[IsraelTimes] The US has reportedly carried out two deportation flights for Palestinians illegally residing in the country, cooperating with Israel to send them back to the West Bank while using a private jet belonging to an Israeli-American businessman allied with President Donald Trump.
Haaretz says the first flight was carried out on January 21, carrying eight shackled passengers, and a second flight carrying an undisclosed number was conducted on February 2, according to the Guardian.
Both flights used the private jet belonging to Gil Dezer, a Trump donor, friend of Donald Trump Jr. and a member of the Miami branch of Friends of the IDF.
The Palestinians were flown to Ben Gurion Airport before being picked up by Israeli security officials who drove them to a West Bank checkpoint and left them there.
“They dropped us off like animals on the side of the road,” 24-year-old Maher Awad said. “We went to a local house, we knocked on the door, we were like: ‘Please help us out.’”
Next time, if there is a next time for you, don’t be illegal in the U.S. But in the meantime, note the message: just as you did not respect America, so America —and America’s allies — do not respect you.
A spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not answer questions about the deportation flights to Israel, but tells the Guardian, “If a judge finds an illegal alien has no right to be in this country, we are going to remove them. Period.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry declines to comment on the operation.
#1
I guess the plane must be an old model that won't be used again for anything else.
It's gonna be really difficult, if not impossible to remove all those pally cooties from the plane, thus rendering it useless for anything else other than deportation flights.
Le problème jihadiste dans le nord-ouest du Nigeria continue de s’aggraver et ne constitue plus seulement une menace locale, mais un défi pour l’ensemble de l’Afrique de l’Ouest.
The jihadist problem in northwestern Nigeria continues to worsen and no longer constitutes merely a local threat, but a challenge for all of West Africa.
The attack probably carried out by Boko Haram this week is particularly atrocious, and the Lakurawa group, affiliated with the Islamic State in northwestern Nigeria, would likely have played a role in the attack on Niamey airport in Niger last week.
During the Niamey attack, reports indicate that the militants used kamikaze drones in coordination with the ground assault, a capability and tactic that the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), based in Nigeria, has already demonstrated in the past, unlike the Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP).
Over the past few years, the Islamic State's core would have contributed to the transfer of this technology to ISWAP and encouraged the latter to strengthen its support for ISSP, with Lakurawa playing the role of a key logistical hub between the two provinces of the organization.
Posted by: badanov ||
02/07/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1795 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[MAIL] An Afghan migrant who left a woman dripping with blood after punching her repeatedly in a random attack has died in jail.
Good. May he be shocked to find himself in Jahannam (Hell).
Gulwali Stanekzay, aged 22 at the time of the attack, assaulted Aisha Waris, 23,
…so much for Moslems living peacefully with one another…
three times as she walked home by herself at night in February, 2023 in Harlesden, north-west London.
Stanekzay was sentenced to three years in prison after admitting to the attack.
It has now emerged the asylum seeker died at HMP Wandsworth on January 17 at the age of 25.
The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman is carrying out an investigation into his death.
Three possibilities, all acceptable: he suicided, he was killed by another prisoner, or he died naturally.
Ms Waris had been walking home along Minet Avenue in Harlesden at 7.30pm on February 26 when Stanekzay suddenly and deliberately rode his bike into her and started punching her repeatedly in the head and shoulders for about a minute.
He rode away and shocked and dazed, she continued her short journey back home but noticed seconds later he was again walking towards her menacingly.
Stanekzay punched her repeatedly again forcing Ms Waris to cover her face and run towards a neighbour's home.
Stanekzay, who came to Britain as an unaccompanied 16-year-old from Afghanistan in 2016, had been in and out of immigration centres and was homeless at the time of the attack.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of assault (ABH) and two counts of criminal damage at a hearing in May, 2023.
He admitted he was also in breach of a suspended sentence order after being convicted of ABH in December, 2022 and given a 24-week prison sentence suspended for 12-months.
After Ms Waris fled into the property, Stanekzay turned his fury on a Toyota Prius parked out in the street and caused £3,445 worth of damage to the car before turning his attention to the neighbour, Richard Jarman's, front door.
The horrifying attack was caught on a Ring doorbell camera belonging to Mr Jarman, who had come out of his house after hearing screaming in the street.
