Iran attacks oil tanker near Dubai; Trump warns of strikes on energy sites if Hormuz remains shut
Tel Aviv/Washington: Iran attacked and set ablaze a fully loaded crude oil tanker off Dubai on Monday after US President Donald Trump warned that Washington would target Iran’s energy infrastructure if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened.
According to a Reuters report, the Kuwait-flagged tanker Al-Salmi is owned by Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and was capable of carrying around 2 million barrels of crude. . It was struck in what authorities later described as a drone attack. The company said the incident occurred early Tuesday, causing a fire and hull damage. No injuries were reported and the fire was brought under control, Dubai authorities said .
Oil prices rose briefly following the attack and added to volatility in global energy markets. In the United States, retail gasoline prices crossed $4 per gallon for the first time in more than three years, according to data from GasBuddy, as crude prices moved above $101 per barrel.
Israel said it carried out missile strikes on military infrastructure in Tehran and on sites linked to Iran-backed Hezbollah in Beirut. Explosions were reported in parts of Tehran, with Iran’s Tasnim news agency saying power outages occurred in the eastern Pirouzi district following the blasts.
The Israel Defense Forces said four soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon. In recent days, three peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon were also killed in separate incidents in the same area.
Iran’s military spokesperson said Tehran’s latest wave of missile and drone strikes targeted US military positions at five bases in the region and sites in Israel. Thousands of troops from the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division have begun arriving in the Middle East, according to US officials, expanding Washington’s military options even as diplomatic efforts continue.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Reuters Trump wants an agreement with Iranian leaders before a revised April 6 deadline for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, adding that talks were progressing, while public statements from Tehran differed from private communications.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said proposals received through intermediaries were “unrealistic” and maintained that Iran was focused on defending itself.
In a social media post, Trump said that if a deal is not reached soon and the strait is not reopened, the US would strike Iran’s electric generating plants, oil wells and Kharg Island. However, a report in The Wall Street Journal said Trump had told aides he may be willing to end the military campaign even if the strait remains largely closed and address reopening it later. The White House referred to earlier remarks by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the strait would be opened “one way or another.”
The administration has also requested an additional $200 billion in funding for the conflict, a proposal that faces opposition in the US Congress.
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President Trump in 'freefall', says fan-turned-critic podcaster Alex Jones
'Advises' Republicans to stay away from Trump while campaigning for midterm polls
Washington DC: Podcaster Alex Jones has reportedly claimed in his programme, 'The Alex Jones Show', that US President Donald Trump was in 'freefall', suggesting that it was best for Republican candidates to distance themselves from the President while campaigning for the upcoming midterm polls.
According to US media agencies, Jones, who was identified as a strong supporter of the President during his first term but a major critic of Trump in the recent months. He has reportedly criticized all of Trump's moves, from the attacks on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to the President's health, not to mention the government's handling of the documents relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
On the Tuesday edition of his show, Jones was found to be all the more vehement in his criticism of Trump, and was heard opining that the President looked sick. “When your ankles swell up three times the size they were before, that means heart failure. And he does look sick. And he does babble and, you know, sound like the brain’s not doing too hot,” said Jones. “And so we just cut bait on Trump, and we just mobilize against the Democrats.”
The podcaster also spoke about his father’s decline due to dementia, adding that Trump too was deteriorating in a similar manner and advising the President to take a holiday.
“Not the man he was that last year. And that– we need to be sad about Trump. This is not funny. This is not good. But he’s gone. And that’s it,” said Jones. “And all the people rallied around him, you can see, [Pete] Hegseth’s freaked out. You can see, the press secretary’s freaked out. They’re being loyal. They think it’s a lesser of two evils. And I, okay, but I just– Trump needs intervention. He needs to take some time off.”
Referring to the approval rate of merely 33 per cent for the President during the new election from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the podcaster pointed out that Trump's popularity had fallen from 56 per cent and advised Republicans to keep away from Trump.
As reported by The Independent, the White House firmly denied in an official statement that Jones' claim that the President's health condition was waning.
“This is a complete b****t story that’s being desperately told to boost podcast views,” spokesperson Davis Ingle said. “The truth is that President Trump is the sharpest and most accessible President in American history who is working nonstop to solve problems and deliver on his promises, and he remains in excellent health.”
The post Alex Jones Says It’s Time to ‘Cut Bait on Trump’ Because the President ‘Is in Free Fall’ is reported to have first appeared on Mediaite.
