Donald Trump speaks from the White House about the US-Israel War on Iran, April 2, 2026 (Sky)

EA on International Outlets: US-Israel War on Iran — Trump’s Deception and Incoherence

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: Will Trump Risk Ground Troops in Iran?

UPDATE 2137 GMT:

The toll has risen to 13 killed from the US airstrikes on the bridge from Tehran to Karaj, says Amirhossein Daneshkohan, Director General of the Alborz Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs.

Daneshkohan says the slain were from “all walks of life”, including “municipal employees”.

UPDATE 2131 GMT:

Unnamed officials says a US A-10 Warthog attack plane crashed near the Strait of Hormuz around the same time that an American F-15E jet fighter was shot down over southwest Iran.

The lone pilot was rescued.

The Iranian Army claims the A-10 was downed by air defense systems.

UPDATE 2124 GMT:

Two US military helicopters involved in the search and rescue efforts for the crew of the downed F-15E warplane were struck by Iranian fire, a US official confirms.

All service members are safe.

UPDATE 1857 GMT:

Pakistan-led mediation efforts to broker a ceasefire between the US and Iran are at a dead end.

Iran has officially told mediators that it is unwilling to meet US officials in Islamabad in the coming days and considers American demands unacceptable.

Turkey and Egypt, which along with Saudi Arabia have been working with the Pakistanis, are looking at alternative sites to host the talks, such as Qatar or Istanbul.

UPDATE 1850 GMT:

An Egyptian citizen has been killed and six people lightly injured by debris from an intercepted munition which fell on Abu Dhabi’s Habshan gas facilities.

“Significant damage has occurred at the facilities and an assessment is ongoing,” said the Abu Dhabi media office.

UPDATE 1701 GMT:

US officials say one crew member from the F-15E fighter jet downed by Iran in the southwest of the country has been rescued by American forces. He is receiving medical treatment.

The search continues for the second crew member.

The F-15E typically has a pilot and a weapons operations officer.

UPDATE 1521 GMT:

Three UN peacekeepers have been wounded two of them seriously, by a blast in southern Lebanon.

“They are all currently being evacuated to hospital. We do not yet know the origin of the explosion,” said Kandice Ardiel, spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

An Indonesian peacekeeper was killed on Sunday and two more were slain the following day in the south near the Israeli border.

UPDATE 1508 GMT:

US officials confirm that Iran shot down an American fighter jet.

Iran’s military claimed earlier that an F-35 warplane was shot down over the southwest of the country in the mountainous Kohkilouyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, which spans more 15,500 square km (5,900 square miles).

The US military launched a search-and-rescue operation before Iran reach any survivors. The fate of the crew is still unclear.

Analysts believe the downed warplane is an F-15E fighter jet from the 48th Fighter Wing, based at RAF Lakenheath in the UK.

Claimed footage of the search-and-rescue mission:

UPDATE 1351 GMT:

More than 100 US-based international law experts have signed an open letter condemning the US-Israel War on Iran as a violation of the UN Charter, potentially amounting to “war crimes”.

The experts say the conduct of US forces and statements by senior US officials “raise serious concerns about violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law”.

They note that the US and Israel launched the war without UN Security Council authorisation and without credible evidence of an imminent Iranian threat.

Illustrating potential war crimes, the scholars highlight a strike on a primary school in Minab in southern Iran that killed at least 175 people, most of them children, on the first day of the US-Israel attacks. They also cite strikes on hospitals, water plants, and energy infrastructure.

UPDATE 1307 GMT:

For the first time during the US-Israel War on Iran, a Japanese-flagged tanker has passed through the Strait of Hormuz.

The owner of the liquefied natural gas tanker, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, did not disclose the nature of any negotiations with Iran.

Bloomberg reports that a French container ship is the first Western European vessel to cross the Strait.

On Thursday, CMA CGM Kribi sailed from waters off Dubai towards Iran, signaling that its owner was French. It sailed close to the Iranian coast, moving through a channel between the islands of Qeshm and Larak, openly broadcasting its journey.

This morning, the ship signaled that it was off the coast of Muscat.

