Automated bot and AI agent traffic has overtaken human-generated web traffic for the first time ever, reaching this milestone earlier than industry experts anticipated, according to data from major internet hosting service Cloudflare.
The post Cloudflare: Web Traffic from AI & Bots Surpasses Human Internet Activity for First Time in History appeared first on Breitbart.
Global cloud software company Teradata has told its 5,100 employees they will not receive annual salary raises this year as it redirects funds toward AI investments.
The post Chips over People: Cloud Software Company Freezes Annual Salaries to Fund AI Investment appeared first on Breitbart.
Lionsgate Studio's Michael Burns says using AI to make films will save his company "tens and tens of millions of dollars a year."
The post Lionsgate Vice Chair Michael Burns Says AI Will Save Studio ‘Tens Of Millions of Dollars a Year’ appeared first on Breitbart.
S&P Dow Jones Indices announced Thursday it will preserve its existing eligibility criteria for major benchmarks like the S&P 500, effectively closing the door on expedited inclusion for large technology IPOs such as Elon Musk's SpaceX.
The post S&P 500 to Maintain Traditional Requirements, Blocking Fast-Track Entry for SpaceX, AI IPOs appeared first on Breitbart.
House Freedom Caucus conservatives cheered the passage of an amendment to an appropriations bill that would the so-called the Biden-era auto "kill switch."
The post Freedom Caucus Cheers Committee Passage of Provision to End Biden-Era Auto ‘Kill Switch’ appeared first on Breitbart.
An Indiana mayor is under fire for insinuating that people who oppose data centers being built in their area live in "shitty houses."
The post WATCH: Indiana Mayor Suggests Locals Who Oppose Data Centers Are Poor Renters Living in ‘S***y Houses’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Google announced Wednesday it will invest $10 million in water infrastructure projects across Texas communities where the tech giant plans to construct data centers, marking the company's first attempt to quell backlash against massive data centers with insatiable needs for power and water.
The post ‘A Drop in the Bucket’: Google Hopes Committing $10 Million to Texas Water Projects Will End Data Center Controversy appeared first on Breitbart.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has publicly accused tech billionaire Elon Musk of attempting to incite division following the murder of eighteen-year-old Henry Nowak.
The post Prime Minister Keir Starmer Accuses Elon Musk of ‘Trying to Whip Up Division’ in UK over Henry Nowak Murder appeared first on Breitbart.
Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest man, is approaching trillionaire status as SpaceX prepares for its IPO next week.
The post SpaceX IPO Could Make Elon Musk Humanity’s First Trillionaire appeared first on Breitbart.
Chinese spies are posing as online recruiters for fake companies to target individuals with access to classified information and compromise them for Beijing's benefit, Britain's MI5 top intelligence agency warned Wednesday.
The post MI5 Warns Chinese Spies Using Job Websites to Target U.K. Govt Staff appeared first on Breitbart.
The FCC on Wednesday launched a proceeding that seeks to review the agency's nearly $3 billion E-Rate program to ensure that E-Rate-funded networks are being used to protect America's children.
The post FCC’s Brendan Carr Seeks Comment on How to Protect Children from Excessive Screen Time appeared first on Breitbart.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Tuesday announced sanctions against four Iranian digital asset exchanges, including Nobitex, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Iran.
The post U.S. Sanctions Iran’s Biggest Crypto Exchange for Ties to Terrorist IRGC appeared first on Breitbart.
AI may well deliver the productivity boom its champions expect. The risk is that the economy has already begun borrowing against that future before the returns have been earned.
The post Breitbart Business Digest: Is the AI Boom Becoming Too Much of a Good Thing? appeared first on Breitbart.
China’s National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) announced on Monday that the state-run China Central Television (CCTV) has overseen the deletion of some 8,000 AI-altered videos from online platforms.
The post China Begins Banning AI Videos That ‘Vulgarize’ Regime-Approved Media appeared first on Breitbart.
Hezbollah has begun unleashing "game changing" waves of "lethal" nighttime drones against Israel, a defense expert warns, with the attacks contributing to casualties, defense breaches and plunging parts of the border region into chaos, according to reports.
Escalating deployments by Hezbollah had also prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to convene an emergency security meeting on May 30 following a surprise Hezbollah strike, amid reports of "utter chaos" as Israeli forces scrambled to respond.
"These nighttime drones are the very small Category 1 and Category 2 drones," defense expert and Draganfly CEO Cameron Chell told Fox News Digital.
"They are generally used by squads on the ground to go and conduct tactical lethal missions or surveillance missions right in theater immediately. What they are able to do is use thermal sensors to be able to fly at night and use heat signatures to spot IDF troops," he said.
ISRAEL SAYS IT IS STRIKING HEZBOLLAH TARGETS IN LEBANON
"Hezbollah now has nighttime capabilities, which is game changing," Chell added.
"What you will see is an escalation of the use of drones and the innovation of asymmetric warfare in that particular area by Hezbollah," he warned.
Chell’s comments came amid reports of makeshift defenses with nets being deployed against the backdrop of a significant shift in the conflict.
Israeli soldiers have resorted to buying commercial fishing and soccer nets to entangle the incoming aerial threats, according to reports.
"This means that there is a whole other set of countermeasures that the IDF has to put in place, whether it is electronic jamming, net guns or the use of netting just to put in front of installations or in front of vehicles to try to stop the final impact of the drone if it is a strike drone," Chell added.
"The IDF will have to change a lot of their tactics regarding their ability to move around and conduct operations at night. Now they will have to factor in the fact that Hezbollah has nighttime capabilities to at least do observation using thermal cameras, as well as strike capabilities."
Netanyahu called a meeting with top officials following an intense Hezbollah rocket and drone blitz that caught the military off guard on Saturday.
According to a report by Channel 13, the Israeli army was surprised by the scale of the fire as well as Hezbollah's decision to shift its operational policy in response to the expansion of Israel’s ground operations beyond the Litani River.
Reports from the ground described "utter chaos" in parts of the north. While rockets were said to have hit the cities, Hezbollah simultaneously launched waves of drone strikes.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has also touted the militant group’s drone capabilities, calling them an effective weapon against Israeli forces operating near and inside southern Lebanon.
Netanyahu has also described Hezbollah's drone capabilities as a major threat given the difficulty in detecting them.
"Hezbollah have got a supply line or supply chain of some sort set up," Chell added before stating that they are not "using stuff that is groundbreaking; this is very old technology and tactics that they are using."
"That said, somebody is making the equipment available to Hezbollah — whether it is coming via Iran, China, Russia, Afghanistan or the black market, someone is getting enough product and feeding it into their supply chains," Chell warned.
Israeli and Lebanese military delegations opened Pentagon-mediated talks Friday morning in Washington, launching a new U.S.-brokered security coordination track aimed at preventing renewed escalation along the Israel–Lebanon border and shoring up a fragile ceasefire reached in mid-April.
A State Department official told Fox News Digital, "As we have continuously stated, the only path to lasting peace is through direct negotiations between the two sovereign governments."
The discussions mark a shift from diplomatic negotiations into direct military coordination, with talks expected to focus on ceasefire enforcement, border stability, Israeli withdrawal from parts of southern Lebanon and the role of the Lebanese Armed Forces in containing Hezbollah.
