TV News LIES

U.S. Central Command (Centcom) on Monday said U.S. forces fired “defensive strikes” in southern Iran amid discussions to bring the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Tehran to an end.

These strikes were intended “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces” — specifically boats attempting to lay mines and missile launch sites, Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a Centcom spokesperson, told The Hill.

“U.S. Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” Hawkins said.

Earlier Monday, Reuters reported explosions in southern Iran in Bandar Abbas city and around coastal areas near the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. and Iran have held a ceasefire since April 7. The stalemate has seen few small attacks since last month, though none have violated the ceasefire’s terms.

More...

Iran has destroyed $1bn worth of MQ-9 Reaper Drones, or roughly 20 percent of the US’s pre-war inventory of the sophisticated unmanned aerial vehicles, according to a report by Bloomberg on Friday.

The report said that many of the drones were downed by Iran in flight, but that others had been destroyed on the ground when Iran targeted US military bases in the Gulf.

The MQ-9 is both a surveillance drone and capable of carrying a payload, typically Hellfire missiles or Joint Direct Attack Munition guided bombs.

Bloomberg reported that the US may have lost up to 30 MQ-9 Reaper drones in the war, a higher number than the 24 that a report released this month by the Congressional Research Service noted.

The $1bn price tag adds to the cost of the war on Iran, which a senior official at the Pentagon told Reuters in May reached up to $29bn. The MQ-9 Reaper drone is being gradually phased out by the US military, although General Atomics continues to produce it for foreign customers.

More...

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei on Wednesday said his country has not decided whether to join another round of negotiations with the U.S., after President Donald Trump extended the ceasefire between the two countries indefinitely.

Baghaei blamed the Trump administration, saying "Washington keeps changing its stance hour by hour and lacks consistency and a unified approach in its decisions," according to Iranian state television.

Iranian and U.S. officials were expected to begin a second round of peace talks on Wednesday, but the trip was delayed as Iran had not agreed to participate. Trump then announced that he was extending the ceasefire until Iran's leaders can "come up with a unified proposal."

More...

In his strongest words yet, Pope Leo XIV on Saturday denounced the "delusion of omnipotence" that is fueling the U.S.-Israel war in Iran and demanded political leaders stop and negotiate peace.

Leo presided over an evening prayer service in St. Peter's Basilica on the same day the United States and Iran began face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan and as a fragile ceasefire held.

History's first U.S.-born pope didn't mention the United States or President Donald Trump in his prayer, which was planned before the talks were announced. But Leo's tone and message appeared directed at Trump and U.S. officials, who have boasted of U.S. military superiority and justified war in religious terms.

"Enough of the idolatry of self and money!" Leo said. "Enough of the display of power! Enough of war!"

More...

US vice-president JD Vance left Islamabad on Sunday after failing to reach a deal with Iran after a marathon 21 hours of negotiations.

Vance cited shortcomings in the talks, saying that Iran had chosen not to accept American terms, including to not build nuclear weapons.

“The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement, and I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America,” Vance said.

“So we go back to the United States having not come to an agreement. We’ve made very clear what our red lines are.”

Vance said he spoke with US president Donald Trump at least half a dozen times during the talks, and one of the most significant points of difference between the two sides had been around the development of nuclear weapons.

More...

President Donald Trump took to social media on Easter Sunday to applaud the U.S. military's rescue of the second airman whose fighter jet was shot down over Iran — and to issue an expletive-laden threat against the Middle Eastern nation to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

After extending the deadline on his ultimatum that Iran cease its effective blockade on ships passing through the oil route, the president said the regime now has until Tuesday to meet his demands, threatening strikes on critical Iranian infrastructure.https://www.usatoday.com/gcdn/authoring/authoring-images/2026/04/05/USAT/89477428007-afp-2269166140.jpg?crop=5999,3375,x0,y400&width=1320&height=744&format=pjpg&auto=webp

"Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!" Trump wrote in the April 5 post on Truth Social. "Open the F------ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH!" The president signed off his message, "Praise be to Allah."

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf condemned Trump's threat, claiming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was misleading Trump.

"Your reckless moves are dragging the United States into a living HELL for every single family, and our whole region is going to burn because you insist on following Netanyahu's commands," he posted on X. "Make no mistake: You won’t gain anything through war crimes."

More...