UPDATE 1211 GMT:

Russia, China, and France are reportedly blocking a Bahraini resolution in the UN Security Council for a military operation to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

A diplomat and a senior UN official told The New York Times of the objections.

The resolution initially authorized offensive operations to break Iranian control of the Strait, but was amended to permit only “defensive” operations.

It was scheduled for consideration on Friday, but hte session has been delayed.

UPDATE 1155 GMT:

Amnesty International warns that Iran’s recruitment of children as young as 12 for the Basij paramilitary force is a war crime.

Last week Revolutionary Guards official Rahim Nadali told State TV that the children could register to help the Basij youth volunteer militia stand “against the global bully” of the US.

Cites eyewitnessess and video footage, Amnesty shows “child soldiers [have] been deployed” to checkpoints and patrols, some armed with weapons including Kalashnikov-style assault rifles.

UPDATE 1139 GMT:

The Intercept assesses that the Pentagon is covering up almost 750 US troop casualties in the Middle East since October 2023 amid the Israel attacks on Gaza and the US-Israel War on Iran.

At least 15 US troops were wounded last Friday in Iranian strikes on the Prince Sultan airbase in Saudi Arabia, which damaged warplanes including and E-3 Sentry advance warning and control system. At least 13 American troops have been killed during the US-Israel War.

A US defense official said, “This is, quite obviously, a subject that [Defense Secretary Pete] Hegseth and the White House want to keep under major wraps.”

UPDATE 1031 GMT:

CNN reports on the destruction of the Honiak Music Academy in Tehran by an Israeli airstrike.

Musician Hamidreza Afarideh and his wife Sheida Ebadatdoust created the school with 250 students, from toddlers to the elderly.

On March 23 the Israelis hit the building with their music school and several other businesses, including a maternity clinic, less than two km (1.3 miles) from a military airbase.

There was nobody in the music center, as Afarideh and Ebadatdoust closed the school soon after the launch of the US-Israel War on February 28.

But Afarideh says, “All the property and assets that my spouse and I had built over 15 years of hard work were destroyed overnight — completely wiped out, with nothing left.”

UPDATE 1026 GMT:

Iran has struck a power and water desalination plant in Kuwait, causing material damage to parts of the facility, reports the Kuwaiti Ministry of Electricity, Water, and Renewable Energy.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claims Israel is responsible:

The Zionist regime’s unconventional and illegitimate attack on Kuwait’s desalination plants is a sign of the vileness and baseness of the Zionist occupiers.

The Revolutionary Guards condemn this inhumane act and declare that American bases and military personnel in the region and the Zionist regime’s military and security centres in the occupied Palestinian territories are our powerful targets.

UPDATE 0706 GMT:

US intelligence services assess that around half of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers are still intact.

Officials say they believe some of the remaining missile launchers are buried under rubble and cannot be reached now.

Israel proclaimed in March that it destroyed or disabled around 60% of Iran’s estimated 470 launchers, destroying them or collapsing tunnel entrances to underground facilities.

US intelligence indicates Iran still has thousands of attack drones stockpiled and ready for use.

UPDATE 0702 GMT:

Drones struck Kuwait’s Mina al-Ahmadi refinery early Friday, setting fires in several operating units.

Emergency teams are trying to put out the blazes. No injuries have been reported.

UPDATE 0653 GMT:

Donald Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Jr. are on the board of a Florida-based company trying to sell drones to Gulf States amid the US-Israel War on Iran and Iranian retaliation.

Powerus announced the role of the Trumps last month. Co-founder Brett Velicovich said the company is pitching drone demonstrations in several Gulf countries to show how interceptors can ward off Iranian attacks.

Asked last month about a potential conflict of interest, Eric Trump said, “I am incredibly proud to invest in companies I believe in. Drones are clearly the wave of the future.”

UPDATE 0643 GMT:

Global oil prices rose between 8% and 11% on Thursday amid Donald Trump’s bluster about more attacks on Iran and failure to address Tehran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude futures are currently $109.05 a barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose to $111.54, in the largest absolute price rise since 2020.

UPDATE, APRIL 3: Donald Trump has boasted about the US destruction of a major bridge between Iran’s capital Tehran and the city of Karaj, 35 miles to the west, with the killing of at least eight people and wounding of 95.

