⚠️ U.S.-IRAN TALKS SHIFT TO HORMUZ AS ISRAEL SANCTIONS IRGC CRYPTO WALLETS, SECURITY INCIDENTS CONTINUE ACROSS THE REGION
🔸 U.S.-IRAN TALKS FOCUS ON THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ: U.S. and Iranian negotiators have resumed talks in Doha, with the Strait of Hormuz now the primary focus of discussions.
According to Axios, Washington is urging Tehran to abandon plans to impose transit tolls in the strait, arguing that Iran would gain far more from sanctions relief under a broader nuclear agreement than from charging commercial vessels. A U.S. official said the message to Iran was to "think bigger," describing sanctions relief as "100 times more valuable" than imposing shipping tolls.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister said it was agreed during meetings with Qatar that part of Iran's $6 billion in frozen assets will be be used to purchase goods according to Iran's needs.
Axios also reported that Iran and the United States agreed to avoid any confrontation in the Strait of Hormuz for at least one week.
⚓ U.S. NAVY HELICOPTER MAKES EMERGENCY WATER LANDING: The U.S. 5th Fleet announced that an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter assigned to the USS George H.W. Bush made an emergency water landing in the Arabian Sea.
Three of the four crew members were rescued in stable condition. Search efforts remain underway for the fourth crew member.
The U.S. 5th Fleet said there is no indication the incident was caused by hostile action, and an investigation has been launched. This marks the second U.S. military helicopter incident in the region in recent weeks.
🇺🇸 PRESIDENT TRUMP COMMENTS ON IRAN: President Trump was asked about a Washington Post report that he considered returning to an all-out war to "finish the job."
He responded: "The Iranians have come a long way. We hit them very hard last week. I think they are fine."
❌ ISRAEL SANCTIONS IRGC CRYPTO WALLETS: Defense Minister Israel Katz signed sanctions against 37 cryptocurrency wallets linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), containing more than NIS 24 million (approximately $7 million) in digital assets.
The Ministry of Defense's National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing, working with the Israeli intelligence community, uncovered a cryptocurrency-based financing network used by the IRGC to transfer funds to Iranian-backed terrorist organizations, primarily Hezbollah.
Investigators said the network has transferred tens of millions of dollars to terrorist organizations over the years. They added that Hezbollah has increasingly relied on this funding following the heavy losses it suffered during the war with Israel.
Israeli officials said the sanctions are part of the ongoing economic campaign targeting the financial infrastructure of Iran's proxy network, including Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis. The operation resulted from coordinated intelligence, operational, and legal efforts by the National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing and other Israeli security agencies.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said the campaign against Iran "is fought not only on the battlefield, but also in the struggle against the money that fuels terrorism," adding that every dollar denied to the IRGC is a dollar that cannot reach Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, or other Iranian-backed terrorist organizations.
He pledged that Israel will continue targeting Iran's financing channels "wherever it operates and by every available means."
National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing Director Yorai Matzlaui said that "even in the cryptocurrency space, there is no immunity for those who finance terrorism," adding that Israel will continue identifying, exposing, and disrupting Iran's financial infrastructure wherever it operates.
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