Middle East

President Trump on Saturday canceled plans for two of his top advisers to go to Pakistan. Earlier, Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, left Pakistan after holding discussions with the country’s leaders. Read more 

Both the United States and Iran are blocking the transit of ships through the waterway, which remains a critical issue in peace talks. Read more ›

Headline USA - The cost of the US war with Iran was not included in President Donald Trump’s request for a massive $1.5 trillion military budget for 2027, according to a Pentagon budget official. “This budget was formulated, honestly, before we went into conflict with Iran,” Jules Hurst III, the Pentagon’s acting chief financial officer, told reporters on April 21, according to USA Today. The record-shattering budget is a nearly 50% increase over this year’s $1 trillion budget, but the Trump administration is going to ask Congress for even more military spending to make up for depleted weapons and other military operations related to the Iran war.

The Hill -  Iran said it will not meet directly with the U.S. in upcoming talks mediated by Pakistan, despite a contrary statement from the White House earlier Friday. “No meeting is planned to take place between Iran and the U.S. Iran’s observations would be conveyed to Pakistan,” Esmaeil Baqaei, a spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, said in a social media post Friday afternoon. Diplomats from Iran and the U.S. are expected to engage in negotiations facilitated by Pakistani officials in Islamabad this weekend. 

NBC News -   American military bases and other equipment in the Persian Gulf region suffered extensive damage from Iranian strikes that is far worse than publicly acknowledged and is expected to cost billions of dollars to repair, according to three U.S. officials, two congressional aides and another person familiar with the damage.

The Iranian regime swiftly retaliated after the U.S. military attacked on Feb. 28, hitting dozens of targets across American bases in seven Middle East countries. Those attacks struck warehouses, command headquarters, aircraft hangars, satellite communications infrastructure, runways, high-end radar systems and dozens of aircraft, according to the U.S. officials and an assessment by the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C.

....The Pentagon has not detailed the extent of the damage publicly or, according to the U.S. officials, to members of Congress. Some Republican lawmakers privately expressed frustration about the Pentagon’s refusal to provide information about the damage or cost of repairs, according to two GOP congressional aides.