Stanekzay attempted to gain access to the terraced property by taking a series of running kicks to the door before smashing the glass and the Ring camera with a bike lock.
Footage shows him taking several flying kicks at the door before he starts to smash the camera and a pane of glass with his bike lock causing more than £4000 worth of damage.
Ms Waris had been on the phone when she was attacked initially and the friend on the other end of the line had managed to contact her father, Abdullah Khan, who drove to the scene.
Mr Khan, who was accompanied by his other daughter, confronted Stanekzay outside the house.
Security footage showed the moment he too was attacked by the defendant, who punched him two or three times and dragged him along the road before fleeing.
Ms Waris suffered a bruised lip, a swollen nose and red marks and bruising to her chest, shoulders and face.
#4
-me guessing Aisha is of a certain protected class-
Looks at pics.
Stanekzay, who came to Britain as an unaccompanied 16-year-old from Afghanistan in 2016, had been in and out of immigration centres and was homeless at the time of the attack.
When everyone comes together to ask, what the fuck?
#5
Mildly surprised at absence of "previously unknown to the victims" verbiage beyond one instance of "stranger" in original article. Also... "Doingggg and outraged jibba-jabba as traumatised Muslims react to revealing photo of traumatised Muslima!"
Posted by: Andy Omusosh8333 ||
02/07/2026 13:41 Comments ||
Top||
#6
/\ I'm assuming it the jail-equivalent of a nosocomial infection. Acute shower-itis?
Merc likely nailed it with "shower-itis." Soap induced anaphylaxis. Allergies can be deadly if left untreated.
[Breitbart] Federal officials arrested a leftist who claims to be a member of Antifa in Minnesota on Thursday regarding alleged death threats against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
The suspect is identified as 37-year-old Kyle Wagner of Minneapolis, who allegedly had an Instagram account where he encouraged people to confront and attack ICE agents, Fox News reported.
“On Jan. 8, 2026, Wagner posted a video stating, ‘We’re f***ing coming for you,’ directed at ICE agents. Prosecutors allege he urged followers to ‘get your guns’ to [sic] federal agents and suggested identifying agents even if it had to be done ‘at the barrel of a gun,'” the report said.
When he was taken into custody, the suspect was wearing a hoodie with the words “I’m Antifa!” printed on it:
Wagner was arrested on federal threat and cyberstalking charges, the U.S Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Public Affairs said in a news release Thursday.
Authorities said Wagner has referred to federal officers as the “gestapo” and “murderers.” The news of his arrest comes as President Donald Trump’s administration works to remove criminal illegal aliens from American communities. Leftists have rioted and protested against those lawful operations.
In a statement regarding Wagner’s arrest, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said:
This man allegedly doxxed and called for the murder of law enforcement officers, encouraged bloodshed in the streets, and proudly claimed affiliation with the terrorist organization Antifa before going on the run. Today’s arrest illustrates that you cannot run, you cannot hide, and you cannot evade our federal agents: if you come for law enforcement, the Trump Administration will come for you.
In January, journalist Andy Ngô reported Wagner was previously a “cross-dressing activist”:
U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon referenced a Bible verse, Proverbs 16:27, when he issued a statement about Wagner’s arrest.
He said, “We know that a ‘worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.’ And Wagner’s alleged actions were an attempt to spread fire into our peaceful community. That is not going to happen.”
#4
No doubt he’s a professional protester, Frank G. Nate Friedman has been gleefully interviewing and identifying the Antifa protest cadres, revealing their Help Wanted ads and lurking in their group chats. See this Facebook Reel or here on You Tube. They hire protesters willing to become group leaders for $3500-4200/month for 20 hours/week.
More on this story from yesterday, though yesterday’s story spellt his name slightly differently: Zubayr Al-Bakoush.
[CBS] Washington — The FBI arrested a suspect who allegedly participated in the terrorist attack on a U.S. facility in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 that led to the deaths of four Americans, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Friday.
"Today, I'm proud to announce that the FBI has arrested one of the key participants behind the Benghazi attack," Bondi said. "You can run, but you cannot hide."
