Trump defends war with Iran, says ‘we cannot let lunatics have a nuclear weapon’
President Donald Trump on Friday defended Operation Epic Fury against Iran, telling an audience in Florida that “we cannot let lunatics have a nuclear weapon.” He added that Tehran’s military capabilities have been significantly degraded.
Iran pushes proposal to delay nuclear talks, ties them to US ending blockade, Hormuz reopening first
A senior Iranian official indicated Saturday that the regime is pushing for a deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and lift the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports, while tabling negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program for later, Reuters reported. Iran submitted a new proposal to Pakistan on Friday, as a second round of face-to-face talks with the U.S. there has twice failed to materialize in the past few weeks.
President Donald Trump has consistently rejected the notion of lifting the U.S. military's blockade on Iranian ports without a deal ensuring the regime would not be able to obtain a nuclear weapon.
Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday, "They're asking for things that I can't agree to."
"They want to make a deal," Trump said. "I'm not satisfied with it... Iran wants to make a deal because they have no military left, essentially."
The senior Iranian official categorized the new framework's shifting of nuclear talks to a later stage as a significant step towards achieving a deal to end the war, Reuters reported. The regime's terms are that the war ends with the U.S. lifting the blockade on Iranian ports, Iran opening the Strait of Hormuz and a guarantee that the U.S. and Israel would not attack again.
Future talks would then be held on Iran limiting its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, with Iran also asking the U.S. to recognize its right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, Reuters reported. The official said this proposal had been formally presented to the U.S. through mediators.
"Under this framework, negotiations over the more complicated nuclear issue have been moved to the final stage to create a more conducive atmosphere," the Iranian official told Reuters.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
Trump told reporters at the White House Friday that the U.S. has "tremendous respect" for the Pakistani mediators in Islamabad and the negotiations were continuing "telephonically," noting Iran's leadership is "very disjointed."
"They all want to make a deal, but they're all messed up," Trump said.
In remarks in Florida later Friday, Trump reiterated his stance. "You cannot give Iran a nuclear weapon," Trump said. "Because they will use it on a place called Israel very quickly, and they would use it in the Middle East, and they'd use it in Europe, and I guess we'd be next. And it's not going to happen."
Fox News Digital's Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
Germany says US troop withdrawal was 'anticipated'
German defense minister Boris Pistorius said Saturday that “It was anticipated that the U.S. might withdraw troops from Europe, including Germany,” amid President Donald Trump’s escalating feud with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
"The Secretary of War has ordered the withdrawal of approximately 5,000 troops from Germany," chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told Fox News Digital on Friday.
The redeployment comes amid Trump's feud with Merz and other NATO allies after tensions over their response to the conflict involving Iran. Merz, speaking Monday, criticized the U.S. approach to Iran, saying Washington was being "humiliated by the Iranian leadership" and expressing hope the conflict would end "as quickly as possible."
“It was anticipated that the U.S. might withdraw troops from Europe, including Germany,” Pistorius said Saturday, according to Politico.
He reportedly added that "if we are to remain transatlantic, we must strengthen the European pillar within NATO.”
Fox News Digital's Brittany Miller contributed to this report.
Israel’s military strikes Hezbollah 50 times in last 24 hours
An Israeli military spokesperson said Saturday that the Israel Defense Forces have carried out approximately 50 airstrikes against the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon over the last 24 hours.
“The Israel Defense Forces continue to target terrorist infrastructure and eliminate saboteurs in southern Lebanon,” Lt. Col. Ella Waweya wrote on X.
“Among the targets that were attacked: command headquarters from which saboteurs of the terrorist organization set out, buildings used for military purposes, and additional terrorist infrastructure,” she added. “The headquarters and military buildings that were attacked were used by saboteurs of the terrorist organization Hezbollah to advance terrorist plots against the Israel Defense Forces and the State of Israel.”
IDF Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee also issued a warning Saturday for residents of multiple Lebanese towns and villages to evacuate.
“In light of the terrorist Hezbollah party violating the ceasefire agreement, the Defense Army is compelled to act against it forcefully. The Defense Army does not intend to harm you,” he said.
Iran’s killer drones increase slaughter in Sudan amid world’s forgotten war
Iran is once again being accused of playing a deadly role in yet another conflict, this time by supplying attack drones to one of the sides in the predominantly Muslim nation of Sudan’s deadly civil war — drones that are indiscriminately killing women and children.
