I - On Defense Podcast

For review:

1. The United States struck Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment facility on Saturday, several media reports claimed, 

Iranian media said US-Israeli forces attacked the Shahid Ahmadi-Roshan Natanz enrichment complex on Saturday morning. Technical experts found that no radioactive leaks had occurred, and nearby residents were not at risk.

2. US President Donald Trump on Friday ruled out a ceasefire with Iran, as American officials said more US Marines were headed to the Middle East in a possible sign of a coming ground operation three weeks into the war.

3.  US President Donald Trum...

For review:

1. The Israeli Air Force struck Iranian gas infrastructure in the country’s south on Wednesday. The strikes targeted Iran’s massive offshore South Pars natural gas field. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes on the gas facility, but an Israeli official confirmed the strike was carried out by the IAF.

2. US President Donald Trump said early Thursday that he would not allow another Israeli attack on Iran’s South Pars natural gas field.

3. US War Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday said the US would again launch “the largest...

For review:

1. Top Iranian official Ali Larijani was killed in an Israeli airstrike overnight Monday-Tuesday, Israel’s military and top leaders announced on Tuesday.

The Israel Defense Forces said that the commander of Iran’s oppressive Basij force had been killed in a separate overnight strike as well.

2. US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the US would not be fighting Iran for “much longer,” but declined to give a clear timeline, as he disparaged NATO for not doing more to help.

President Trump reiterated his disappointment with NATO over its members’...

For review:

1. A missile strike on a house in Baghdad on Tuesday killed two people, with initial reports suggesting they are “Iranian advisers” to Tehran-backed groups, a security official tells AFP.

2. Rockets and at least five drones were launched at the US embassy in Baghdad early Tuesday from areas around the city, Iraqi security sources say, describing the attack as the most intense since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran.

3. Amid the latest Iranian missile attack on Israel, the military announces that it has launched “extensive” strikes against targets in both Tehran a...

For review:

1. On Sunday, citing “a senior source close to the new Iranian leader,” Kuwait’s Al-Jarida news outlet reported that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had been smuggled out of Iran in a secretive Russian operation on Thursday to receive medical treatment in Moscow for injuries sustained in the same airstrikes that killed his father and wife on the first day of the ongoing US-Israeli offensive.

2. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that Tehran had neither requested a ceasefire nor sought negotiations with Washington.

3. Iran’s relations with Arab Gulf states will require...

For review:

1. US President Donald Trump’s administration has rebuffed efforts by Middle Eastern allies to start diplomatic negotiations aimed at ending the Iran war. Iran, for its part, has rejected talk of a ceasefire until US and Israeli strikes end, two senior Iranian sources told Reuters, 

2. US President Donald Trump says that the United States may carry out more strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island oil export hub, saying that while Tehran appears ready to make a deal to end the conflict, “the terms aren’t good enough yet.”

3. President Trump on the Strait...

For review:

1. Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is “wounded and likely disfigured,” US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a briefing Friday.

2. US President Donald Trump announces that American forces “totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island.

3. Five US Air Force refueling planes were struck and damaged on the ground at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing two US officials.

The planes, which were hit during an Iranian missile strike on the Saudi base in recent days, were damag...

For review:

1.Two oil tankers were struck in the Gulf, killing one person, as Iran continued its attacks on targets across the region and the IDF reported hitting a “critical” nuclear site near Tehran, amid ongoing US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic.

2. Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has yet to appear in public, ostensibly vowed on Thursday to avenge the deaths since the start of the war with the US and Israel, in a statement read out by a presenter on state TV.

3. UN Security Council on Wednesday adopted a Bahrai...

For review:

1.The Swedish Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, published its global arms export and import report on Monday, comparing the arms exports of various countries in the years 2016–2020 to 2021–2025.

2. Kurdish rebels say they are ready to fight the Islamic Republic, but hope for an uprising before they intervene, with or without US support.

3. In a press conference at the Pentagon, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that Tuesday would be “the most intense day of strikes” on Iran. “The most fighters, the most bombers, the most intelligence, more defined and better than ever.”

For review:

1. Turkey said on Monday that NATO air defenses shot down a second ballistic missile that was fired from Iran and had entered Turkish airspace, warning it will take any necessary steps against threats.

2. Turkey deployed six F-16C fighter aircraft to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on Monday, defense officials here said.

The warplanes were sent as part of a phased approach to enhancing security in light of recent developments in the region, the Ministry of Defense wrote in an announcement.

3. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke by phone...

For review:

1. Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was chosen Sunday to succeed him, despite never having been elected or appointed to a government position.

A secretive figure within the Islamic Republic, Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen publicly since the start of the war.

2.  US President Donald Trump told The Times of Israel on Sunday that a decision on when to end the war with Iran will be a “mutual” one that he’ll make together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

3. Israel Defense Forces ch...

For review:

1. Six top defense contractors have agreed to quadruple production of what President Donald Trump has termed “Exquisite Class Weaponry” following a meeting at the White House on munitions production.

Meeting attended by:

RTX, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrup Grumman, BAE, L3 Harris, & Honeywell.

2. US President Donald Trump said Saturday he ruled out Kurdish involvement in the war with Iran, saying Washington does not want the conflict to become “more complex.”

3. The United States has started using British bases for certain operations against Iran during the Middle East war, the UK’s...

For review:

1. Italy, Spain, France and the Netherlands will send naval assets to protect Cyprus in the coming days, Rome’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto told parliament on Thursday. Crosetto said the deployment would occur in the coming days.

2. The Washington Post reported Friday that Russia has been assisting Iran in its war with the US and Israel by providing intelligence on the locations of American military assets in the Middle East. The report cited US officials familiar with the details.

3. A massive Israeli strike Friday morning destroyed the underground Tehran bunker of Ir...

Operation Epic Fury & Roaring Lion for review:

1. Concerning Iran's New Supreme Leader: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Wednesday that Israel would target whoever leads the Islamic Republic. “

Any leader appointed by the Iranian terror regime to continue leading the plan to destroy Israel, threaten the US and the free world and the countries of the region, and oppress the Iranian people, will be an unequivocal target for elimination,” Katz said in a statement.

 “It does not matter what his name is or where he hides,” he said.

2. An American submarine sank an I...

Operation Epic Fury / Roaring Lion for review:

1. France plans to send anti-missile and anti-drone systems to Cyprus after a British air base on the island was attacked by drones, the semi-official Cyprus News Agency (CNA) said on Tuesday.

2. US President Donald Trump threatened Tuesday to sever all trade with Spain after it refused to let US planes use its bases to attack Iran, while also lashing out at Britain for not cooperating more.

3. An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps senior official said on Monday that the Strait of Hormuz is closed, threatening that if...

Operation Epic Fury & Roaring Lion update for review:

1. US CJCS: “Our military objectives are clear,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine told reporters. “Our mission is to protect and defend ourselves, and together with our regional partners, prevent Iran from the ability to project power outside of its borders and be ready for follow on actions as appropriate.”

2. Three US F-15 fighter jets crashed over Kuwait on Monday after they were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses in a so-called friendly fire incident, the American military confirmed.

3. On Monday...

For review:

Operation Epic Fury / Roaring Lion Continues.

1. Three American soldiers have been killed, and five have been seriously wounded in the ongoing conflict with Iran, the US Central Command said Sunday, announcing the first US casualties in the conflict.

2. The United States and Israel clashed with Iran at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Saturday as the United Nations chief led calls for a halt to attacks by either side and a return to negotiations to prevent the conflict from spreading further.

3. China, Russia and North Korea...

For review:

US & Israel Strike Iran.

US: Operation Epic Fury

Israel: Operation Roaring Lion

1. US & Israel Strike Iran; Iran's Supreme Leader Dead; IRGC Commander Dead.

2. Iran Hits Back at Israel and Six Arab Regional Neighbors.

3. World Reaction

For review:

1. US President Donald Trump said Friday that he was “not happy” with Iran’s conduct in nuclear negotiations after the sides held a third round of talks in Geneva but that he hadn’t made a decision on whether to authorize a military strike on the Islamic Republic.

2. The United States and Iran made significant progress in talks on Thursday aimed at resolving a longstanding nuclear dispute and averting new US strikes, said mediator Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi.

3. At least nine American refueling tankers arrived at Israel’s Ben Gurion Air...

For review:

1. The United States sees evidence that Iran is trying to rebuild its nuclear program after US-led strikes against Iranian nuclear sites in June, US Vice President JD Vance says.

2. US Secretary of State Rubio warns that Iran must negotiate on its missile program, a day after US President Donald Trump alleged Tehran was working on rockets that could hit the United States.

3. Iran’s foreign minister arrived in Geneva ahead of a third round of crucial negotiations with the US, as American envoy Steve Witkoff demanded that any deal over Tehran’s nu...