ISRAEL MOVES TOWARD CEASEFIRE DEAL WITH HEZBOLLAH: REPORTS
The talks come weeks after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire first reached during the broader regional conflict tied to the U.S.–Iran war. While large-scale fighting has eased, Israeli forces continue operating inside parts of southern Lebanon, and Hezbollah maintains drone and rocket capabilities, keeping tensions high along the border.
The ceasefire was extended on May 15 for another 45 days, creating pressure on both sides to show progress before the current arrangement expires.
But analysts say the central question overshadowing the talks is whether Lebanon can realistically curb Hezbollah’s military power without risking internal collapse.
"This will be the first meeting between representatives of the militaries since the start of the negotiation process between Lebanon and Israel," Ahmad Sharawi, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, told Fox News Digital.
Representing Lebanon in the talks is Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) commander Gen. Rodolphe Haykal, who previously served as commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces in southern Lebanon, an area where Hezbollah maintains a strong presence. Hezbollah is the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist organization designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization.
"What we should expect is talks regarding de-confliction and what the expectations are for the LAF in terms of the broader disarmament plan against Hezbollah’s weapons," he said.
Sharawi said the chances of a broader breakthrough remain limited so long as Hezbollah remains heavily armed and politically entrenched inside Lebanon.
"The biggest obstacle here is that the Lebanese state is yet to present a feasible plan to disarm Hezbollah," he said.
LAWMAKERS QUESTION WHETHER US MOVING FAST ENOUGH TO CAPITALIZE ON HEZBOLLAH'S WEAKENED STATE
He pointed to the terms of the November 2024 ceasefire agreements, which placed responsibility for disarming Hezbollah on the Lebanese state.
"We are yet to see the confiscation of one single bullet from Hezbollah," Sharawi said.
He also warned that Hezbollah’s deep support among Lebanon’s Shiite population complicates any attempt to move toward normalization with Israel.
"There’s a fear of a civil war," he said. "That also accounts for the Lebanese state’s unwillingness to disarm Hezbollah."
The talks opened as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled Israel intends to maintain military pressure on Hezbollah despite the negotiations.
Sharawi argued the Trump administration nevertheless appears determined to push the process forward as part of a broader effort to weaken Iranian influence in the region.
"The reason behind these meetings is that President Trump is really trying to push for a peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon," he said. "Peace between these two countries could really undermine Hezbollah and its influence in Lebanon."
WALTZ SAYS TRUMP HAS CREATED 'BEST CHANCE IN OUR LIFETIME' TO BREAK HEZBOLLAH’S GRIP ON LEBANON
Israeli analysts similarly described the talks less as a breakthrough and more as a strategic signal aimed at Hezbollah.
"The war between us and Hezbollah is continuing," Yossi Kuperwasser, head of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and former head of the Research Division of Israeli Military Intelligence, told Fox News Digital.
"There is no doubt the Lebanese government does not have a monopoly on the use of force in Lebanon."
Kuperwasser said expectations for an immediate diplomatic breakthrough should remain low but argued the talks themselves send an important political message.
"The purpose of these talks is first and foremost to send a message to Hezbollah and also to the Americans," he said. "Both sides are prepared to sit together against Hezbollah and signal that they are moving, even if slowly, toward normalization between Israel and Lebanon."
He argued Hezbollah has been weakened politically and militarily by the ongoing conflict and by growing frustration among Lebanese civilians displaced by the fighting.
"For years, Hezbollah portrayed itself as the defender of Lebanon," Kuperwasser said. "Now many Lebanese see Hezbollah as responsible for the suffering Lebanon is experiencing."
Kuperwasser added that while Israel supports strengthening the Lebanese army, Beirut fears direct confrontation with Hezbollah could ignite another civil war.
"The Lebanese government fears military action against Hezbollah would lead to civil war," he said. "That fear shapes everything."
The talks also come amid mounting domestic pressure inside Israel, where critics of Netanyahu have accused the government of pursuing containment rather than decisive military victory against Hezbollah.
Speaking Friday during a visit to Israel’s northern front, Netanyahu said Israeli forces had crossed the Litani River and were operating across multiple parts of Lebanon.
"We are operating in Beirut, in the Bekaa Valley, across the entire front and striking Hezbollah hard," Netanyahu said.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s leadership is attempting to balance growing American pressure with fears of internal instability and renewed sectarian conflict.
Following Friday's meeting, the Pentagon issued a statement, saying, "Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby hosted military delegations from the State of Israel and the Republic of Lebanon to launch the security track supporting the ongoing talks between the two nations.
"The delegations engaged in productive, military-to-military talks focused on building practical frameworks for regional security and stability. The progress and tangible outcomes from these discussions will directly inform the Department of State-led political track, which is scheduled to reconvene next week.
"The Department of War deeply values its strategic partnerships with both the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). The Department supports Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity, free of armed non-state actors, and welcomes the commitment of both militaries to these historic efforts. These are essential steps toward realizing President Trump's vision for a lasting peace in the Middle East.
"The United States anticipates reconvening soon to continue the security track."
Neither the Israeli Embassy in Washington nor the Lebanese Embassy in Washington immediately responded to requests for comment.
A drone struck an apartment building Friday in Romania, a NATO member, causing an explosion and fire that injured multiple people, local authorities said.
According to Romania’s Ministry of Defense, the incident occurred as Russia carried out an overnight drone attack in neighboring Ukraine near the Romanian border.
"A drone entered Romanian airspace, was tracked by radar systems as far as the Southern area of Galați municipality, and crashed onto the roof of a residential apartment building," the ministry said.
Romania — a member of both NATO and the European Union — has reported more than two dozen incidents involving Russian drones entering its airspace since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine.
NATO SCRAMBLES WARPLANES AS RUSSIA HITS NEAR ROMANIAN BORDER IN UKRAINE
Friday’s incident marked the first time a drone struck a populated area in Romania, resulting in injuries.
Romania’s state news agency reported that a woman and her child were hospitalized with minor injuries, while two other people were treated at the scene for panic attacks.
Following the incident, Romania requested additional anti-drone capabilities from NATO and described the drone’s flight path as a serious violation of international law, according to The Associated Press.
RUSSIAN DRONES TEST NATO'S ARTICLE 5 DEFENSE GUARANTEE AHEAD OF FRIDAY SANCTIONS DEADLINE
Romania’s emergency response agency said the drone struck the apartment building and exploded, sparking a fire on the 10th floor.
The agency said the drone’s entire explosive payload detonated upon impact.
Seventy people were evacuated from the building, authorities said. The fire has since been brought under control.
NEW ROMANIAN LAW MAY HAVE AVERTED NATO CLASH WITH RUSSIA AFTER BORDER STRIKES
The defense ministry said two F-16 fighter jets and a military helicopter were deployed to monitor the Russian attack. The pilots were authorized to shoot down any drones that posed a threat.
The incident came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this week that he was pressing the United States to provide additional Patriot air defense missiles to help counter Russian attacks.
He warned that deliveries to Ukraine were falling dangerously short as the conflict with Iran strains U.S. military resources and stockpiles.
"I believe [the U.S.] must act quicker. We are being very persistent," Zelenskyy told reporters during a visit to Sweden.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
LVIV, Ukraine — As Kyiv takes a massive hit from Russia, another city seeks to carry on amid war. Four years into Russia’s war, the western Ukrainian city of Lviv is trying to master something impossible: how to live normally while surrounded by death.