The suspect, named Zubayar al-Bakoush, was transferred to the U.S. overnight, Bondi said. The attorney general announced his capture alongside FBI Director Kash Patel and Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney in Washington.
U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three others — Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods, and Glen Doherty — were killed in the attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound and nearby CIA outpost by militants with the group Ansar al-Sharia on Sept. 11, 2012. Pirro said she informed the surviving family members of al-Bakoush's capture ahead of time.
The indictment alleges that al-Bakoush lived in Benghazi and was a member of Ansar al-Sharia. Prosecutors said al-Bakoush was part of the group of armed militants who attacked the U.S. mission in Benghazi where Stevens and his security team were located.
The indictment said a group of about 20 militants breached the main gate and set fire to the buildings, killing Stevens and Smith. Prosecutors alleged al-Bakoush entered the gate after the fires were set and "conducted surveillance activity" before trying to gain access to vehicles on the grounds of the compound.
A subsequent mortar attack on a CIA annex about a mile away from the U.S. mission killed Woods and Doherty, who were CIA contractors.
The State Department and CIA worked with the FBI to arrest al-Bakoush, Bondi said Friday. The officials declined to give many details about how he was tracked down, except to say he was picked up "overseas." Pirro said there are more people out there responsible for the killings that day in 2012, and the federal government won't stop hunting for them.
"Let me be very clear — there are more of them out there," Pirro said. "Time will not stop us from going after these predators, no matter how long it takes, in order to fulfill our obligation to those families who suffered horrific pain at the hands of these violent terrorists."
Two others have been prosecuted in the U.S. for their roles in the attack. In 2014, U.S. Special Forces captured Libyan national Ahmed Abu Khatallah, a purported leader of the attack. He was acquitted of murder charges in 2017 but convicted on others and initially sentenced to 22 years in prison. He was resentenced to 28 years behind bars in 2024, with a federal judge determining his initial sentence was too light.
In 2017, another Libyan, Mustafa al-Imam, was captured in a U.S. operation and brought to face charges. He was found guilty at trial in 2019 and sentenced to 19 years in prison. The NY Post has photos — and more background information —from Mr. al-Bakoush’s arrival, a bent, grey-haired man, small and passive among the surrounding American troops. Which was wise of him.
#1
Hopefully, justice will be done and others will be rounded up and brought to justice as well.
I am acquainted with the extended family of the late Sean Smith. Many will be heartened to know that Sean's family has been well cared for by a grateful nation.
#2
It's really good to hear that his family is being taken care of. I posted yesterday about him. Goons in EVE Online. He said goodbye to us while online. I do not know his family, nor did I know him outside the game. He is missed.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
02/07/2026 12:14 Comments ||
Top||
[IsraelTimes] Regan Prater, charged last year over 2019 fire that destroyed historic Tennessee civil rights center, also indicted for terror over alleged assistance to Iran-backed terror group
A US Court laid terror charges on a man accused of handing a list of people with apparent ties to Israel to Hezbollah and Molotov cocktailing a nonprofit research and education center, documents showed Thursday.
Regan Darby Prater was initially charged last year over the 2019 arson attack that destroyed the offices of the Highlander Research and Education Center, a social justice center that played a central role in the US civil rights movement, in New Market, Tennessee.
According to a court document published by the Court Watch website on Thursday, a new charge accuses Prater of handing over a list of "individuals purportedly affiliated with Israel" to the Iran-backed terror organization based in Leb ...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration.... Along with malicious use of fire, the additional charge Prater now faces is for the attempted provision of material support to a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
The document does not detail how or when Prater contacted Hezbollah.
Earlier court documents said Prater was motivated by the mass shootings targeting mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, several days before he carried out the Molotov cocktailing attack in March 2019.
He spray-painted a symbol of the Iron Guard, a WWII-era Romanian Nazi group, in the parking lot of the nonprofit center that he targeted, the documents said.
Prater was caught out after admitting to an informant on the Telegram messaging app — which he used to speak to other white supremacists — to using "a sparkler bomb and some Napalm" to burn down the center.
The center, founded in 1932, became a hub for the civil rights movement in the 20th century.
Activist Rosa Parks attended a workshop at the institution some weeks before she refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger, sparking the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott.