For review:

1. The next round of talks between the United States and Iran will be Thursday in Geneva, Oman’s foreign minister said.

2. American refueler and cargo planes were spotted at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on Monday, amid a massive US buildup of military forces ahead of a potential attack on Iran.

There was no comment from Israeli authorities regarding the American military deployment at Israel’s main civilian airport.

3. Bulgaria’s Sofia International Airport briefly suspended civilian air operations twice over the weekend while a fleet of American milita...

For review:

1. Iran and the United States continued to slide rapidly toward military conflict at the weekend, as hopes faded for a diplomatic solution. Israel and Iran’s Gulf neighbors now consider a conflict to be more likely than a settlement.

2. The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that it struck three Hezbollah command centers belonging to the terror group’s missile force in the Baalbek area, in eastern Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley.

3. Officers from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have effectively taken charge of Hezbollah in anticipation of a war with the...

For review:

1. Iran on Thursday repeated its assertion that no country can “deprive” it of its “right” to nuclear enrichment, as US President Donald Trump continued to send US military assets into the Middle East in what a report called the biggest build-up of American air power in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

2. WSJ Report: US President Donald Trump is considering launching preliminary limited strikes on Iran with the aim of forcing the Islamic Republic to agree to his demands for a nuclear deal.

3. US President Donald Trump warned Iran on Thursday...

For review:

1. US & Iran Talk in Geneva While More US Warplanes Move to Region. 

The aircraft included F-22, F-35, and F-16 jets. Several refuelers were also spotted on the move, according to social media accounts dedicated to tracking military flights.

A US official also confirmed to the Axios news site that more than 50 fighter jets were moved to the region in the past 24 hours.

2. Iran says it temporarily closed parts of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf. 

The move came as semiofficial Iranian news ag...

For review:

1. The U.S. Air Force on Tuesday awarded Boeing a sole-source contract for newvGBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs , to replace the munitions used in last June’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

2. Iran launched live-fire naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday.

The drill, called "Smart Control of the Strait of Hormuz," was led by the naval forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) under the supervision of IRGC Commander in Chief Maj. Gen. Mohammad Pakpour.

3.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had told U.S...

For review:

1. Aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), its escorts and embarked Carrier Air Wing 8 have been tasked from their current position in the Caribbean to the Middle East to support a U.S. naval buildup in the region.

2. Asked Friday about potential regime change in Iran, US President Donald Trump said, “it seems like that would be the best thing that could happen,” as he confirmed sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East “in case we don’t make a deal” with the Islamic Republic.

3. US President Donald Trump and Prime...

For review:

1. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that US President Donald Trump believes the Iranians could be forced to accept “a good deal,” though the premier clarified that he is skeptical of the possibility.

2. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday derided a report by the Israel Hayom newspaper that the Islamic Republic had secretly executed thousands of people who participated in protests after telling Washington it would not do so.

3. An Iranian state-run TV channel on Thursday broadcast a hit list of seven Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, appear...

For review:

1. On the eve of his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump said that the Israeli premier “wants a deal” with Iran, and that the current talks on Tehran’s nuclear program show promise.

2. Entrances to Iran's Isfahan Nuclear Site Purposely Buried in Preparation of US/Israeli Attack.

3. IDF Preparing for Gaza Offensive to Disarm Hamas.

Hinting at the military’s offensive plans, Defense Minister Israel Katz this month said that Israel was "determined to disarm Hamas, threatening to “dismantle” the terror group if it doesn’t agree to lay...

For review:

1. Iran: Dilution of Enriched Uranium for Sanctions Relief.

2. Israeli PM Netanyahu to Visit Washington D.C. on Wednesday. 

3. Ukraine and Sweden are discussing the prospect of arming Kyiv with Europe’s top air-to-air missile- the Meteor.

4. Ukraine and France took a step toward joint arms production on Feb. 9, as Ukrainian Defense Minister Fedorov and his French counterpart Catherine Vautrin signed a letter of intent in Kyiv, Ukraine's Defense Ministry announced.

During the meeting, the ministers discussed accelerating the delivery of French Mirage 2000 fighter jets, as well as a r...

For review:

1. Iran rejected calls by the United States to halt uranium enrichment on its territory during talks in Oman on Friday.

A regional diplomat briefed by Tehran told Reuters Friday that while the Islamic Republic would not budge on its right to enrich uranium inside Iran, it was willing to discuss the “level and purity” of enrichment or a regional consortium.