At 11:30 a.m., the city stops.
Cars freeze in the middle of the street. Pedestrians pause on sidewalks. In the center of town, underneath the tall clock tower that rises above city hall, people bow their heads in silence as another military funeral convoy passes through the streets.
"It happens one to five times a day," a local resident says quietly.
The war feels far from Lviv, until suddenly it doesn’t.
UKRAINE’S BATTLEFIELD IS TRANSFORMING THE FUTURE OF NATO
The city of roughly one million people sits near the Polish border, hundreds of miles from the brutal front lines in eastern Ukraine. But Russian drones and missiles still hit here. Air raid sirens interrupt coffee dates and children’s soccer games. Funeral processions cut through wedding traffic. Entire neighborhoods live between moments of beauty and grief.
"We lost approximately 2,000 citizens of Lviv," Mayor Andriy Sadovyi told Fox News Digital during an interview at city hall. "It is a very huge price which we pay to our independence, to our democracy."
Sadovyi has led the city for nearly two decades, except for a brief presidential run. Inside his office overlooking the historic center, he proudly points to the terrace where he has hosted world leaders and celebrities, including actor Tom Cruise. At one point, a large well-fed cat jumps onto his desk.
"This is my deputy," Sadovyi jokes. The cat, he explains proudly, has become something of a city mascot. "He’s tough like a Ukrainian."
But beneath the humor is exhaustion. Sadovyi says he realized at the beginning of the war that Lviv had a special responsibility. It was close enough to Europe to remain functioning, but close enough to war to understand what was at stake.
His answer was what he calls the "Unbroken" project: a sprawling rehabilitation and innovation effort aimed at helping Ukraine survive physically and psychologically.
The city built rehabilitation centers for wounded soldiers and civilians arriving from across the country, treating amputees, burn victims and trauma patients. Sadovyi says the municipality also dedicated 20% of its budget to supporting defense technology companies developing military solutions for the war effort.
"Every family in this city was affected by war," he says. "We need to be strong. We need to survive. I’m building what is needed for that."
'A NEW KIND OF WAR': INSIDE UKRAINE'S HIDDEN FACTORIES MASS-PRODUCING COMBAT DRONES
Yet survival in Lviv is not only about weapons or hospitals. It is also about convincing people not to give up on life itself.
"People are afraid to come here," Sadovyi says. "But we need them to come."
One of the city’s newest projects reflects that mentality. Part school, part shooting range, part patriotic training center, it was designed to prepare civilians for a country where war has become everyday reality.
Inside one classroom, dozens of teenage girls sit listening to instructors explain emergency survival skills. Upstairs, at the indoor shooting range, instructor Vitaliy proudly shows off rows of American-made weapons including AR-15 style rifles and pistols.
"It’s not as big as ranges in the United States," he says apologetically.
On the wall hangs a shredded image of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin, riddled with bullet holes from target practice.
Vitaliy laughs when asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin posters.
"We ran out," he jokes. "They’re too popular. We can’t keep them."
On the terrace outside, two wounded veterans practice archery.
One sits in a wheelchair after losing both legs in the war. Another leans on a cane. Both have become competitive athletes through rehabilitation programs.
NATO ALLY POLAND WARNS RUSSIA, BELARUS PUSHING ILLEGAL MIGRANTS TOWARD ALLIANCE — AND THE US
One proudly explains he won a silver medal during a national contest. The other recently took gold and is now preparing for an international championship. Neither wants to talk much about what happened to them during combat.
Their therapy now is sport.
Down the road, another funeral begins. A military convoy carrying the body of a 32-year-old soldier drives slowly through the city center until it arrives at the cemetery.
The city’s military cemetery filled so quickly that officials recently had to open a new burial ground just weeks ago. Already, rows of fresh graves stretch across the hillside, above them blue-and-yellow flags and photographs of young men and women smiling back from before the war.
The grieving brother at the funeral says the fallen soldier never had time to start his own family.
Around him, families kneel beside the earth.
And still, life continues.
Children go to school. Mothers rush to work. Cafés remain packed. Street musicians perform in the old town square.
That same evening, inside the Lviv Theater of Opera and Ballet, hundreds gather for the "Miss Lviv" beauty pageant.
Young women dressed in glittering gowns pose beneath bright stage lights while music echoes through the theater. The audience is overwhelmingly female. Many of the men still in the city work in defense industries or hold exemptions from military service.
POLAND SEEKS ANSWERS AFTER PENTAGON SCRAPS PLANNED US ARMORED BRIGADE ROTATION
The contrast feels surreal only hours after attending a military burial.
But for many residents, events like these are an act of resistance.
"We are trying to keep life going," the reigning Miss Lviv says backstage before crowning the next winner. "I want the war to stop."
One of her friends explains why gatherings like this matter.
"These are difficult times," she says. "Doing normal things like this gives us a reason to dress up and enjoy ourselves."
Nobody here believes anymore that peace can come in 24 hours. But many still hope that President Trump and the U.S. can help bring the war to an end.
By the time evening arrives, air raid sirens once again cut through the city.
At outdoor cafés, people barely react at first.
Parents continue watching children play near fountains. Young couples finish drinks on restaurant terraces. Residents wait to hear whether the threat is "only" drones or actual missiles before deciding whether to move toward one of the hundreds of shelters spread throughout the city.
That frustration increasingly extends beyond the battlefield itself. Speaking to Fox News Digital while the latest wave of Russian strikes battered Ukrainian cities overnight, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United Nations Andriy Melnyk warned that the war was becoming even more dangerous for civilians.
Melnyk, a native of Lviv, described the massive Russian assault between Saturday and Sunday as "the worst and the most devastating Russian attack on the capital since the beginning of the large-scale invasion."
Even members of his own family in Kyiv, he said, are now considering temporarily leaving the city because "it becomes unbearable to stay."
In Lviv, residents repeatedly ask to remind the world that the war is still intensifying, not fading into the background. Melnyk called on the United States and European allies to take "bold actions" to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin and urged Western countries to provide additional air defense systems capable of intercepting ballistic missiles and drones targeting civilians.
He also criticized the United Nations for failing to stop the war, arguing that Russia’s veto power had left the Security Council effectively paralyzed.
On the overnight train leaving Lviv, most passengers are women. Border guards spend long minutes questioning the few men onboard, making sure they are not trying to escape mandatory military service.
The exhaustion is visible everywhere. Still, Sadovyi is full of hope.
"This city will have a great future," he says confidently.
He believes the world will eventually come to Lviv not only to rebuild, but to learn.
"To learn how to be unbroken," he says.
Because, he warns, what happened to Ukraine could happen elsewhere too.
Pope Leo unveiled the Vatican’s new encyclical, "Magnifica Humanitas," warning that artificial intelligence risks becoming a tool of "domination, exclusion and death" unless governments and institutions place moral limits on the rapidly developing technology.
The Vatican is formally entering the global debate over artificial intelligence as governments and tech companies race to develop increasingly powerful AI systems with limited international regulation.
The pontiff invoked Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical "Rerum Novarum," which addressed worker exploitation during the Industrial Revolution, arguing that AI represents a similarly transformative moment threatening human dignity.
"Today we find ourselves facing a transformation of similar magnitude, with perhaps even greater consequences," the Pope said.
