Iran, Israel And The United States All Say That They Are Ready For War

Iran, Israel And The United States All Say That They Are Ready For War

MICHAEL SNYDER

Things are getting very tense in the Middle East.  The Islamic radicals that are ruling Iran believe that the United States and Israel intend to use the mass protests that have been going on for nearly two weeks to try to overthrow their regime.  If Ayatollah Khamenei and his top advisers reach a point where they are convinced that the Iranian government could actually fall, there is no telling what they might decide to do.  

Meanwhile, President Trump has declared that the U.S. is ready to take military action if the Iranians continue to kill more protesters, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that there will be "very severe" consequences for Iran if Israel is attacked.  If either Khamenei, Trump or Netanyahu pulls the trigger, the Middle East will erupt in flames.

The mass protests in Iran keep growing, and on Wednesday there were reports of "security forces retreating in the face of fearless, unarmed crowds" in some cities...

On Wednesday, January 7, 2026, the nationwide uprising in Iran entered its eleventh consecutive day, marking a significant escalation in the struggle against the ruling dictatorship. As the sun set on Wednesday, the regime's suppression apparatus appeared overstretched, with reports emerging from multiple provinces of security forces retreating in the face of fearless, unarmed crowds.

You would think that the security forces should have the upper hand since they are armed.

But when security forces are vastly outnumbered by enormous throngs of protesters, the crowds could rush the security forces and pummel them to death.

So in several western Iranian cities, security forces have been forced to pull back...

While the strikes squeezed the regime economically, the streets witnessed a shifting balance of power. In several cities, the sheer density of the crowds forced heavily armed security forces to abandon their positions.

In Abadan, southwest Iran, security units fled their posts after failing to disperse demonstrators with tear gas. In Bojnurd, the crowds were reportedly so massive that security agents retreated to rooftops to avoid being overrun. A similar scene unfolded in Borujerd, western Iran, where youths armed only with stones clashed with Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) forces, compelling the agents to retreat into their bases.

Of course there have been other instances where Iranian security forces have opened fire with live ammunition.

But even though there have been fatalities, the protesters are not backing down...

However, the regime's response in other areas was lethal. In Lordegan, within the Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, security forces opened fire with live ammunition. Despite the use of deadly force, the residents did not disperse. The fierce clashes resulted in casualties on both sides; reports indicate that four regime agents were killed during the confrontation. The IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency confirmed the intensity of the fighting, admitting that two police officers were killed, 30 were injured, and both the governor's office and several administrative buildings sustained damage.

In Shiraz, the urban landscape was transformed into a zone of resistance. As authorities deployed water cannons to clear the streets, protesters countered by constructing barricades. Footage from the city showed a truck dumping a load of stones onto the street to assist youths in reinforcing their defensive lines against plainclothes agents and suppressive units.

The death toll is rising with each passing day.

According to CBS News, at least 36 people have died so far...

At least 36 people have been killed amid major anti-government demonstrations across Iran, a U.S.-based rights group says. The Iranian government is trying to quell the unrest, and reacted angrily to President Trump's veiled threat of a U.S. armed intervention.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency, which gave the death toll based on its network of contacts in the country, said in its daily report on Tuesday that at least 36 people "have been confirmed killed during the past ten days of protests. Among them were four individuals under the age of 18, as well as two members of security and law enforcement forces."

Personally, I believe that the true death toll is far higher.

But in any event, everyone agrees that protesters are dying.

On Sunday, President Trump once again warned that the U.S. is ready to hit Iran "very hard" if they keep killing protesters...

"We're watching it very closely. If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they're going to get hit very hard by the United States," Trump told reporters on Sunday.

By now, it has become clear that Trump is not bluffing when he says stuff like this.

And many members of Congress are cheering him on.

For example, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham just told Fox News that Trump will kill Ayatollah Khamenei if protesters continue to die...

US Senator Lindsey Graham warned that if Iran's security forces continue killing protesters, President Donald Trump would order the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday.

Graham delivered the warning in a Fox News interview, addressing Iran's clerical leadership and urging an end to the crackdown. His comments came as nationwide demonstrations entered their eleventh day.

Graham said Tehran's leadership should "take Trump seriously," asserting that continued lethal force against demonstrators would invite direct retaliation at the highest levels.

At this hour, Iranian forces are on the highest level of alert...

Iran's armed forces have been placed at the highest level of readiness, with hundreds of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and regular army units on full alert in response to perceived threats from the United States and Israel, state media reported.

The Iranians clearly remember what happened last year, and they do not intend to be caught by surprise again.

On Wednesday, the head of Iran's military issued a threat that was quite ominous...

