• War with Iran: The US is planning new strikes on Iran as soon as this weekend, officials said. The precise scope of the strikes and potential targets were not clear, and officials also cautioned the strikes could be called off. President Donald Trump signaled the plan Friday, saying ‘we’ll be hitting them very hard.’
• Ship Attack: A tanker was hit by ‘an unknown projectile’ off the coast of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, according to a report from a British maritime monitor. No casualties were reported and it’s unclear who was responsible for the attack.
• Gaza Peace Effort: Trump said the US and Israel are aligned on plans to begin implementing a new agreement in the Palestinian enclave, where Hamas has said it will disarm if Israel upholds its end of a truce. That would mark a critical diplomatic breakthrough, but major questions remain.
A tanker was attacked off the coast of Oman near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, according to a Friday report received by a British maritime monitor. The ship was hit by ‘an unknown projectile,’ which caused damage to its engine room, according to the report from the Royal Navy-sponsored United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
The tanker, which was not named, was hit about 12 miles (20 kilometers) northeast of Lima, Oman, on the southern side of the Strait of Hormuz, the UKMTO said, adding that the ship was not under command and no casualties were reported.
The UKMTO did not say who was responsible for the attack.
The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohammad Bagher Zolqadr, said Friday that Tehran would tighten its declared closure of the strait due to a United States blockade of shipping traffic from or to Iranian ports, according to Iran’s state-run Press TV.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been cut drastically from pre-war levels of around 130 ships per day to only a handful now. The United States is planning fresh strikes on Iran as soon as this weekend as President Donald Trump seeks a resolution to the war, according to two US officials familiar with the plans.
Trump, speaking at a Cabinet meeting earlier Friday, previewed a renewal of heavy strikes while venting anger at diplomatic efforts that have fallen short. US Central Command has prepared options and readied its forces for expanding the war, including a heavy 2-week bombardment of Iran’s missile sites.
There also has been planning around options that would target energy sites, the officials said. The Trump administration has been leery of striking Iran’s energy infrastructure over concern that Tehran could retaliate against Gulf infrastructure sites and shock global energy markets already under strain from the war.
Trump has grown frustrated at Tehran’s unwillingness to bend to his demands, leading to angry meetings behind the scenes and expletive-laced phone calls to his allies, according to US officials. He convened his Cabinet on Friday at Camp David, perhaps hoping to seize inspiration from the retreat’s past role in successful Middle East diplomacy.
“I would blame it on Minnesota and the governor, the corrupt governor of Minnesota. Iran should be so lucky. Iran’s got bigger problems than worrying about Minnesota,” Trump said.
CNN’s Sean Lyngaas contributed to this report.
Back-to-back meetings with US President Donald Trump and an array of international officials’ visits were scheduled this week coincidentally. But they nonetheless underscore the crosscurrents facing Trump as he seeks an exit ramp to a conflict that has extended well past his deadline.
As pressure mounts from fellow Republicans to wind the war down, it actually appears to be expanding, with new fronts opening up and virtually every country in the region now drawn in. Efforts at diplomacy are halting at best; a senior US official said resuming direct diplomacy with Iran does not appear imminent.
Trump has grown frustrated at Tehran’s unwillingness to bend to his demands, leading to angry meetings behind the scenes and expletive-laced phone calls to his allies, according to US officials. He dismissed any connection to Iran, instead using the opportunity to lash out at Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the 2024 Democratic nominee for vice president with whom Trump has long publicly tangled.
Trump has never agreed to a specific disarmament plan before and, if it does come to pass, it would represent a critical step in implementing a lasting peace in Gaza, following a brutal years-long war which has decimated the enclave.
Read how Hamas and Israel reacted to the announcement.
A senior Hamas official confirmed to CNN on Friday that Hamas reached an agreement with the Board of Peace to relinquish its weapons, subject to Israeli actions.
But what exactly is the Board of Peace?
Remember: Trump had initially floated the Board of Peace as part of a second phase of the US-brokered 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan in September.
The United Nations Security Council backed the plan in November — giving it international legitimacy — with a mandate for the board to oversee the demilitarization and rebuilding of Gaza,.
Trump will serve as chairman of the board indefinitely, possibly holding the post beyond his second term as president.
Its members include:
* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
* Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
* Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan
* Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif
* Several other world leaders
The board wrapped up two days of what it called ‘highly productive’ meetings in Cyprus. The meetings — which included experts, advisers and the Palestinian technocratic committee intended to run Gaza — focused on ‘what can be done immediately’ to ‘ease conditions on the ground.’ The group said it reviewed plans for the reconstruction of Gaza, security and governance.
CNN’s Mustafa Qadri, Tal Shalev and Ibrahim Dahman contributed to this report.
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Source: CNN
