Episode Details

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 with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, after an incoming Iranian missile was intercepted in Turkey’s airspace.

4. The French Navy will send eight frigates and two amphibious assault ships to the Eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea, joining aircraft carrier FS Charles De Gaulle (R91).

5. US President Donald Trump doubles down on his threat to strike Iran with unprecedented force if it stops the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

“If Iran does anything that stops the flow of oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far,” Trump writes on Truth Social.

6. US President Donald Trump said Monday he was “not happy” with the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran’s next supreme leader, and asserted he had a replacement in mind, without saying who that was.

7. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards pledge allegiance to the country’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, after he was appointed his father’s successor by the Assembly of Experts.

“The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps… is ready for complete obedience and self-sacrifice in carrying out the divine commands of the Guardian Jurist of the time, His Eminence Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei,” the Guards say in a statement.

8. President Donald Trump described Iran War as “short term” Monday — suggesting the 10-day conflict could be nearing its end while also warning of intensifying strikes if a key oil route is restricted.

9. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it will “determine the end of the war” in the Middle East after US President Donald Trump said the conflict would end “soon.”

“It is we who will determine the end of the war,” the IRGC says in a statement.

10. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urges Iraq’s leadership to keep protecting the US embassy after violent protests over the US-Israeli war on neighboring Iran.

In a call with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, Rubio “reiterated the importance of the Iraqi government taking all possible measures to safeguard US diplomatic personnel and facilities.

11. Another Iranian naval vessel has sought refuge in a neutral port following an expansion of the Iran conflict to the Indo-Pacific and U.S. efforts to target Tehran’s naval forces.

IRIS Lavan (514) docked at the Port of Kochi following engine troubles, government officials told Indian news outlet Wion.

Alongside the now stricken frigate IRIS Dena (75) and currently interned oiler IRIS Bushehr (422), Lavan was a part of Tehran’s diplomatic naval mission around the Indian Ocean region. 

12. Talks to advance US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war have been on hold since last week when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran.

The pause threatens to stall implementation of Trump’s flagship Middle East peace initiative.