Trump says Xi pledged not to arm Iran but would keep buying its oil

Iran is still ruled by a “revolutionary terrorist regime” despite the deaths of senior leaders, US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper said on Thursday.

Asked at a Senate hearing by Senator Tom Cotton whether that description of Iran still applied, Cooper replied: “They are.”

Cooper also agreed that Iran no longer had nearly as much military capability to act on its intentions, adding that the country had been “significantly degraded” across every element of national power.

A former FBI agent warned that Iranian sleeper cells in the United States could pose a security threat during the upcoming FIFA World Cup, urging President Donald Trump to consider demonstrating military power with a Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, known as the MOAB.

Jonathan Gilliam, a former FBI special agent and Navy SEAL, told Fox News that Iran could activate operatives already inside the United States during the tournament, which is set to begin in June across the US, Canada and Mexico.

“I would hope that the president makes it known before this occurs, that if Iran does anything during these World Cup events, that it's going to be not just a retaliatory strike, but that would be the end of any talks and that he will lay waste to everything and anything that is the Iranian regime if that occurs,” Gilliam said.

Gilliam also suggested Trump could send what he described as a clear deterrent message by using a MOAB in Iran.

“I think if the president did that, and he showed that he was very serious, gave some sign, dropped a MOAB in the middle of nowhere in Iran and said, ‘this is what's going to occur if you if you touch anyone in the United States.’ ... This is what's coming to you,” he said.

“A MOAB, that's the largest non-nuclear conventional bomb in the world in history. And you can drop that somewhere and make a dramatic impact if the president was to show force like Iran does,” Gilliam added.

US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper said Iran’s command and control had been “significantly fractured” by US strikes and that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were exercising “significant authority.”

“The negotiations themselves are held via diplomatic channels, and I would really refer to the diplomats to address that,” Cooper told a Senate committee when asked who had the power to negotiate in Iran.

“But clearly, from a military perspective, their command control was significantly fractured as a result of our strikes,” he said.

Asked whether the IRGC was in charge, Cooper said: “The IRGC is exercising significant authority.”

An Indian-flagged cargo ship sank off the coast of Oman after an attack sparked a blaze aboard the vessel following a suspected drone attack, Indian authorities announced on Thursday, as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was visiting New Delhi.

The ship was attacked when it was en route from Somalia to Sharjah on Wednesday, India said, without identifying who attacked the ship.

MSV HAJI ALI sank off near the Strait of Hormuz after the suspected drone attack, while all crew members were safely rescued, London-based maritime security firm Windward said Thursday.

Windward said the 57-meter vessel had its Automatic Identification System turned off when the incident occurred.

Saudi Arabia has discussed a potential non-aggression pact between Middle East states and Iran as part of talks on managing regional tensions after the US-Israeli war ends, the Financial Times reported, citing diplomats.

Riyadh was considering a model similar to the 1970s Helsinki process that eased Cold War tensions in Europe, the report said citing two western diplomats.

An Arab diplomat cited by FT said that a non-aggression pact modelled along the lines of the Helsinki process would be welcomed by most Arab and Muslim states, as well as by Iran.

“It all depends who is in it — in the current climate you are not going to be able to get Iran and Israel . . . without Israel it could be counter-productive because after Iran, they are seen as the biggest source of conflict,” the report quoted the Arab diplomat as saying. “Iran is not going anywhere and this is why the Saudis are pushing it.”

The report said many European capitals and EU institutions support the Saudi idea and see it as the best way to avoid future conflict and provide Tehran guarantees that it would not be attacked again.

The FT also cited two diplomats as saying there were doubts about whether the UAE would join any such arrangement.

The idea of expanding the defense pact was first mooted before the war, the report added citing a Pakistani official.