Israeli officials believe US, Iran at unbridgeable impasse as they near open conflict

Israeli officials believe US, Iran at unbridgeable impasse as they near open conflict

Reuters

Iran and the United States continued to slide rapidly toward military conflict at the weekend, as hopes faded for a diplomatic solution to their standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program and regional actions, officials on both sides and diplomats across the Gulf and Europe said.

Israel and Iran’s Gulf neighbors now consider a conflict to be more likely than a settlement, the sources said, with Washington building up one of its biggest military deployments in the region since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Israel’s government believes Tehran and Washington are at an impasse and is making preparations for possible joint military action with the United States, though no decision has been made yet on whether to carry out such an operation, said a source familiar with the planning.

It would be the second time the US and Israel have attacked Iran in less than a year, following US and Israeli airstrikes against military and nuclear facilities last June.

Regional officials say oil-producing Gulf countries are preparing for a possible military confrontation that they fear could spin out of control and destabilize the Middle East.

Two Israeli officials told Reuters they believe the gaps between Washington and Tehran are unbridgeable and that the chances of a near‑term military escalation are high.

Some regional officials said Tehran was dangerously miscalculating by holding out for concessions, with US President Donald Trump boxed in by his own military buildup — unable to scale it back without losing face if there is no firm commitment from Iran to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions.

“Both sides are sticking to their guns,” said Alan Eyre, a former US diplomat and Iran specialist, adding that nothing meaningful can emerge “unless the US and Iran walk back from their red lines — which I don’t think they will.

“What Trump can’t do is assemble all this military, and then come back with a ‘so‑so’ deal and pull out the military. I think he thinks he’ll lose face,” he said. “If he attacks, it’s going to get ugly quickly.”

Two rounds of Iran-US talks have stalled on core issues, from uranium enrichment to missiles and sanctions relief.

When Omani mediators delivered an envelope from the US side containing missile‑related proposals, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi refused even to open it and returned it, a source familiar with the talks said.

After talks in Geneva on Tuesday, Araghchi said the sides had agreed on “guiding principles,” but the White House said there was still distance between them.

Iran is expected to submit a written proposal in the coming days, a US official said, and Araghchi said on Friday he expected to have a draft counterproposal ready within days.

But Trump, who has sent aircraft carriers, warships and jets to the Middle East, warned Iran on Thursday it must make a deal over its nuclear program or “really bad things” will happen.

The possible timing of an attack is unclear. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on February 28 to discuss Iran. A senior US official said it would be mid-March before all US forces were in place.

Two US officials told Reuters that US military planning on Iran had reached an advanced stage, with options including targeting individuals as part of an attack and even pursuing leadership change in Tehran, if ordered by Trump.

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Pezeshkian says Iran ‘will not bow’ to pressure from global powers amid tensions with US

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says that his country will not bow its head to pressure from world powers amid nuclear talks with the United States.

“World powers are lining up to force us to bow our heads… but we will not bow our heads despite all the problems that they are creating for us,” Pezeshkian says in a speech carried live by state TV.

Hezbollah announces deaths of 8 operatives in IDF strikes in Beqaa Valley, including commander

Hezbollah announces the deaths of eight operatives in last night’s Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa Valley.

One of the operatives, Hussein Mohammed Yaghi, is identified by Hezbollah as a “commander.” Hezbollah rarely refers to its senior operatives slain in Israeli strikes as commanders.

The terror group says the eight operatives were killed “while defending Lebanon and its people during a treacherous Israeli attack on the Beqaa region.”

The IDF said it had targeted three command centers belonging to Hezbollah’s missile array in the strikes, killing a “large number” of operatives.

According to Lebanese media, the strikes killed at least 10 and wounded over 50.

Israel Reviews Wartime Hospital Readiness As Iran Retaliation Fears Mount

Israel Reviews Wartime Hospital Readiness As Iran Retaliation Fears Mount

TYLER DURDEN

An Israeli television channel reported Thursday that the government's Health Ministry convened an emergency session with hospital directors and major health funds to assess readiness for a possible escalation with Iran.

According to i24 News, senior ministry officials attended the meeting and instructed hospital administrators to detail their level of preparedness in the event of a direct confrontation with Tehran. The extra caution also stems back to the June war with Iran, where hundreds of Iranian ballistic missiles and drones inflicted significant damage on Israeli cities and bases.

Iran has warned that if it gets attacked again, it will consider both the United States and Israel to be aggressors, since the two allies work in concert to undermine the Islamic Republic.

One major hospital, for example, already suffered damage during the 12-day June conflict, and wants to take no chances amid reports of looming new war:

Soroka Medical Center has begun preparing for conflict with Iran, with hospital management and emergency teams updating procedures, checking readiness, and running simulations for wartime scenarios. 