UN REVISITS 'KILLER ROBOT' REGULATIONS AS CONCERNS ABOUT AI-CONTROLLED WEAPONS GROW
The pope warned about increasingly autonomous weapons systems that are beyond meaningful human control. He also said AI systems could block access to healthcare, employment and security because of biased data. He compared AI governance to nuclear arms control.
"Like nuclear energy, it must be at the service of all and of the common good," he said.
AI layoffs may be backfiring on companies
The pope said disarming AI alone is not enough and called on governments and institutions to "build" systems rooted in trust and human dignity. Recalling devastating floods in Peru, he said rebuilding means restoring trust and hope.
WHY A CLASSICAL EDUCATION MAY BE THE KEY TO HUMANITY’S FUTURE IN THE AI ERA
The pope also laid out the church’s broader argument about humanity and technology.
"The person bears within him- or herself a freedom, an interiority and a vocation to love and worship that no machine can replace," he said.
The Vatican is attempting to insert moral theology into a largely secular technological arms race.
"Stay awake," the pope urged, warning humanity not to surrender moral judgment to machines.
Maritime tracking transmissions collapsed near the UAE’s main oil hub, rattling Persian Gulf shipping hours before President Donald Trump announced progress was made on a bilateral peace deal with Iran, according to an AI maritime firm.
Maritime intelligence firm Windward AI first detected the blackout in Automatic Identification System (AIS) transmissions near Fujairah, suggesting heightened electronic warfare, jamming, deliberate AIS shutdowns and intense cyber interference near the key UAE oil port.
"Fujairah goes dark: AIS transmissions collapse after Iran’s PGSA announcement," Windward warned in a post shared on X.
"Vessels are still in the area. They are loading less, and a meaningful number have gone dark," the firm said.
As Trump announced that an Iran deal was "largely negotiated" and would see a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, Fujairah went on to move 1.35 million barrels of crude Sunday aboard a single tanker bound for South Korea.
"Today, May 24, the port moved 1.35 million barrels, a single VLCC, destined for South Korea," Windward said before reporting a tense, ongoing "ceasefire posture" and blockade footprint quickly being set into place.
"One cargo doesn't mark a return to baseline, but it's the first signal of flow resuming out of Fujairah since the announcement," Windward said.
Ahead of the barrel transfer, Trump had stated that Washington and Tehran had "largely finalized" a memorandum of understanding for a peace agreement. He posted an AI-generated image depicting exploding IRGC fast boats in the strait.
TRUMP SAYS IRAN DEAL ‘LARGELY NEGOTIATED’ AS 84-DAY WAR NEARS POSSIBLE END
Iran responded directly by continuing to declare the strategic maritime choke point stays under Tehran’s absolute control.
"We reaffirm that the Strait of Hormuz will remain under full Iranian administration and sovereignty, even in the event of reaching any future agreement," Iran’s official military spokesperson, Ibrahim Al-Fiqar, said in a statement shared on X.
"The Islamic Republic emphasizes that the authorities to determine transit routes, timing, and issuance of maritime licenses are an absolute sovereign right exclusively in the hands of Tehran."
The tanker blackout, crude transfer activity and movement toward a U.S.-Iran deal accelerated following the launch of Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority on May 20.
Overseen by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy, the PGSA functions as a sovereign regulator by requiring ships to submit vessel, cargo, insurance and crew details — along with mandatory payments — for "safe passage" through the strait.
Regional analysts told Fox News Digital that, ahead of deal progression, Iran’s territorial claims had even been stretching beyond its own waters into areas tied to Oman and the UAE.
US EYES IRAN FAST BOATS WITH ‘KILL’ TACTICS TESTED IN VENEZUELA DRUG-BOAT STRIKES
Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital that enforcement "relies on the IRGC Navy’s asymmetric playbook."
"This includes fast boats, drones, radar tracking, coastal missiles and selective intimidation rather than constant physical interdiction," Vatanka said.
"Tehran wants Gulf states and major importers to gradually accept Iranian oversight of Hormuz as a new geopolitical reality," he added.
While nuclear issues are dominating the current negotiations amid reports of a 60-day ceasefire, the PGSA has quickly emerged as an economic leverage tool threatening global oil and shipping markets.
"Now Hormuz is Iran’s main non-nuclear leverage tool," Vatanka said as the PGSA he claimed gives Tehran a "mechanism to pressure rivals, favor allies and normalize IRGC oversight of one of the world’s most critical energy routes."
According to Vatanka, the system was functioning as a wartime extortion mechanism.
"Ships submit cargo and crew data for approval, while reports point to quiet ‘facilitation payments,’ preferential treatment for friendly states and uncertainty for everyone else," Vatanka warned.
"Iran keeps the penalties deliberately vague. Noncompliant ships risk delays, harassment, drone surveillance, IRGC interception or denial of safe passage — enough pressure to encourage compliance without outright closing the strait."
China has deployed over 100 vessels in the waters surrounding Taiwan in the week after President Donald Trump's Beijing summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the secretary general of Taiwan's National Security Council said Saturday.
"Our ISR/intel shows that the PRC has deployed over 100 vessels around the 1st Island Chain over the past few days, so soon after the Beijing summit," Secretary General Joseph Wu wrote on X.
"In this part of the world, China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the Status Quo & threatening regional peace & stability."
Wu posted a graphic appearing to show a high volume of Chinese vessel deployments in the South China Sea, the East China Sea and near Taiwan and The Philippines.
Wu alerted the world to the ship deployments a little more than a week after Trump left Beijing and just days after acting U.S. Navy Secretary Hung Cao told U.S. lawmakers the U.S. was temporarily pausing weapons shipments to Taiwan.
"Right now we're doing a pause in order to make sure we have the munitions we need for Epic Fury," Cao testified during a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee Tuesday.
U.S. lawmakers approved a $14 billion weapons package for Taiwan in January, though Trump has yet to sign off on it.
Taiwanese officials say they were not alerted to any potential pauses, according to The Associated Press.
Cao's pause announcement followed the Trump-Xi summit during which Chinese officials made clear that the Taiwan question is China's biggest issue in diplomatic relations with the United States.
"President Xi stressed to President Trump that the Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-U.S. relations," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in a statement after the Trump-Xi meeting.
"If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability. Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy."
Fox News Digital contacted the White House, a representative for the Taiwanese government and the Chinese Foreign Ministry for additional comment.
LVIV, Ukraine: Exclusive — The same Iranian-designed Shahed drones that rain down in Lviv, Ukraine, nearly every night are now being hunted by weapons built just miles away inside hidden factories where former students and office workers assemble kamikaze drones and interceptor systems around the clock.
What began as an improvised wartime effort has evolved into one of the world's fastest-growing military drone industries. One Ukrainian official says Kyiv now leads NATO in battlefield innovation and can offer hard-won lessons for the U.S. and Israel as they confront the same Iranian drone technology across the Gulf.
"Drone technology completely changed the situation in the frontline," Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. "Maybe in six months, maybe in one year, we will have technology to land 1,000 drones in one moment.
POLAND SEEKS ANSWERS AFTER PENTAGON SCRAPS PLANNED US ARMORED BRIGADE ROTATION
"If we will have more deep collaboration between Ukraine, the United States, Israel and Europe, we will prepare special equipment for our victory," he said.