The newly-built, 136-meter (446-foot) high, $400 million suspension bridge collapsed onto the causeway below, after the middle of the structure was hit twice.

Trump shared footage on Truth Social of the strikes, “The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again.” He declared there is “much more to follow” and warned Iran’s regime to “make a deal before it is too late”.

Our Military, the greatest and most powerful (by far!) anywhere in the World, hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran.

Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants! New Regime leadership knows what has to be done, and has to be done, FAST!

The US military claimed that it eliminated a planned military supply route to sustain Iran’s ballistic missiles and attack drones.

An Iranian military spokesman responded that Tehran will target regional energy infrastructure and telecommunications companies with US shareholders.

UPDATE 1725 GMT:

Iran is drafting a protocol with Oman to monitor traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, says Iranian Deputy foreign minister Kezem Gharibabadi.

The draft of this protocol is currently in the final stages of preparation. Once we have it ready, we will begin negotiations with Oman so that we can draft a joint protocol.

Under the protocol, all vessels passing through the strait must have the necessary agreements with Iran and Oman as coastal states, and must obtain the necessary permits and licenses in advance.

UPDATE 1417 GMT:

Austria has confirmed its rejection of US requests for military overflights, in line with its policy of neutrality, during the US-Israel War on Iran.

“There have indeed been requests and they were refused from the outset,” said Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Michael Bauer said.

Spain has also refused permission for US overflights, and Italy has blocked US use of the Sigonella airbase in Italy. France has denied overflights by Israeli aircraft en route to the Middle East.

UPDATE 1410 GMT:

French President Emmanuel Macron has challenged Donald Trump’s insults of NATO and threats to leave the bloc.

During a visit to South Korean capital Seoul, Macron warned that Trump’s comments “erode [NATO’s] very substance”.

I believe that organizations and alliances like NATO are defined by what is left unsaid – that is, the trust that underpins them, and that has often been the case, incidentally, with military and strategic matters….

If you cast doubt on your commitment every day, you erode [NATO’s] very substance…..

We need to be serious, and if you want to be serious, you don’t go around saying the opposite of what you said the day before. I think there is too much talk.

Macron addressed Trump’s anger that NATO members will not join a naval mission to take control of the Strait of Hormuz by force. He said the securing of the Strait can only be done “in coordination with Iran” after a ceasefire.

UPDATE 1153 GMT:

US intelligence agencies have exposed Donald Trump’s lie about “productive conversations” with Iran.

The agencies assess that the Iranian regime is not currently willing to engage in substantial negotiations to end the US-Israel War. The regime believes it is in a strong position and does not have to surrender to the Trump camp’s demands.

The agencies add that while Iran is willing to keep channels open, it does not trust the Administration and does not think Trump is serious.

The conclusions align with statements from the regime, which has denied any direct contact or request for a ceasefire.

Iran’s President Massoud Pezeshkian said earlier this week that the Tehran would re-enter talks if certain conditions were accepted. “Two Iranian officials” and an official from Pakistan, which has been trying to arrange mediation, supported that statement.

UPDATE 1120 GMT:

A commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards has responded to Donald Trump’s bluster, “We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.”

Majid Mousavi noted that Trump is threatening “a civilization thousands of years old”: “It is you who will take your soldiers under gravestones, not Iran that you can return to the Stone Age.”

UPDATE 1003 GMT:

Former Iranian Foreign Kamal Kharrazi, a central figure in the regime’s political positioning, was severely wounded by an airstrike on Wednesday.

Kharrazi’s wife was killed.

Kharrzi, 81, was Foreign Minister from 1997 to 2005 in the Government of reformist President Mohammad Khatami. He was later a foreign affairs advisor to the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, who was killed by an Israeli strike on February 28.

Analysts assess that the attack on Kharrazi is a blow to any chance of negotiations to end the US-Israel War.

UPDATE 0955 GMT:

The head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, has said of oil supplies, “The next month, April, will be much worse than March.”

Birol noted that in March some cargo ships with oil and gas that were transiting through the Strait of Hormuz when the US and Israel started their war on Iran.

They are still coming to ports, still bringing oil and energy and other [commodities].