Iran's military chief warned Wednesday that Iran will not stand by and allow itself to be threatened by outside powers, after the United States and Israel backed anti-government protests.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the escalation of hostile rhetoric against the Iranian nation a threat and will not tolerate its continuation without responding," General Amir Hatami said, according to the Fars news agency.

Was he suggesting that Iran could conduct a preemptive attack simply based on "hostile rhetoric"?

The day before, Iran's Defense Council also brought up the possibility of preemptive action...

Iran's newly formed Defense Council warned on Tuesday that the country could respond before an attack if it detected clear signs of a threat, a stance that implicitly raised the possibility of preemptive action amid rising tensions with the United States and Israel.

In a statement carried by state media, the council said allegations and interventionist remarks directed at Iran could be treated as hostile acts if they went beyond rhetoric.

It said Iran's security, independence and territorial integrity constituted a red line that cannot be crossed, and warned that continued hostile behavior would prompt a response, with full responsibility for the consequences resting with those behind it.

If Iran were to engage in some sort of a preemptive strike, Israel would likely be targeted.

The Israelis clearly realize this, and Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that in such a scenario "the consequences for Iran will be very severe"...

Referring to recent Iranian military exercises, Netanyahu added: "I made it clear that if we are attacked, the consequences for Iran will be very severe."

It certainly feels like something is coming.

What we know about the US seizure of a Russian-flagged oil tanker

What we know about the US seizure of a Russian-flagged oil tanker

Lex Harvey

United States forces boarded and seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the Atlantic Ocean Wednesday following a weeks-long chase on the high seaswhich has escalated tensions with Moscow and piled further pressure on its ally Venezuela.

The aging, rusting tanker, originally called the Bella 1, was sanctioned by the US in 2024 for operating within a “shadow fleet” of tankers transporting illicit Iranian oil.

Last month the US Coast Guard attempted to seize the vessel while it was heading to Venezuela to pick up oil, then operating under the flag of Guyana. But the ship’s crew refused to be boarded and made an abrupt turn into the Atlantic.

The Bella 1’s crew later painted a Russian flag on its side, and it appeared in a Russian shipping register under a new name, the Marinera.

US officials later said Moscow had dispatched a submarine to escort the vessel as it sailed toward Europe, threatening a possible confrontation between Washington and the Kremlin.

Where and how was the Bella 1 seized?

The US repositioned military assets to the UK ahead of seizing the tanker, CNN has reported.

V-22 Osprey aircraft were active in the UK over the past several days, with flight data appearing to show them running training missions in the UK out of Fairford air base. And two AC-130 gunships were seen arriving at Mildenhall base in the UK on Sunday.

The Bella 1 was seized Wednesday roughly 190 miles off the southern coast of Iceland in the northern Atlantic Ocean, according to ship-tracking website MarineTraffic. The site shows the tanker taking a sharp turn south around the time that it was reported seized.

Russia’s Transport Ministry confirmed that it lost contact with the tanker after US forces boarded the ship at 7 a.m. ET.

US Navy SEALs were among the forces that boarded the tanker after they were transported to the ship by the US Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, also known as the “night stalkers,” according to two people briefed on the operation.

The UK defense ministry also said it helped with the seizure “following a US request for assistance.”

The US did not release footage of the seizure. Grainy video released by Russian state media RT appears to show a ship shadowing the movements of the Bella 1 in the days before the seizure.

In the video shot from aboard the Bella 1, an unmarked vessel can be seen hovering in the distance, partially obscured by fog. The RT report said the boat was a US Coast Guard ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said the crew of the US Coast Guard Munro had pursued the ship for weeks “across the high seas and through treacherous storms.” However, it’s unclear if the ship in the RT footage is the Munro.

Ahead of the vessel’s seizure, the Russian military had started to move around naval assets and a submarine to protect the ship, according to a US official. But it’s unclear how close those vessels were to the tanker when it was seized, the source said.

How has Russia responded?

Russia condemned the Bella 1’s seizure, with its transport ministry arguing “no state has the right to use force against vessels that are properly registered in the jurisdictions of other nations” under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, a treaty which the US has not signed.

The country’s Foreign Ministry demanded that the US return the Russian citizens aboard “to their homeland,” according to the Russian state news agency TASS.

TASS also reported Russian lawmaker Leonid Slutsky called the US seizure of the vessel an act of “21st-century piracy” which violates international law.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has yet to comment on the seizure.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed risks of a confrontation with Russia, arguing US President Donald Trump maintains a good relationship with Putin.

“I believe those personal relationships are going to continue,” she said.

China also condemned the seizure on Thursday, calling it a “serious violation of international law.”

“China has always opposed illegal unilateral sanctions that lack a basis in international law and are not authorized by the UN Security Council, and opposes any actions that violate the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and infringe upon the sovereignty and security of other countries,” foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters at a regular briefing.

