Last UpdateJuly 16, 2026, 8:12 AM EDT
maintained his threat to target the country’s power plants and bridges. Iran has threatened in turn to target the energy infrastructure of neighboring countries.
WHAT TO KNOW
- Iran’s military has threatened to target infrastructure across the Middle East if the U.S. starts hitting Tehran’s power plants and bridges.
- President Donald Trump says the Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has lost up to 90% of its weapons capabilities due to U.S. strikes.
- Iran released a U.S. citizen who had been held captive since 2024 on espionage charges. Trump says Tehran made the move as a “gesture of good will.”
- Trump has ordered the U.S. Navy to continue its blockade of Iranian ports, and U.S. forces disabled at least one vessel attempting to run the blockade this week.
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Iran draws ‘red line’ after Trump threatens expanded military campaign
Donald Trump (Getty Images)
A spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters warned Thursday that Tehran would unleash widespread military attacks across the region if the United States strikes the country’s key infrastructure.
“If the recent threats by the empty-headed U.S. president to target the infrastructure of the Islamic Republic of Iran are carried out, then everything that, out of Iran’s restraint, has so far remained intact — namely all infrastructure in the region — will be crushed under the powerful blows of Iran’s armed forces,” the spokesman, Ebrahim Zolfaghari, said in a statement.
Zolfaghari also said Iran would not allow the U.S. to intervene in the Strait of Hormuz “under any circumstances,” calling it “Iran’s invincible red line.
“Earlier this week, President Donald Trump threatened to expand military strikes and continue hitting Iran “very hard” unless it returns to the negotiating table.
“Next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants,” Trump said Tuesday in an interview with Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst.
“Next week comes the bridges. We’re gonna knock out all their power plants. We’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.”
Posted by Anders Hagstrom
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Israel taking steps toward withdrawal from Lebanon, US officials say
Israel is moving closer toward a withdrawal from southern Lebanon after two days of talks with Lebanese officials in Rome this week, U.S. officials say.
Israel on Wednesday agreed to move forward with “pilot zones” where Israeli troops would withdraw and turn control over to the Lebanese military, the officials told the Associated Press.
The U.S. State Department said in a statement that the talks were “productive” and the parties “agreed on the structure and guidelines for the pilot zone process, to be finalized and implemented in the coming days.”
There was no immediate statement from Lebanon or Israel on the outcome of the negotiations.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Posted by Anders Hagstrom
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Stephen Miller says Iranian officials are ‘desperate’ to strike a deal with Trump after escalation
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Millersaid Tuesday that some Iranian officials are “desperate” to strike a deal with the Trump administration amid renewed strikes and escalating U.S. pressure on Tehran.
“There are elements in the country, in the government, that are desperate to make a deal with the United States,” Miller said.
“And we entered into an agreement that the Iranians violated, they attacked commercial shipping through this strait, and President Trump made clear: ‘You do not cross the United States, you do not violate an agreement with the United States. You do not break your word with President Trump or America, and you attack shipping in violation of that agreement, and you will pay a hellish price,’ and that is what has happened,” he added.
Miller’s remarks come as the Trump administration has resumed strikes against Iran following the collapse of a ceasefire that the White House says Iran violated by attacking commercial shipping.
Miller argued Tehran had grown accustomed to testing previous U.S. leaders without facing consequences but said Iranian leaders “made one vital mistake” by assuming they could do the same under Trump.
“They forgot that Donald Trump is the president of the United States,” Miller said.
“One way or another, whether it be through bombing, whether it be through the blockade, whether it be through economic strangulation, whether it be through global pressure brought to bear, any or all of these things, one way or another, this country, this regime, will ultimately be forced to change its ways.”
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Taylor Penley.
Posted by Anders Hagstrom
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Trump says Iran released American woman held since 2024 in ‘gesture of goodwill’
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Iran has released an American woman who was “wrongfully detained” in the country for the past year and a half.
She was identified as Iranian American citizen Dena Karari by her attorney Jared Genser, who confirmed her release to Fox News. She was reportedly accused of espionage over her work with an American nonprofit helping impoverished children.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the woman was detained in December 2024, during the Biden administration and was recently allowed to leave Iran.
“Iran has allowed an American Citizen, who was wrongfully detained in December of 2024 under the ‘presidency’ of Sleepy Joe Biden, to leave the Country,” Trump wrote.
Karari is reportedly now safely outside Iran and in good condition following her release, according to Trump.
Her release marks the first time an American has been freed from Iranian custody since 2023, and represents a notable development amid ongoing military confrontations between Washington and Tehran.
Following her release, Trump thanked Iran for what he described as a “gesture of goodwill.”
“The United States of America appreciates this gesture of Goodwill by Iran!” he wrote.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Bonny Chu.
Posted by Anders Hagstrom