Additionally, Martin Luther King Jr. addressed the center to mark its 25th anniversary in 1957, which Parks attended.
The center said at the time that the 2019 fire destroyed one of its archives, which held a trove of historic documents and artifacts from the civil rights era.
[FoxNews] West Virginia soldiers Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe were struck by gunfire in November
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Friday that two West Virginia National Guard members — Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe — who were shot in an ambush-style attack near the White House late last year, will receive the Purple Heart.
Calling the Nov. 26 incident "a terrible thing" and saying the troops were "attacked by a radical," Hegseth made the announcement while speaking at a National Guard reenlistment ceremony at the Washington Monument, where he administered the oath of enlistment to more than 100 Guardsmen from nine states serving in Washington, D.C.
"And we had a terrible thing happen a number of months ago," Hegseth said. "Andrew Wolfe, Sarah Beckstrom, one lost, one recovered, thank God, in miraculous ways. Both soon to be Purple Heart recipients because they were attacked by a radical."
The remarks mark the first public confirmation from Hegseth that the service members will receive the Purple Heart, one of the nation’s oldest military decorations, awarded to those killed or wounded by enemy action.
The Purple Heart traces its origins to the American Revolution, when George Washington established the Badge of Military Merit in 1782, to recognize enlisted soldiers wounded or killed in service. The modern Purple Heart was revived in 1932, and is awarded in the name of the president to U.S. service members wounded or killed by enemy action.
Beckstrom, 20, and Wolfe, 24, were shot just blocks from the White House in what officials described as an ambush-style attack.
Beckstrom died a day after the shooting. Wolfe was seriously wounded and continues to recover.
The accused gunman, Rahmanullah Lakanwal,
…one of the very rough men since his youth — in the CIA-linked Afghan army’s Zero Unit described as a death squad, which left the father of five with severe PTSD after they were evacuated during the fall of Afghanistan as part of Operation Allies Welcome in 2021 and settled in Bellingham, Washington state, though he did his best as an Amazon driver to support his family, but alternated isolating in a dark room with occasionally going on manic cross-country drives to cope. This may have been his attempt at death by cop...
29, faces nine charges related to the shooting, including first-degree murder while armed and assault with intent to kill while armed. He has pleaded not guilty.
In a statement posted on X, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey thanked Hegseth for the announcement and said the recognition was long overdue.
"I thank Secretary @PeteHegseth for announcing that U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe will soon receive the Purple Heart, an honor that reflects their courage and sacrifice in defense of our nation," Morrisey wrote.
Morrisey said he formally requested the Purple Heart awards Dec. 19, adding that the announcement "brings long-overdue honor to their service, offers meaning and reassurance to their families, and stands as a solemn reminder that West Virginia will never forget those who sacrifice in defense of others."
Hegseth’s remarks Friday came during a ceremony honoring the National Guard’s ongoing security mission in the nation’s capital.
According to a War Department news release, more than 100 Guardsmen from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia reenlisted Friday as part of the mission.
Those troops are among more than 2,600 National Guard members currently deployed in Washington at the direction of President Donald Trump in support of the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force, which was established in August 2025 after the president declared a crime emergency in the city.
Addressing the Guardsmen, Hegseth described their service in Washington as "front lines" duty.
"This is not an easy assignment. It’s the real deal. It’s front lines," he said. "You’ve done it, and you’ve done well."
[IsraelTimes] Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas received a draft constitution yesterday that aims to transition the PA to a full-fledged state, Ramallah’s official Wafa media outlet says.
Drafting committee chairman Muhammad al-Hajj Qasim presented the nearly-70 page document to Abbas after holding seven months of consultations.
The importance of the development is not fully clear because the PA already refers to itself as a full-fledged state, but this would be the first time the transition is embedded in a constitutional framework.
To date, the PA has been operating under the PA basic laws.
Abbas ordered that the draft constitution be submitted to the Palestine Liberation’s Executive Committee for review.
It will then have to go through a public referendum — something Israel will likely seek to block as it violates the Oslo framework, which envisions Palestinian statehood resulting from direct negotiations between the parties. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long opposed such negotiations, though, and Jerusalem has accused Ramallah of rejecting previous statehood offers.
