TOP STORIES
Bessent Is Moved From D.C.-Area Home to Military Base amid Iranian Threats | New York Times
“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently moved out of his home and onto a military base after Iranian threats against his life, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. U.S. officials concluded in recent weeks that Iranian plotting against current and former American officials had reached a more advanced stage, based in part on intelligence about threats to Mr. Bessent, according to the people . . .”
Three Men Backed by Iran Plotted to Attack British Air Base, U.S. Says | Washington Post
“Federal prosecutors have charged three men and accused them of plotting nearly 20 attacks in Europe and the United States, saying they were backed by Iran and attempted an assault on a British air force base used by the U.S. military.”
U.S., Iran Exchange Strikes on Islands as They Fight for Control of Strait | Wall Street Journal
“The U.S. and Iran are waging a fierce battle over control of the Strait of Hormuz nearly nine months into the conflict, with both sides striking islands in the waterway in recent days. U.S. forces have quietly carried out a series of strikes in recent weeks on Qeshm Island—Iran’s largest island—which the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has used to launch drones and missiles. On Tuesday, Iranian state media said that Tehran had hit a small Omani island that is key to aiding the navigation of ships transiting the waterway.”
UANI IN THE NEWS
Interview with UANI Policy Director Jason M. Brodsky | LiveNow from Fox
“In the aftermath of all of the beatings that the Iranian regime has taken as a result of U.S. military action, the Iranian regime has likely tried to activate [its terror] networks, and that is why we are seeing an upsurge in some of this terror plotting around the United States, which is targeting cabinet officials like Treasury Secretary [Scott] Bessent.
“United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) subsequently estimated that Iran’s petroleum-related exports averaged 15,806 barrels a day last month, down approximately 69% from 50,789 barrels in September.”
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
U.S. Efforts to Tighten Blockade of Iran Rely on Reluctant Neighbors | New York Times
“Now, the United States is going after Iran’s last economic artery: its land routes. Only there, Washington has hit upon a problem. For weeks, U.S. officials have tried—and failed—to diplomatically pressure Iran’s neighbors into shuttering their border crossings, according to three Iraqi officials and one U.S. official with knowledge of the talks, who requested anonymity to speak candidly. Those neighboring states, primarily Turkey, Iraq and Pakistan, are increasingly wary and disgruntled by U.S. policies they say could hurt them as much as Tehran.”
Iran’s War Machine Faces a Supply Crisis amid U.S. Pressure | Alhurra
“U.S. efforts to disrupt Iran’s military supply chains are expanding beyond sanctions and its naval blockade, increasingly targeting the overland routes and Caspian Sea waterways Tehran uses to acquire weapons components, equipment and technology. The strategy reflects Washington’s growing focus on the alternative channels Iran relies on to sustain its defense industries, including its ballistic missile and drone program.”
Trump Swung Between War and Diplomacy—Then Chose a Third Way | Axios
“When Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his G7 counterparts in Paris on Tuesday, he told them that President Trump had considered resuming the war with Iran or cutting a deal—but chose a third option: strangling the Iranian regime, three people who attended the meeting told Axios.
Rubio Says No Need for Major Combat Operations Against Iran Given US Economic Campaign | Reuters
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that he told G7 allies the US economic sanctions and naval blockade are working so well that President Donald Trump does not need to conduct major combat operations against Iran.”
“Iraq barred a plane carrying Iran'’ national soccer team from landing at Basra airport on Tuesday, a decision by the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority linked to US sanctions imposed on Iranian airlines, two Basra airport officials said. The plane returned to Iran and landed at Abadan airport, and the team will now travel overland to Basra, an Iranian consulate official in Basra said.”
G7 Warns Iran of Continued Pressure If Diplomacy Fails | Iran International
“The Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers warned on Wednesday that they would continue coordinating economic and political pressure on Iran if diplomatic efforts failed to produce an agreement addressing Tehran's nuclear program and regional security concerns.”
MILITARY MATTERS & SHIPPING
Iran Threatens to Bomb European Air Bases | Telegraph
“Maj Gen Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran’s supreme national security council, said on Wednesday that Iran would strike American bases, including those located in areas thought to be out of Tehran’s reach. He also said that Iran’s response to renewed US attacks would ‘target America’s more distant military installations—including the ones we have not yet attacked,’ without specifying which bases. He told a Lebanese-based media outlet: ‘If American aircraft take off from an American military base, even one located in a European country or some other distant region, to bomb Iran, we will strike those bases as well.’”
IRGC Says Two Tankers Caught Fire in ‘Accident’ in Strait of Hormuz | Agence France-Presse
“Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says that two tankers carrying over four million barrels of oil caught fire after an ‘accident’ on an unauthorized route in the Strait of Hormuz.”
Trump Defends His War Policies in Speech at Arlington National Cemetery | Washington Post
“The United States intends to achieve a ‘total victory’ over Iran, ‘not 93 percent victory,’ President Donald Trump said Wednesday, using a Veterans Day appearance at Arlington National Cemetery to defend his use of military force around the world, amid rising costs tied to the war. ‘Everything we’ve achieved, everything that we are, everything that we hope to become is built on the courage of those willing to endure,’ Trump told a crowd of veterans and senior military leaders on a clear, bright day at the country’s principal military cemetery. ‘We’re not going to allow anyone to hurt or damage our country with bad, foolish, horrible ideology. We’re not going to let it happen, and everyone knows what I mean.’”
