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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Monday denounced the attempted bombing outside Gracie Mansion, calling it a “heinous act of terrorism” after criminal charges against two teenage suspects were unsealed.

In a statement released following the charges, Mamdani addressed the alleged actions of the two suspects and said they must face the consequences of their conduct.

“Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi have been charged with committing a heinous act of terrorism and proclaiming their allegiance to ISIS,” Hizzoner said in a statement — that stopped short of condemning radical Islam.

“They should be held fully accountable for their actions,” he said, adding, “We will continue to keep New Yorkers safe. We will not tolerate terrorism or violence in our city.”

Authorities say Balat and Kayumi were arrested in connection with homemade explosive devices that were thrown during a protest and counter-protest outside Gracie Mansion.

According to the criminal complaint, both suspects later told NYPD investigators that the attack was motivated by their loyalty to ISIS.

Investigators say Balat also expressed a desire for the attack to cause more casualties than the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

“No, even bigger. It was only three deaths,” he told a cop, according to the complaint.

Mamdani’s remarks mirrored comments he made earlier in the day, when he also described the attempted bombing as terrorism while simultaneously criticizing a planned protest organized by far-right activists, accusing them of promoting anti-Muslim rhetoric.

Earlier statements by the mayor did not reference the suspects as self-radicalized or as Islamic extremists.

Mamdani is the first Muslim mayor of New York City.

{Matzav.com}

Trump: I will not allow a terrorist regime to hold the world hostage and attempt to stop the global oil supply and if Iran does anything to do that, they’ll get hit at a much, much harder level. I will take out those targets that were easy and that I mentioned just before.

Trump: We’ve left some of the most important targets for later in case we need to do it. If we hit them, it will take many years for them to be rebuilt having to do with electricity production and many other things… we could take them all out in one day.

Trump on Iran: Within a week, they were going to attack us. 100%. They were ready. They had all these missiles, far more than anyone thought.

President Trump on Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer: What a horrible politician. He is now a Palestinian officially. He’s registered as a Palestinian.

Footage shows the interception of an Iranian missile over northern Israel a short time ago.

U.S.–Israeli airstrikes targeted the city of Karaj, west of Tehran, a short time ago, with multiple explosions reported in the area.

Footage shows the moment a drone crashed near Erbil International Airport in Iraq.

The Israel Defense Forces announced Monday evening that Home Front Command restrictions will remain in place following a fresh assessment of the security situation, leaving current nationwide guidelines unchanged.

In a statement, the IDF said the existing directives will continue through Saturday night at 8:00 p.m. Military officials explained that the decision was based on the latest evaluation of security conditions and noted that the policy could be revised if developments on the ground require it.

Following the announcement, Education Minister Yoav Kisch said that schools throughout Israel will remain closed and will not resume classes before Sunday.

The government had previously planned to introduce the “Yellow Framework,” a program designed to begin reopening schools gradually in municipalities considered to be at lower risk. That plan has now been delayed.

The Ministry of Education said the framework was developed together with local authorities and is expected to begin early next week, pending approval from the Home Front Command and depending on the evolving security assessment.

Officials in the ministry added that coordination with the Home Front Command is ongoing as they prepare for a range of possible scenarios, with the goal of enabling students to return to classrooms safely and in stages once conditions allow.

{Matzav.com}

Belarusian journalist Pavel Dabravolski was convicted Monday of treason and sentenced to nine years in a maximum-security prison, activists said, the fifth media worker to be jailed in two weeks in a relentless government crackdown on freedom of the press. Dabravolski, who has reported for international and domestic news outlets and won numerous prizes for […]

A senior Iranian official said Monday that Tehran is prepared for an extended confrontation with the United States, warning that Iran is willing to keep striking targets in Gulf countries in an effort to push regional governments to pressure President Donald Trump to halt the conflict.

The remarks were made by Kamal Kharazi, a foreign policy adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, during an interview with CNN in Tehran. His comments reflected a defiant posture from the Iranian leadership as the war entered its tenth day, while also dismissing the possibility of diplomatic talks in the near term.

“I don’t see any room for diplomacy anymore. Because Donald Trump had been deceiving others and not keeping with his promises, and we experienced this in two times of negotiations — that while we were engaged in negotiation, they struck us,” Kharazi told the outlet on Monday.

“There’s no room unless the economic pressure would be built up to the extent that other countries would intervene to guarantee termination of aggression of Americans and Israelis against Iran,” Kharazi said.

Kharazi suggested that economic fallout from the conflict could eventually force Gulf Arab states and other nations to push Washington toward ending the war.

“This war has been producing a lot of pressure — economic pressure — on others, in terms of inflation, in terms of lack of energy, and so if it will be continued, this pressure will be built up more, and therefore others have no choice to intervene,” he said.

Since the United States and Israel began their military campaign against Iran, Tehran has carried out attacks in several countries across the Middle East. Iranian officials claim the strikes are directed at American interests in Gulf states, though some of the missiles and drones have also struck residential areas and airports.

