Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., argued that President Donald Trump's threats to attack Iranian's energy infrastructure would constitute a "war crime" this weekend.
Trump on Sunday vowed to strike Iran's transportation infrastructure and power plants if the regime does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Merkley argued in a post on X that such attacks would be war crimes, and he went on to say military leaders should "refuse" such orders.
"President Trump's profanity-laden Easter threat to attack Iran's civilian infrastructure—power plants and bridges—are the words of a frustrated and immoral madman. Many experts agree that such attacks would be war crimes under international law," Merkley wrote.
"To our military leaders, remember this: You are legally required to refuse orders to commit war crimes," he added.
President Donald Trump claimed Monday that the Iranian people would overthrow their government in "two days" if they had weapons.
Trump made the statement while speaking to the press at the White House, adding that the U.S. sent weapons to Iran earlier in the conflict.
Trump said his administration sent weapons to the Kurds and asked them to arm the Iranian people, but he said the Kurds kept the weapons.
As it stands, Trump said Iranians critical of the country's regime are too afraid to protest.
"They've been told, point blank, if you come out you'll be killed," Trump said.
President Donald Trump hailed the rescue of a missing U.S. airman from a downed F-15E in Iran as an "Easter Miracle," after U.S. forces recovered the second crew member following a high-risk mission behind enemy lines.
"The rescue was an Easter Miracle. The enemy was large and violent. The rescuers were brilliant, strong, decisive, and as cool as anyone can be," Trump told NBC host Kristen Welker. "Such a rescue has never happened before in so violent an enemy territory. It is usually not done because it is considered not doable."
The rescue followed the downing of the F-15, which triggered a multi-day search operation inside Iran. U.S. forces had already recovered the first crew member before locating the second, who had been missing in mountainous terrain as large numbers of Iranian forces searched the area.
The rescue followed the downing of the F-15, which triggered a multi-day search operation inside Iran. U.S. forces had already recovered the first crew member before locating the second, who had been missing in mountainous terrain as large numbers of Iranian forces searched the area.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' CJ Womack.
{{#rendered}}Gas prices are continuing to climb as the ongoing conflict with Iran drives up crude oil costs, pushing prices higher at the pump nationwide.
The national average now stands at $4.11 per gallon, up about 86 cents from a month ago, according to AAA. Costs are climbing across nearly every region, with some states already well above the U.S. average.
On the West Coast, drivers are seeing the highest costs, with prices reaching $5.92 per gallon in California and $5.37 in Washington. Meanwhile, on the East Coast, gas prices have surpassed $4 in several areas, including $4.27 in Washington, D.C., and $4.06 in New York.
In the Midwest, Illinois stands out at $4.29 per gallon, while much of the region remains in the mid-$3 range. Southern states remain comparatively cheaper, though prices are rising there as well. Texas and South Carolina are both averaging about $3.82, while Florida is higher at $4.20.
Diesel has climbed to $5.61, up about $1.45 over the past month. As a key fuel for freight, shipping, and public transportation, it is particularly sensitive to refining capacity constraints and global supply disruptions.
In San Francisco, prices have surged even higher. For the first time on record, average diesel costs have surpassed $8 per gallon, according to new data from GasBuddy — marking an unprecedented milestone for any U.S. city.
The climbing fuel costs come as President Donald Trump issued a profanity-laced warning to Iran, giving the regime until Tuesday to allow vessels through the key waterway — or face strikes on its critical infrastructure.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox Business' Amanda Macias.
Former CIA station chief Dan Hoffman said on "The Sunday Briefing" that a reported agency deception campaign may have helped draw Iranian forces away from a missing U.S. airman, offering new insight into the mission that culminated in a daring rescue behind enemy lines.
It was reported that the CIA attempted to deceive the Iranians into believing the U.S. was gearing up for a maritime rescue, Hoffman said, when in reality, the airman was exfiltrated from the mountains.
The CIA also assisted in tracking both the missing airman and enemy forces, he said.
"The CIA was there to track [the airman's] location... And then at the same time, the CIA is tracking Iranian security forces, their movements, their efforts to find and fix the location of our airman. And then, at the same time, running this deception operation, an extraordinary operation."
"I've heard it referred to as looking for a needle in a haystack. I think it's more like a needle in a stack of needles. Extraordinarily difficult," said Hoffman.
His comments follow the rescue early Sunday morning of a U.S. Air Force Weapons System Officer (WSO) who had ejected from his F-15E fighter jet over Iran. The WSO spent roughly 36 hours in hiding. Hoffman said he would need to rely on the skills he learned at the military's Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) school.
Israel announced that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' intelligence chief Brig. Gen. Majid Khademi was killed in a precision strike, with an Israeli official noting that Quds Force’s special operations commander Asghar Bagheri was eliminated at the same time.
In a statement posted on X, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed Khademi's killing, accusing him of helping advance terrorist attacks abroad and overseeing surveillance of Iranian civilians as part of the regime’s crackdown on domestic protests.
"Khademi wasn’t just any figure, he was effectively No. 2 within the IRGC, one of the few senior commanders who managed to survive multiple waves of Israeli and American targeting over the past year — until now," a senior Israeli official told Fox News. "He kept moving, relocating, but ultimately he was hunted down and eliminated.
"He oversaw an intelligence apparatus that repeatedly failed to detect or prevent major Israeli and U.S. operations, including a series of strategic surprises that exposed deep vulnerabilities inside Iran’s security system."
