Iran | DD News

August 15, 2026 2:23 AM

Trump’s Secret Flight: When Presidential Security Means Keeping Everyone Guessing

The most extraordinary detail about Donald Trump’s secret aircraft switch in Ankara may be the catering truck. But the real story is not the truck. It is why U.S. security officials decided that the President’s location had to be concealed, even from some of the people travelling with him. https://youtu.be/0soVPVUnnRc?si=sSp85w74_92398Kl On July 8, after the NATO summit in Ankara, Trump publicly boarded the familiar blue-and-white Air Force One. Cameras filmed him climbing the stairs. Jour...

August 14, 2026 12:36 AM

Iran, US make competing claims over control of Strait of Hormuz

The Strait of Hormuz is "under Iran's control and management", the recently appointed head of Iran's Basij paramilitary unit said on Thursday, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States had "total control" of the strategic waterway. Hossein Taeb said the U.S. had sought to disrupt what he described as the Islamic Republic's popularity in the region by launching another war in the Strait of Hormuz, but had once more been defeated despite claiming Iran had neither an air force...

August 14, 2026 12:32 AM

US can keep naval blockade on Iranian ports ‘indefinitely,’ Pentagon chief says

The U.S. military has enough assets to maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday, adding ships could be rotated in and out of the region as needed. Hegseth's comments suggest he is advising U.S. President Donald Trump that the U.S. military can keep applying economic pressure on Iran for as long as needed to help so-far failed negotiations to end the conflict, begun in February. "Indefinitely the United States Navy can maintain a blockade l...

August 14, 2026 12:26 AM

After US criticism, Israel ties Lebanon withdrawal to Hezbollah disarmament

Israel won't withdraw from southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed, the defence minister said on Thursday, qualifying remarks he made a day earlier that had suggested Israeli forces would occupy the territory indefinitely and drew U.S. criticism. Israel seized a swath of south Lebanon during a war with Hezbollah earlier this year and has said it will keep forces there to shield northern Israel from attack by the Iran-backed group, which ignited the latest hostilities when it opened fire at...

August 13, 2026 9:43 AM

Trump claims US has ‘total control’ of Hormuz

US President Donald Trump has said the United States has “total control” over the Strait of Hormuz and indicated that Washington intends to retain its hold over the strategic waterway. “The U.S.A. has total control over the Strait of Hormuz. I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. The US President described the naval blockade in sweeping terms. He said Iran could do nothing to challenge it. “Our Naval Blockade is being called, by everyone, ‘A WALL OF STEEL,...

August 8, 2026 1:21 AM

Trump loses 21 straight court battles for state voter rolls as midterms near

The Trump administration's streak of courtroom defeats in its effort to obtain state voter rolls reached 21 this year when a judge ruled this week that states are not required to share the records with the federal government. With President Donald Trump's Republicans defending slim majorities in both chambers of Congress, his administration has mounted an aggressive effort to expand federal oversight of elections ahead of the November 3 midterms. Trump argues that widespread noncitizen voting ...

August 5, 2026 11:19 PM

Trump says US held ‘all-day negotiation’ with Iran on Tuesday

U.S. President Donald Trump said there was an "all-day negotiation" on Tuesday with Iran, characterizing the talks positively while also threatening to hit Iran "really hard" if a deal with Tehran was not reached. DETAILS AND QUOTES: "They had an all-day negotiation," Trump told Fox News' "@ Night with Trace Gallagher" show. "We are having very good discussions," he added. Qatar said on Tuesday mediators were making progress in efforts to end the Iran war, although Tehran has denied Trump's ...

August 5, 2026 12:43 AM

Qatar says progress made toward US-Iran talks on ending war

Qatar said on Tuesday mediators were making progress in efforts to end the U.S.-Iran war, driving oil prices lower, although Tehran has denied President Donald Trump's assertion that talks are already under way. Benchmark Brent crude fell more than 4% after the comments from Qatar, extending Monday's steep losses on hopes that an arrangement could soon be reached to restore traffic through the blockaded Strait of Hormuz. But for now, the strait remained virtually shut, with another ship coming ...

August 4, 2026 12:19 AM

Trump says Iran faces ‘decapitation’ if it doesn’t strike deal

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said Iran faced "decapitation" if it did not agree a pact to end the conflict between the two nations, saying Tehran had one last chance to strike a deal. "I think we're going to maybe get something, but I want to give them every last chance before decapitation," he said, reiterating a threat to launch a major attack on Iran. Earlier on Monday, after Iran said there were no talks under way, Trump slammed what he called Iran's "unbelievably duplicitous" lea...

August 4, 2026 12:16 AM

Analysis: How Iran is widening its pressure campaign to force US concessions

Iran is betting it can outlast Washington by turning the Middle East's trade routes, shipping lanes and energy infrastructure into pressure points that steadily raise the cost of confrontation, according to Gulf officials and analysts. Rather than seeking a decisive military victory, Tehran is pursuing a strategy of calibrated escalation aimed at widening the conflict without triggering full-scale war. The goal, they say, is to convince the United States and its allies that containing the cris...