Episode Details

For review:

1. US Central Command (CENTCOM) says it has completed its 11th consecutive evening of air strikes against Iran to further degrade the country’s “ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz”.

2. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Monday that his country was in a “full-scale war” with the United States and that Tehran should accept the repercussions of the conflict, even as mediators reportedly proposed a 10-day truce to deescalate the fighting.

3. US President Donald Trump claimed Tuesday that the US will be striking Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain “probably pretty soon,” amid reports that Tehran has moved nuclear centrifuges, and possibly even enriched uranium, to the secretive underground enrichment site.

4. Houthi Rebels on Monday announced they are imposing a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia  in retaliation for a blockade on Yemen and a recent attack on the Sanaa Airport. 

5. Israeli intelligence has reportedly assessed that Iran has moved thousands of nuclear centrifuges into a site in the Natanz area known as Pickaxe Mountain, burying them deep underground and making them harder to target in aerial strikes.

6. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday, where he declared that his country will permanently end hostilities with Israel and asked for backing in his efforts to disarm Hezbollah. 

7. Lebanese army troops began deploying in the southern Lebanese town of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh Tuesday after Israeli forces withdrew from the area, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) said in a statement, in line with a US-brokered plan for “pilot zones” in the south.

8. Two Hamas terrorists, including a commander, who invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, and were responsible for the abduction of hostages, were killed in separate recent airstrikes, the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet announced on Tuesday.

9. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman warned Bulgaria on Tuesday against allowing the U.S. to use its territory for operations against Iran.

The Bulgarian government has said it will seek parliamentary approval to station up to eight U.S. tanker aircraft at an air base in the Balkan country, which is a member of NATO and the European Union.