I - On Defense Podcast

For review: 1. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that there were “good signs” for a deal to end the war with Iran, but that an agreement would be “unfeasible” if Tehran pursues its plan to toll ships in the Strait of Hormuz.  2. WSJ Report: Israel has created a list of all Palestinians who took part in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks and is working to kill or arrest each one....

For review: 1. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez insisted Cuba "poses no threat" to the United States and doesn't have "aggressive plans or intentions against any country," after Axios reported that the island nation has hundreds of military drones and has been allegedly discussing plans to strike the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay and potentially Florida&ap...

For review: 1. Cuba has posted a “family guide” on provincial websites on how to survive “potential enemy attacks,” as the communist-run island reels from US pressure and energy shortages. The release of the document– comes days after the head of the CIA visited Cuba, an extraordinary step in contact between Washington and Havana.  2. The Israel Defense Forces on Saturday confirmed killing Hamas m...

For review: 1. CIA Director Ratcliffe met with counterparts from Cuba's Ministry of the Interior on Thursday during a high-level visit to the island nation amid "complex bilateral relations" between the long-time adversaries. 2. President Donald Trump says he has not yet decided whether a major sale of US arms to Taiwan can move forward following his three-day visit to China.  3. Is...

For review: 1. US President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the Iran war, trade, and US arms sales to Taiwan.  2. If Iran does not accept US terms for a deal to end the war and address its nuclear program, the United States will “finish the job,” US President Donald Trump declared on Tuesday. 3. Iran’s chief negotiator in talks with the U...

For review: 1. US military intelligence-gathering flights are surging off the coast of Cuba, a CNN analysis of publicly available aviation data shows. Since February 4, the US Navy and Air Force have conducted at least 25 such flights using manned aircraft and drones, most of them near the country’s two biggest cities, Havana and Santiago de Cuba, and some coming within 40 miles of the coast, acco...

For review: 1. President Trump Announces Russia & Ukraine Ceasefire and Priosner Exchange. The ceasefire will begin on Saturday and run through Monday, President Trump wrote on Truth Social. "This ceasefire will include a suspension of all kinetic activity, and also a prisoner swap of 1,000 prisoners from each country." 2. NYT Report: Russia is sending drone components to Iran via Ca...

For review: 1. US Secretary of State Rubio announced new sanctions Thursday on Cuba's military-industrial enterprise, its leader and a state-owned natural resources company. 2. US President Donald Trump says three US Navy destroyers transited out of the Strait of Hormuz under fire, adding that the American destroyers were not damaged but “great damage was done to Iranian attackers.” 3. Irania...

For review: 1.  A high-level Trump administration official informed Iran on Sunday of the impending US operation to "guide" ships through the Strait of Hormuz and warned Tehran not to interfere, according to a U.S. official and a source with knowledge. 2.  US President Donald Trump says the US will be pausing the operation it launched just one day earlier to assist vessels stuck in the S...

For review: 1. President Trump said the U.S. Navy will start guiding ships from foreign countries through the Strait of Hormuz from Monday and warned that if Iran tries to disrupt the process the American military will use force. 2. US President Donald Trump on Sunday rejected Iran’s latest proposal to end its war with the US and Israel, calling it unacceptable. The 14-point proposal reportedly in...

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 i...

For review: 1. US CENTCOM Commander: CENTCOM Forces have redirected 42 x commercial vessels attemtiong to violate the Strait of Hormuz blockage. 2. President Trump told Axios he's going to keep Iran under a naval blockade until the regime agrees to a deal that addresses U.S. concerns about its nuclear program. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has prepared a plan for a "short and powerful&q...

For review: 1. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that a reported offer from Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz under strict conditions is not acceptable to the United States or other countries. Secretary of State Rubio: “What they mean by opening the straits is, yes, the straits are open, as long as you coordinate with Iran, get our permission, or we’ll blow you up, and you pay us.” 2...

For review: 1. US President Donald Trump canceled a trip to Islamabad by two envoys to meet Iran war mediator Pakistan on Saturday after Iran’s foreign minister flew out of the Pakistani capital following talks, dealing a new setback to peace prospects. Presidnet Trump said in a social media post that he had called off the planned visit by his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushn...

For review: 1. Iranian forces seized two container ships on Wednesday, according to global security monitors and the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. They also attacked but didn’t seize a third. 2. US President Donald Trump on Thursday said the US Navy would “shoot and kill” any boat mining the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel was ready to renew the...

For review: 1. The Board of Peace’s lead envoy for Gaza admitted Monday that talks with Hamas on disarmament were going to take more time, even though the deadline he gave for the terror group to accept his proposal on handing over its weapons expired nine days earlier. “We’ve had some very serious discussions with Hamas over the last few weeks. They’re not easy,” Nickolay Mladenov told Reuters in...

For review: 1. American forces seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship after it tried to bypass a U.S. naval blockade in the Gulf of Oman, President Trump said Sunday. “Guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) intercepted M/V Touska as it transited the north Arabian Sea at 17 knots en route to Bandar Abbas, Iran. American forces issued multiple warnings and informed the Iranian-flagged vessel...

For review: 1. A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah appeared to take effect at midnight Thursday-Friday after being declared hours earlier by US President Donald Trump, who also announced that he was inviting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Lebanese president for peace talks at the White House. 2. The Israeli military said Friday that it remains on high alert and ready to retu...

For review: 1. Military planning for a possible Pentagon-led operation in Cuba is quietly ramping up, in case President Trump gives an order to intervene there, USA TODAY has learned. Two sources familiar with the order spoke to USA TODAY on condition of anonymity because they're not authorized to speak to media. 2. US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he was not considering extendi...

For review: 1.  The U.S. proposed that Iran accept a 20-year moratorium on uranium enrichment during talks over the weekend, according to a U.S. official and a source with knowledge..  The Iranians countered with a shorter "single digit" period, according to the sources. 2.  US Aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) is operating off the coast of Namibia, as it sails around the Af...

For review: 1. The talks in Islamabad stretched into the early hours of Sunday morning following hours of marathon negotiations, even as Iran warned that Washington was making “excessive demands” over the Strait of Hormuz that could undermine Pakistan’s peacemaking efforts. 2. The US military said on Saturday that it had begun a mine-clearing operation in the Strait of Hormuz, with two US warships...

For review: 1. Items from the 10-Point Ceasefire Plan. The lifting of all primary and secondary sanctions on Iran.  Continued Iranian control over the strait of Hormuz.  US military withdrawal from the Middle East.  An end to attacks on Iran and its allies.  The release of frozen Iranian assets. A UN security council resolution making any deal binding.  2. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday ni...

For review: 1. The White House asserts that the announcement of a two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran is a victory for Washington. The U.S. has agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran proposed by Pakistan, President Trump said Tuesday night. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed Tehran's acceptance and said Iran would allow "safe passage" of the Strait of Hormuz...

For review: 1. US special forces conducted a daring raid deep into enemy territory to safely rescue a wounded US airman who was shot down over southwest Iran, with US President Donald Trump triumphantly declaring “WE GOT HIM,” on Sunday, ending a 36-hour race to find the aviator before he could be captured by pursuing Iranian forces.  2. In an expletive-laden post on his Truth Social account on Su...

For review: 1. A U.S. F-15E fighter jet was shot down over Iran on Friday, and one crew member from the plane was later rescued by American forces, U.S. officials confirmed to CBS News.   The F-15E is flown by a two-member crew, and the search for the second crew member, a weapons system officer, is continuing, two U.S. officials said.  An A-10 Warthog was part of the search and rescue mission whe...