Dmytro, CEO of a Ukrainian drone manufacturer producing roughly 1,000 drones a week, told Fox News Digital, "We are three or four steps ahead of other countries. … This is a new kind of war. It is a war of IT technology."
Cheap drones now allow small battlefield units to identify and destroy tanks, armored vehicles and even sophisticated air defense systems that once required expensive missiles or fighter aircraft.
That transformation is visible throughout western Ukraine, where defense technology hubs, secret workshops and testing sites now operate, while in the cities air raid sirens regularly interrupt daily life.
Inside a workshop Fox News Digital visited, workers moved rapidly between tables stacked with propellers, fiber optic cable and other classified drone components. The workers say they no longer see themselves as civilians temporarily helping the war effort. Many now view drone production as essential to Ukraine’s survival.
Vitaliy, one of the technicians assembling kamikaze drones destined for the front line, said he now builds hundreds of drone components a day.
"Targets will be vehicles, tanks, troopers, positions," he told Fox News Digital.
NATO ALLY POLAND WARNS RUSSIA, BELARUS PUSHING ILLEGAL MIGRANTS TOWARD ALLIANCE — AND THE US
Referring to President Donald Trump's statement that he will end the war, Vitaliy said, "I feel honored because I’m helping my country to get peace much faster," Vitaliy added. "Peace through strength — this is our motivation. But it is mostly on us, for sure."
Ukraine’s domestic drone production has expanded at a staggering pace. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Serhiy Boyev said earlier this year the country aims to produce more than seven million drones in 2026, up from roughly four million in 2025.
From AI-assisted battlefield systems to drones resistant to Russian electronic warfare, Ukraine’s wartime innovations are exposing vulnerabilities in traditional Western military doctrine.
At another defense technology hub in Lviv, rows of interceptor drones, unmanned ground vehicles and remotely operated weapons systems fill a showroom demonstrating Ukraine’s rapidly evolving battlefield ecosystem.
"We have around 250 tech companies in the system," said Volodymyr Cherniuk, co-founder of Iron, a Ukrainian defense technology cluster.
Some drones are designed for reconnaissance, others for evacuation, logistics or direct strike missions. One heavy-lift drone used for nighttime attacks has earned the nickname "Baba Yaga" from Russian troops, which Cherniuk translated as "boogeyman."
Another interceptor drone is designed specifically to hunt Iranian-made Shahed drones that Russia uses in nightly attacks on Ukrainian cities.
"They can go 300 kilometers per hour," Cherniuk said. "One hundred grams is enough to shut down a Shahed."
"We have a lot of Americans, Canadians, Europeans who come here and want our data, feedback from the front line," Dmytro said.
As Fox News Digital reported from Lviv, air raid sirens repeatedly echoed across the city, a reminder that western Ukraine remains within reach of Russia’s expanding drone campaign.
Russia has dramatically escalated its aerial assaults in the recent week after the end of the short ceasefire, launching massive drone barrages targeting cities and logistical hubs across Ukraine, including areas near NATO territory close to the Polish border.
Ukraine has also increasingly demonstrated its ability to strike deep inside Russian territory with long-range drone attacks targeting areas around Moscow and Russian energy infrastructure.
But the evolving drone war has also increasingly spilled beyond Ukraine and Russia’s borders into NATO territory.
In recent weeks, drones linked to Ukrainian long-range strike operations entered the airspace of Baltic alliance members including Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, triggering political fallout and renewed concerns about regional air defenses. Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds resigned after drones crashed near fuel storage facilities close to the Russian border.
Ukrainian and Baltic officials blamed Russian electronic warfare and GPS spoofing for redirecting the drones off course, arguing Moscow is increasingly using electronic warfare not only defensively, but also to create instability and political pressure inside NATO countries.
The incidents underscore how the same Iranian-designed Shahed drones Russia uses nightly against Ukrainian cities — and similar long-range drone technologies increasingly used by both sides — are reshaping modern warfare far beyond the battlefield itself.
LASK, Poland — Poland is expected to receive its first F-35 fighter jets "very, very soon", Polish Deputy Defense Minister Paweł Zalewski told Fox News Digital, as American and Polish forces prepare together at a key NATO air base near the alliance’s eastern flank.
Fox News Digital received exclusive access to Poland's 32nd Tactical Air Base in Lask, where commanders pointed to the hangars being prepared for the arrival of the U.S.- made fifth-generation aircraft, part of Poland's $4.6 billion purchase of 32 F-35s from Lockheed Martin.
The jets have not arrived yet, but the partnership behind them already has.
POLAND SEEKS ANSWERS AFTER PENTAGON SCRAPS PLANNED US ARMORED BRIGADE ROTATION
Polish and American personnel train, operate and in some cases are stationed together on the base, reflecting the unusually close military relationship between Warsaw and Washington at a time when NATO burden-sharing remains under political scrutiny.
Lt. Col. Pete Nanoslawski, commander of the 52nd Operations Group Detachment 1 of the U.S. Air Force, originally from New York and stationed in Poland for the past five years, told Fox News Digital that Poland’s military modernization has significantly deepened cooperation between the two militaries.
"We are experiencing incredible support from Polish-provided logistics support and Polish-provided infrastructure," Nanoslawski said while standing alongside Polish commanders on the base.
He said Poland’s investment in American military systems and joint operations reflects how seriously Warsaw views threats from Russia. "Their foreign military sales portfolio is an appetite that’s insatiable, and rightfully so."
The close relationship between the two militaries was visible throughout the visit. As Polish commanders spoke about cooperation with the United States, they frequently turned toward their American counterparts with familiarity that went beyond formal alliance language.
NATO ALLY POLAND WARNS RUSSIA, BELARUS PUSHING ILLEGAL MIGRANTS TOWARD ALLIANCE — AND THE US
"We speak the same language, only with different accents," Col. Krzysztof Duda, pilot and commander of the 32nd Tactical Air Base in Lask, told Fox News Digital.
Duda, who studied in the United States and attended the U.S. Air War College, described himself as "a child of the American education system."
"The marriage we have with the U.S. on the military level, even if you want to divorce, we would not," Duda said with a smile,"But we don’t want the divorce."
Nanoslawski added that the American presence in Poland provides "enhanced forward presence and the ability to maneuver and adjust rapidly."
The partnership is now entering a new phase with the integration of the U.S.-made F-35 into Poland’s air force fleet.
Poland signed a $4.6 billion agreement in 2020 to purchase 32 F-35A fighter jets manufactured by Lockheed Martin.
Duda, who is overseeing the implementation process at Lask, said the transition involves years of training, infrastructure upgrades and coordination with the United States.
Training to become an F-35 pilot is not just a long process, it's an expensive one too — Duda estimates that it costs around $55 million per pilot.
The base itself has undergone extensive modernization to prepare for the aircraft, including new operational infrastructure, maintenance systems and classified facilities required under American certification standards.
In an interview with Fox News Digital in Warsaw, Polish Deputy Defense Minister Paweł Zalewski confirmed the first F-35 arrival is expected soon. "I can confirm that it will be very, very soon," Zalewski said.
POLAND SHOOTS DOWN DRONES IN ITS AIRSPACE DURING RUSSIAN ATTACK ON NEIGHBORING UKRAINE
"F-35s provides very, very important capabilities, so it offers domination in the air. That is crucial in the battlefield nowadays," he added. "It will be a capability developed together with Americans."