Notably, Khademi was "deeply involved in attempts to penetrate U.S. systems, including efforts to breach the Pentagon," and "coordinated extensively with Russia," according to the official.
"His removal marks a significant blow to Iran’s intelligence leadership at a time when the regime is already under sustained pressure," the official added.
Bagheri was also killed at the same time as the strike that took out Khademi, the official noted, but the IDF has yet to officially confirm his killing.
"Bagheri was directly involved in recruiting agents across the Middle East and orchestrating attacks against American targets in Iraq and Syria — including operations that led to U.S. casualties," the senior official told Fox News.
Khademi spent decades in intelligence and counter-espionage roles while rising through Iran’s security apparatus.
Before his appointment, Khademi headed the Guard's Intelligence Protection Organization, charged with internal surveillance and counter-intelligence, and held senior roles in Iran’s defense ministry.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Eric Mack.
{{#rendered}}For Mehdi Ghadimi, the ideology behind Iran’s ruling system is not theoretical. It was something he was taught from childhood.
"You were told you are a part a small group chosen by God… to revive God’s religion and fight to defend it," the Iranian journalist told Fox News Digital, describing the message repeated in schools, mosques and state media.
That early indoctrination, he said, framed the world in stark terms: a divine struggle between good and evil, with Iran’s leadership positioned at the center of a religious mission.
Iran’s ruling system is often described in political terms, but critics and former insiders say its core is far more radical — a belief structure rooted in religious absolutism, messianic expectation and a worldview that leaves little room for compromise.
As a new generation of commanders rises within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps following recent military blows under Operation Epic Fury, analysts warn that this ideology may become even more entrenched.
Figures such as Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Ahmad Vahidi are often cited as part of a cohort shaped by years of conflict in Iraq and across the region — one that sees religion, security and survival as inseparable.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Efrat Lachter.
President Donald Trump is scheduled to deliver an update on the war against Iran from the White House on Monday.
Trump says he will hold a press conference along with members of the military at 1 p.m. ET.
The conference lands around the time Trump's 48-hour window for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is set to close. He has vowed to target Iran's power plants and transportation infrastructure on Tuesday if Iran does not strike a deal.
Nevertheless, Vice President JD Vance and other Trump administration officials have spent the weekend in talks with the Iranian regime, with Pakistan acting as mediator. It is unclear whether a deal can be made before the deadline arrives.
President Donald Trump says the war with Iran is "nearing completion," but a looming deadline could determine whether the conflict is actually ending — or about to escalate.
"We are going to finish the job, and we’re going to finish it very fast. We’re getting very close," Trump said Wednesday night, adding that U.S. forces will "hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks" and "bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong."
As the war enters what analysts describe as its final phase, the administration is signaling a shift from broad military gains to a narrower endgame — raising questions about what "finishing the job" actually means militarily and politically.
Trump gave Iran until Tuesday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, warning that failure to comply could trigger sweeping strikes on the country’s energy infrastructure.
"If no deal is made … we are going to hit each and every one of their electric-generating plants, very hard and probably simultaneously," he said.
"With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE. IT WOULD BE A ‘GUSHER’ FOR THE WORLD???" he said on Truth Social Friday.
The U.S. has already begun expanding its target set to include major infrastructure. This week, American strikes hit one of Iran’s largest bridges — a critical transportation artery — signaling that mixed-use infrastructure supporting military logistics is now firmly on the table.
"The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again — Much more to follow!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. "IT IS TIME FOR IRAN TO MAKE A DEAL BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE."
That raises a central question heading into the final weeks: what, exactly, would "finishing the job" look like?
Military analysts say it is unlikely to be a single decisive strike. Instead, the endgame may unfold as a series of escalating options — from intensified attacks on Iran’s remaining missile and drone network, to broader strikes on infrastructure designed to force the regime into a deal, or a longer-term strategy of containing Iran’s capabilities from above.
"We will continue to see very aggressive attrition of offensive and defensive targets, as well as infrastructure targets," said RP Newman, a retired Marine ground combat veteran and counterterrorism consultant.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Morgan Phillips.
{{#rendered}}Israeli Defense Forces released images of an Iranian airstrike in Haifa that killed four people on Monday.
The IDF says rescue workers recovered the bodies of four people trapped in the rubble after an Iranian missile struck a residential building on Sunday.
"After many hours of intensive efforts and operations by the National Rescue Unit (NRU), alongside forces from the Haifa District and the Home Front Command’s Search and Rescue Brigade, and in cooperation with emergency organizations and firefighters, four individuals who had been trapped under the rubble were recovered from the scene deceased," the IDF said in a statement.
"Rescue forces, including rescuers, population officers, rescue physicians, and rescue intelligence officers - employed advanced rescue equipment and various technological means at the scene in order to locate the trapped individuals as quickly as possible," the statement continued.
A Pakistan-brokered plan to halt hostilities between the U.S. and Iran could take effect as soon as Monday, according to a source familiar with the talks.
Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, has been in contact “all night long” with Vice President JD Vance, envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, the source told Reuters.
The proposal calls for an immediate ceasefire—reopening the Strait of Hormuz—followed by 15 to 20 days of negotiations on a broader agreement. The framework, dubbed the “Islamabad Accord,” would include final talks in Islamabad.
Iran has not yet agreed to the deal. The push comes as rising tensions threaten global energy markets, with President Donald Trump urging a swift resolution.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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