The Strait of Hormuz will stay closed until the war is over, according to a new statement issued on Thursday by the new Iranian Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei. A news anchor on Iranian state television read the message regarding the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial route through which a large portion of the world’s oil passes.
Khamenei also instructed Gulf neighbors to evacuate American military installations from their countries. In reaction to the United States’ Operation Epic Fury, Iran has been firing at nations throughout the Middle East on several occasions.
The statement was made without Mojtaba Khamenei being present.
Citing an Israeli intelligence official, Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst reported on “America’s Newsroom” on Thursday that the late ayatollah’s son was hurt in one of the initial strikes of Operation Epic Fury. The official downplayed reports that Mojtaba Khamenei was seriously hurt, Yingst continued.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Thursday that officials were considering a temporary Jones Act waiver to “ensure vital energy products” flow to U.S. ports.
Such a move, Leavitt explained, would take away the “sting” that Iran is hoping to deliver by blocking oil from leaving the Strait of Hormuz.
“In the interest of national defense, the White House is considering waiving the Jones Act for a limited period of time to ensure vital energy products and agricultural necessities are flowing freely to U.S. ports. This action has not been finalized,” Leavitt said.
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President Donald Trump acknowledged that there are terrorist “sleeper cells” in the United States that need to be monitored and dealt with, but he praised the prompt prosecution of the military campaign against Iran.
On Wednesday, Trump announced that he has received information about terror threats and alerts, which included alleged plans to launch a drone attack in California. However, he cautioned that any terrorists currently in the nation may be the consequence of former President Joe Biden’s “stupid open border.”
“A lot of people came in through Biden with his stupid open border, but we know where most of them are: We’ve got our eye on all of them, I think,” Trump said.
“They came in through the open-border policies of Sleepy Joe Biden, one of the worst — the worst president in the history of our country — and we’ve got our eyes on all of them,” the president added.
“But the war itself is being prosecuted at a level that nobody has seen before,” Trump continued. “It’s pretty — it’s pretty amazing to watch.”
When asked about a leaked law enforcement bulletin put out about a possible Iranian revenge plot in California, where a potential offshore boat might launch a drone swarm, Trump replied, “It’s being investigated, but you have a lot of things happening, and all we can do is take them as they come.”
Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy, launched about 200 missiles and drones into the Jewish state during the course of the night and into Thursday. Israeli media referred to this as a “integrated Hezbollah and Iran joint attack.”
The Israeli Defense Forces launched ferocious counterattacks into Hezbollah strongholds in the suburbs of Beirut in response to the attacks.
The Israel Defense Forces said, “The IDF is operating with determination against the Hezbollah terrorist organization following its deliberate decision to attack Israel on behalf of the Iranian regime. The IDF will not tolerate any harm to Israeli civilians and will forcibly respond against any threat posed to the State of Israel.”
Calling its new operation “Eaten Straw,” the terror group claimed to have targeted Israeli military sites in the suburbs of Tel Aviv, among other targets.
Matthew Levitt, a leading scholar on Hezbollah from the Washington Institute, told Fox News about Eaten Straw.
“The term comes from a Koran verse about destroying one’s enemies to the point that they are destroyed like grains of straw husks. In fact, it is going to lead to a massive Israel response,” Levitt said.
Just days before Wednesday’s attacks, Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun charged Hezbollah with pushing Lebanon into becoming “a second Gaza.”
An Israeli security expert from the Israel Alma Research and Education Center, Sarit Zehavi, told Fox News, “I think that Hezbollah is trying to scare Israel from launching further operations, and I truly hope that we will not be afraid, and our government will do what it has to do.”
