— 🇮🇷/🇮🇶 NEW: Iran’s 23rd Takavar Special Brigade carried out 14 missions inside Iraqi Kurdistan, including Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, in the past four months—eliminating various Kurdish separatist leaders

The brigade successfully returned to base after each mission, suffering zero casualties, according to an Iranian Army spokesman.

@Middle_East_Spectator

🇺🇲 Out of options? US military emails troops asking for 'creative' ideas on Iran.

The US military reportedly sought "creative and unconventional" ideas to pressure Iran as Trump prepared for renewed talks with Tehran.

Donald Trump shifted back to diplomacy with Iran as CNN reported the US military had asked analysts for new ways to punish Tehran.

As US President Donald Trump declared that negotiations with Iran would begin on Monday and claimed an agreement had been reached over the Strait of Hormuz, senior US military officials were quietly asking intelligence officers to think beyond conventional warfare.

A senior officer at US Central Command (CENTCOM) last week circulated an email to military analysts seeking "new creative and unconventional ways to pressure and punish Iran", an unusual request that highlighted the Pentagon's search for options after months of military operations failed to force Tehran to Washington's terms.

The email, first reported by CNN, reflected growing frustration within the US military as planners grapple with a conflict that has yielded no decisive breakthrough despite weeks of air strikes.

Two sources familiar with the message told the broadcaster the appeal amounted to a broad brainstorming exercise, with officials reassessing whether current strategies could achieve the administration's objectives.

CENTCOM defended the initiative, with spokesman Capt. Timothy Hawkins saying that the command had "a long history of thinking and working in innovative ways" and that its leadership regularly solicits ideas from personnel regardless of rank to improve operational performance.


The report emerged as Trump abruptly shifted from threatening a major military assault on Iran to signalling a renewed diplomatic push.

Speaking aboard Air Force One, the president said indirect negotiations with Tehran would begin later on Monday after he halted an alleged "massive attack" at the request of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Iran.

He also claimed an agreement over the Strait of Hormuz was "imminent" and said the talks would ultimately focus on the "denuclearisation of Iran".

Iran, however, has stopped well short of confirming Trump's account. While Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said talks with Oman over the management of the Strait of Hormuz were in their "final stages", Tehran has described those discussions as bilateral and separate from any negotiations with Washington.

Iranian officials have also stressed that any future maritime arrangement must preserve Iran's sovereign rights and warned that conditions in the strategic waterway would not simply return to the pre-war status quo.

Pakistan and Qatar are expected to send emissaries to facilitate indirect US-Iran talks, following a series of diplomatic contacts involving Araghchi, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, and Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir.

Behind the scenes, however, the Pentagon has continued weighing military options.

According to CNN, planners have examined proposals ranging from renewed strikes on Iran's remaining nuclear facilities to a broader bombing campaign targeting its missile infrastructure. Officials familiar with the planning told the network that air strikes alone are unlikely to destroy Iran's deeply buried nuclear sites, while any deployment of US ground forces would carry significant military and political risks.

The reassessment follows increasingly sceptical intelligence assessments about the effectiveness of the current campaign. Both the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency believe the ongoing bombing campaign is unlikely to shift Tehran's negotiating position significantly. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine has likewise acknowledged publicly that "air power has its limits".

Meanwhile, markets reacted positively to the prospect of renewed diplomacy, with oil prices falling more than $4 a barrel after Trump suspended the planned strikes.

Source: newarab.com

Exclusive: Inside Ukraine's 2-year effort to secure Patriot missile production

As U.S. President Donald Trump backs away from giving Ukraine licenses to produce Patriot air defense missiles, Ukrainian officials say Kyiv had a chance to solve the problem years ago — but Washington rejected the idea back then as well.

The Ukrainian side has been trying to secure the licenses for almost two years. Officials told the Kyiv Independent that if the previous U.S. administration had approved the proposal, Ukraine could already be producing the interceptors needed to defend its cities from Russia's escalating ballistic missile attacks.

Photo: Leigh Vogel/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images

— 🇮🇱 NEW: Bar Asraf, a 30-year old Israeli who survived the Nova Festival attack on October 7th, killed himself at the grave of his girlfriend

The girlfriend, Liron Barda, was killed on that day at the festival almost three years ago during operation Al-Aqsa Flood.

@Middle_East_Spectator

A few hours ago, an extremely unusual event occurred in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, where a Russian Su-34 aircraft flew within 7 km of the frontline to carry out simulated launch maneuvers of KAB glide-bombs.

The aircraft then looped back around and carried out a second simulated launch maneuver around 2 minutes after the first. No munitions were actually launched.

For reference, Su-34s typically launch glide-bombs from around 40-45 km behind the frontline to avoid being shot down by Patriot PAC-2/3 interceptors. It's possible that this aircraft was probing to see if there would be any air defence response by the Ukrainians.

—❗️🇮🇷/🇺🇦 Official military advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader, IRGC Major General Mohsen Rezaee:

‘We had prepared to strike three different locations in Ukraine, but after they publicly apologized for striking our vessel, we decided not to escalate.’

@Middle_East_Spectator

Daily dose of UKRO-COPE #114 😂😂😂

I want to make a rather bleak prediction, which I hope will not come true.

Right now, we are living in a moment of total war, with the destruction of their infrastructure by us, and our infrastructure by them. And this will only become more and more total, including chains of warehouses, gas stations, hypermarkets, and everything else, together with energy facilities, oil refineries, and everything else that is possible. There will be a constant exchange of strikes until, hypothetically, these warehouses and marketplaces move to the territories of other countries, and the logistics are completely changed.

It's idiocy and absurdity, but russia is leading this war towards a scorched earth scenario, both on its own territory and ours. However, in this scenario, the European part of Russia will face significant logistical problems.

Therefore, it would be desirable to stop the war and cease fire this autumn.

https://t.me/bahshiddemon/3615

Yesterday, Ukraine's "40 day operation" to force Russia to negotiate through immense economic destruction quietly ended.

The goals of this operation were not achieved, and today Ukraine is in a worse position than they were 40 days ago. While Russia suffered extensive damage to their so-called "Shadow Fleet", their Wildberries warehouses, and their oil infrastructure, they did not suffer any major economic struggles beyond what they have already faced.

The strikes on Crimea have slowed as countermeasures improved, along with the strikes on their oil tankers.

In turn, Russia launched their own wave of attacks on Ukraine's port infrastructure. And unlike Russia, Ukraine's port infrastructure is concentrated in a small part of their coastline along Odesa Oblast. These ports are responsible for 70% of their total exports and over 90% of their agricultural exports. These Russian retaliatory attacks are being carried out with many times more force than Ukraine's, and involve a wide variety of weapons, including drones, jet-drones, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, and ballistic missiles.

The 40 day operation has had precisely zero effect on the frontline for Ukraine, with the economic effects slowly becoming less and less significant. This is why we aren't seeing anyone in the U.S., Europe, or Ukraine announce the end of the campaign, as it fades away quietly to soon be replaced by some other PR-oriented campaign to try sway the opinions of the masses. In the end, in a war of attrition, the frontline always takes priority. Strategic-level strikes are only one component of a holistic war.

It's also a good lesson why you should never put timelines on things. It's why we don't ever see Russia doing this.

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇷 NEW: The U.S. has used ‘virtually all’ of its long-range ground to ground missiles, such as ATACMs and PrSMs, according to Reuters

These missiles, which allowed the U.S. Army to carry out precision strikes against targets in southern Iran from a safe distance, will take years to fully replenish.

@Middle_East_Spectator