Iran’s massive protests peaked in early January, but a brutal crackdown that killed thousands and jailed tens of thousands has likely stalled any chance of toppling Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei unless President Donald Trump orders a military intervention; after briefly hinting at help, Trump aborted a strike amid doubts about targets, limited U.S. resources, and opposition from Arab states and Israel, while the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier moves toward the region and Tehran eases its repression to avoid provoking a U.S. attack. Analysts outline five U.S. options—symbolic strikes, assaults on the IRGC and Basij, attacks on missile and nuclear sites, cyber operations, or supporting provincial autonomy—each with distinct risks and limited prospects for quickly overturning the regime. click here to read more.

Former French prime minister Manuel Valls tells the Jerusalem Post that Europe’s fate hinges on Israel’s survival, arguing that a defeat of Israel would imperil the West’s fight against Islamism, Iranian‑Russian ties, and antisemitism; he stresses that supporting Israel counters modern antisemitism, criticizes left‑wing parties for exploiting the issue, and calls France’s 2025 recognition of a Palestinian state a mistake, urging a security‑first two‑state solution backed by Arab partners. click here to read more.

The United States sanctions five Iranian officials—senior security council members, IRGC commanders, and law‑enforcement leaders—accusing them of orchestrating the brutal crackdown on protests, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent vows to trace and freeze funds the regime wires abroad; concurrently, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declares the state‑run Bank Melli a terrorist organization, echoing a 2018 U.S. designation and aiming to choke the bank’s role in sanction evasion and financing of Iranian proxies, as the Treasury also targets 18 individuals and shadow‑banking networks linked to illicit oil revenues and labels Fardis Prison a terror entity. click here to read more.

Iran shuts its airspace to all flights after a NOTAM warns that a U.S. attack may be imminent, prompting flight‑tracker maps to show aircraft fleeing the skies over Iran and Iraq; a Western military official tells Reuters that unpredictable U.S. behavior keeps adversaries on edge, while President Trump says the U.S. will monitor the situation after claiming recent killings in Iran have ceased; meanwhile, Poland, Italy and the United Kingdom urge their citizens to leave Iran, the British embassy in Tehran closes temporarily, and the United States withdraws personnel from its Al Udeid base in Qatar as Tehran threatens retaliation against U.S. bases in the region. click here to read more.

Leaks reveal that the United Arab Emirates prepared its southern Red Sea bases—located in Yemen, Eritrea, and Somalia—to supply Israel with military, logistical, and intelligence support in its war against Hamas; the October 2023 document orders rapid mobilization of equipment, tanks, phosphorus missiles, and communication assets, while also detailing investigations into Qatar’s and Kuwait’s aid to Hamas and establishing a channel between Yemen’s National Resistance Forces and Israel. The plan calls for continued assistance until the Palestinian militants are defeated. click here to read more.

President Donald Trump announces a 25 percent tariff on any nation that does business with Iran while senior officials, including Vice President JD Vance, push for a fresh negotiation round before the United States launches a military strike; the White House says Trump will weigh sanctions, diplomatic outreach, or force after a Tuesday briefing, and a Qatari source confirms that U.S. plans for an operation against Iran are in “advanced stages,” with forces in the Middle East ready for any contingency. click here to read more.

The United States executed Operation Absolute Resolve, a coordinated night‑time raid that seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by inserting special‑operations helicopters into Caracas, striking air‑defense sites, and disabling power and communications with cyber and electronic‑warfare attacks, thereby exposing the shortcomings of Venezuela’s foreign‑supplied arsenal from Russia, China, and Iran; Russian Buk‑M2E and S‑300VM missiles, Chinese radars, and Iranian Mohajer‑6 drones proved vulnerable to precision standoff missiles, jamming, and power cuts, while U.S. forces leveraged superior intelligence, rehearsed mission planning, and spectrum dominance to neutralize the layered defenses and extract Maduro without major ground combat, illustrating that advanced integration and readiness outweigh sheer hardware quantity in modern conflicts. click here to read more.

Senator Jacky Rosen warns that Iran’s regime fuels global terrorism and threatens worldwide stability, urging the United States to supply Iranian protesters with reliable internet and communication tools while tightening sanctions on Iran’s missile program, oil revenue, financial networks, and arms transfers; she stresses that Congress must enact comprehensive measures, coordinate with the administration, and impose secondary sanctions on entities aiding Tehran, arguing that a unified coalition—U.S., Israel, and regional allies—will compel the regime to change. Rosen also highlights her work on integrated air‑defense, maritime security, and cyber‑space collaborations that protected Israel after the October 7 attacks, and she backs expanding the Abraham Accords to reinforce long‑term regional peace. click here to read more.

The Jerusalem Post and the Texas‑Israel Alliance announce Unicorn Rodeo, a two‑day conference in Dallas on April 29‑30, 2026 that links Israeli innovators with Texas’s scale‑up ecosystem; organizers highlight Texas’s position as the U.S.’s eighth‑largest economy and a natural gateway for Israeli tech firms, aiming to turn ideas, capital, and policy into tangible economic outcomes. Speakers include Inbar Ashkenazi, Livia Link‑Raviv, Doug Deason, David Wiessman, Tal Shmueli, and George Seay, who emphasize shared values, entrepreneurial spirit, and the goal of bringing 100 Israeli companies to Texas over the next decade. The event will focus on AI, health, energy, and defense, feature panels, keynote talks, reverse pitches, and a limited‑attendance format with 300 tickets available through pre‑sale at unicornrodeo.org. click here to read more.

Iran’s leaders, who once dismissed President Donald Trump’s harsh rhetoric, now treat his warnings as genuine threats after a series of decisive U.S. actions—direct strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June, the abrupt capture of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, and public statements promising immediate retaliation if Iranian forces kill protesters—have lent credibility to his words; faced with the prospect of U.S.‑Israeli military escalation and mounting domestic unrest, Tehran appears to be tempering its crackdown, deliberating between a brutal suppression that could trigger American intervention, a retaliatory strike against Israel that might invite overwhelming Israeli force, or a restrained approach that risks further protest spread, while senior officials reportedly draft contingency plans to flee the country. Click here to read more.