Trump's & Israel's Middle East war

The Hill -  The Pentagon said on Tuesday that about 140 U.S. service members have been wounded since the U.S. war with Iran kicked off late last month. “Since the start of Operation Epic Fury, approximately 140 U.S. service members have been wounded over 10 days of sustained attacks,” Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement to The Hill.

Heather Cox Richardson - Today, administration officials gave a classified briefing to the Senate Armed Services Committee about the war in Iran. Democrats who spoke to the press afterward appeared to be furious.

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) told reporters he was coming out of the briefing “as dissatisfied and angry, frankly, as I have from any past briefing in my 15 years in the Senate. I am left with more questions than answers, especially about the cost of the war. My questions have been unanswered. And I will demand answers because the American people deserve to know.”

“I am most concerned about the threat to American lives, of potentially deploying our sons and daughters on the ground in Iran. We seem to be on a path toward deploying American troops on the ground in Iran…and there is also, as disturbingly as anything else, the specter of active Russian aid to Iran, putting in danger American lives. Literally, Russia seems to be aiding our enemy, actively and intensively, with intelligence and perhaps with other means, and China, also, may be assisting Iran.”

“So, the American people deserve to know much more than this administration has told them about the cost of the war, the danger to our sons and daughters in uniform, and the potential for further escalation and widening of this war, a war of choice made by this president, not chosen by the American people, with potentially huge consequences to American lives.”

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) noted on social media that the administration appears to have no goals for the war except continued bombing, and no plan for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) was obviously frustrated that the administration is giving out information only under the cloak of classified briefings, making it hard for elected officials to communicate with their constituents about the war. “[W]e’ve been calling over and over again for them to come out of the classified briefings, to allow us to have these conversations, as much as we can, in an open setting, not just with the press, but with the American people, and with our constituents. With our men and women who serve in the military with their families, who are waiting home for them.”

Time -   After nearly two weeks of U.S.-Israeli airstrikes, Iranians describe a country exhausted and uncertain. Bombing campaigns that targeted military sites and security infrastructure have also damaged police stations, fuel depots and power facilities.

Electricity is intermittent in parts of the country. Gasoline is rationed. Communications remain unreliable. And the regime, despite thousands of strikes, still stands.

“What I’m feeling is an intense fear for the future of this country,” said Kamran, a Tehran resident who, like all other Iranians TIME spoke to for this story, asked to use a pseudonym because of fear of regime reprisals.

“All of our infrastructure is going up in flames—military, economic, even electricity now. We don’t have the capital or technology to rebuild them. The economy had already tanked under the mismanagement of the regime, but what we’ll be facing after the dust settles will probably be more akin to famine and starvation.”

Trump steps into a minefield with no clear escape

Join the Flyover - The Pentagon said Tuesday that 140 U.S. service members have been wounded over 10 days of sustained attacks since the start of Operation Epic Fury. The majority of injuries were minor, and 108 have already returned to duty.

Eight service members remain severely injured and are receiving the highest level of care. Seven have been killed, including Army Sgt. Benjamin Pennington, 26, of Kentucky, whose dignified transfer took place Monday at Dover Air Force Base with Vice President JD Vance in attendance.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said that Tuesday was the "most intense" day of strikes yet, vowing the U.S. "will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated."

The White House said more than 5,000 targets have been struck, and Iran's ballistic missile attacks are down over 90%. The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively shut, and an Iranian drone strike forced the United Arab Emirate's biggest oil refinery to halt operations.

Bloomberg - The US war effort against Iran is showing signs of strain due to Tehran’s extensive arsenal of missiles and drones. The latest headlines: The UK Navy said three ships were hit with projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf. Donald Trump, in a series of social media posts, warned Iran against laying mines in the Strait and threatened to blow up any ship attempting to do so.

NBC - Evidence is mounting that the U.S. was responsible for the deadly school strike in southern Iran as images emerged showing fragments of American-made missiles.

NPR - The U.S. and Israel's war on Iran has entered Day 12 with no end in sight. The Trump administration yesterday promised its most aggressive strikes on Iran, while Israel intensified its offensive in Lebanon. Meanwhile, the Iranian government announced that it now considers banks and economic centers in the Middle East potential targets. Iranians revealed that one of their banks has already been targeted. 

The internet across Iran has been cut, and many people are afraid to share their experiences due to potential government retaliation, NPR’s Aya Batrawy tells Up First. People escaping Tehran through the Turkish border tell NPR they left because the sky is red from bombs, and multi-story buildings lie in ruins. There is still no word from Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei. Batrawy says reports suggest he was injured in the attack that killed his father, who was the former supreme leader. However,  Batrawy says there is no way to independently confirm this claim.