— 🇺🇸/🇮🇷 Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, in response to Trump:

‘Foreign forces in proximity to our territory are at constant risk on account of their own human errors, plain accidents, or potentially being caught in crossfire.

To reduce risk, it is better for them [U.S. forces] to leave’

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇷 Iranian analyst when asked to comment on Trump’s latest statement:

‘Why was an American military helicopter flying in Iran’s backyard?

Tell me, what would have happened if an Iranian helicopter flew in the San Francisco Bay?’

@Middle_East_Spectator

—❗️🇺🇸/🇮🇷 President Trump to ABC News:

‘If Iran’s people keep being stupid, we'll end up in something where we have to wipe out the infrastructure of an entire nation’

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇷 NEW: President Trump says the Apache incident is ‘not a big deal’

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇷 Reporter: ‘You said the U.S. must respond to the Apache shootdown, do you still feel that way?’

President Trump: ‘I don’t have to do anything. We hold all the cards. I don’t have to do it—but look, we probably will, okay? They can’t be doing that.’

@Middle_East_Spectator

Iran’s retaliation seems to be over.

Greatest ceasefire in history, I wonder for how long this is sustainable.

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇷 U.S. Official to New York Times: ‘Nearly all Iranian missiles and drones were intercepted’

(In other words, some of them were not intercepted)

@Middle_East_Spectator

❗️Iran's Quds Force chief declares regional security belt stretching from Persian Gulf to Red Sea

Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, has announced the establishment of a sweeping new security belt managed by the Axis of Resistance. This strategic defensive line will extend from the Strait of Hormuz to the Bab el-Mandeb strait, bridging the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. In a statement reported by Tasnim News Agency, Qaani praised the recent naval operations executed by Yemen as tangible evidence of the rapidly growing operational coordination among regional anti-imperialist forces.

The Quds Force chief warned that the broader Resistance Front is now prepared to deliver unified, collective responses to ongoing US and Israeli aggression across the West Asian theater. Qaani emphasized that the newly fortified maritime security belt serves as a direct countermeasure to western interventions, signaling a major shift in regional deterrence. He further cautioned that if foreign powers continue their hostile actions, additional allied regional factions are ready to join the security architecture.

The announcement underscores a heightened level of integration within the regional alliance, transforming localized resistance efforts into a unified maritime front. The shift indicates that future Western aggression against any single member of the alliance will trigger a multi-front retaliation spanning from the Gulf to the Red Sea.

—❗️🇺🇸/🇮🇷 BREAKING: The U.S. carried out airstrikes against Iran in response to the downing of the Apache

@Middle_East_Spectator

—❗️🇺🇸/🇮🇷 NEW: Strikes targeted the naval base in Sirik, air defense sites near Bandar Abbas, a coastal missile site near Minab, and possibly the Qeshm Port (unconfirmed)

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇷/🇮🇶 NEW: Iranian drones targeted Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan

@Middle_East_Spectator

Kurds every time anything happens

Yeah Caitlin, why was it there?

Why is an American helicopter in the PERSIAN Gulf?

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇷 High-ranking Iranian official to Al-Jazeera:

‘The American Apache helicopter was not flying over international waters. The Strait of Hormuz is Iranian waters.

We will respond decisively and immediately to any U.S. attack on Iran.’

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇷 President Trump: ‘We are going to get half of Iran’s oil’

@Middle_East_Spectator

❗️Israeli minister calls for kidnapping of Lebanese women and children to break Hezbollah morale

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir urged the political-security cabinet to abduct and imprison Lebanese women and children as a psychological warfare tactic against Hezbollah, according to a closed-door leak published by Hebrew news outlet Walla.

During a high-level ministerial meeting reviewing expanded military calculations, Ben-Gvir demanded that Tel Aviv abandon conventional strategy and explicitly target the social and familial core of the Lebanese resistance network.

"We must think outside the box regarding Hezbollah," Ben-Gvir asserted to his fellow cabinet members, according to the report. The Israeli minister added that alongside occupying southern territory and intensifying lethal strikes on personnel, Israeli forces should actively round up civilians.

"We should arrest their women and children and take them to prison; this is what hurts them the most," he stated.

❗️Statement issued by Hezbollah regarding the recent Iranian attack on Israeli targets:

'The Iranian missile strike against the Zionist entity in defense of our Lebanese people is a message of moral, political, and field commitment from the Islamic Republic toward Lebanon. This comes after this enemy, with full cover from the US administration, went too far in committing its crimes against our country and resumed targeting Beirut's southern suburbs. These actions are part of its continuous violations of the ceasefire agreement, confirming its disregard for all international agreements.