The draft constitution stipulates that if approved, some of its provisions would take effect before a presidential election is held, while other provisions would take effect afterward.
The document maintains the main elements of the existing presidential system, but stipulates that the position should have a limit of two four-year terms. Abbas is currently serving in the 21st year of his first term after cancelling several planned elections over what he says has been Israel’s refusal to allow balloting in East Jerusalem. The decision is also widely understood to also be due to fears of Hamas gains.
No date has been set for either the parliamentary or presidential elections in the PA.
However, PA municipal elections are slated for April and the first-ever direct, popular elections for the PLO’s Palestinian National Council are scheduled for November. The latter body selects the members of the PLO’s Executive Committee.
The PLO is supposed to be the overarching umbrella body representing Palestinians worldwide, whereas the PA is supposed to be a transitional administrative body providing services for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
No date has been set for a referendum on the draft constitution, and analysts speculate that Abbas is not likely to rush the move. Such a vote would likely meet significant pushback from Israel, which is already withholding several billion dollars in tax revenues that belong to Ramallah, significantly hampering its effort to pay public sector employees and continue to function.
But Abbas is also facing pressure both domestically and from the international community to reform the PA, and the new constitution is framed as a key part of that process.
[AnNahar] "They drove us out at gunpoint," says Lebanese citizen Zeinab Qataya, who fled her adopted home in Syria after the fall of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... and returned to her country to live in a camp built by Hezbollah.
The construction of the Imam Ali Housing Compound has proved controversial, but Lebanese and Syrian families pushed out of villages just over the border in Syria say they now rely on the Iran-backed movement for safety.
Hezbollah has acknowledged intervening in Syria's civil war on Assad's behalf starting in 2013 from their foothold in the Qusayr area, home to border villages like Zeita where thousands of Lebanese Shiites have lived for decades.
The murderous Moslem group was driven out of Syria during the campaign that toppled Assad, but it still holds sway in this pocket of northeast Leb ...The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... , whose government has since vowed to disarm them.
"They burned our homes," says Qataya, a 56-year-old who fled Zeita for the Hezbollah-run compound.
"What matters to us is... being able to return home safely."
- IMAGES OF MARTYRS -
More than half a million Syrian refugees returned to their country from Lebanon after an Islamist coalition's victory over Assad in 2024.
The residents of the Imam Ali Housing Compound, meanwhile, were coming the other way.
"The compound houses between 700 and 1,000 people," said a Hezbollah official accompanying an AFP team in a guided tour of the camp in the Hermel area.
"They are mostly Lebanese, with some Syrians," all coming from border villages the group controlled before Assad's fall, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered... The Lebanese nationals living in Syria had retained their citizenship, but made the area around Qusayr their home, living and working alongside local Sunni residents.
In the dry mountain winds, children returned from a Shiite religious celebration in Hermel and ran past the camp's store and barber shop to their ad hoc school.
The walls of the local mosque had images of slain Iranian generals, including renowned covert operations commander Qassem Suleimani , glued on them.
Portraits of killed Hezbollah chief Sayyed ...Arabic term meaning your/his lordship. Groveling in His Exalted Presence is encouraged... His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> and current leader Sheikh Naim Qassem ... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies... hung from housing units.
Hezbollah played a key role in Syria's 13-year civil war, fighting alongside Assad's forces.
When it first established itself in Qusayr, thousands of Syrians were forced to flee, but it hastily retreated from the country after Assad's ouster.
The border in the area is porous and poorly demarcated, which contributed to Lebanese nationals settling in Syria and facilitated the smuggling for which the region is known.
- IRANIAN DONATIONS -
In the compound, few residents were willing to speak to journalists, viewing them with suspicion.
Under Assad, Syria was part of Iran's "axis of resistance" against Israel and enabled the transfer of weapons and money from Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... to Hezbollah
The new authorities in Damascus have rejected Iranian influence and attempted to cut off the pipeline to the Lebanese movement.
Much of the Hermel compound's funding comes from private donations from Iran, the Hezbollah member said.
According to the group's al-Nour radio, the complex comprises 228 housing units.
When it was built last year, some media outlets critical of Hezbollah accused it of using the compound to harbor officials from the Assad government.
