An Iranian long-range surveillance drone is currently flying over the Arabian Sea to the east of Oman, after orbiting for awhile near the Strait of Hormuz, with it possibly trying to take a look at the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and her Carrier Strike Group.

The Israel Defense Force is actively searching an area near the village of Paran in Southern Israel, following a possible cross-border infiltration from Jordan.

The United States is weighing precision strikes on “high-value” Iranian officials and commanders who it deems responsible for the deaths of protesters during the recent brutal crackdown, a Gulf official familiar with the discussions told Middle East Eye.

Strikes against Iran could come as early as this week, but that timeline may shift, with discussions within the Trump Administration having been described as “chaotic,” as officials debate over what the repercussions will be in terms of retaliation from Iran.

President Donald J. Trump spoke to reporters earlier outside the White House about this past weekend’s shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis by agents with U.S. Border Patrol.

Reporter: “Do you believe that Alex Pretti's death was justified?”

Trump: “Well, you know, we're doing a big investigation. I want to see the investigation. I'm gonna be watching over it. I want a very honorable and honest investigation. I have to see it myself.”

A WB-57F “Canberra” Long-Range High-Altitude Research Aircraft with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) made a gear-up landing this morning at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston, Texas, at around 11:30 a.m., following a reported “mechanical issue” which caused a serious malfunction and failure in the landing gear of the WB-57F.

Statement by NASA following today’s belly-up landing of a WB-57F at Ellington Field in Houston, Texas:

“Today, a mechanical issue with one of NASA’s WB-57s resulted in a gear-up landing at Ellington Field. Response to the incident is ongoing, and all crew are safe at this time. As with any incident, a thorough investigation will be conducted by NASA into the cause. NASA will transparently update the public as we gather more information.”

President Donald J. Trump speaking about Alex Pretti, the victim of this weekend’s shooting by federal agents in Minneapolis:

“Well I’m looking at that whole situation. I love everybody. I love all of our people. I love his family. And it’s a very sad situation.”

Reporter: “Sir, was Mr. Pretti acting as an assassin? Do you think he was acting as an assassin in Minneapolis?”

Trump: “Who is that?”

Reporter: “Mr. Pretti. Your Deputy Chief of Staff [Stephen Miller] said that. You don't think so?”

Trump: “No, I don’t think so. With that being said, you know, you can’t have guns. You can’t walk in with guns. You just can’t.”

Reporter: “What about the Second Amendment?”

Trump: “Listen, you can’t walk in with guns. You can’t do that. But it’s just a very unfortunate incident.”

Speaking at a restaurant in Iowa, President Donald J. Trump spoke about Alex Pretti, the victim of this weekend’s shooting by federal agents in Minneapolis, once again criticizing his decision to bring a handgun to the protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE):

“He certainly shouldn't have been carrying a gun. But all of - hey look, bottom line, everybody in this room - we view that as a very unfortunate incident, okay? Everyone, unless you're a stupid person. Very, very unfortunate incident. I don't like that he had a gun. I don't like that he had two fully loaded magazines. That's a lot of bad stuff. And despite that, I say that's a very unfortunate incident.”

During an interview tonight on Fox News, President Donald J. Trump confirmed that the “Commander-at-Large” of the United States Border Patrol (USBP), Gregory K. Bovino, would be leaving Minneapolis along with several agents, replaced by Tom Homan, the White House Border Czar. President Trump states that Bovino is “very good” but that he’s “a pretty out there kind of guy,” adding that maybe that wasn’t good in Minneapolis.

President Donald J. Trump spoke about Iran during a rally tonight in Clive, Iowa.

“By the way, there's another beautiful armada floating beautifully toward Iran right now. So we'll see. I hope - I hope they make a deal. I hope they make a deal.”

Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar sprayed by a man wielding a syringe with an unknown liquid during a town hall event in Minneapolis, while calling for the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

The United States is considering a possible “naval blockade” of oil exports from Iran prior to any direct military action, in which the U.S. Navy would potentially intercept, board, seize, and possibly even sink tankers carrying sanctioned crude oil from Iran via terminal ports on the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, according to The Jerusalem Post. In the lead up to the raid earlier this month by U.S. Special Forces on the Venezuela capital of Caracas, which led to the successful capture of Nicolás Maduro, President Donald J. Trump ordered a similar oil blockade of Venezuela, resulting in the seizure of seven oil tankers, most with ties to Iran and Russia.

President Donald J. Trump’s Board of Peace has announced its first round of founding member countries, which include:

- Albania
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Belarus
- Bulgaria
- Cambodia
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Hungary
- Indonesia
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Mongolia
- Morocco
- Pakistan
- Paraguay
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Türkiye
- United Arab Emirates
- United States
- Uzbekistan
- Vietnam

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto leader, told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during a call on Tuesday, that Saudi Arabia would not allow its airspace or territory to be used by the United States for an attack against Iran, following a similar statement issued earlier this week by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

President Donald J. Trump once again said this morning in a post on Truth Social that a “massive Armada” is heading towards Iran, claiming that the fleet - which is led by the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) - is larger than that sent to Venezuela, which consisted of over a dozen naval vessels including both a Carrier Strike Group and an Amphibious Ready Group. President Trump adds that he hopes, “Iran will quickly ‘Come to the Table’ and negotiate a fair and equitable deal - NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS - one that is good for all parties.
Time is running out, it is truly of the essence!
As I told Iran once before, MAKE A DEAL!”

Speaking today in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke about the current military buildup in the Middle East directed at Iran, stating:

“On the issue of our presence in the region, here's the baseline I want to set for everybody. The baseline is this: we have 30,000 to 40,000 American troops stationed across eight or nine facilities in that region. All are within the reach, theoretically, not theoretically, in reality, all are within the reach of an array of thousands of Iranian, one-way UAVs and Iranian short range of ballistic missiles that threaten our troop presence. We have to have enough force and power in the region just on a baseline to defend against that possibility. That at some point, as a result of something, the Iranian regime decides to strike at our troop presence in the region. The President always reserves the preemptive defensive option. In essence, if we have indications that in fact they're going to attack our troops in the region, to defend our personnel in the region. We also have security agreements, the Defense of Israel Plan and others, that requires to have a forced posture in the region to defend against that. And so I think it's wise and prudent to have a forced posture within the region that could respond and potentially, not necessarily what's going to happen, but if necessary, preemptively prevent the attack against thousands of American servicemen and other facilities in the region and our allies. I hope it doesn't come to that. But that's, I think, what you're seeing now is the ability to posture assets in the region to defend against what could be an Iranian threat against our personnel. They certainly have the capability to do it because they've amassed thousands and thousands of ballistic missiles that they've built despite the fact that their economy is collapsing. They keep spending money on that. Thank you.”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that the Iranian government’s “days are numbered” during a press conference earlier today alongside Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, with him stating, “A regime that can only hold onto power through sheer violence and terror against its own population: its days are numbered. It could be a matter of weeks but this regime has no legitimacy to govern the country.”