Overview
- Pentagon officials said negotiations with Iran are picking up, while President Trump remains ready to keep hitting targets or send ground troops if no agreement is reached.
- U.S. commanders reported more than 11,000 Iranian targets struck, claimed air superiority that enabled B-52 missions, and said 150 Iranian vessels were destroyed as forces focus on mines and missile and drone production sites.
- Reporting described a major U.S. buildup with airborne, Marine, and special operations units and outlined options under review that include seizing Kharg Island, breaking a Hormuz blockade, extracting enriched uranium, or crippling energy facilities.
- Lebanon’s toll is rising with over one million people displaced and about 1,200 dead, as the social affairs minister warned many may not return soon and said UN funding so far covers only a fraction of basic needs.
- Allied ties showed strain as a report detailed UK hesitancy over U.S. use of British bases and Trump said he is weighing leaving NATO after European partners refused to send ships to help clear the Strait of Hormuz.