"We are not harboring regime remnants here," said Ali al-Masri, an official in the Hermel municipality, calling the allegations "utter nonsense" and insisting that most in the camp were civilians.
In January, Lebanon's military said that it carried out a raid after "some media outlets and news websites circulated information about the harboring of wanted individuals and the presence of weapons inside a compound" in Hermel.
The raid, it said, "did not result in any arrests or seizures".
- 'LIVING HAPPILY' -
According to the U.N., around 115,000 people have entered Lebanon from Syria since the fall of Assad, many of them since the sectarian massacres that targeted the Alawite minority on the Syrian coast in March.
Around a million Syrian refugees who previously fled the civil war remain in Lebanon.
Khodr Ghurab, a 62-year-old van driver, said he was displaced from Zeita on December 8, the day Islamist-led rebels reached Damascus and Assad fled to Russia.
Ghurab, a father of four, accused the Lebanese state of not helping them, "as if we were not Lebanese".
"In Syria, education and transport were free... we were living happily."
[IsraelTimes] The United States is sanctioning 15 entities and 14 shadow fleet vessels connected to the illicit trade in Iranian petroleum, petroleum products and petrochemical products, the State Department says.
The announcement comes hours after the US and Iran wrapped up nuclear talks in Oman.
Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... rejected calls by the United States to halt uranium enrichment on its territory during negotiations in Oman on Friday, as efforts to resolve the dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program resumed.
A regional diplomat briefed by Tehran told Rooters Friday that while the Islamic Theocratic Republic would not budge on its right to enrich uranium inside Iran, it was willing to discuss the "level and purity" of enrichment or a regional consortium.
The diplomat added that Tehran believed the US negotiators "seemed to understand Iran’s stance on the enrichment ... and they showed flexibility about Tehran’s demands."
He added that Iran’s missile capabilities were not discussed during the talks in Muscat.
Iranian and US officials told the Axios news site that they expect further talks in the coming days.
US negotiators told their Iranian counterparts that they expect Tehran to come to the next meeting with a tangible and significant concession related to the nuclear file, Channel 12 reported.
The talks included an in-person meeting between US President Donald Trump ...The Hero of Butler, Pennsylvania... ’s top aides Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi, Channel 12 reported, citing two sources familiar.
The rest of the talks were held indirectly, with Oman mediating.
CENTCOM Commander Gen. Brad Cooper also joined the talks, outraging the Iranian delegation, in a move possibly aimed at intimidating Tehran, Channel 12 reported. The Iranians reportedly likened it to "conducting negotiations with a gun on the table."
The network indicated the US will likely take additional steps to boost its military presence in the region on Saturday, improving Washington’s posture ahead of a potential strike if the talks fail.
Channel 12 cited an unnamed senior Israeli official who warned Iran against targeting the Jewish state, saying the response to such an attack would be "Operation Rising Lion on steroids," referring to the name Israel gave to its June 2025 strikes on Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, which also saw the IDF decimate Tehran’s air defenses.
The network cited another Israeli official who speculated that Friday’s talks between the US and Iran in Oman will not lead to an agreement, as the gaps between the sides are too large.
Multiple rounds of negotiations with Iran were held before Israel launched its 12-day war on Iran. The US also joined the strikes, targeting underground nuclear facilities.
Before the June war, Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60 percent purity, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels. The UN nuclear watchdog — ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency — has said Iran is the only country in the world to enrich to that level that wasn’t armed with the bomb.
Iran has been refusing requests by the IAEA to inspect the sites bombed in the June war, raising the concerns of nonproliferation experts. Even before that, Iran has restricted IAEA inspections since Trump’s decision in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw America from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to use force to compel Iran to reach a deal on the program after earlier sending the carrier to the region over Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests that killed thousands and saw tens of thousands of others detained in the Islamic Theocratic Republic.
Amid the talks, the US has completed the initial phase of its weapons buildup in the region and is expected to complete the second phase in the coming weeks, with all forces in place, Channel 12 reported.
The US Central Command also published new footage of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, which arrived in the region last week.
"The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, accompanied by two military supply ships, and two US Coast Guard cutters, sailed together in the Arabian Sea today as aircraft from Carrier Air Wing 9 flew overhead," CENTCOM wrote on X.