At a time when NATO burden-sharing remains a recurring debate in Washington, Poland has emerged as one of the alliance’s strongest military partners, dramatically increasing defense spending, purchasing American weapons systems and hosting U.S. forces.
For many Polish officers, the threat from Moscow is deeply personal.
Lt. Col. "Shooter," a Polish F-16 pilot at the base, told Fox News Digital that countries on NATO’s eastern flank still carry memories of Soviet domination.
POLISH GOVERNMENT PLANS MANDATORY MILITARY TRAINING FOR ADULT MEN
"There are still people that lived in communism," he said. "We remember, and we don’t want anything like that to happen again."
Looking at Russia’s actions in Chechnya, Georgia, Crimea and Ukraine, he said Poland believes deterrence is essential.
"We have this intuition probably written in our DNA," Shooter said. "When they are doing something, they’re not going to stop unless the cost of the further operation is going to be more than what they’re going to gain."
According to the U.S. Air Force, Polish pilots began F-35 training in the United States in 2024, including at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas. The 33rd Fighter Wing announced in February that a Polish pilot had completed the first flight on Poland’s new F-35A aircraft as part of the training program.
Lockheed Martin told Fox News Digital that "integration of the F-35 into the Polish Air Force fleet advances regional deterrence, enhances interoperability and strengthens European security."
"As seen in recent combat and air policing operations, the F-35 is actively helping defend NATO and allied airspace by deterring and defeating threats, and it will protect Poland’s national security for decades to come," a company spokesperson said.
The company added that preparations are continuing for Poland’s first in-country F-35 arrival celebration at Lask in June.
Iran says it has deployed small submarines to act as an "invisible guardian" of the Strait of Hormuz amid a series of rejected peace deals between Tehran and the U.S., according to reports.
The deployment claim came as analysts said that although the Iranian Ghadir-class mini-subs could threaten U.S. naval forces, the vessels’ limited range, firepower and endurance would blunt any real strategic impact.
The submarine deployment was highlighted by Bloomberg and first reported by the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.
Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, commander of Iran’s navy, said that his forces deployed its light submarine, referred to as the "dolphins of the Persian Gulf," according to the Iranian state media outlet.
IRAN TURNS TO PUTIN AS US TALKS COLLAPSE, HORMUZ STANDOFF THREATENS GLOBAL OIL FLOW
It also comes as Tehran seeks to reinforce its control over the strait, now defining it as a far larger zone, Reuters reported.
"Time would be limited, probably a couple of days at the most," defense analyst Tom Shugart told Fox News Digital about the Iranian vessel deployment.
The retired U.S. Navy submarine warfare officer also said the small diesel-electric submarines face fundamental operational constraints.
"If they run their diesel engines to snorkel and recharge batteries, that could generate sound that could be detected," Shugart said.
"Their snorkel mast projecting from the water could be detected by radars on patrol aircraft or helicopters," Shugart added.
The submarines are said to be designed for shallow waters like the Strait of Hormuz and can operate quietly for limited periods on battery power.
"While they may be able to sit on the bottom for a while and operate somewhat quietly on their batteries for a while, they have no air-independent propulsion system (AIP) like more modern diesel-electric submarines," Shugart said before adding that they’ll, "eventually have to come up and snorkel. This will make them more vulnerable to detection and destruction."
INSIDE IRAN’S MILITARY: MISSILES, MILITIAS AND A FORCE BUILT FOR SURVIVAL
The IRGC Navy is said to be the sole operator of this class of submarine, all of which serve in the Southern Fleet.
"Any remaining Ghadirs, if they exist and are actually deployed, may be able to lay mines and may be able to threaten merchant ships," Shugart warned.
"But I don’t see them as a serious threat to U.S. Navy warships — and certainly not to U.S. submarines," he said.
"But I can say for sure that I wouldn’t want to go out on one in the current environment."
HORMUZ CHOKE POINT PERSISTS AS IRAN HALTS OIL TRAFFIC DESPITE TRUMP CEASEFIRE
The U.S. Navy confirmed May 10 that a U.S. Navy Ohio-class nuclear-armed submarine had arrived in Gibraltar.
"The port visit demonstrates U.S. capability, flexibility and continuing commitment to its NATO allies," U.S. Sixth Fleet Public Affairs said in a statement.
"Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines are undetectable launch platforms for submarine-launched ballistic missiles, providing the U.S. with its most survivable leg of the nuclear triad," it added.
Meanwhile, Shugart’s remarks came as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed, with commercial tanker traffic largely choked off amid ongoing military activity and the continued U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.
The United Arab Emirates and South Korea reported new strikes on stranded vessels Wednesday, while the IRGC increased its fast-attack craft activity, according to reports.
President Donald Trump has maintained Iran’s navy is "completely obliterated."
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The remains of a U.S. Army officer who went missing during military exercises in Morocco were recovered from the Atlantic Ocean, while the search continues for a second missing soldier, according to military officials.
The remains of 1st Lt. Kendrick Lamont Key Jr., 27, of Richmond, Virginia, were recovered Saturday, U.S. Army Europe and Africa announced Sunday. Key, a 14A Air Defense Artillery officer, was one of two U.S. soldiers who reportedly fell from a cliff during an off-duty recreational hike near the Cap Draa Training Area on May 2.
A Moroccan military search team found Key in the water along the shoreline at about 8:55 a.m. local time Saturday, roughly one mile from where both soldiers reportedly entered the ocean, the Army said.
"Today, we mourn the loss of 1st Lt. Kendrick Key, whose remains were recovered in Morocco," Brig. Gen. Curtis King, commanding general of the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, said in a statement. "Our hearts are with his Family, friends, teammates, and all who knew and served alongside him. The 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command Family is grieving, and we will continue to support one another and 1st Lt. Key’s Family as we honor his life and service."
LONG-LOST SOLDIER'S GRAVE DISCOVERED AT REMOTE US NATIONAL PARK AFTER 150 YEARS
Key and the second soldier were reported missing on May 2 after participating in African Lion, an annual multinational military exercise hosted across Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana and Senegal.
The two were reported missing around 9 p.m. near the Cap Draa Training Area outside Tan-Tan, a terrain featuring mountains, desert and semi-desert plains, the Moroccan military said.
The disappearance of the two soldiers led to a search-and-rescue mission involving more than 600 personnel from the U.S., Morocco and other military partners. Ships, helicopters and drones were deployed as part of this operation.
Search efforts will continue for the second missing soldier.
PENTAGON HONORS AMERICAN TROOPS KILLED IN OPERATION EPIC FURY: 'NEVER BE FORGOTTEN'
A U.S. contingent remained in Morocco after the military exercises ended on Friday to provide command and control and to support the ongoing search and rescue mission.
Key was assigned to Charlie Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, according to the Army.
His decorations include the Army Achievement Medal and Army Service Ribbon.
He entered military service in 2023 as an officer candidate and earned his commission through Officer Candidate School the following year as an Air Defense Artillery officer. He later completed the Basic Officer Leader Course at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
Key is survived by his parents, his sister and his brother-in-law.
African Lion 26 is a U.S.-led exercise that began in April across Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana and Senegal, with more than 5,600 civilian and military personnel from more than 40 nations.