How much oil was the Bella 1 carrying?

The vessel was not carrying any oil when it was seized, according to analytics firm Kpler.

That’s in contrast with the Skipper and the Centuries, the other two tankers successfully intercepted by the Coast Guard in recent weeks as part of Washington’s pressure campaign on Venezuela. The US piloted both to Texas and is planning to seize their oil cargoes.

According to Kpler, the Bella 1’s compliance profile includes two separate 99-day gaps where the ship switched off its Automatic Identification System (AIS), a mandatory, real-time ship tracking system.

Switching off AIS transmission is a common tactic observed among vessels loading sanctioned Iranian crude, according to Kpler.

Were other ships seized?

In a separate operation Wednesday, the US said it seized an oil tanker called Sophia, in international waters near the Caribbean.

The ship was a “stateless, sanctioned” tanker which had been “conducting illicit activities in the Caribbean Sea,” according to a post to social media by US Southern Command.

The Sophia is carrying approximately 2 million barrels of crude oil which were loaded from a port in Venezuela, according to Emmanuel Belostrino, senior manager of crude oil market data at global data and analytics provider Kpler.

Will the US seize more ships?

The White House on Wednesday vowed to continue seizing sanctioned oil tankers despite concerns it could ratchet up tensions with Russia and China – which is a purchaser of Venezuelan oil.

Trump is “going to enforce our policy that’s best for the United States of America,” Leavitt said during a press briefing.

“That means enforcing the embargo against all dark fleet vessels that are illegally transporting oil.”

Kpler data shared with CNN on Thursday showed that at least 16 vessels had been loaded with crude or fuel oil in Venezuela between October 2025 and January 2026. Ten of those vessels had switched off their AIS transmitters and had possibly departed Venezuela, Kpler said.

The other six vessels, all of which had taken on crude in December and January, have an estimated combined capacity of almost 9 million barrels of oil, Kpler said.

AIS data indicated three of those had not yet departed Venezuela, Kpler said, while the other three had switched their transmitters off.

CNN’s Nic Robertson, Natasha Bertrand, Adam Cancryn, Darya Tarasova, Max Saltman, Gianluca Mezzofiore, Issy Ronald, Nick Paton Walsh, Catherine Nicholls and Sandi Sidhu contributed reporting.

Venezuela Operation: Hitting One Of The Most Strategic Footholds In The Global Communist Advance

Venezuela Operation: Hitting One Of The Most Strategic Footholds In The Global Communist Advance

Alex Newman

With the arrest of Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro on multiple federal charges, a can of worms has officially been opened. As usual, most of the media is missing (or hiding) the real story.

For decades, Latin America has been a key battlefield in the global communist advance, with Venezuela serving as one of its most strategic footholds. What began as a Marxist revolution cloaked in populist rhetoric metastasized into a narco-terrorist, Cuban- and Chinese-backed dictatorship that exported and funded chaos, drugs, subversion, and revolution throughout the hemisphere. America is the ultimate prize.

Maduro’s regime, through drug trafficking and theft of oil, was basically the cash cow for the dangerous communist network known as the “São Paulo Forum,” taking over the region like a red tsunami.

Founded in 1990 by Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, Luis Inacio “Lula” da Silva (then a community organizer, now “president” of Brazil), the Marxist narco-terror group FARC in Colombia, the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, and others, the goal was always to enslave the region.

As a puppet regime of Cuba (itself a puppet of the Soviet Union, a regime brought to power and built up by the Deep State), Caracas became a key hub for communist infiltration aimed at undermining liberty, sovereignty, and ultimately the United States itself.

With Cuban help and direction, Venezuela also became the global center for developing tools and technologies to steal elections. There is no doubt that this was on Trump’s mind.

Maduro and Hugo Chavez before him were also deeply involved with Hamas, Hezbollah, the Islamic regime ruling Iran, and other dangerous forces.

As U.S. National Security Council Director of Policy and Planning Rich Higgins warned in 2017, the communist, socialist, Islamist, and globalist alliance seeks to destroy the United States—not just as a nation but as an ideal.

These subversive forces in Latin America have long been backed by the “Deep State” in the United States. Barack Obama, Joe Biden, George Soros, and others have all aided and abetted the Sao Paulo Forum’s machinations, as have operatives within the State Department and the intelligence community.

Against that backdrop, President Trump’s “Operation Absolute Resolve” was not merely a military strike or law enforcement operation; it was a frontal challenge to the dangerous global networks that have been tightening their grip on Latin America (and the US) for a generation.

The operation was executed flawlessly. Whether it was wise or constitutional is another question entirely that will be debated for months, if not years.