“The [Iran] war is unpopular, but defeat would be far less popular. Three generations of soldiers have fought these barbarians. We owe it to our country and the West not to make it a fourth. It is time to finish the job.”
DIPLOMACY
Vance Considers Direct Talks with Iran Hard-Liner in Push to End War | Wall Street Journal
“Vice President JD Vance is considering face-to-face talks with a top Iranian security official as he emerges as the lead negotiator with Iran, say U.S. and Middle East officials and people familiar with the negotiations, in an effort to end a war seen as a drag on the Republican Party. In recent days, President Trump has told top aides and counterparts he’s open to Vance restarting talks with Iran and has empowered him to negotiate, U.S. and Middle Eastern officials said. . . . Trump in recent weeks has privately criticized the June memorandum of understanding that Vance helped negotiate and questioned whether it was a costly mistake, two officials said, arguing that it gave Iran critical time to regroup and rake in oil revenues before the U.S. imposed a naval blockade.”
Mohsen Rezaei Denies Iran-U.S. Talks, Demands Compliance with Seven Conditions | IranWire
“Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic Republic, stated in an interview with Al-Mayadeen that U.S. claims of ongoing negotiations with Iran or a meeting in Qatar are a ‘pure lie.’ He added that the Strait of Hormuz would not reopen until Tehran’s seven declared conditions were fully met. . . . He added that the Islamic Republic had communicated its seven conditions to the U.S. side but considered Washington’s initial response ‘insufficient and deceptive,’ and was awaiting a clear and explicit reply.”
“The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) has reiterated Tehran’s position that it will not transfer its enriched uranium to another country as part of any peace deal with the United States.”
“Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the main mediator between the US and Iran, has acknowledged in closed-door discussions that the gaps between Iran and the United States remain significant. However, he added, Qatar and the other mediators are working to bridge those differences, two sources familiar with the details told The Jerusalem Post.”
TERRORISM & PROXY WARS
Failed Plot to Attack U.K. Was Directed from New York Jail, U.S. Says | New York Times
“Federal prosecutors on Tuesday said that a commander of a powerful Iranian-backed militia helped direct a failed plot from jail in Brooklyn that targeted an air base in England. Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, who federal prosecutors said led Kataib Hezbollah, one of Iran’s most powerful proxies in Iraq, was captured in Turkey and charged in May with plotting to attack Jewish sites in the United States.”
Seven Men Behind Alleged Iranian Terror Network ‘Unmasked’ | ITV News
“An Iranian terror network that claimed responsibility for a wave of attacks across Europe can be unmasked as a group of just seven men who, it is alleged, devised a campaign of revenge in the opening days of the Iran war. Posing as an organised proxy group, they used AI-generated propaganda and paid local criminals to carry out attacks intended less to kill than to spread fear, working on behalf of the Iranian intelligence services, security officials believe. An ITV News investigation, based on conversations with multiple security officials, reveals how they believe the network sought to terrorise Jewish communities through a series of attacks carried out in quick succession.”
REGIME CHANGE
Netanyahu: Regime Change Is the Only Way to Eliminate Iran’s Nuclear Threat | IranWire
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the Islamic Republic is attempting to revive its nuclear threat and that the only way to permanently eliminate this danger is to overthrow the Ayatollahs’ regime.”
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
ICE Deportation Flight Carrying Iranians Turns Back and Lands in Arizona | New York Times
“A U.S. deportation flight from Arizona carrying Iranians bound for Iran turned around midair and landed back in Arizona early Tuesday morning, according to a legal defense group and a flight-tracking monitor. The Iranians on the flight were meant to be transferred to Iran from neighboring Pakistan, but the flight turned around after Pakistan abruptly declined to accept them, according to a relative of a detainee who said an Iranian official shared that information, and a U.S. official.”
TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION
Two Men Found Guilty of Spying for Iran over Plan to Target Journalists | BBC News
“Two Iranian men have been found guilty of spying for Iran over a plan to target UK-based journalists with ‘serious violence.’ Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, and Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, were convicted of engaging in conduct likely to assist Iran’s intelligence service, at Woolwich Crown Court on Thursday.”
They Left Iran, but Now the Regime Is Seizing Their Assets to Silence Them | New York Times
“The retired couple in Iran first realized that something was wrong when their bank cards stopped working in early May. After inquiring with the authorities, they discovered that their assets had been frozen by order of the country’s intelligence ministry. The couple learned, eventually, that they were being punished for the actions of their daughter Noushin Najafiragheb, who lived in Europe—specifically, for her social media posts opposing the Iranian government, according to another daughter, Mehrnoush Najafiragheb. Across Iran, the government has used asset seizures as punishment for actions taken abroad. Homes and businesses have been seized, life savings raided, family heirlooms taken. When those targeted had little inside Iran themselves, the authorities went after their family members back home, interviews show.”
CYBER WARFARE
“Iran on Tuesday said French accusations that it was responsible for cyberattacks on supermarket fridges last month were ‘baseless.’”
UN & IRAN
“The United Nations General Assembly elected the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN Committee for Programme and Coordination on Wednesday, giving Tehran a seat on a key body responsible for reviewing and coordinating the organization’s programs and priorities, despite its record of human rights abuses and support for terrorist organizations. Iran received 144 votes in favor in a secret-ballot election, according to the voting results.”
Iran Asks UN to Condemn $20 Million US Bounty for Nuclear Info | Bloomberg
“Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi asked the United Nations and its nuclear watchdog to denounce a US reward of as much as $20 million for information on Tehran’s nuclear program.”