For more than 20 years, it has been the largest U.S. joint military exercise in Africa.
In 2012, two U.S. Marines were killed, and two others injured during an MV-22 Osprey crash near Cap Draa while participating in Exercise African Lion.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The U.S. economy is under threat from adversaries like China targeting undersea cables with the ability to "inflict devastating economic chaos almost at will," a former U.S. intelligence official warned Sunday.
These cables carry 99% of global data and support up to $10 trillion in daily financial transactions, according to reports.
Andrew Badger, chief strategy officer at Coalition Systems, a defense tech startup, spoke as President Donald Trump is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing for talks expected to focus on trade, artificial intelligence and Taiwan.
Taiwan, a flashpoint in U.S.-China tensions, has reported about 30 subsea cable incidents in recent years, including one in which Chinese vessels allegedly severed cables and cut communications for months.
"America depends on the fragile nervous system of subsea cables for modern life," Badger, a former Pentagon official and author, told Fox News Digital before warning that U.S. adversaries "seek to turn the bottom of the ocean into a battlefield."
"The asymmetric threat — China and Russia are devoting far more resources to attacking undersea infrastructure than the U.S. or its allies are to defending it," Badger said.
"They've identified one of our greatest vulnerabilities, and we haven't caught up. A coordinated strike on American undersea infrastructure could fundamentally disrupt our way of life — the internet, banking, energy markets and military communications all run through these cables. The dollar cost is almost incalculable, and the real damage would be the chaos and political instability that would follow," he said.
Badger’s remarks came after Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., alongside Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., introduced the bipartisan Strategic Subsea Cables Act of 2026 in April.
The legislation is aimed at strengthening the security and resilience of critical undersea infrastructure.
TAIWAN COAST GUARD DETAINS CHINESE-CREWED VESSEL SUSPECTED OF CUTTING UNDERSEA CABLE
"Undersea cables are important for a variety of reasons. They carry 99% of the world’s internet traffic. They also support $10 trillion in financial transactions each and every day," Barrasso said in a statement.
In April, China’s Ministry of Natural Resources confirmed a successful deep-sea mission testing an advanced "electro-hydrostatic actuator," a device capable of slicing through armored submarine cables at depths of 3,500 meters, according to reports.
Similar suspicious disruptions have been reported in Europe and elsewhere, raising concerns about coordinated "gray-zone" operations designed to probe Western responses while remaining below the threshold of open conflict.
"This is hybrid warfare in its purest form, designed to weaken the adversary below the threshold of declared war," Badger said, noting that incidents such as anchors dragging across the seabed can provide plausible deniability.
HORMUZ CHAOS SPARKS WARNING: CHINA COULD STRANGLE TAIWAN WITHOUT FIRING A SHOT
"Cables give Beijing and Moscow the ability to inflict devastating economic chaos almost at will," Badger warned. "This gives both nations tremendous strategic leverage over the U.S."
China could also potentially target American undersea cables as a deterrent to U.S. engagement in Taiwan, according to Badger.
"Beijing could simultaneously target cables landing in the U.S., not to win militarily, but with the goal of breaking the American public's will to intervene in Taiwan," he said.
China claims Taiwan as its own territory, while the U.S. — Taiwan’s largest unofficial ally — supplies weapons under a law requiring it to help the island defend itself.
The Taiwan Strait is also a critical artery for the artificial intelligence revolution’s most essential resources.
Anniki Mikelsaar of the Oxford Internet Institute said growth in AI’s use means "rising capacity requirements on submarine cables. Not all recent cable damage incidents can be attributed to foreign adversaries: the ICPC estimates 150 to 200 cable breaks occur per year around the globe, most of them accidents," she said.
After President Donald Trump suggested this week that Iranians "would fight back" if they had weapons, Iranian dissidents, military analysts and some Republican lawmakers are openly reviving a once-taboo question: should the West move beyond "maximum pressure" on Tehran and actively support armed resistance inside Iran?
"They have to have guns. And I think they’re getting some guns. As soon as they have guns, they’ll fight like, as good as anybody there is," Trump said in an interview with "The Hugh Hewitt Show," while discussing anti-regime unrest and the Iranian government’s crackdown on protesters.
The comments come as the Iranian regime emerges weakened from weeks of war, while frustration continues to simmer among many Iranians after years of failed protests and violent crackdowns by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Supporters of a more aggressive approach argue sanctions, diplomacy and unarmed demonstrations have failed to produce meaningful change inside Iran and say the current moment may represent the best opportunity in decades to challenge the regime from within. Critics warn that openly discussing armed resistance could endanger protesters, deepen divisions inside the opposition and risk pushing Iran toward civil war.
The idea of armed resistance echoes aspects of the Reagan Doctrine, the Cold War-era strategy in which the U.S. backed anti-Soviet resistance movements around the world, from Afghanistan to Nicaragua.
"We need to give Iranians the tools now, and they’ll finish the job themselves," Brett Velicovich, founder of Powerus and a former U.S. military and intelligence specialist focused on drone warfare, told Fox News Digital.
"It’s their time to do something. There has never been a better chance."
AS AIRSTRIKES RAIN DOWN ON THE IRANIAN REGIME, CAN A FRACTURED OPPOSITION UNITE TO LEAD IF IT FALLS?
Velicovich described the strategy as "Reagan Doctrine 2.0," updated for the age of drones and decentralized warfare.
"Cheap FPV drones, loitering munitions, and small arms let motivated fighters turn Iran’s streets and mountains into a nightmare for the IRGC," he said. "This isn’t fantasy; it’s asymmetric warfare that works."
He argued that modern drone technology has fundamentally changed the balance between governments and insurgent or resistance movements.
"Drones democratize power," Velicovich said. "The regime’s monopoly on violence ends the day the people get eyes in the sky and precision strike capability."
IRANIAN KURDISH FIGHTERS SAY THEY’RE READY TO STRIKE TEHRAN, WAITING FOR OPENING
Still, even some critics of the Iranian regime caution that the comparison to Cold War proxy movements has limits.
Unlike Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe or Afghanistan in the 1980s, Iran is a highly nationalistic country with a fragmented opposition and deep fears of foreign intervention following decades of conflict across the Middle East.
Still, calls for more direct support for anti-regime forces are increasingly moving into mainstream Republican foreign policy discussions.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., recently called for what he described as a "Second Amendment solution" inside Iran.
"If I were President Trump and I were Israel, I would load the Iranian people up with weapons so they could go to the streets armed and turn the tide of battle inside Iran," Graham said on "Hannity."
The question of who would actually receive support, however, remains deeply controversial.
Some opposition supporters continue to rally around exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose name has surfaced during anti-regime protests inside Iran and who has urged the international community not to give Tehran "another lifeline."
Another group that has acted in various operations against the regime is the controversial People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran, or MEK, which has long positioned itself as an organized opposition force against the Islamic Republic. The MEK recently posted videos showing its members targeting "regime centers and symbols of crime and repression," in response to the execution of two of its members last month — Hamed Validi and Mohammad (Nima) Massoum-Shahi.
Others point to existing armed or semi-organized anti-regime groups, including Kurdish organizations, Baloch insurgent networks and underground resistance cells operating inside Iran.
