/r/WorldNews Discussion Thread: US and Israel launch attack on Iran; Iran retaliates (Thread #12)

Trump is expected to declare the Iran war is “winding down” in a primetime Oval Office address tonight, saying U.S. military objectives have been met. Trump is also set to shift responsibility for reopening the Strait of Hormuz onto European and regional allies. - POLITICO

Isfahan's been exploding for the last couple hours, also feel like theirs a significant uptick in video's getting our of Iran lately. Curious how much that comes down to jammers being targeted or if groups are finding other ways to get footage out.

French Naval Chief says there’s no evidence the Strait of Hormuz is mined, contradicting earlier CNN reports, as Europe prepares a “coalition of the willing” to address the Middle East conflict and the strait closure.

>The U.S. military gave the president a plan to seize nearly 1,000 pounds of highly enriched uranium in Iran. The mission would require the airlift of potentially hundreds or thousands of troops and could take weeks. – WAPO

>Iran’s President Pezeshkian, in a letter to the American people, says Iran harbors no enmity toward ordinary Americans, calls portraying Iran as a threat “inconsistent with history and current facts,” and warns attacks on Iran’s infrastructure would have consequences beyond its borders. From his words the past few days it looks like Iran is becoming more and more nervious about the US assets continuing to flow in and some contries stating they're willing to open join in on opening the strait.

Reports in Iran: The home of Kamal Kharazi, head of Iran’s Strategic Council for Foreign Relations, was attacked. His wife was killed and he sustained serious injuries.

Let me guess the letter from the Iranian president will be something like ‘we are a peace loving people but the US is manipulated by Israel to go to war we want reparations exc.’

>**Trump threatened to stop weapons for Ukraine unless Europe joined Hormuz coalition** >Donald Trump threatened to stop supplying weapons for Ukraine in order to pressure European allies to join a “coalition of the willing” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, according to people briefed on the discussions. >The strait has been in effect closed by Iran after the US and Israel attacked the Islamic republic in late February, choking a route through which a fifth of the world’s oil typically passes. >The US president demanded Nato navies help him reopen the narrow waterway last month, but was rebuffed by European capitals which said it would be impossible while the conflict was ongoing, with several also pointing out that this was “not our war”. >Three officials familiar with the discussions said that Trump responded by threatening to stop supplies to Purl, Nato’s weapons procurement initiative for Ukraine funded by European countries. >—FT

> The Air Force is dispatching 18 A-10s to join roughly a dozen A-10s already in the region that U.S. commanders have used to attack Iranian boats and Iran-backed militias in Iraq, two Pentagon officials said on Wednesday. > per New York Times

As a European I think I would rather have the US leave NATO and transform it as the skeleton of a European defense. Than the US staying while it's clear they have no intent to ever respect the treaty, freezing the broken organisation.

>Trump, in his primetime address Wednesday, will cast the US as having met or exceeded all of its military goals, according to an official. These include: >• Destroying Iran’s ballistic missiles and production facilities >• Annihilating its navy >• Ensuring that Tehran’s proxies can no longer destabilize the region >• Ensuring that the country can never obtain a nuclear weapon >The speech will stress that the conclusion of operations may come in two to three weeks, the official said. >—Bloomberg

>Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will release an “important” letter addressing the American people, Tasnim reported, citing the deputy information officer at the president’s office. >—Bloomberg

>For more than a decade President Trump has been intently focused on making sure Iran never had the nuclear fuel in hand to build a nuclear weapon. Until this morning, when he told Reuters in an interview, that he didn’t really care because it is “so far underground.” >Asked about the 970 pounds of near-bomb-grade enriched uranium that international inspectors say is likely buried at two sites in Iran — enough to make 10 to a dozen bombs — Mr. Trump said it was no longer a worry. >“We’ll always be watching it by satellite,” the president was quoted as saying. It was the second time in 24 hours Mr. Trump had declared that the nuclear problem with Iran had been solved, despite all evidence to the contrary. >—NYT

I’m assuming Trump is waiting for end of trading today or tomorrow to start the on ground invasion. Gotta pump the economy before anything else.

With it being 2.5 hrs until the US market closes (and a few more hours before his speech), anybody else watching for a trading volume spike with no correlating up or down?