The hospital was hit by a ballistic missile in June of 2025, sustaining severe damage to its infrastructure. Since then, Soroka Center has been working on recovery and is now forced to prepare for another military campaign. 

The medical center is already simulating emergency situations, and in recent days, procedures have been refined and guidelines updated for transferring patients in case of another emergency.

Israeli media further says that top level dialogue over preparedness reportedly centered on defensive protocols, infrastructure resilience, and the availability of critical medical equipment should the existing emergency framework shift into full wartime footing.

Dramatic footage from the Iranian counter-attack on Israel in June...

Israeli hospitals race to EMERGENCY MODE amid Iran war fears — Yediot — “Suitable patients” sent home to free up beds for mass casualties — Medical staff BANNED from traveling abroad — Hospitals 'reinforced' with doctors

War with Iran, and potentially World War III, is knocking at the door:

War with Iran, and potentially World War III, is knocking at the door: Are you ready?

Leo Hohmann

Things are getting ready to break loose in the Middle East and, this time, it’s going to be different than the typical American/Israeli-sponsored regime-change operation.

Jesus warned in the 24th chapter of Matthew that in the last days we would see “nation rising against nation and kingdoms rising against kingdoms.”

In all the wars that America has been involved in post-World War II, there have been many cases of a nation rising against a nation.

A kingdom rising against a kingdom is more rare and a much bigger deal. This signals a major regional war, possibly a world war.

Why do I believe Iran War 2.0 has the potential to become one of those larger wars?

For starters, we don’t have the United Nations or a “coalition of the willing” on our side this time around, like we did in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Secondly, neither Iraq nor Afghanistan had a ballistic missile arsenal anything like what Iran has. It is large, accurate, and includes hypersonics, something the U.S. and Israelis have no defense against.

Thirdly, those previous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan did not take place in a digital age where the targeted nation, or an ally of theirs, had cyber capabilities that could devastate American infrastructure. Iran does. And certainly China and Russia, who are friends with the Iranian regime, have that ability.

Russia and China not only have the cyber expertise to make life difficult for Americans, they also have every reason to be fed up with Washington’s attempt to increase its hegemonic power, following Trump’s power play in Venezuela and his talk of taking over Greenland, Mexico, Canada, and his continued support for Biden’s Ukraine war in Russia’s backyard.

And, as I’ve previously reported, China receives up to 19 percent of its oil from Iran. This is a critical resource for the world’s largest industrial economy, enough perhaps to make it worth fighting for.

Because they have been so heavily propagandized by a corrupt Western media, many Americans are unprepared for any sort of global pushback against American hegemony. When it finally materializes, and it could be in this upcoming attack on Iran, this global pushback will result in a protracted conflict that leads to tens of thousands of U.S. casualties. 

What is essentially going on, a story that’s gone unreported in the Western media, is that Washington’s decision to take out the Iranian regime is as much an attack on China as it is on Iran. They are trying to choke off oil supplies to the world’s largest industrial economy.

This could prove suicidal for America’s economy as we depend on China for so many vital products, including critical medicines.

Starving China of the oil it needs to run its economy amounts to a declaration of war that will almost certainly require an equally war-like response from Beijing. Whether it’s China exercising its economic leverage over the U.S. by withholding vital exports, or China deciding now is the time to make a move militarily on Taiwan, we need to get prepared for some big changes, most of which will not be good for our lifestyles or pocketbooks here in the West. There is also the possibility of Iran activating terrorist cells inside America. If those cells truly exist, I can’t imagine a better reason for the mullahs to activate them then a U.S. invasion of their country.

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Is Bible Prophecy Irrelevant?

Is Bible Prophecy Irrelevant?

Dan Price 

The study of “last things” (eschatology) seems to have fallen out of favor in many corners of the modern church. With a dismissive reference to no one knowing the day or hour of Christ’s return, many Christians assume that studying eschatology is not something most churches, or even individual Christians, really need to take seriously. I repeatedly hear students in my classes claim that Scripture is too unclear on the details or timing of the Rapture, or whether Christians will go through the Tribulation, or the nature of the Millennial Kingdom, to make studying these things worth their time. Is studying eschatology largely irrelevant to our walk with God?

I’ve also had many conversations with pastors and elders who argue that preaching in detail on eschatology is way too divisive for the pulpit. Usually one of the reasons given for avoiding preaching on eschatology is that people hold too tightly to their opinions on the topic and won’t listen or change. Of course, the answer to that concern is to teach us how to disagree and still love one another. But the other prominent reason many churches avoid eschatology is because studying prophecy can make Christians appear a little nuts to unbelievers—it’s too divisive in that it can make us unpalatable to unbelievers who visit our services, and they’ll reject us and the gospel.

