Trump pushed people back to 1979 revolutionary spirit, IRGC general says

A coalition of conservative foreign policy experts, Iran advocates and digital freedom groups urged Congress to include legislation aimed at helping Iranians bypass internet censorship in the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, The Hill reported.

The coalition sent a letter to Senate leadership and the bipartisan leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee backing the Iran Human Rights, Internet Freedom, and Accountability Act and the Feasibility Review of Emerging Equipment for Digital Open Media (FREEDOM) Act.

“Internet shutdowns have become one of the regime’s most powerful tools of repression – facilitating violence, mass arrests, and grave human rights abuses while preventing Iranians from communicating with one another and the outside world,” the letter said.

Ali Khomeini, grandson of Islamic Republic founder Ruhollah Khomeini, said on Friday that any negotiations between Iran and the United States should not be interpreted as a path to peace, saying Iran’s identity was based on refusing compromise with what he called “arrogance.”

“If you see that the Islamic Republic talks about negotiations, it is not about peace negotiations. Can we make peace with criminal America? Our identity is non-compromise with arrogance. Negotiation means war; war has different forms,” Khomeini said.

“Anyone who wants to negotiate in order to reach peace with America is a traitor. Anyone who sends a message of friendship to America, their mouth is impure and unclean,” he added.

Iranian officials privately told Trump administration advisers that they made a mistake by firing on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz and blamed the attacks on what they described as an “errant” faction of hardliners seeking to undermine negotiations, senior US officials told CBS News on Friday. The officials said Tehran also expressed a desire to continue talks.

The Trump administration wants Iran to publicly acknowledge what it considers a mistake and views the attacks as a violation of the ceasefire, the officials said. They added that Washington expects Iran to confirm after Saturday’s talks in Oman that the Strait of Hormuz will remain open and operate as it did before the conflict, the report said.

The United States has military options to ensure Iranian nuclear sites remain inaccessible, senior US officials told Reuters, as Washington seeks to prevent Tehran from restoring its nuclear capabilities.

Recent US intelligence assessments show no indication of a new, specific plot by Iranian actors to kill President Donald Trump, but officials have detected continued chatter about such intentions, CNN reported on Friday citing two sources.

“US intelligence officials are also aware of Israeli concerns over being left out of Iran-related decision-making and efforts by Israel to influence the Trump administration’s policy toward Tehran,” the report added.