Sardar Pashaei, director of the Hiwa Foundation and a former Iranian wrestling champion now living in the United States, warned that publicly discussing arming protesters could itself put lives at risk.
"I think we must be extremely cautious on this issue, especially publicly, because the regime can use it as a pretext to arrest protesters, fabricate cases and even justify executions," Pashaei told Fox News Digital.
IRAN'S INTERNET BLACKOUT HIDING STRIKE DAMAGE AND SUPPRESSING DISSENT, ISRAELI OFFICIALS SAY
"For decades, the Islamic Republic has used accusations of ties to the United States, Israel, or espionage to target dissidents and political prisoners."
Pashaei argued the better approach is supporting Iranian civil society, restoring internet access and backing democratic opposition groups that reflect Iran’s ethnic and political diversity.
The issue became even more sensitive after Trump said during a phone interview with "Fox News Sunday" in early April that his administration had previously attempted to send firearms to Iranian protesters through Kurdish channels, though the effort failed.
IRAN REGIME FACES 'BEGINNING OF THE END' AS EXILED CROWN PRINCE SEES 'GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY'
"We sent guns to the protesters, a lot of them. We sent them through the Kurds. And I think the Kurds took the guns," Trump said.
Several Kurdish groups have denied receiving such shipments.
Pashaei warned that claims of foreign weapons support could deepen divisions inside the opposition while also exposing Kurdish groups to further retaliation from Tehran.
"During the so-called ceasefire period, Kurdish opposition groups were targeted more than 30 times with drone and missile attacks," he said, adding that four young Kurdish Peshmerga fighters were killed, including 19-year-old Ghazal Mowlan.
One source familiar with discussions surrounding Iranian opposition strategy said supporters of a more aggressive approach increasingly believe the current moment presents a rare opportunity to identify, train and support local resistance networks capable of protecting protesters and challenging the regime from within.
The source argued that while Iran spent decades building and cultivating proxy networks across the Middle East, Western governments largely avoided investing in organized anti-regime infrastructure inside Iran itself.
Others warn that empowering armed factions could trigger ethnic fragmentation, civil war or a Syria-style conflict inside Iran.
According to the source, supporters of a more aggressive approach increasingly believe the current moment presents a rare opportunity to identify, train and support local resistance networks capable of protecting protesters and challenging the regime from within.
Whether Washington is willing to move beyond pressure campaigns and sanctions toward something closer to a modernized Reagan Doctrine remains unclear.
For now, Trump’s comments have pushed a once-theoretical conversation into the open, while some argue the current moment may represent the best opportunity in decades to challenge the regime.
U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said Tuesday that the U.S. military carried out a lethal strike on a vessel in the Eastern Pacific, killing three suspected narco-terrorists.
The strike, which was conducted by Joint Task Force Southern Spear at the direction of Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, targeted a vessel that was operating along known narco-trafficking corridors and engaged in narco-trafficking activity.
No U.S. service members were injured in the operation, according to SOUTHCOM.
"Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations," the command wrote on X. "Three male narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No U.S. military forces were harmed."
US MILITARY KILLS 3 IN LATEST STRIKE ON A SUSPECTED DRUG VESSEL IN THE PACIFIC
SOUTHCOM did not immediately release further information about those killed.
The U.S. military has carried out numerous strikes in recent months on suspected drug-smuggling vessels as part of a broader campaign to dismantle cartel-linked trafficking operations.
The announcement comes a day after SOUTHCOM said it conducted a similar strike in the Caribbean on Monday, killing two suspected drug traffickers.
US KILLS 2 MORE SUSPECTED DRUG TRAFFICKERS IN BOAT STRIKE
Earlier, on April 24, SOUTHCOM carried out a lethal strike on a suspected drug-trafficking vessel in the Eastern Pacific, killing two suspected narco-terrorists.
That strike followed less than a week after SOUTHCOM said it conducted an operation in the Caribbean, killing three suspected narco-terrorists.
SOUTHCOM is responsible for military operations in Central and South America and the Caribbean, including counter-narcotics missions aimed at disrupting drug trafficking networks that threaten U.S. interests.
The Eastern Pacific remains a key corridor for narcotics trafficking, with cartels often using small, fast-moving vessels to transport drugs toward the U.S. and Central America.
Fox News Digital's Bradford Betz, Michael Sinkewicz, Alex Nitzberg and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
The United States is advancing a new United Nations Security Council resolution targeting Iran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz as the administration seeks to reinforce its ongoing maritime operation with international backing.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said Monday the effort is designed to hold Iran accountable for mining international waters, threatening global shipping and attempting to disrupt one of the world’s most critical trade routes.
"The president and Secretary Rubio have instructed us to come to the Security Council in full cooperation and craft a resolution with Bahrain and the GCC countries," Waltz said during a press briefing. "We’re working on a parallel effort at the Security Council that is separate and distinct from Project Freedom, but obviously related."
"The resolution will involve holding Iran to account for its blatant violations of international law," he added, including requiring Tehran to stop laying sea mines, disclose their locations and work with the United Nations to establish humanitarian corridors used by dozens of U.N. agencies to deliver aid globally.
RUSSIA, CHINA VETO UN RESOLUTION AIMED AT REOPENING STRAIT OF HORMUZ, HOURS BEFORE TRUMP DEADLINE
The diplomatic push comes as U.S. forces moved Monday to secure commercial shipping through the strait under President Donald Trump’s Project Freedom. U.S. Central Command confirmed American forces sank six Iranian small boats threatening vessels, underscoring the fragility of the ceasefire and the ongoing risks to global energy flows.
Waltz framed the effort as part of a broader push to set a global precedent.
"We can’t set a standard that if two countries have a conflict … you can then embark on collective punishment for the economies of the rest of the world," he said.
When asked by Fox News Digital about the broader implications of Iran’s actions, Waltz said the U.S. is working to ensure that international waterways cannot be weaponized.
IRAN SEIZES SHIPS IN HORMUZ AS US TALKS FALTER AFTER CEASEFIRE EXTENSION
"You can’t start indiscriminately just throwing sea mines out into the ocean to sow doubt and fear into the international maritime community," he said. "And you certainly can’t see it as a revenue source … no country has a right to punish the rest of the world as part of a conflict."
He also pointed to the human toll of the crisis, noting that thousands of civilian mariners have been caught in the escalating tensions.
"These are captains, engineers, cooks, deckhands … they had no part in this conflict. They shouldn’t be forced to suffer," Waltz said, adding that the administration is emphasizing the humanitarian aspect of ensuring safe passage and aid delivery.
Fox News Digital also asked whether the U.S. and its partners should look beyond securing the strait and consider long-term structural solutions to bypass it altogether.
"I know our Gulf partners and allies are seriously thinking through that," Waltz said, referencing existing infrastructure such as Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline and export routes through the Gulf of Oman.
"I know they’re looking at additional alternatives to frankly diversify their pathways and diversify their economies," he added.
While the U.S. military effort is focused on immediate stabilization, including guiding vessels and deterring Iranian harassment, Waltz stressed that the U.N. resolution is intended to address the broader international implications and prevent similar crises in the future.
Despite the push, questions remain about whether Russia and China will support the measure after a previous attempt in April failed to pass.
Waltz said the current proposal is narrower in scope and focused specifically on clear violations of international law, which he argued should make opposition less likely.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Iranian mission to the U.N. fo comment.