I mean, I understand not wanting our ministries to be lumped in with the crazy excesses of preachers who’ve abused the doctrine of eschatology, but is that really what makes us unpalatable to unbelievers? We appear crazy to the world first and foremost because of the gospel of Jesus (John 15:18–21). Believing that there are prophecies still to be fulfilled is not really the central divisive issue, and it should in no way motivate choices in relation to our preaching calendars. Is it really true that modern churches can’t grow spiritually or numerically if they take the teaching of eschatology seriously?

Scripture’s answer to these questions is a resounding “no!” The study of eschatology and what God has revealed about future events leading up to Christ’s return (and beyond) was not a tertiary issue to Paul, any of the Old Testament prophets, or Jesus. In fact, I would argue that we need the regular, serious study of eschatology in our lives and churches even more than ever. As the world hurtles toward increasingly uncertain days, Christians can be convinced that God is not silent on our concern about the future or how it impacts our walk with Him today. 

Here are the top three reasons I believe we need the study of eschatology more today than ever.

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Financial WMD: How Iran Could Trigger a Global Economic Collapse

Financial WMD: How Iran Could Trigger a Global Economic Collapse

Nick Giambruno

Warren Buffett once referred to derivatives as “financial weapons of mass destruction.”

He wasn’t being dramatic—he was warning that if things went wrong, these complex financial instruments could cause massive, far-reaching damage to the global economy. What Buffett feared most was how a sudden, unexpected market shock could set off a dangerous chain reaction through the financial system, fueled by the hidden risks and tangled interconnections that derivatives create.

These instruments link major banks, hedge funds, and corporations in an intricate web of bets on the future prices of oil, interest rates, currencies, and more.

For example, airlines and energy companies routinely use oil-linked derivatives to hedge or speculate. If oil prices were to surge unexpectedly, the counterparties on the losing end—often large financial institutions—would be on the hook for enormous payouts. That, in turn, would trigger margin calls, liquidity crunches, and potentially forced asset sales.

The fear spreads quickly, because many of these derivative contracts are opaque—no one really knows who is exposed or by how much. That uncertainty can lead to panic in the markets, as everyone starts pulling back at once.

Losses like these rarely stay contained. A default in one part of the system spreads risk outward. If a major player can’t cover its exposure, it endangers its counterparties. If one of those is a major bank, the problem quickly becomes systemic.

This is precisely the kind of domino effect Buffett was describing—a market shock lighting fuses in unexpected places, turning financial interconnectivity into financial fragility.

Because derivatives are so interconnected and can involve huge sums of money, the damage can grow quickly and unpredictably, much like a series of explosions. That’s why Buffett saw them not just as risky tools, but as potential threats to the entire financial system. In other words, financial WMD.

So why bring this up now?

Because a more serious confrontation between the US and Iran appears inevitable—and when it comes, it will almost certainly disrupt the flow of oil and gas from the Persian Gulf.

To call that a severe supply disruption would be an understatement.

Consider this.

The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow strip of water that links the Persian Gulf to the rest of the world.

It’s the world’s single-most important energy corridor, and there’s no alternative route.

Five of the world’s top 10 oil-producing countries—Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait—border the Persian Gulf, as does Qatar, the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The Strait of Hormuz is their only sea route to the open ocean… and world markets.

At its narrowest point, the space available for shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz is just 3.2 kilometers wide.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, around 20 million barrels of oil transit the Strait daily, accounting for roughly 20% of global oil production—worth about $1.3 billion per day at current prices. Another 20% of global LNG exports also move through the Strait.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of the Strait of Hormuz to the global economy. If someone were to disrupt the Strait, it would ignite a full-blown energy crisis, sending prices soaring and financial markets into chaos.

Thanks to its commanding geography and expertise in unconventional and asymmetric warfare, Iran can shut down the Strait, and there’s not much anyone can do about it. It’s Iran’s geopolitical trump card.

Analysts believe it could take weeks to reopen, if at all. Pentagon war games have shown that in a full-scale war, the US Navy would be unable to keep the Strait open. Faced with swarming missile attacks, American forces would either have to withdraw or risk total annihilation.

Worse still, Iran could target oil infrastructure across the Persian Gulf, destroying production facilities in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait. Even if the Strait reopened, there could be nothing left to export.

Tehran has made it clear: if a full-scale war breaks out, it will close the Strait and destroy the Persian Gulf’s energy infrastructure.

In short, Iran holds a knife to the throat of the global economy.

Since the 1979 Revolution, the US has sought to overthrow Iran’s government. But Iran’s control over the Strait has long served as a powerful deterrent to regime change. That deterrence, however, may be breaking down.

Although most don’t realize it, we are now in the midst of World War 3—and Iran has become the decisive battleground. The US and Israel may be willing to risk global economic collapse to topple the Iranian government, a move that would dramatically shift the global balance of power in their favor.

If a war with Iran shuts down the Strait of Hormuz, the impact would dwarf every oil crisis in modern history.

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