerged showing the immediate results of apparent airstrikes on Yazd, in central Iran. The site has been struck by the United States and Israel on multiple occasions this month and is considered one of the most significant underground missile-launch facilities in the country. The fact that the base has been targeted repeatedly suggests that it is proving tricky to render inoperational.
Iran’s Yazd missile base was seen suffering a series of major secondary explosions after a series of U.S.-Israeli strikes tonight. pic.twitter.com/t8gAeRieP7
According to a recent CNN investigation, satellite images from 27 Iranian underground bases indicate that the U.S.-Israeli campaign has struck 77 percent of the tunnel entrances that could be imaged. However, construction equipment was seen appearing at bombed sites typically within 48 hours. This would be used for digging out blocked entrances and restoring access to the tunnel systems below, likely making the sites operational again.
More analysis of that abortive attack is now emerging. This airbase has hosted a significant build-up of U.S. military aircraft, although not, so far, long-range bombers. This would be an option, however, since the United Kingdom gave the go-ahead for the United States to use the island for strikes on Iran. The threat posed to Diego Garcia by Iranian long-range attack drones and missiles is something we have discussed in the past.
In his analysis of the attempted attack, missile and drone expert Fabian Hinz outlines the various weapons that Iran could have called upon, as well as their various advantages and disadvantages.
While we have seen similar footage before, it is interesting to note that U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornets continue to use their onboard 20mm cannons to strafe targets along the Iranian coast.
A photo from the perimeter fence at RAF Fairford in England confirms that U.S. Air Force bombers — and planespotters — have been busy in recent days.
