16 ships hit in Strait of Hormuz since start of Operation Epic Fury – NYT

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Thursday President Trump is authorizing countries to buy Russian oil stranded at sea as a short-term measure to increase global supply and stabilize energy markets while addressing threats from the Iranian regime.

"President Trump is taking decisive steps to promote stability in global energy markets and working to keep prices low as we address the threat and instability posed by the terrorist Iranian regime," Bessent said on X.

A new Jewish Onliner analysis shows that much of the perceived US backlash to Operation Epic Fury is driven by foreign accounts.

Seven of the top 10 accounts interacting on “Iran” are non-US and negative, while 60 of the 100 most viral posts are foreign-generated, reaching 155 million views—90% hostile. In contrast, all pro-operation posts are US-based.

"Foreign accounts, in other words, were reaching a substantially larger audience. And they were doing so with complete uniformity. Not one of those 60 non-US posts expressed support for the operation. Among US-based posts, opinion was split (75 percent were negative, 25 percent positive)," the analysis said. "The bottom line is that 90 of the 100 most-shared posts in the dataset were hostile to Epic Fury, and every single one of the ten pro-operation posts came from an American account."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the Iranian people are approaching a moment to pursue a new path of freedom, adding that while Israel and its allies support them, the outcome ultimately depends on Iranians themselves.

“I say to the Iranian people: The moment when you can embark on a new path of freedom – that moment is approaching. We stand by you, we are helping you. But at the end of the day – it depends on you! It is in your hands!” Netanyahu said.

Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri receives more than $500,000 per month from the Islamic Republic in order to support Tehran's interests and those of its allied group Hezbollah in Lebanon, informed sources told Iran International.

Officials in Tehran say the sums are meant to “buy” unity among Lebanon’s Shiite leadership to ensure that they “act in accordance with Iran’s interests, not Lebanon’s interests.”

Nabih Berri did not respond to Iran International’s request for comment. One of his advisers said that Berri would not comment on the matter at this time.

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Representative Brian Mast, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee, said on Thursday that lawmakers who oppose US strikes on Iran should not be involved in national security decisions.

“If you’ve sat through classified briefings on Iran, voted them the world’s largest state sponsor of terror, and still don’t understand why we struck them, you have no business anywhere near the national security of this country,” Mast said.