Red Intel

• U.S. President Donald J. Trump has declared that any prospective arrangement with Iran would mandate an absolute halt to uranium enrichment and entail the joint excavation and removal of all buried enriched material by American and Iranian efforts. The president also noted that the matter of sanctions relief would feature prominently in the forthcoming negotiations. These remarks were delivered even as Iran persists in launching military strikes against both Israel and its neighboring states in the Persian Gulf.

• Saudi outlet Al-Arabiya reports that despite the existence of a ceasefire agreement, Iran unleashed a substantial aerial assault on Gulf Arab states this morning, launching 94 drones alongside 23 missiles. Kuwait's defense statement detailed that its forces grappled with an intense wave of 28 Iranian drones, acknowledging that some of these managed to penetrate defenses and strike essential oil facilities, power plants, and water desalination infrastructure in the southern region, inflicting significant material damage. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense of the United Arab Emirates confirmed that its air defenses intercepted 17 Iranian ballistic missiles and 35 drones during the onslaught. The Habshan gas complex sustained damage from falling debris, which ignited fires and resulted in minor injuries to three individuals. In Bahrain, officials stated that their forces intercepted 6 Iranian missiles and 31 drones since the morning hours, though fallen shrapnel caused damage to a number of houses in the Sitra area.

• Vice President JD Vance indicated on Wednesday that a resolution to the conflict remains achievable if Iran approaches negotiations with the United States in good faith, while acknowledging the current state of affairs as a "fragile truce." Speaking during a visit to Hungary, Vance relayed the president's directive. "The President of the United States has told me … go and work in good faith to come to an agreement," he said. He added, "If the Iranians are willing in good faith to work with us, I think we can make an agreement." The vice president outlined that the foundation of the truce rests on a mutual understanding where the U.S. and its partners agreed to halt strikes on Iran, and in return, Tehran consented to reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Vance noted that Donald Trump is eager for swift advancement on the matter and has explicitly instructed his negotiating team to secure a deal.

• Footage released by Hezbollah captures the moment an FPV drone struck an IDF Merkava tank positioned in Naqoura, located in southern Lebanon.

• A statement identified as No. 55 and issued by Colonel Saud Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi, the official spokesman for Kuwait's Ministry of Defense, details an intense wave of what it calls hostile Iranian criminal attacks that Kuwaiti air defenses have been confronting since 8:00 a.m. local time. The statement reports that 28 drones aimed at the State of Kuwait have been intercepted thus far. While the Kuwaiti Armed Forces managed to bring down a significant number of the hostile unmanned aircraft, some of the projectiles reportedly struck vital oil infrastructure, power generation stations, and water desalination plants in the country's south, inflicting substantial material damage. The General Staff of the Army affirmed that it is exerting maximum effort to monitor and counter these treacherous targeting attempts. The statement concluded with a prayer for the safety and security of Kuwait.

• A salvo of missiles originating from Iran has reportedly been launched in the direction of the United Arab Emirates. Air defense systems are actively engaging to counter the incoming threat.

• BREAKING: Despite the declared ceasefire, a massive barrage of Iranian missiles and drones has reportedly targeted Kuwait for hours.

• According to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation, the opening round of negotiations aimed at securing a deal to conclude the war between the United States and Iran is slated to convene in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Friday, Barak Ravid reports.

• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia has announced the kingdom's approval of the ceasefire agreement struck between Iran and the United States. In its statement, Saudi Arabia also commended the efforts undertaken by Pakistan to facilitate the arrangement.

• BREAKING: The IDF has issued a direct warning to civilians in Lebanon, telling them to stay away from their residences in the country's south. Israeli officials have underscored that the newly announced ceasefire with Iran carries no weight when it comes to ongoing military actions against Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shiite militia, across southern Lebanon.

• Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf has been tapped to steer the Iranian negotiating team in Friday's discussions with U.S. Vice President JD Vance in Islamabad, Pakistan according to the ISNA news agency of Iran report.

• A vehicle traveling on the Qasmiyeh highway in Lebanon was reportedly struck by a drone attack.

• According to a report from Iran's ISNA news agency, Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran's parliament, will lead the Iranian delegation during Friday's negotiations with U.S. Vice President JD Vance in Islamabad, Pakistan.

• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has stated that Israel stands behind U.S. President Donald Trump's choice to put strikes against Iran on hold for a two-week period. The announcement clarified, however, that the pause in hostilities does not extend to the conflict in Lebanon.

• During the two-week pause in hostilities, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz will reportedly be tightly restricted. According to the terms, only around ten to fifteen vessels will receive clearance to transit the waterway, and that passage hinges on approval from Iran, coordination with the IRGC Navy, and the payment of tolls. As part of the arrangement, the United States has also committed to unfreezing all Iranian assets held abroad and will refrain from repositioning any military forces throughout this period. The strait will by no means operate under the "open" status it held previously, even in the event a final agreement is reached. Negotiations during the ceasefire are set to proceed on the basis of Iran's 10-point plan, the specifics of which are outlined in a statement from the Supreme National Security Council. Should those talks collapse, the conflict will resume.

• The two-week halt in fighting between the United States and Iran has been welcomed by both German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

• The IDF has renewed its call for civilians to clear out of Tyre, the coastal city in southern Lebanon. In a post on X, army spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee delivered the message directly: "Urgent warning to the residents of the city of Tyre, specifically in Shabriha… you must evacuate your homes immediately." A map attached to the post identified a specific building marked for attack. The city already falls under a sweeping evacuation zone that encompasses all of southern Lebanon, and its residents have been told to leave multiple times over recent weeks. Lebanese media are also reporting several Israeli strikes elsewhere in the south. Overnight, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office underscored that the two-week pause in hostilities announced for Iran does not apply to the situation in Lebanon.

• According to a statement aired on Iran's state-run news channel IRIB and cited by CNN, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei of Iran has reportedly directed every branch of the military to hold their fire. "This is not the end of the war but all military branches should follow the Supreme Leader's order and cease their fire," the statement declared.

Senior officials told CNN that American journalist Shelly Kittleson has been officially freed from captivity and handed over to the Iraqi government, a week after she was abducted in Baghdad by the Iranian-backed paramilitary group Kataib Hezbollah . The militia said it released Kittleson "on the condition that she leave the country immediately," though the group did not specify whether a prisoner exchange had taken place, as had been previously reported .