Pezeshkian says Iran ready for 'fair' deal with US in call with Putin

The CIA used Pegasus spyware to carry out a deception campaign in Iran during an effort to rescue a downed US airman in Iran after his F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down by an Iranian shoulder-launched missile, The Times of London reported.

According to the report, the agency used the Israeli-made software to send fake messages to Iranian leadership and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) operatives claiming the missing officer had already been found.

Pegasus, developed by the Israeli-founded NSO Group, is widely known for enabling operators to infiltrate mobile devices to eavesdrop on communications and harvest data. It can also send messages via platforms such as WhatsApp or Signal that appear to originate from the compromised device, the report said.

US President Donald Trump told Fox News on Sunday that a US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would “take a little while,” adding that it “won’t take long to clean out the strait.”

He added that the United States was bringing in additional minesweepers and said other countries, including Britain, were also sending sending minesweepers.

Trump also said NATO now wants to help secure the Strait of Hormuz.

“We think that numerous countries are going to be helping us with this,” he added.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it received a report of an incident 54 nautical miles southwest of Al Hudaydah, Yemen.

A sailing vessel was approached by a skiff carrying approximately 10–12 people, 4–5 of whom were armed with automatic weapons. The crew requested that the vessel stop, and when the master refused, they attempted to pull alongside to board.

The master deployed a flare, after which the skiff turned away and departed to the southeast, UKMTO said.

President Donald Trump said the United States would begin blockading the Strait of Hormuz and interdict vessels that have paid tolls to Iran, in a post on Truth Social on Sunday.

“Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said.

He added that the US Navy had been instructed to “seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran,” accusing Tehran of extortion.

“No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas,” he said.

Trump also said the United States would begin destroying mines that he said Iran had laid in the waterway and warned of military retaliation if Iranian forces targeted US or commercial vessels.

“Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!” he said.

“Additionally and, at an appropriate moment, we are fully 'LOCKED AND LOADED,' and our Military will finish up the little that is left of Iran!” he added.

President Donald Trump said Iran is unwilling to abandon its nuclear ambitions after nearly 20 hours of talks between American and Iranian negotiators in Islamabad.

“In many ways, the points that were agreed to are better than us continuing our Military Operations to conclusion, but all of those points don’t matter compared to allowing Nuclear Power to be in the hands of such volatile, difficult, unpredictable people,” he added in a post on Truth Social.

“I have always said, right from the beginning, and many years ago, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!” he said.