U.S. strikes Iran for two weeks, mobilizes forces for larger operation

Four U.S. troops killed in past week as Houthis attack Saudi ships

The Pentagon has been striking Iran with missile attacks for two weeks and is mobilizing jets, troops and medics for a larger operation, according to a Wall Street Journal report published Friday.

Iran has killed three U.S. servicemembers in Jordan and a fourth in Iraq in the past week, the Journal reported. The deaths follow the collapse of an interim ceasefire over the Strait of Hormuz, as MSI previously reported. Tehran still appears to have a plethora of dangerous missiles, according to the report.

Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen have resumed firing missiles and drones at Saudi ships after being mostly quiet for the past year, the Journal reported. The attacks are sending oil prices sharply higher.

Ukraine is launching attacks deep inside Russia, including strikes on e-commerce warehouses, while Russia has been pounding Ukraine’s capital, killing dozens and wounding scores more, according to the report.

President Trump is growing skeptical that negotiations can end the Iran war, according to administration officials and others close to the president cited by the Journal. The president recently called Iranian leaders “scumbags” and “lunatics” in an expletive-laden tirade during a White House meeting, the officials said. Trump is increasingly frustrated that a conflict he believed would be over in a matter of weeks is now almost five months old, according to the officials.

The Journal reported that the Group of Seven, NATO and the Group of 20 appear less relevant and less united than at any point in recent memory, with no prominent voices in Washington or other capitals currently calling for offramps and calm.

In Washington, Trump was expected to speak Friday evening at a scaled-down White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, the Journal reported. A man has been charged with attempting to assassinate Trump after allegedly attacking the association’s dinner earlier this year. The president was also scheduled to make an announcement on American nuclear innovation at 3 p.m. ET.