Iran-US talks to be held in Geneva, Switzerland on Tuesday

Steve Witkoff meeting Israeli hostage families

Steve Witkoff meeting with hostage families in Tel Aviv, early 2025.

United States diplomats will meet with Iranian officials in Geneva on Tuesday to discuss relationships in hope to avoid a greater conflict. Reuters reports Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be present, with members from Oman taking part for mediation efforts.

This new schedule comes after a week since the first talks were held in Oman, where no formal one-on-one discussion took place. So far, issues such as the Iranian nuclear program, ballistic arsenal and the support for proxies have not been cleared up, with Tehran stating their clear intentions of keeping their missile capabilities, although mixed signals in regards to the enrichment program.

In earlier negotiations, diluting the 60% enriched uranium in return for full sanction relief was brought up, although this solution did not lead to any further concrete deal. The thought of Iran’s supply being brought out of the country was also declined by officials, said by Iran’s atomic energy minister, Mohammad Eslami.

As this second round of talks begin, the USS Gerald R. Ford will continue en route to the Middle East from the Caribbean, continuing the large military buildup in the theatre. All this is alongside significant airlift operations, deploying air defence and jets around the region.

Ukraine and Russia diplomatic talks will also continue in Geneva at the same time, as the United States ramps up pressure for both sides to negotiate to end the 4-year-war.

US deploys second carrier strike group

USS Gerald R Ford (CVN-78)

As military intervention with Iran looms, Washington has indicated that the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford will take place, leaving the Caribbean and heading to an area situated around the Middle East. This comes a month after Ford’s role in Operation Absolute Resolve, which led to the capture of then-sitting Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro.

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the largest and most advanced currently afloat, will also supposedly be followed by its escort ships, allowing for a greater strike package if Washington ever decided to act against Iran.

This further deployment comes after continued air assets have been recorded entering military bases around the Middle East for the last couple weeks. So far, a Chinese satellite has confirmed air defence being positioned at a base in Jordan, likely to protect against missile volleys from Iran. This is a continued threat seen by both the United States and Israel.


Alongside this brand-new deployment, USS Abraham Lincoln which is believed to be in the Arabian Sea, has also been deployed in the region. Last week the Lincoln shot down an Iranian Shaded 139 which was actively surveilling the ship.

Us deploys second carrier strike group

Diego Garcia, as seen above, has had limited but noticeable movements of airframes

The Ford’s deployment away from the Caribbean theatre also extends its current operational time frame to at least April in accordance with reports from the New York Times, making it an unusual extension for an American carrier. This adds up to its current operational period being extended close to a year if the current projected time frame materialises.

This large military presence has added pressure onto Tehran to follow through with the negotiations laid out by the United States, which follows red lines such as limited ballistic weaponry, end of the nuclear program and removal of funding and assistance with their terrorist proxies across the region.

With already one set of talks having been carried through, there’s been limited hope of a  successful path to diplomacy, with certain agreements on the issues above not being resolved as of now.

On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Trump and discussed issues surrounding Gaza and Iran, with Reuters also confirming that Israel announced their position in the “Board of Peace” group during this meeting. This is one of the five meetings held with Trump since his inauguration in late January 2025.

Israeli media also claimed this meeting was in effort to lay out conditions they wanted, including a harsher approach to negotiations with Tehran. 

U.S. Strikes Land Target in Venezuela

USAF MQ-9 Reaper UAV, demonstrative

President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States struck a Venezuelan “dock area” he described as linked to drug-running boats, claiming a “major explosion” at a site where traffickers “load the boats up with drugs,” according to the BBC.

While Trump declined to identify who carried out the attack, telling reporters, “I don’t want to say that” when asked about the CIA, the BBC reported there has been no official confirmation from Caracas and no strike footage has been released the way the Pentagon has publicized prior maritime interdiction strikes.

U.S. officials familiar with the operation, however, told CNN the CIA conducted a drone strike earlier this month on a remote port/dock facility on Venezuela’s coast, which U.S. intelligence assessed was being used by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to store narcotics and move them onto boats for onward shipment. The network reported no one was present at the time of the strike and no casualties resulted.

The New York Times separately reported that the strike occurred last week and described it as the first known U.S. operation inside Venezuela during the Trump administration’s pressure campaign, targeting a dock believed to be involved in staging narcotics for loading onto boats. The Times said Trump had mentioned the incident twice in recent days, first in a radio interview and again on Monday. His first mention can be listened to below.

Key operational details remain contested. CNN reported that sources described U.S. Special Operations Forces as providing intelligence support, but a U.S. Special Operations Command spokesperson denied any support “to include intel support.” The CIA declined to comment to CNN, while the Pentagon referred questions to the White House, which has not provided a detailed public account at the time of publication.

The reported land strike comes as Washington intensifies a wider campaign that has combined counter-narcotics justification with escalating pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. U.S. strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have been occurring since September. It appears the operation has now expanded from maritime strikes, to tanker seizures, to clandestine land strikes.

A new boat strike occurred yesterday, bringing the total number to 30 (31 if you count the dock), with the U.S. reporting 106 total individuals killed in those strikes.

Centcom says U.S. and partner raids in Syria removed nearly 25 ISIS operatives after the major Dec. 19 strike

U.S. Central Command says U.S. and partner forces killed or captured nearly 25 ISIS operatives in Syria in the days after a large-scale Dec. 19 strike, describing the activity as part of a sustained effort to disrupt the group’s networks and prevent it from rebuilding.

In a statement released from Tampa, Florida, Centcom said follow-on operations ran from Dec. 20 to Dec. 29 and included 11 missions across Syria. The command said at least seven ISIS members were killed and the remaining operatives were captured. Centcom also reported that the missions led to the elimination of four ISIS weapons caches.

The announcement follows what Centcom described as Operation Hawkeye Strike, launched on Dec. 19. Centcom said U.S. and Jordanian forces struck more than 70 targets using more than 100 precision munitions, with aircraft, attack helicopters and artillery involved. The command said the strikes destroyed ISIS infrastructure and weapons sites across central Syria.

“We will not relent,” Centcom commander Adm. Brad Cooper said in the statement. He added that the United States remains “steadfast in commitment” to working with regional partners to “root out the ISIS threat posed to U.S. and regional security.”

Centcom framed the activity as part of a broader counter-ISIS campaign over the past year. The command said U.S. and partner operations in Syria over the last 12 months resulted in more than 300 terrorists being detained and over 20 killed. It also said ISIS “inspired” at least 11 plots or attacks against targets in the United States in 2025, without providing additional details in the statement.

“Continuing to hunt down terrorist operatives, eliminate ISIS networks, and work with partners to prevent an ISIS resurgence makes America, the region, and the world safer,” Cooper said.

ISIS no longer controls territory in Syria and Iraq the way it did at its peak, but U.S. officials have repeatedly warned that cells and facilitators can still generate attacks, exploit instability, and regenerate if pressure eases. Centcom did not identify the individuals killed or captured, nor did it specify precise locations for the raids and weapons caches beyond saying the missions were conducted across Syria.

The figures and operational claims come directly from Centcom and were not independently verified in the statement. Still, the update signals the command intends to pair large strike packages with rapid follow-on raids designed to seize personnel and dismantle weapons stockpiles, aiming to keep ISIS remnants fragmented and on the defensive.