The Babylon Times

📜 US SENATOR RUBIO WANTS PRE-WAR STATUS QUO FOR STRAIT OF HORMUZ US Senator Marco Rubio stated the preference is to return to the pre-war status for the Strait of Hormuz. Because nothing says "bold diplomacy" like rewinding the clock on contested waters. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 MARCO RUBIO SAYS IRAN'S INFLATION AT 70 PERCENT WITH CURRENCY IN TOTAL FREEFALL Marco Rubio claims Iran's inflation has hit 70 percent. The country's currency, he says, is in a total and complete freefall. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 MARCO RUBIO DENIES STRICT OIL BLOCKADE ON CUBA WHILE PROMISING EVENTUAL FIX Marco Rubio claims there's no oil blockade on Cuba in the strict sense. He calls the status quo unacceptable and says it'll be addressed—just not right away. This lands amid U.S. talks on tightening the screws on Cuba's government. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 MARCO RUBIO THREATENS SECONDARY SANCTIONS ON ANYONE HELPING IRAN DODGE U.S. SANCTIONS Marco Rubio laid down the law: any foreign bank or business propping up Iran's sanctions evasion gets hit with secondary sanctions and booted from the U.S. financial system. Because nothing says "global cooperation" like strong-arming the world into compliance. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 IRGC NAVY WARNS US DESTROYER WHICH PROMPTLY FLEES IRGC Navy personnel delivered a warning to a US destroyer at sea, straight from the video footage. The clip catches the moment, then shows the destroyer turning tail and hightailing it out of there. No collision, no further nonsense. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 IRAN READY FOR ALL SCENARIOS, DISMISSES US MEDIATION BLUFF An informed source says Iran is prepped for whatever the U.S. throws next, brushing off Washington's mediation eagerness as hot air. Populations have zero fear left for American bravado, the source adds. That leaves the U.S. with just one play: swallow defeat quick before the bill skyrockets. @TheBabylonTimes

UPDATE:📜 IRAN DENIES UAE CLAIMS OF MISSILE AND DRONE ATTACKS Iran's Central Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters, mouthpiece for the armed forces, flatly states their units launched zero missiles or drones at the UAE lately. They add that any real strikes would've gotten a loud, proud announcement. The outfit trashes a UAE Defense Ministry report alleging attacks as pure, baseless fiction. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 IRAN DENIES UAE CLAIMS OF MISSILE DRONE ATTACKS AS PURE FABRICATION He trashes the UAE Defense Ministry's report as total nonsense. Iran warns UAE bigwigs not to let their Islamic turf host U.S. and Israeli gear, calling it a betrayal of Muslims everywhere. They slam UAE's cozying up to those forces over actual enemies, plus their media jabs at Iran. Iran regrets UAE turning into prime U.S.-Israel base, the real instability peddlers. Past patience on UAE's anti-Iran media and proxies? Blame Muslim folks living there. Warning: UAE-based hits on Iranian islands, ports, or coasts get a crushing Iranian reply. @TheBabylonTimes

📜 SEAL OF THE PROPHETS SPOKESPERSON WARNS EMIRATI-BASED ATTACKS ON IRAN WILL TRIGGER HARSH RESPONSE Spokesperson for the Central Headquarters of the Seal of the Prophets issued a straightforward warning: any action against Iran launched from Emirati territory prompts a harsh response. No room for misinterpretation there. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 IRANIAN PRESIDENT PEZESHKIAN URGES ADVICE TO US: DITCH THE MILITARY THREAT OR SHIA WON'T BEND TO FORCE Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Ali al-Zaydi to pass this gem along to US officials:

In your communications with US officials, advise them to remove the military threat from our region, because followers of the Shia doctrine cannot be forced to surrender through the language of force.

@TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 WHO WARNS OF HANTAVIRUS OUTBREAK ON TOURIST SHIP WITH THREE DEATHS The World Health Organization flags a hantavirus outbreak on a tourist ship, where the bug's already notched three fatalities. Virus hitches rides via rodents or their urine, saliva, and droppings. Health officials keep watch to stop it jumping to more passengers and crew. @TheBabylonTimes

UPDATE:📜 THREE DIE ON TOURIST SHIP FROM HANTAVIRUS OUTBREAK Three deaths reported aboard a tourist ship hit by hantavirus. WHO warns the virus is spreading on the vessel, transmitted through contact with rodents or their urine, saliva, or droppings. Health authorities monitor to prevent more cases. @TheBabylonTimes

📜 UAE SUFFERS IMPOSTER SYNDROME, PRIORITIZES WESTERN IMAGE OVER ARAB OR MUSLIM OPINIONS He calls it imposter syndrome—the UAE acting more Western than Westerners and less Muslim than non-Muslims, all to push a technocratic, bureaucratic vibe over anything religious or ideological. UAE takes pains to stand out from other Arab and Muslim states, lest it look like just another one. Full interview: https://youtu.be/kHzzakkNuS8 @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 IRAN SETS UP NEW AUTHORITY TO CALL THE SHOTS ON STRAIT OF HORMUZ SHIP TRAFFIC Iran's rolled out a fresh authority to boss around ships squeezing through the Strait of Hormuz. Vessels get an email spelling out the rules they better follow, tweak their ops to toe the line, and snag permission to chug along. Iranian sources dropped the first video laying out this little procedure. @TheBabylonTimes

📜 IRAQI PM CONFIRMS BAGHDAD CAN MEDIATE BETWEEN TEHRAN AND WASHINGTON Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Falih Al-Zaidi assured Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian over the phone that Iraq stands ready to play mediator between Tehran and Washington. Because nothing says "diplomacy" like Baghdad stepping in for the usual suspects. @TheBabylonTimes

📜 WHITE HOUSE PRIVATELY TIPS OFF IRAN BEFORE US ESCORTS SHIPS THROUGH STRAIT OF HORMUZ White House gave Iran a heads-up before the US military operation to muscle ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Axios reports the courtesy call. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 MSN NOW HINTS TRUMP FACES DEFEAT BY WARNING NO US PREZ IN 47 YEARS DARED WAR WITH IRAN MSN Now slyly signals Trump's impending flop by noting no US president in 47 years kicked off war with Iran. The network highlights how past administrations dodged that bullet despite sky-high tensions, thanks to the massive risks of tangling directly with Iran. It spells out the regional and global costs as too steep and wildly unpredictable, liable to spin into total chaos. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 IRAN SAYS X STRIPS VERIFICATION FROM TOP OFFICIALS AMID US WAR CENSORSHIP Esmaeil Baghaei, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, reports X yanked his blue verification badge, hot on the heels of stripping the ministry's official account and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's. He calls it arbitrary and unjustified, just the latest in digital censorship and hacking to muzzle info on America's illegal war against Iranians. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 IRAN ADVISOR MOCKS TRUMP AS LOSER HEADING TO BEIJING AFTER DOMINO DEFEATS END US HEGEMONY Mohammad Mokhber, advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader, declared a domino effect of defeats against Iran has wrapped up American hegemony. He said U.S. President Trump will slink to Beijing as a loser and ought to watch Western civilization's decline from an Eastern vantage, rather than strutting like the victor. @TheBabylonTimes

📜 TRUMP DROPS BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA ON A BUNCH OF KIDS Trump hit a group of children with "Barack Hussein Obama. Have you heard of him?" at a public appearance. The full-name flex on the former US president, middle name and all, landed without extra context or kid reactions. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum