Chinese firms discussed secret arms sales to Iran - NBC

President Donald Trump is not expected to take any dramatic steps on Iran during his trip to China but he could make his next move immediately afterward, Axios reported, citing US officials.

One option is resuming “Project Freedom,” with the US Navy attempting to break the shipping bottleneck in the Strait of Hormuz, the report cited US officials as saying.

Another option is launching a new bombing campaign focused on Iranian infrastructure, which Trump has repeatedly threatened, the report added.

Israel will be on high alert this weekend in case Trump decides to resume the war, the report cited Israeli officials as saying.

Any such operation would take place in coordination with the Israeli military, the report added, citing the officials.

The House is set to vote on Thursday on a war powers resolution directing President Donald Trump to remove US forces from hostilities against Iran, NBC News reported, citing the House floor schedule.

The resolution is sponsored by Democratic Representative Josh Gottheimer and backed by Democrats who had previously opposed Iran war powers resolutions.

NBC said Democrats would need support from more Republicans than Representative Thomas Massie to pass the measure.

US State Department’s Rewards for Justice program published an advertisement offering up to $15 million for information on financial networks linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, targeting senior staff of Kimia Part Sivan Company (KIPAS), described as a drone-production arm of the IRGC’s Quds Force.

In a post on X, the program urged the public to “help us put a dent in the IRGC’s revenue stream” by sending tips on individuals managing the drone manufacturer. The ad said informants could be eligible for financial rewards and relocation assistance.

The FBI said on Thursday it was offering a $200,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of Monica Witt, a former US counterintelligence agent charged with espionage for Iran.

Witt, a former US Air Force intelligence specialist and special agent, was indicted in 2019 on charges including transmitting national defense information to Iran, the FBI said.

The FBI said Witt defected to Iran in 2013 and allegedly provided information that put classified US programs, personnel and their families at risk.

“Monica Witt allegedly betrayed her oath to the Constitution more than a decade ago by defecting to Iran and providing the Iranian regime National Defense Information,” Daniel Wierzbicki, special agent in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Counterintelligence and Cyber Division, said in a statement.

“If war breaks out and ‌Bahrain once again makes US bases available for attacks against us, we will strike them so hard that they will forget their name,” Iranian MP and former foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki warned.

He also accused Bahrain of pushing anti-Iran measures after US and Israeli strikes, saying Manama had backed a Security Council resolution against Tehran “instead of expressing sympathy with us over the killing of Ali Khamenei.”

Mottaki said Bahrain had also tried to pass an anti-Iran resolution at the Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting in Istanbul last month, but Tehran had blocked a vote on it through “diplomatic prudence” and support from some countries.