This response coincided with the appreciated support from the Ansar Allah movement in Yemen, within the framework of joint action to deter the Zionist entity and to make the US administration understand that its support for the Zionist aggression against our country will collapse all the agreements it seeks. This is especially true given the Islamic Republic's insistence on including a comprehensive ceasefire on all fronts—particularly in Lebanon—in any agreement with it, as a prerequisite for forcing the enemy’s withdrawal from our land, the return of the displaced, reconstruction, and the release of prisoners.

This Iranian support for our legitimate rights, and its bearing of the material and political costs, confirms once again that Iran is the one supporting Lebanon and not the vice versa. This stems from its humanitarian principles and values, and from the depth of the historical relationship between the Lebanese and Iranian peoples. Iran has always wished well for our country and contributed to supporting its resistance to liberate its land and to rebuilding what was destroyed by the Zionist aggression. Its honorable stance alongside Lebanon deserves gratitude from its authority, rather than denial and deliberate offenses in response to external dictates.

All voices driven by such dictates will not affect the credibility of this courageous Iranian stance and rare loyalty in an era where interests are prioritized over principles. The false accusations issued by certain government quarters against Iran's honorable role—which seeks to halt the Zionist aggression on Lebanon—are completely rejected because they defy the truth and run counter to Lebanon's interest. The unjust assault on Iran, including the joint statement with the enemy and the US administration against it, departs from all rules of diplomatic relations, constitutes an unacceptable and condemned alignment, and serves no one but the Zionist enemy.

We call upon the Lebanese authority to seize the available opportunity and correct its official relationship with the Islamic Republic in a manner that serves the interests of both countries. We urge it to benefit from this Iranian support to achieve our national goals, especially in light of the formation of the new regional umbrella emerging from the Islamabad negotiations. By doing so, the state in Lebanon—through indirect negotiations with the enemy, and relying on that umbrella, the factors of strength generated by the resistance, the solidity and steadfastness of the popular stance, and internal understandings—will be able to achieve the demands of our people in liberating their land, the return of the displaced, reconstruction, and the preservation of national sovereignty.

In Hezbollah, in the name of our people, the families of our martyrs, the steadfast, the displaced, and in the name of every free and honorable person in our homeland, we appreciate this loyalty from Iran. We salute the courage of this noble stance of the Supreme Leader, the President, the Government, the Parliament, the Army, the Revolutionary Guard, and the people of Iran for their historic stand alongside our legitimate rights and national cause. These are the rights we will continue to defend through our heroic resistance until they are achieved, no matter how great the sacrifices, so that our people may remain and live on their land.'

❗️Israeli opinion piece: Netanyahu appeared 'deflated' in latest speech amid mounting pressure from Iran, Hezbollah and Trump

In an opinion piece for The Jerusalem Post, veteran Israeli journalist Ben Caspit wrote that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared unusually subdued during a pre-recorded statement on Monday, describing him as looking "deflated" and resembling a "kid who lost his balloon."

The contrast, Caspit argued, was striking compared to Netanyahu's years of speeches promising "absolute victory," as Israel now finds itself facing growing challenges on multiple fronts.

Caspit argued that Netanyahu may once again try to present a strategic shift as a personal achievement, but that the regional reality tells a different story. "What began as military strikes against Hamas has escalated to strikes targeting Iran," he wrote. "Israel, once able to act freely in southern Lebanon and strike Dahiye as needed, now faces the reality of Iranian threats promising ballistic retaliation for any future action in the area."

He added that Hezbollah continues launching drones and rockets, Hamas is rebuilding strength in Gaza, and US President Donald Trump is nearing an agreement with Iran that many in Israel view as a strategic defeat for Tel Aviv.

The columnist also painted a bleak picture of Israel's ability to sustain a prolonged confrontation with Tehran. "Israel is not equipped to sustain rounds against Iran," Caspit wrote. "The economy cannot absorb the strain, the public cannot endure it, and the defense establishment faces serious operational challenges." He argued that despite years of military successes, Israel is increasingly unable to impose its will on any front, while Iran has emerged from successive confrontations feeling emboldened, determined to seek revenge, and more committed than ever to pursuing strategic deterrence.

Caspit further highlighted signs of diminishing Israeli leverage, noting Trump's public remark that Netanyahu would sign any agreement he presented and that "only I decide."

He described recent Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs and Iran as limited and largely symbolic, saying the Beirut strike hit empty offices while attacks on Iran deliberately avoided sensitive infrastructure.

The columnist concluded that Netanyahu's leadership has become defined by a paradox in which claims of victory are increasingly overshadowed by mounting strategic setbacks, leaving Israel facing growing threats with few clear paths toward long-term security.