Middle East War

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More pressure on Iran. And more strain on US forces.

The US is planning measures against Iran that have “never been seen,” including further economic isolation and a continued blockade aimed at preventing goods from moving in or out of Iranian ports, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday. He said more announcements are expected next week. Meanwhile, the US is sending another carrier group to the Middle East to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln amid reports of low morale and deteriorating living conditions aboard the ship, which is carrying more than 5,000 US service members. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the reports were “completely misrepresented,” though he did not specify his concerns with the reporting. However, multiple families have raised concerns about sailors’ mental health after more than 200 days without a port call during operations against Iran.

The USS Abraham Lincoln at the Naval Base in Guam in 2025. (Valerie Lynn Maigue/US Navy)

+ Read more: Sailor rescued after going overboard from USS Abraham Lincoln following reported mental health episode

+ Video: Military reporter shuts down Hegseth’s denial of sailors jumping overboard (2:00)

+ Interactive: How traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is adapting to war

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Trump turns to ‘economic warfare’

President Trump announced on social media Wednesday what he described as a “crushing economic operation” against Iran, threatening “economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale.” He offered few details about what the operation would involve but warned of economic consequences for any country whose financial institutions, businesses, airports or government entities provide “any type of lifeline to Iran.” Despite ramping up the pressure, Trump also said Wednesday that the situation with Iran is “so good” right now — days after halting all US talks with Tehran. ps:As I've said many times, he talks out of both sides of his mouth!!!!!

+ Analysis: Trump has a new plan to crush Iran’s economy. But will he stay the course?

+ Meanwhile: More than 750 US service members wounded since start of Iran War, Pentagon database shows

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🇸🇾 Syrian foreign minister: Israeli bombing unjustified

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photos: Tom Nicholson, Antonio Masiello, and Ula Muhammed/Anadolu via Getty Images Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani made it clear to Israel that his government wasn't working with Turkey to amass a military presence at a Syrian airbase — but Israel attacked the site anyway, he tells Axios' Barak Ravid. The Tuesday morning strike on the Abu al-Duhur airbase has heightened tensions among three close U.S. partners in the region, just as the Trump administration is trying to prevent further escalation. 🇹🇷 Al-Shaibani tells Axios: "[T]here was no intention to establish a Turkish base there, nor to establish a permanent Turkish military presence or deploy Turkish forces at the site." President Trump told Axios in a phone call yesterday that he'd been briefed on the Israeli strike, but declined to comment on it. "I can't talk about it," he said. 💥 Israel dropped at least eight bombs at the base in northern Syria, about 45 miles from the Turkish border. The strike damaged the runways, which had recently been rebuilt. There were no casualties. Keep reading.

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Trump warns of ‘economic D-Day’ against Iran, but Tehran is well acquainted with sanctions Nearing the six-month mark of the Iran war and facing diminishing stockpiles of key weapons, the Trump administration is touting a crushing financial campaign against a country that has so far withstood nearly five decades of punishing American sanctions. Read more.

Why this matters: With sparse details, President Donald Trump announced this week that the U.S. would be imposing an “unprecedented” level of economic warfare and isolation on Iran, aiming to force its leadership to cave to demands to end its nuclear program and fully reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz to oil and natural gas tankers. The president is refocusing America’s might on bringing Iran to its knees through an accelerated sanctions campaign against one of the most economically penalized countries in the world.   Iranian officials and analysts have accused the Republican president of flip-flopping with his latest pivot to economic pressure against Iran. Trump has long derided past leaders who used sanctions to limit Iran’s ability to pay for its military and nuclear development. In a post last week on X, Esmail Baghaei, spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, wrote that Washington’s pattern of retreating to sanctions when it doesn’t want to pursue diplomacy has proven to be futile.

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