Saudi defense ministry intercepts 3 drones in eastern region

A video received by Iran International on Saturday shows the destruction of Iranian missile launchers stored in a warehouse inside a mountain near the town of Zarrinabad in Zanjan province in northwest Iran following US and Israeli strikes.

The Pentagon is deploying thousands of additional Marines and sailors to the Middle East as Iran intensifies attacks on the Strait of Hormuz, Newsmax reported on Saturday.

The USS Tripoli amphibious assault ship which carries about 2,500 sailors and Marines, along with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, is joining the region after operations in the Philippine Sea, while additional vessels are also being sent, according to senior US military officials.

President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Iran is ready to negotiate a ceasefire amid ongoing US strikes, including on Kharg Island, but he rejected the current terms as insufficient.

“Iran wants to make a deal, and I don’t want to make it because the terms aren’t good enough yet," NBC News cited Trump during a telephone interview. “We totally demolished Kharg Island, but we may hit it a few more times just for fun.”

Trump also raised doubts about the well-being of the new supreme leader in Iran, saying he might not even be alive.

"I don’t know if he’s even alive. So far, nobody’s been able to show him,” Trump said. “I’m hearing he’s not alive, and if he is, he should do something very smart for his country, and that’s surrender.”

Asked about the future of the regime, Trump said there are channels open with some leaders in Iran who might be qualified candidates.

“We have people that are living who would be great leaders for the future of the country," Trump said. When asked if he is in touch with any of the potential leaders, he declined to give details, saying: “I don’t want to say that. I don’t want to put them in jeopardy.”

A Saudi Ministry of Defense spokesman said on Saturday that a drone was successfully intercepted and destroyed in the Eastern Province.

Iranians across social media are sharing images of past tragedies tied to state mismanagement, repression and neglect, building a crowdsourced archive under a hashtag in recent days to argue the country’s suffering long predates the current war.

A growing trend across Persian-language social media has turned timelines into a collective archive of national trauma, with users posting photos and videos of disasters they link to the Islamic Republic’s governance over the past four decades.

The campaign, organized loosely around the hashtag #ThisIsNotAWarPhoto, responds to comments circulating online that the current conflict is destroying Iran and harming ordinary people. Participants counter that the country has already endured decades of devastation under its own rulers.

Continue reading