In April, there is nothing. The loss of oil in April will be twice the loss of oil in March.

Birol said the war has already had a greater effect than the energy shocks of the 1970s and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In March, the IEA’s member states approved a record release of 400 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves.

Birol said of another release, “When the time is right I will make the decision to make a suggestion to governments.” However, he noted that this will not end the problem in energy markets.

UPDATE 0934 GMT:

British petrol and diesel prices rose by a record amount in March.

The average price of a liter of unleaded petrol rose from £1.3283 to £1.5283. The previous all-time biggest monthly incrase was £0.166 in June 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Diesel prices rose 40 pence in March to an average from £1.4238 to £1.8277. The surge is almost twice as large as previous record rise of 22 pence recorded in March 2022.

UPDATE 0703 GMT:

Israel says Iran has launched four waves of missiles within six hours.

In the UAE, air defenses intercepted a missile near Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa Economic Zones. Authorities said there was minor damage and no injuries.

The US Embassy in Iraq has urged Americans to leave the country, warning that “Iran-aligned militias” may carry out attacks in central Baghdad within 24 to 48 hours.

These actors may target U.S. citizens, companies, universities, diplomatic facilities, energy infrastructure, hotels, airports, and other sites believed to be associated with the United States, in addition to Iraqi institutions and civilian targets.

Iran’s military command said in a statement:

With trust in Almighty God, this war will continue until your humiliation, disgrace, permanent and certain regret, and surrender.

Await our more crushing, broader and more destructive actions.

UPDATE 0655 GMT:

More than 5,000 people have been killed in Iran and across the Middle East since the start of the US-Israel War on February 28.

The US-based human rights group HRANA reports the killing of 3,519 people in Iran. They include 1,598 civilians, among them at least 244 children.

Lebanese authorities say 1,318 people have been killed by Israel’s attacks since March 2, including at least 124 children. More than 400 fighters from Hezbollah have been slain.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: In a highly-touted prime-time speech on Wednesday night, Donald Trump said nothing new about the US-Israel War on Iran.

Surrounded by US and military flags and standing at a podium in the Cross Hall of the White House, Trump largely stuck to reading a 19-minute script in an uncharacteristally flat, listless voice.

He blustered about destruction of Iran, including its armed forces; assassination of leaders; and supposed military success. He put out his stock phrases about “Operation Epic Fury” and “swift, decisive, overwhelming victories, victories that few people have seen before”. He proclaimed, “We are winning bigger than ever before.”

But he said little about political objectives, let alone the current situation with the Iranian regime and across the Middle East, after a month of US and Israeli attacks and Iran’s retaliation.

Offering no evidence or substantive information, he insisted that the war was “nearing completion”, as he said Tehran would be struck “extremely hard” over the next two to three weeks: “We are going to bring them back to the Stone Age where they belong.”

“We are on the cusp of ending Iran’s sinister threat to America and the world. We have all the cards. They have none,” he read.

Trump offered nothing beyond continuation of missile strikes to pursue regime surrender. He did not reiterate his falsehoods about “productive talks” with Iran, or speak about the possibility about ground operations on Iranian islands or its southern coast.

Having failed to break Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 25% of the world’s maritime oil and around 20% of maritime gas passes, he handed the issue to other countries with the command, ““Just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves. Grab it and cherish it.”

The invocation failed to convince oil and stock markets. The price of Brent crude oil rose 6% to more than $107 per barrel on Thursday morning. Asian markets slumped, with Japan’s Nikkei down 1.8% and South Korea’s Kospi sliding 3.6%. US stock futures dropped 1% and Europe’s more than 1.5%.

Trump, whose approval rating has slumped to 39%, acknowledged “many Americans are concerned” about the surge in gasoline prices. However, he absolved himself of any responsibility: “This short-term increase has been entirely the result of the Iranian regime launching deranged terror attacks against commercial oil tankers and neighboring countries.”

He immediately left the issue, saying, “This proves that Iran can never be trusted with nuclear issues”. He then declared that he had taken a “dead and crippled” US and made it “the hottest country in the world”.

He said the US stock market, which has fallen by almost 8% since the start of the war, is doing “much better than we thought”: “We had to take this little journey to Iran to get rid of this horrible regime.”