2. The Israel Defense Forces said it struck a Hamas arms depot in Gaza City on Friday in response to an attack on troops a day earlier, after issuing an evacuation warning for...

For review:

1. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei “should be very worried” in the wake of reports that suggested that planned nuclear talks set for the end of the week were unravelling.

A White House official confirmed to The Times of Israel that nuclear talks with Iran would be held Friday in Muscat.

2. Iran’s army spokesperson said Thursday that the military is ready for a conflict, if that is what the US wants, 

Commenting on the addition of 1,000 drones to the Iranian military, Iranian B...

For review:

1. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed into law a massive funding package to end the US government shutdown that began Saturday.

2.  A Marine F-35C Lighting II fighter shot down an Iranian military drone that approached a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea.

The fighter shot down the Iranian Shahed-139 drone on Tuesday after it approached aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), according to a statement from U.S. Central Command.

3. Iran and the United States will resume nuclear talks on Friday, Iranian and US officials told R...

For review:

1. According to an Axios report, Turkey, Egypt and Qatar are working to organize a meeting this week between White House special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian officials in Ankara, Turkey’s capital.

2. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Sunday that if the US attacks Iran, the hostilities will broaden into a regional conflict.

3. An Iranian official on Sunday denied that the country had any plans to carry out live-fire exercises in the Strait of Hormuz this week, amid sky-high tensions in the region.

On Friday, the US military issued a...

For review:

1. President Volodymyr Zelensky on Jan. 30 rejected the Kremlin's proposal for holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow but signaled readiness for a meeting in a more appropriate format.

2. It was Vladimir Zelensky who insisted on a personal meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, not the other way around, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov recalled at a news briefing, commenting on statements from Kiev about its desire to host a Russia-Ukraine summit.

3. Speaking at the White House on Thursday, President Trump said he asked Russian President Putin not to fire on...

For review:

1. US President Donald Trump threatened Wednesday that time was running out for Iran, and that the next potential US attack on the Islamic Republic — if Tehran doesn’t make a nuclear deal — would be far worse than the June 2025 strikes. 

2. The United States announced on Tuesday that it was conducting an aerial military exercise in the Middle East amid ongoing tensions with Iran.

3. Iranian officials issued stark warnings Wednesday against any US strike on the country, with a top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader threatening that Tehran would attack Israel in any su...

For review:

1. The body of the final hostage held in Gaza was identified and brought back to Israel on Monday, 843 days after Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

Master Sergeant Ran Gvili, 24, a police officer killed fighting the Hamas invaders, had been the last of 251 people kidnapped that day to remain captive, following the return of the rest of the hostages, living and dead, under the current ceasefire. 

2. President Trump told Axios in an interview on Monday that the situation with Iran is "in flux" because he sent a "big armada" to the r...

For review:

1. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Sunday evening that it was searching for the remains of Master Sergeant Gvili, the last remaining hostage held in the Gaza Strip, on the Israeli side of the ceasefire line in the enclave’s north.

2. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced on Sunday that Israel will reopen the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt after it completes a military operation launched Sunday to recover the body of the last deceased hostage, Master Sgt. Ran Gvili.

3. Commander of the United States Central Command Admiral Brad Coop...

For review:

1. Commander of the United States Central Command Adm. Brad Cooper is expected to arrive in Israel on Saturday for meetings with senior officials.

2. Air France and Dutch airline KLM have canceled flights to Israel, Dubai and Saudi Arabia until at least Sunday, citing “security tensions in the region” amid concern of renewed conflict with Iran.

3. Iran’s foreign minister launched a furious tirade on Friday against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after the latter commented in Davos that the deadly crackdown on protests in the Islamic Republic showed that if authorities “kill enough p...

For review:

1. Eight prominent Muslim countries jointly announced their decisions to join US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace on Wednesday

Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates will each appoint a representative to sit on the panel of world leaders, their foreign ministers announced in a joint statement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted US President Donald Trump’s invitation to join the Board of Peace, the premier’s office announced Wednesday.

2. A meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to take place...

For review:

1. The Syrian government and the Kurdish SDF announced a new four-day truce after a previous ceasefire between government forces broke down. The two sides have been clashing for two weeks, amid a breakdown in negotiations over the implementation of a deal to merge their forces together.

2. US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that “we think we know” where the body of the final hostage, slain Israel Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, is being held in the Gaza Strip

MSG Gvili, a member of the Yasam police unit, was killed battling terrorists at K...