CNN: Widening conflict: In a new wave of attacks, Israel said it was launching more strikes across Tehran as well as against what it described as Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut. Separately, Iran launched a drone attack on an Amazon data center in Bahrain, a state-affiliated Iranian news agency said…
New York Times: Republican lawmakers blocked a measure Wednesday that would have limited President Trump’s power to continue waging war against Iran without congressional authorization, even as the conflict expanded into a wider international crisis…
CBC: A U.S. submarine sank a warship with a torpedo off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, dramatically widening Washington’s pursuit of the Iranian navy.
…
Hospital authorities in the Sri Lankan port city of Galle said 87 bodies were brought in by military rescuers who responded to an early morning distress call. Another 32 were rescued and were being treated at hospital and about 60 people were likely unaccounted for from an estimated 180 people on board, Sri Lankan authorities said…
New York Times: Pro-American, Iranian Kurdish forces based in Iraq are preparing armed units that could enter Iran, creating a potential new front in an already expanding conflict, according to Iraqi officials and senior members of Iranian Kurdish groups…
Financial Times: Israel is preparing for a multi-week military onslaught alongside the US to fully “dismantle” key pillars of Iran’s theocratic state and the Revolutionary Guards that protect the Islamic republic, said current and former Israeli officials…
New York Times: The United States is dominating the skies above Iran. But math is not necessarily on America’s side. Iran is using low-cost drones for precision attacks in the Middle East. The United States and its allies have air defense systems capable of intercepting a vast majority of Iranian ballistic missiles and drones, which are sophisticated yet costly…
Bloomberg: President Donald Trump expressed confidence in the US military campaign against Iran even as the timeline for operations remained deeply unclear on the fifth day of the Middle East war.
“We’re doing very well on the war front,” Trump said Wednesday at the White House, adding that for “47 years, they’ve been killing our people and killing people from all over the world, and I think we have great support.”…
Wall Street Journal: The leaders of Britain and Spain ratcheted up their war of words with the president on Wednesday, spelling out why they didn’t back the U.S. attack on Iran, calling it both illegal and unwise.
“We can’t play Russian roulette with the destiny of millions of people,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said. “The powers involved in this conflict should immediately stop the hostilities.”…
Washington Post: By criticizing the U.S.-led attack and refusing to bow to Trump’s threat of trade retaliation, Pedro Sánchez set himself apart from other European leaders…
More:
Gulf states in race to secure more US interceptors
The cynical opportunities of ‘Epic Fury’
Trump’s Shifting Iran Strategies Risk a Chaotic Global Endgame
From Hamas attack to U.S. war with Iran, violence forges a new Middle East
Spain’s Leader, Rejecting Iran War, Escalates Long Feud With Trump
Newsom Compares Israel to ‘Apartheid State,’ Questions Military Support