Overview
- Iran’s supreme leader said any American strike would draw a wider conflict and cast the recent unrest as a thwarted “coup,” hardening the government’s stance on the protests.
- The United States has an aircraft carrier, six destroyers and three littoral combat ships operating in regional waters, and CENTCOM publicly cautioned the IRGC over planned drills in the Strait of Hormuz before an Iranian official denied exercises were scheduled.
- Multiple reports say U.S. and Israeli decision-makers increasingly view military action as likely and that regional allies were warned to prepare, with timing described as the key unknown.
- Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani said structural arrangements for negotiations are progressing, and President Trump said Tehran is “seriously talking” as he presses for a deal curbing nuclear ambitions.
- The European Union designated the IRGC a terrorist organisation, and Iran’s parliament retaliated by labeling EU militaries as terrorist groups, deepening the diplomatic rift.