Episode Details

For review:

1. The White House asserts to US Congress in a letter that hostilities with Iran have “terminated” despite the continued presence of US armed forces in the region.

The message from President Donald Trump effectively skirts a May 1 legal deadline to gain approval from members of Congress to continue the war with Iran. 

2. Axios Report: The Pentagon estimates Iran has lost $4.8 billion in oil revenue due to the US Navy’s blockade of its ports.

3. US President Donald Trump on Friday said he was dissatisfied with a new ceasefire offer from Tehran and confirmed he had been briefed on ways to “blast the hell out of them” if no deal were reached.

4. Any shippers paying tolls to Iran for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, including charitable donations to organizations such as the Iranian Red Crescent Society, are at risk of punitive sanctions, the US Treasury warned on Friday.

5. Israel is on heightened alert, ramping up preparations for a possible return to fighting with Iran, amid indications that US President Donald Trump may be nearing a decision on renewed military action, Israeli television reported Thursday.

6. Iran’s supreme leader purportedly said Thursday that the only place Americans belong in the Persian Gulf is “at the bottom of its waters” and that a “new chapter” was being written in the region’s history.

7. Israel dispatched a version of the Iron Beam laser-based air defense system to the United Arab Emirates during the recent fighting with Iran to help protect the Gulf nation from missile and drone attacks, according to a report on Thursday, in a significant step for the defense ties between the two countries.

8. The US State Department said on Friday it was approving military sales totaling over $8.6 billion to Middle Eastern allies Israel, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.

9. The United States is withdrawing 5,000 troops from NATO ally Germany, the Pentagon announced on Friday.