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https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/iran-war-news-2026/card/mediators-latest-efforts-to-reach-cease-fire-hit-dead-end-g4ee6afUWAumzrGuZ1N7?mod=WSJ_home_mediumtopper_lctimeline

https://www.nbcnews.com/world/iran/live-blog/live-updates-iran-war-trump-strike-b-1-bridge-tehran-hormuz-israel-rcna266522

https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/iran-war-us-trump-warns-more-coming-oil-gas-strait-hormuz/

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Today we have news that a US F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down over Iran. As of this recording the status of the two crew members is unknown and search operations are ongoing. Hopefully both are returned home safely but we also now face the real possibility that American airmen end up in Iranian captivity. That is the type of thing that could drastically alter the course of the war.

https://www.twz.com/air/photos-of-f-15e-wreckage-emerge-amid-iranian-claims-it-shot-down-an-american-fighter

https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/02/politics/iran-missiles-us-military-strikes-trump?cid=ios_app

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Today we're looking at recent targeting changes by the US and Israel that signal a shift towards total war in the Middle East. To be clear, Iran has been targeting exclusively civilian infrastructure from the start of this conflict but in recent days we've seen the US start to offer up targets that range from dual-use to almost exclusively civilian in nature. This is the trend towards total war, a style of fighting we haven't engaged in since Vietnam.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/31/world/middleeast/tehran-pharmaceutical-strike-israel.html

https://www.axios.com/2026/04/02/trump-iran-bridge-stone-age

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Dzyga's Paw campaign: https://dzygaspaw.com/lightning-strike?project=Lightning+Strike

Controversy in Ukraine as the 425th is accused of carrying out a careless attack towards Pokrovsk. We get into the allegations and response from the unit in today's video. Ukrainian deep strikes continue to cause real damage taking out drones, planes and oil facilities inside of Russia.

https://kyivindependent.com/failed-mechanized-attack-near-pokrovsk-ignites-online-storm-in-ukraine-over-assault-regiments-tactics/

https://t.me/ssternenko/56937

https://t.me/skala425/827

https://t.me/robert_magyar/2161

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/insight/ukraine-strikes-ust-luga-oil-terminal-again/gm-GME95C73B0?gemSnapshotKey=GME95C73B0-snapshot-11&ocid=msedgntp

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/01/russia-military-plane-crash-crimea-ukraine

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Today we're looking at what President Trump's speech might entail tonight as new reports come out about how frustrated they are about our allies lack of participation in the fight to open the Strait of Hormuz. 

Financial Times Article: https://www.ft.com/content/d304071a-ca97-4b3b-be93-ff880a6645c3?shareType=nongift&syn-25a6b1a6=1

Sal video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-DONyuir9I

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Chuyka fundraiser: https://donorbox.org/drone-feed-interceptors-for-3ab

Blue Bird Tech: https://www.blue-bird.tech/en/

Thank you so much to the Blue Bird team for taking the time to chat today! Incredible how fast these technologies are changing on the battlefield.

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Drone fundraiser for the Ukrainian 26th BDE: https://dzygaspaw.com/lightning-strike?project=Lightning%20Strike

Today we're joined by Maksym Khorolskii, an OSINT specialist at Molfar. Maksym talks us through a recent open source investigation where the Molfar team was able to use a Russian social media post to locate an air defense position in Crimea. If interested, the source report and more about Molfar can be found at the links below.

Source report: https://www.molfar.institute/en/a-russian-blogger-exposed-the-location-of-an-air-defense-unit-in-crimea-a-geoint-case-and-search-algorithm/

Molfar Institute: https://www.molfar.institute/en/

Senezh video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgAMc4GOU4U

Drone factory video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCMX8kxaicU

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So the Houthis have joined the war in the Middle East, which isn't great and adds some complexity to an already difficult situation. We look at the ways the Houthis may try to influence events and what that could mean for the larger war effort. Additional, a new piece by Nadav Eyal raises the suggestion that Iranian leadership may be living in a fantasy land, unaware of the damage inflicted to their military. If that's the case, we shouldn't expect them at the negotiating table anytime soon. 

Sources:

https://www.nadaveyal.com/p/irans-dangerous-perception-of-victory

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An Iranian drone and missile attack hit a US base in Saudi Arabia and has resulted in multiple aircraft damaged and ten servicemembers wounded. Satellite imagery appears to confirm these reports and also shows that we're parking aircraft in the open, inside of Iranian drone and missile range, one month into the start of this conflict. That's unacceptable. We've seen how vulnerable airfields are to cheap drones and there needs to be more done to defend against this new threat.

https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/iran-war-middle-east-news-updates?mod=WSJ_home_mediumtopper_pos_1

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-can-only-confirm-about-third-irans-missile-arsenal-destroyed-sources-say-2026-03-27/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-bombs-2-irgc-linked-steel-plants-2-nuclear-facilities-as-iran-vows-revenge/

Substack: https://prestonstew.substack.com/

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