Iranian officials told Reuters on Friday that President Trump had sent Tehran a message via Oman warning about an imminent strike, which he reportedly called off before any missiles were fired. “In his message, Trump said he was against any war with Iran and wanted to talk to Tehran about various issues," one official said. "He gave a short period of time to get our response, but Iran's immediate response was that it is up to Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei to decide about this issue."
"We made it clear that the leader is against any talks, but the message will be conveyed to him to make a decision," a second official told Reuters. "However, we told the Omani official that any attack against Iran will have regional and international consequences."
Trump had reportedly authorized the predawn strike on radar and missile installations in retaliation for Iran downing a U.S. surveillance drone early Thursday. If The New York Times is correct that "Trump ordered — and then aborted — an attack on Iran," or even if it has some details wrong, that "sends a powerful message to Tehran in itself, says BBC News defense correspondent Jonathan Marcus. But as the U.S. and Iran flirt with direct conflict, which message with Iran's leadership receive "in this complex game of signaling"?
"The danger now is that Iran receives mixed messages that convey uncertainty and lack of resolve," leading "some in Tehran to push back at the Americans even harder," Marcus adds. "There appears to be no easy diplomatic 'off-ramp' in this crisis. U.S. economic sanctions are hitting home. Tehran is under pressure. Escalation remains an ever-present danger." Peter Weber
Lawyers describe 250 child migrants living in deplorable condition at Border Patrol station in Texas
About 250 infants, children, and teenagers have spent up to 27 days at a U.S. Border Patrol station 25 miles outside El Paso, and the children painted a "bleak portrait" in interviews with an outside legal team, The Associated Press reported Thursday. There are three infants in the Clint station, four children 3 and under, dozens under age 12, and 15 children with the flu, 10 of whom are under quarantine, AP says.
One fussy 2-year-old with urine-soaked pants, no diaper, and a mucus-smeared shirt is being cared for by three girls age 10 to 15, after a guard handed him to them days go, AP reports. One of the lawyers also described an 8-year-old caring for a 4-year-old. Many of the children arrived at the border by themselves, but some were separated from their parents or relatives, and they told the attorneys they had gone weeks without bathing or a change of clothes. Border Patrol knew of this visit by the legal team three weeks ago.
"In my 22 years of doing visits with children in detention I have never heard of this level of inhumanity," Holly Cooper, who represents detained youth and co-directs University of California, Davis' Immigration Law Clinic, told AP. Acting Customs and Border Protection head John Sanders acknowledged the poor conditions for detained children but said Congress needed to give CBP more money.
Under government rules, the Border Patrol is supposed to hand children over to the Heath and Human Services Department's Office of Refuge Resettlement within 72 hours.
The apparent lack of adequate food and sanitation aren't unique to this station. At least five children have died after being detained since late last year, a shocked immigrant advocate discovered a teenage mother last week who'd spent more than a week with her premature baby at a Border Patrol facility in Texas, Border Patrol keeps adult migrants in outdoor cages in El Paso, and a federal inspector general's report released this month found deplorable conditions at Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities in four states. Peter Weber
President Trump approved a U.S. military strike against targets inside Iran in retaliation for Iran's downing of a $130 million American surveillance drone, but the operation, already underway in its early stages, was abruptly called off Thursday night, The New York Times reports, citing senior administration officials. Planes were in the air and ships in position to strike a handful of targets, like radar installations and missile batteries, before dawn on Friday to minimize the risk of casualties.
It's not clear whether Trump "changed his mind on the strikes or whether the administration altered course because of logistics or strategy," the Times reports. "It was also not clear whether the attacks might still go forward." Trump's advisers are split on whether to strike Iran and risk escalating a growing conflict — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Adviser John Bolton, and CIA Director Gina Haspel are in favor, while top Pentagon officials urged restraint, the Times says. After congressional leaders were briefed on the attack plans, Democrats urged Trump to de-escalate the situation and get congressional approval before taking military action.
Iran shot down a RQ-4 Global Hawk drone early Thursday with a surface-to-air missile, claiming it had crossed into Iranian airspace. The U.S. says it was in international airspace over the Gulf of Oman. Both sides produced evidence to bolster their claim. "Iran's ability to target and destroy the high-altitude American drone, which was developed to evade the very surface-to-air missiles used to bring it down, surprised some Defense Department officials, who interpreted it as a show of how difficult Tehran can make things for the United States as it deploys more troops and steps up surveillance in the region," the Times reports.
The White House and Pentagon declined to comment the Times but did not ask the newspaper to withhold the article. Peter Weber