US president claims Iran rudderless due to ‘infighting,’ as NYT report says IRGC in control and Khamenei ‘gravely injured’; Katz: Israel awaiting ‘green light’ from US to attack nuclear sites, new supreme leader.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said the US Navy would “shoot and kill” any boat mining the Strait of Hormuz, and claimed “infighting” has hobbled Iran’s ability to respond to peace proposals, even as The New York Times reported that hard-line generals had consolidated power under the new supreme leader. Meanwhile, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel was ready to renew the fighting with Iran and was awaiting a “green light” from the US to target Iranian energy sites and Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, whose father and predecessor Ali Khamenei was killed at the start of the war.
Israel and the US launched the bombing campaign on Iran on February 28 in a bid to destabilize the regime and destroy its ballistic missile and nuclear capabilities. The fighting entered a truce on April 8. The ceasefire was originally conditioned on Iran reopening the Strait, and set to last two weeks, but Trump extended it hours before the early Wednesday deadline, while maintaining a US blockade that he imposed on Iran-linked shipping in the key waterway on April 13.
...The later Truth Social post also reveled in what Trump claimed were internal divisions that prevented Iran from submitting a response in ceasefire talks with the US. “Iran is having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is! They just don’t know!” he wrote. “The infighting is between the ‘hardliners’ who have been losing BADLY on the battlefield, and the ‘moderates,’ who are not very moderate at all (but gaining respect!),” said Trump, calling the situation “CRAZY!”
...Amid Trump’s threats, Israel’s defense minister said in a security assessment that “Israel is prepared to renew the war against Iran.”“The IDF is ready in defense and offense, and the targets are marked,” Katz said. He added that Israel was “awaiting a green light from the United States, first and foremost to complete the elimination of the Khamenei dynasty, the initiator of the extermination plan against Israel, and the successors of the successors of the leadership of the Iranian terror regime, and, in addition, to return Iran to the age of darkness and stone by blowing up central energy and electricity facilities and crushing national economic infrastructure.” (Read More)
...Amid Trump’s threats, Israel’s defense minister said in a security assessment that “Israel is prepared to renew the war against Iran.”“The IDF is ready in defense and offense, and the targets are marked,” Katz said. He added that Israel was “awaiting a green light from the United States, first and foremost to complete the elimination of the Khamenei dynasty, the initiator of the extermination plan against Israel, and the successors of the successors of the leadership of the Iranian terror regime, and, in addition, to return Iran to the age of darkness and stone by blowing up central energy and electricity facilities and crushing national economic infrastructure.” (Read More)