There were obvious similarities to the capture of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. Law Professor Nicholas Creel at Georgia College and State University argued that the prosecution should have a slam-dunk case.

“Like Noriega, Mr. Maduro faces federal drug-trafficking charges. Like Noriega, he was captured through military operations conducted without congressional authorization. Like Noriega, he’ll surely argue head-of-state immunity and unlawful seizure,” said Creel. “But unless the courts are willing to upend clear precedent, none of these defenses will save him.”

It remains to be seen what comes next, as Trump says the U.S. will “run” Venezuela for now.

Venezuelan “Vice President” Delcy Rodriguez claimed Maduro was still president, blasting the “kidnapping” and claiming it had a “Zionist tinge.”

Even some Trump supporters were less than enthusiastic. One key concern: There is certainly no shortage of powerful, dangerous, and subversive criminals on the loose in America who remain free.

But Trump has already indicated that other Latin American criminals in government—especially Colombia’s out-of-control Marxist leader Gustavo Petro, brought to power by Obama, Soros, and friends—could be next.

“President” Petro, a “former” terrorist, recently lost his U.S. visa for publicly telling U.S. troops to disobey President Trump and “stand with humanity” while in New York City for the UN General Assembly.

Analysts and Trump himself suggested that the operation against Maduro also represented a dramatic reassertion of the Monroe Doctrine, the foreign policy articulated by President James Monroe. It holds that the U.S. government rejects attempts by foreign governments to impose their subversive ideologies, systems, or controls in the Western hemisphere. For nearly two centuries, that doctrine served as a clear warning that the U.S. government did not approve of foreign empires meddling in or dominating the Americas.

Iranian protests spread to all provinces, reported in 111 cities

Iranian protests spread to all provinces, reported in 111 cities

Sweden Herald

Protests are reported in 111 Iranian cities, and the death toll continues to rise. According to human rights organizations, 38 people have been killed in connection with demonstrations and nearly 1,000 have been injured. Over 2,000 protesters have reportedly been arrested.

The protests began on December 28 and are rooted in economic dissatisfaction, but criticism has broadened to target the entire regime in Tehran.

According to Norway-based human rights group IHR, security forces opened fire, used tear gas and violently attacked civilians during a protest in Kerman in the southeastern part of the country on Wednesday.

President Masoud Pezeshkian has called on security forces to distinguish between legitimate protesters concerned about the economic situation and "rioters" acting against national security.

An Iranian police officer has reportedly been killed in a stabbing near Tehran, local media reported on Thursday.

Iranian authorities have acknowledged the economic demands made by the protesters, but are warning of "riots."

US President Donald Trump has threatened Iran with attacks if more protesters are killed in the demonstrations, without specifying what type of intervention that could entail.

On Thursday, Iran accused the US of inciting violence and terror with its "deceptive" statements about support for the protests in the country.

"The Iranian Foreign Ministry condemns the interference and misleading statements by US officials regarding Iran's internal affairs and describes them as a clear indication of Washington's continued hostility towards the great nation of Iran," the ministry wrote in a statement.

State-run Iranian media are reporting sparsely on the protests, and journalists on the ground are severely limited, making it difficult to know exactly what is happening in the country.

Trump to launch Gaza Board of Peace next week

Trump to launch Gaza Board of Peace next week

Israel National News

US President Donald Trump is expected to announce the establishment of the Gaza Board of Peace next week as part of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, two US officials and two sources familiar with the matter told Axios’ Barak Ravid on Wednesday.

The new board, to be chaired by Trump and composed of roughly 15 world leaders, is intended to supervise the still‑to‑be‑formed Palestinian technocratic government and oversee Gaza’s reconstruction.

A source with direct knowledge said, "Invitations are going out to key countries to be members of the board."

Countries expected to join include the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey, according to Axios.

US officials noted that the plan could still shift depending on developments in other areas of Trump’s foreign policy agenda, including Venezuela and the Ukraine‑Russia peace talks. The White House declined to comment.

Former UN envoy to the Middle East Nikolay Mladenov will serve as the board’s representative on the ground, according to Axios, which added that Mladenov is in Israel this week for meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials ahead of Trump’s announcement.

Netanyahu’s agreement to move to phase two of the deal during his meeting with Trump last week helped clear the way for the upcoming declaration.

The first meeting of the Gaza Board of Peace could take place later this month during the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Trump said last month that he would announce the membership of the Board of Peace in early 2026, adding it will include world leaders.

"It will be one of the most legendary boards ever," he said at the time, noting it will be made up of "heads of the most important countries in the world - Kings, heads of state, and presidents - they all want to be on the 'Board of Peace.'"

The Board of Peace, along with the other parts of Trump’s plan for Gaza, was endorsed by the UN Security Council in a resolution passed in November.