🇺🇸🇮🇷🇮🇱⚡- "Israel had opposed the smaller-scale strikes Trump was considering three weeks ago out of a sense they would merely be symbolic, and not worth the risk of massive retaliation.

That dynamic has shifted. A succession of Israeli spies and generals - including Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir have visited D.C. in recent days. Zamir briefed the US Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine on Israel's offensive and defensive plans in the event of war with Iran," - Axios.

🇺🇸🇮🇷🇮🇱⚡- "It's safe to say that nothing came out of that [Israeli Chief of Staff's] meeting to change his [Gen. Dan Caine] or the President's mind on attacking Iran.

It's really the Israelis who want a strike. The President is just not there.

Trump really does not want to do it," - A US official tells Axios.

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡️- BREAKING: Iran is demanding change to the venue and format for negotiations scheduled for Friday with the United States.

The WSJ reports they are threatening to pull out of negotiations completely.

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡️- BREAKING: The US Navy has just shot down an Iranian drone that approached the USS Lincoln. - Reuters.

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡- "The Iranian Shahed-139 drone was flying towards the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and was shot down by a F-35 US fighter jet," - Reuters.

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡️- The ship harassed by the Iranians was a U.S. flagged tanker with an American crew aboard.

CENTCOM spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins stated, “Two IRGC boats and an Iranian Mohajer drone approached M/V Stena Imperative at high speeds and threatened to board and seize the tanker.” - Reuters.

🇺🇸🇮🇱 - The Netanyahu-Witkoff meeting has ended, lasting three hours.

Chief of Staff Zamir, Chief of Mossad Barnea, Chief of Aman Binder, and Air Force Commander Bar were all present during the meeting.

🇺🇸🇮🇷🇮🇱⚡- "Israel has asked the United States for freedom of action in Iran," - Israeli Broadcasting Corporation.

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡- US-Iran talks are still scheduled for Friday despite the downing of an Iranian drone, a White House source tells AFP.

🇱🇾⚡- BREAKING: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was killed in action following clashes in Hamada, Libyan outlet al-Ahrar TV reports.

🇺🇸⚡️- Bill and Hillary Clinton “finalized an agreement with House Republicans” on Tuesday to testify before the House Oversight Committee on February 26th and 27th.

Hillary will testify on the 26th of February, and Bill will testify the next day, the 27th.

Former President Bill Clinton’s testimony will be the first time that Congressional members have called in a former president to testify.

🇱🇾 - Libya Review confirms the death of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of the former Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, but cannot verify the cause.

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡️- Iran has sent another drone to monitor the USS Lincoln and its carrier strike group.

🇺🇸🇮🇷🇮🇱⚡- "Tel Aviv is making intensive efforts to prevent an agreement between the Iranians and the Americans," - Israeli Channel 12.

🇺🇸🇮🇷🇮🇱⚡- "In Israel there is concern that Special Envoy Witkoff has limited knowledge on the Iranian nuclear file, and there is a fear that the Iranians will outmaneuver him during the negotiations.

In addition, Israel wants any agreement to also address the missile file, as well as Hezbollah and the Houthis," - Yossi Yehoshua of Israeli Channel 15 (i24).

🇺🇸🇮🇷🇮🇱⚡️- The Iranians want to move the U.S. meeting from Istanbul to Oman. Furthermore, Tehran is also demanding that the talks be held bilaterally so the talks can be limited to nuclear negotiations without any focus or discussion about proxies and missiles, as well as to limit interference from other nations.

Notably, the Tuesday meeting between Netanyahu and the U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff purportedly focused on the Israelis' redlines, which include not only nuclear enrichment, but ballistic missiles and Iran’s proxy network.

Seemingly, the Iranians are willing to negotiate with the U.S. on nuclear issues. Still, the Israelis will interject other issues as priorities to destabilize and fracture negotiations, further escalating tensions between Tehran and Washington.

🇺🇸🇳🇬🏴⚡️- “The US has sent a small team of troops to Nigeria, the general in charge of the US command for Africa said on Tuesday, the first acknowledgment of US forces on the ground since Washington struck [Islamic State] by air on Christmas Day.” - JP.