The war, now in its fourth year, has, according to some accounts, seen as many as 400,000 deaths since the conflict began on April 15, 2023. More than 11 million have been displaced, giving rise to the worst displacement crisis in the world.
Mariam Wahba, research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) told Fox News Digital that, "Iran has supplied the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) with drones, specifically the Mohajer-6, manufactured by Qods Aviation Industries, a U.S.-sanctioned entity, since 2013."
The State Department has hit out against the use of drones against civilians in the ongoing war in Sudan, with the SAF alleged to use Iranian drones widely against the population. An Iranian woman is also in federal custody in California after being arrested earlier this month for an alleged plot to supply Sudan with more Iranian drones.
Documented cases show both the SAF and the rebel militia they are fighting, the Rapid Support Forces, (RSF), are increasingly using drones against civilians.
Wahba said that "between Dec. 2023 and July 2024, at least seven cargo flights traveled between Iran and Sudan, likely transporting drones and component parts. On April 19, an Iranian-born U.S. resident was arrested at LAX (Los Angeles International airport) for allegedly brokering a $70 million deal to supply Mohajer-6 systems and other hardware to Sudan’s Ministry of Defense, indicating the transfers are likely ongoing."
'Killing off the country': Iran executes dozens, arrests 4,000+ in war crackdown
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Tuesday accused Iran’s regime of dramatically intensifying its crackdown on dissent in the wake of the February conflict, warning that Tehran has carried out executions, mass arrests, torture and one of the world’s longest internet shutdowns while invoking national security.
In a sharply worded statement from Geneva, Türk said at least 21 people have been executed and more than 4,000 arrested on national security-related charges since Feb. 28, as the regime faces mounting scrutiny over what he described as a sweeping assault on fundamental rights.
"I am appalled that, on top of the already severe impacts of the conflict, the rights of the Iranian people continue to be stripped from them by the authorities, in harsh and brutal ways," Türk said.
Since the start of the conflict two months ago, the U.N. said nine people have been executed in connection with the January 2026 protests, 10 for alleged membership in opposition groups, and two on espionage charges. It's estimated that some 40,000 people were killed by regime forces during January's uprising.
Türk warned that Iran’s broad use of vaguely defined national security laws has enabled authorities to fast-track prosecutions, deny legal counsel, and rely on coerced confessions.
"Even where national security is invoked, human rights can only be limited where strictly necessary and proportionate," he said, calling on Tehran to halt executions, impose a moratorium on capital punishment, and immediately release those arbitrarily detained.
Pentagon orders withdrawal of 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany as Trump escalates feud with Merz
The Pentagon will withdraw 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany, a spokesperson confirmed to Fox News Digital.
The redeployment comes amid President Donald Trump’s escalating feud with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and other NATO allies after tensions over their response to the conflict involving Iran.
"The Secretary of War has ordered the withdrawal of approximately 5,000 troops from Germany," chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told Fox News Digital.
"This decision follows a thorough review of the Department’s force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground.
"We expect the withdrawal to be completed over the next six to twelve months."
About 38,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Germany, where U.S. European Command is headquartered at Ramstein Air Base. The base and other American installations have long served as key logistics hubs and command centers supporting U.S. military operations in Europe and the Middle East.
Merz, speaking Monday in Marsberg, criticized the U.S. approach to Iran, saying Washington was being "humiliated by the Iranian leadership" and expressing hope the conflict would end "as quickly as possible."
Trump defends Iran war: 'We cannot let lunatics have a nuclear weapon’
President Donald Trump on Friday defended the war with Iran as necessary to prevent the regime from having a nuclear weapon.
“We cannot let lunatics have a nuclear weapon," Trump said during remarks at The Villages in Florida.
The president acknowledged he expected more severe economic fallout but said he had to do “what's right.”
“I thought the numbers would be much worse. I thought the stock market would go down much more. I thought the oil prices would go up much more," Trump said. “I said, 'But we have no choice. Whether it does or doesn't, I have to do what's right.' We can't let them have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump also claimed Iran’s military capabilities have been significantly degraded.
“They're getting decimated. They have no Navy. They have no air force, they have no anti-aircraft equipment. They have no radar. They have no leaders. Their leaders are all gone.”
Yesterday's Fox News Digital liveblog has additional coverage of the Iran conflict.
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