Iran economic losses from conflict could reach 40% of GDP - FDD

Israel Ambassador to US Yechiel (Michael) Leiter said on Thursday progress toward peace between Israel and Lebanon depends on confronting Hezbollah, praising US President Donald Trump’s administration for advancing negotiations and invoking the Abraham Accords as a model.

"If Hezbollah and IRGC operatives continue to be treated with kid gloves, a real process of achieving our mutual goal will remain unachievable," Leiter said at the White House.

"Time and again, Iran and Hezbollah have dragged Lebanon into war against Israel. Due to the degrading of Iran and its proxies through the leadership of President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, we believe the time has come to put an end to this intolerable situation, once and for all," he added.

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US forces have seized a vessel carrying approximately 1.9 million barrels of Iranian oil in the Indian Ocean, US Attorney Pirro said on Thursday, adding the operation was carried out under a federal seizure warrant.

"Overnight, pursuant to a seizure warrant submitted by my office and signed by a federal magistrate, US forces interdicted the dark fleet vessel, M/T Majestic (formerly known as the M/T Phonix), while carrying approximately 1.9 million barrels of Iranian oil in the Indian Ocean," Pirro posted on X.

"Earlier this week, US forces similarly seized the M/T Tifani based on one of our seizure warrants. It too was laden with approximately 1.9 million barrels of Iranian oil. We will continue to relentlessly investigate, track, and pursue these cases, using every lawful authority to hold sanctioned actors and those who support terrorism accountable, and to deny them of any ability to profit from illicit maritime activity," she added.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday Washington is working to bring Israel and Lebanon closer together, describing Hezbollah as a common problem and pledging US support to help Lebanon rebuild and stabilize.

"I mean, we have a good relationship with Lebanon. It's amazing that. The amazing thing is they actually have sort of a good relationship with Israel. They don't deal with each other, but now they deal with each other. We're putting them together. We're going to help we're just going to help them," Trump said at the White House.

"We're going to help them. They're great people. It can be a really good country again, maybe a great country again. And I think you have all the ingredients. So we're going to work together. And I think Israel is going to I think Israel is going to be terrific, but they do have a common problem. It's Hezbollah," he added.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday the United States has “complete control” of its blockade against Iran and warned Tehran against deploying naval mines, calling such a move a “very foolish” mistake that would hurt Iran more than others.

"You know that the strait, the what we've done with the blockade is amazing, and nobody, nobody gets through and nobody wants to get through it. Nobody's trying. The one tried to shut out the engine, but nobody's trying. We have complete control now. They can drop their minds in there and do all those stupid things. It's just going to take longer for them to make money, because the mines are going to affect them much more than they're going to affect us," Trump said at the White House.

"But, and we don't know that they're doing that, but they could be that if they, if they're doing it, it's a very foolish thing to do, just like for Iran to shoot at Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar and Kuwait, Bahrain, all the different places they they shot. Nobody expected that. They thought they'd shoot at Israel in all fairness, but you didn't expect they'd be shooting at numerous other countries. I think it was a big mistake if they're putting mines down. It's a big mistake for them," he added.

The US military is preparing contingency plans to strike Iranian defenses in the Strait of Hormuz if the fragile ceasefire collapses, CNN reported on Thursday.

Officials are focused on neutralizing Iranian mines, fast-attack boats, and coastal threats to keep the critical waterway open for global oil shipments, the report said.

“Due to operations security, we do not discuss future or hypothetical movements,” a Defense Department official told CNN when asked about target planning. “The US military continues to provide the President options, and all options remain on the table.”