People please do not lose sleep to stay up to watch Trump’s address tonight. It’s not f****** worth it, I understand we all have a desire to know what’s going on the moment it happens. But I learned quite early on in the Ukraine war, that these speeches get hyped up so much and then ultimately nothing of significance is said.  I remember people would get all worked up over what Putin would say early on in the Ukraine war. Then it would be a long snooze fest. 

I swear if I stay up till 3 AM and he starts ranting about his ballroom I'm gonna lose my god damn mind

>**Air Force reactivates Reaper drone squadron at Nevada base** > The Air Force has reactivated a squadron in Nevada that flies the MQ-9 Reaper, the unmanned, heavily armed drone that is entering its third decade of flying. >…with its reactivation, the 42nd ‘s drones will have a capability they previously did not. >Previous Reapers used in Afghanistan needed a set of pilots to be in “line-of-sight” control of the plane during take-off and landing, while the actual missions were handed off to crews based in the U.S. or elsewhere. But new technology automates take-offs and landings, which can now be controlled by satellite. As a result, fewer airmen are needed for those missions, and dedicated Reaper units can focus on reconnaissance and strike missions. >… >The 4,900-pound drone is operated by pilots at remote bases. Reapers are built to fly for as long as a full day, and have a 66-foot wingspan and 36-foot fuselage, making them useful for both intelligence gathering and strike weapons. Reapers can carry up to eight Hellfire missiles and precision-guided bombs. >The reactivation is part of a larger Air Force reorganization of its MQ-9 Reaper units… >… > U.S. Central Command has released several videos that appear to show operations from the drone’s camera feed, including U.S. weapons destroying Iranian aircraft. >Cantwell said that the war with Iran has shown the importance of space-based intelligence, and history has shown that using fighter jets is a relatively expensive way to find targets. >“But the MQ-9s have been tremendously successful, finding dozens, if not hundreds, of mobile targets,” Cantwell said. “These have been mobile missile launchers, these have been drone launchers. These have reduced the threat to both the U.S. forces and our allies.” >However, the MQ-9 is not as invincible in the skies as it once was over a mostly-defanged Afghanistan and Iraq. >In the war’s early weeks, Iran has shot down at least 10 of them, according to reports from Air & Space Magazine and CBS News. The Reaper’s survivability was also tested last year when the Houthis shot down 7 US Reaper drones worth a total of $200 million over Yemen in March and April 2025 during the group’s assault on commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea. >—[T&P](https://taskandpurpose.com/news/reaper-unit-activated-creech/)

I find it funny how much everyone here takes everything the IRCG says at face value

We need to all sit down for a moment and be careful about this. Don’t start saying things just because you wish for them to be true. Whether you’re saying trump will destroy IRGC, or whether IRGC will destroy trump, you don’t know anything for sure. Yet all I see are people making stuff up, and then 2 or 3 other people comment under it going “trueeee bro trueeeee” and it’s literally just a wishlist instead of any solid insight. The fact of the matter is none of us know anything in depth about what’s coming, so stay humble and be ready to be wrong, and then let go of wrongly held views as you get new information. Please.

> **USS Gerald R. Ford deployment could be extended to nearly a year amid ‘challenging time,’ admiral says** > > The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford could be deployed for nearly a year, the Navy’s top commanding officer said this week. > > Ford likely will go into a “record-breaking” 11th month of operations, said Adm. Daryl Caudle, chief of naval operations, Tuesday at the Washington D.C.-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies. > > He added that the carrier had received a much-needed reset, including time at U.S. Naval Support Activity Souda Bay in Greece for repairs following a laundry room fire last month and a port call in Split, Croatia. > > Ford and her crew would be “back on station again here soon,” said Caudle. He did not indicate if Ford would remain in the Mediterranean Sea or go back into the Red Sea in support of the U.S.-Israel campaign against Iran, which is now in its fifth week. > > Its destroyer e****** — USS Bainbridge, USS Winston S. Churchill and USS Mahan — also have left the Middle East, having made the northbound transit through the Suez Canal, USNI News reported Monday. > > The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush, anticipated to relieve Ford, left its homeport in Norfolk, Va., on Tuesday to begin operations for its deployment, the Navy said in a statement. > > The Pentagon has not specifically said where Bush will go, but it reportedly will head to the U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations, which includes the eastern Mediterranean Sea. > > —[S&S](https://www.stripes.com/branches/navy/2026-04-01/ford-navy-long-deployment-21247549.html)

Where can I watch Trump’s address live? I want to be part of history.