The aircraft carrier was moved to the Arabian Sea after Trump’s initial threats last month
While Iran’s foreign minister described a "positive atmosphere" on Friday’s talks, it remains unclear just what terms Iran is willing to negotiate.
However,
it's easy to be generous with someone else's money... the Al Jazeera satellite news network reported that diplomats from Egypt, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... member, but not the most reliable... , and Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... offered Iran a proposal in which Tehran would halt enrichment for three years, send its highly enriched uranium out of the country, and pledge "not initiate the use of ballistic missiles."
Russia had signaled it would take the uranium, but Iran has said ending the program or shipping out the uranium were nonstarters.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration... said on Wednesday that the talks needed to include Tehran’s nuclear program, its ballistic missiles, support for proxy terror groups around the region, and "treatment of their own people."
"I’m not sure you can reach a deal with these guys, but we’re going to try to find out," Rubio said.
Gulf Arab nations fear a US attack on Iran could spark a regional war that would drag them in as well.
Iran has vowed a harsh response to any strike and, in addition to threatening Israel, has cautioned neighboring countries that host US bases that they could be in the firing line.
Days before Friday’s talks, US forces shot down an Iranian drone near the USS Abraham Lincoln, and Iran attempted to stop a US-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
Satellite images indicate Iran repaired missile sites, as damaged nuke facilities lag behind
[IsraelTimes] Iran has repaired several ballistic missile manufacturing facilities damaged during last year’s 12-day war, while only making limited repairs to a major nuclear site struck by Israel and the US during that conflict, satellite imagery published by The New York Times suggests.
The photos indicate Iran’s priorities as it prepares to fend off a potential US attack, with ballistic missiles likely to be used in such a scenario to retaliate against Israel and US assets in the region.
The satellite images show work carried out over the past several months at a dozen ballistic missile facilities.
While the photos show some work at Iran’s three main nuclear facilities — Isfahan, Natanz and Fordo — appear inoperative, The Times says.
[IsraelTimes] Hezbollah has accepted the resignation of senior security official Wafiq Safa, the first time an official of his rank has stepped down, sources familiar with the group’s thinking tell Reuters.
Safa, who heads Hezbollah’s liaison and coordination unit responsible for working with Lebanese security agencies, survived an Israeli assassination attempt in October 2024.
The details don’t really matter, but that the Hayat Tahrir ak Sham/Al Nusra government is normalizing another diplomatic relationship.
[IsraelTimes] Lebanon signs an agreement with Syria to hand some 300 convicts over to Damascus, a move seen as key to helping turn a new page in ties between the countries.
Overcrowded Lebanese prisons hold more than 2,200 Syrians held on various charges. Many of them are still awaiting trial, while hundreds accused of “terrorism” or related offenses, including attacks on Lebanese forces, have been brought before military courts.
Others are in custody for alleged membership in jihadist or armed groups that were opposed to now ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, who was supported by Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group during the Syrian civil war.
Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri and Syrian Justice Minister Mazhar al-Wais announce the signing of the agreement at a press conference in Beirut.
Wais calls it “an important step on the path to justice in addressing the situation of convicts who have spent a long time in prison and whose cases were among the most complex legally.”
The agreement covers around 300 convicts, while the remaining detainees require “long procedures” before a similar agreement on them can be reached, Wais says.
The deal reinforces “the trust and political will that already exists between the two countries,” he says, expressing hope it would help improve ties.
Lebanese authorities have said that the convicts who meet the requirements, including having spent at least 10 years behind bars, will be handed over to Syria, where they will serve the rest of their sentences.
Mitri tells AFP that cooperation extended beyond the issue of convicts, with officials working to “resolve all common issues that will set bilateral relations right.”
The first step following the deal’s signing would be a cabinet decision to “abolish the Lebanese-Syrian Higher Council,” an Assad-era body.
Authorities will also review “unfair agreements concluded during the time of Syrian tutelage in Lebanon, as well as the demarcation of the land and maritime borders,” Mitri adds.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Breitbart] Federal officials arrested a leftist who claims to be a member of Antifa in Minnesota on Thursday regarding alleged death threats against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration....
...Arabic term meaning 
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