The fighting has sent shockwaves through global energy markets, threatening major oil infrastructure and shipping routes throughout the region. Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has sharply declined, while crude oil prices climbed above $100 per barrel on Monday, unsettling international markets and fueling concerns over rising energy costs.

Data compiled by Rapidan Energy Group indicates that roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply has been affected by the conflict — about twice the level of disruption recorded during the 1956–57 Suez crisis.

The war has also eliminated much of the oil market’s so-called spare capacity, the emergency production reserves that can typically be brought online quickly to stabilize supply during disruptions.

A spokesman for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Sunday that Iranian forces are currently using about 60% of their military firepower to strike U.S. bases and what he described as “strategic interests” throughout the region.

{Matzav.com}

A Kentucky man who joined the Army shortly after graduating from high school is the seventh U.S. service member to die in combat during the Iran war, the Pentagon announced Monday. Army Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky, died Sunday after being wounded during a March 1 attack on the Prince Sultan Air […]

Scenes of confusion and anger erupted at Ben Gurion Airport on Monday after travelers who had purchased tickets discovered they could not board their flights despite the airport reopening for outbound travel. Passengers arriving for departures were stunned to learn that the number of travelers allowed on each flight had been abruptly reduced overnight, leaving […]

TRUMP: If we didn’t do that B-2 attack, Israel would have been wiped out. They would have had a nuclear weapon within two weeks after that.

President Donald Trump hinted Monday that the U.S.–Israeli military campaign against Iran is nearing its conclusion, asserting that Tehran’s armed forces have been largely dismantled after weeks of intense strikes. Speaking to CBS News, Trump said the operations targeting Iran — known as Operation Epic Fury and Operation Roaring Lion — are progressing far faster […]

TRUMP: “The United States of America is the greatest and most exceptional nation in human history, and will not be threatened by evil terrorists and lunatics any longer… We just can’t do that.”

TRUMP: “On Saturday, I traveled to Dover Air Force Base to be with the families of six fallen warriors… hardest thing to do… They all said one thing to me: ‘Make sure you win, sir’… We go forward more determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory that will end this long-running danger once and for […]

President Trump repeatedly refers to Operation Epic Fury as just a “short term excursion”

President Trump on Operation Epic Fury: “We’re crushing the enemy in an overwhelming display of technical skill and military force… We’ll not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated.”

France and several international partners are planning a naval operation aimed at reopening the crucial Strait of Hormuz, President Emmanuel Macron said Monday, as the conflict with Iran moved into its second week and continued to disrupt regional stability.

Macron arrived by helicopter aboard the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, which had been deployed to the Mediterranean after the U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 ignited a broader conflict that has rattled the Middle East and raised fears of a wider regional escalation.

Earlier in the day, during a visit to Cyprus, Macron explained that the planned mission would focus on escorting cargo vessels and oil tankers so that maritime traffic through the strait could gradually resume “after the end of the hottest phase of the conflict.”

“This is essential for international trade, but also for the flow of gas and oil, which must be able to leave this region once again,” Macron said during a visit to the island to discuss regional security.

Standing alongside Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Macron emphasized that the planned effort would involve a coalition of countries and would serve strictly protective purposes, describing it as a “purely defensive, purely support mission.”

The Netherlands also announced that it plans to deploy a naval frigate to the Mediterranean at France’s request.

The European Union indicated Monday that it is prepared to expand its maritime security operations in the Middle East.

EU officials have been considering strengthening their naval presence in the Red Sea after the American-Israeli strikes on Iran sparked a wider regional confrontation.

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to global markets and carrying roughly one-fifth of the world’s crude oil — has largely come to a standstill since the war erupted on February 28.

Macron’s trip to Cyprus followed a recent incident in which Iranian-made drones targeted the EU member island nation earlier this month.

The French president warned that any strike against Cyprus must be viewed as an attack against Europe itself.

“When Cyprus is attacked, it is Europe that is attacked,” he said.

“We will not accept that the slightest piece of European territory, like Cyprus, be exposed to danger,” added Mitsotakis.

Following the drone attack, France moved the Charles de Gaulle carrier to the Mediterranean and also dispatched a frigate and air-defense units to Cyprus.

French officials have repeatedly stressed that the country’s actions in the region are intended solely for defensive purposes.

While aboard the Charles de Gaulle, Macron was expected to meet with sailors serving in the carrier’s strike group, according to the Elysee Palace.

The aircraft carrier is the centerpiece of a broader French naval deployment that will include eight frigates and two amphibious helicopter carriers operating across a wide zone stretching from the eastern Mediterranean to the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz.

One French frigate is already participating in the European Union’s Operation Aspides, a mission launched in the Red Sea in 2024 to protect commercial shipping from attacks carried out by Iran-backed Houthi forces.

Macron said France plans to maintain a long-term contribution to Operation Aspides by assigning two frigates to the mission.

“What we want to do is to ensure freedom of navigation and maritime security,” he said.

Separately, Macron also spoke Monday morning with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to discuss developments in the Middle East and the situation in Lebanon, the Elysee Palace said.

{Matzav.com}