LIVE: Multiple Explosions In Iran – IRGC Attacks UAE Again – Trump Ready To Launch
“Hello ladies and gentlemen, welcome to TUCTV. This is your global news channel. I’m Maya Tusi and we’ve had a number of explosions in the south, center, and the northern parts of Iran over the last few hours. The IRGC have once again launched an attack, two waves of attacks on the United Arab Emirates over the last uh well since this morning.
And also we are going to go live to the White House as we are waiting for Secretary of State Marco Rubio uh to start his new job today. He’s got a temporary job today as the press secretary. Caroline is not around of course and Marco Rubio who continues to have a number of jobs every single day.
He’s now going to be taking questions of course we’re just going to simply focus on uh any questions that is related to the conflict in the Middle East. They’re going to be covering many other things as well but we’re going to talk about that part. Let’s firstly discuss what’s going on in Iran. We’ve had a number of uh uh mysterious explosions again or gas leaks in a number of cities.
First, we’re going to go to the Andisha city which is in the um county of Shahriar just outside of the capital in Thran. It’s basically to the west of greater Thrron. Let’s go and see what happened there. So there was a commercial complex uh once again we all these explosions uh and mysterious gas leaks they tend not to happen at people’s houses it’s all tend to be uh complexes organizations and major uh government linked buildings as well.
We also had a number of others that were confirmed and verified by Vahid online. We’ve had uh over the last day, actually since this morning, we had at 4:16 uh in um Horn was gone, which is in the southish. We also had Gh, the island of Gh around the same time, two explosions. And then Bandarab bus which is in the south of Iran near the straight of Hormos right next to it. Basically this is the main port in Iran.
Uh that was at 418. So 2 minutes later and there were two explosions in Bad Abos and two explosions in the island of Gh. And uh 2 minutes later we also had another one in the center. But uh we are going to we’re still trying to gather more information about what exactly has been happening because no group has taken responsibility uh for these uh again mysterious explosions.
Let’s go to another video of uh these fires. This is the actually the um Islamic Republic state media themselves Tasn. He filmed it. Now, while we wait for the Secretary of State uh who should be joining in the next 2 minutes, it’s going to be interesting to see how he uh operates and performs as uh the temporary press secretary. He’s done so much now.
Uh but it’s going to be definitely entertaining to see him do this job now. But uh while we wait for that, there is a bit of a an emotional meltdown by the IRG and IRGC’s foreign ministries spokesman. He decided to have a meltdown earlier on because Elon Musk has removed his verification check mark and blue tick on X.
I’m not kidding. It literally had a meltdown. The guy whose government and regime have shut down the internet in Iran. He is a little bit upset that he’s lost his verification despite paying money to Elon Musk’s ex. He decided to post this afterwards like a a teenager who is having a a mental breakdown after being broken up.
Now X has now removed a blue check from Iran’s uh Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson account after stripping the ministry and ministers verified badges despite our full premium plus payments. This arbitrary deverification fits excess pattern of selective censorship and American digital piracy aimed at suppressing the truth about the US’s illegal war against Iran.
Ah, dude, you’ve literally shut down the internet in Iran. Selective censorship. Firstly, X is a private company. They can do whatever they want to do. It’s none of your business. It’s not like the United Nations have banned you from speaking. Also, you have your own news outlets. You also have Alazer. I know they you kind of alienated them recently, but they still like you.
You’re talking about the truth being suppressed. Are how can they say this with a straight face on? But uh while he’s doing that, the rest of the the regime in Iran are primarily focused on trying to bait the Americans into uh launching an attack. That’s exactly what they wanted yesterday when they attacked the UAE.
And I did mention uh a few minutes ago about an hour ago, I was on Fox News discussing this. We will be posting a clip of my interview on Fox later on on this channel on the video section. uh because they they re they wanted to basically ruin the strategy that’s been set up by the US and Israel because they know when they want to do their attack and they wanted to basically rush them in and ceasefire this so-called ceasefire is obviously creating a lot of infighting inside the regime having war the return of war obviously means unity temporary unity inside the regime because they have an external common enemy which is the Americans and the Israelis and these days the Emiratis.
But of course the other side didn’t take debate. As of now we have also had two new waves of attacks from Iran towards the United Arab Emirates. The UAE Ministry of Defense confirmed that air defenses are actively intercepting incoming drones and missiles that have been launched from Iran.
Uh fortunately no casualties today uh based on what has come out so far. We will obviously get more information on uh the damages. Yesterday there were some damages of course around the Fujera. There was an oil facility that was uh hit. Uh having said that the President Trump was also in the white house earlier being questioned about what is next and uh he did obviously mentioned that uh the people of Iran have started to receive more weapons.
Now some weapons have already been sent to Iran over the last couple of months. Most of them were stolen by the Kurds in Iraq, the Iraqi Kurds, who don’t like the Iranians of course. And uh so they stole their weapons, but more weapons are now being sent. Now, President Trump didn’t directly take responsibility. He simply said that we the the Iranians are now receiving weapons, but we all know it’s probably the CIA.
So, no one else going to do that. But he was also asked about uh the endgame. And President Trump says, “Well, the solution is quite simple. The Islamic Republic in Iran needs to wave the white flag and surrender. Simple. Let’s go.
“That’s not the way we play. No, we do it the oldfashioned way. And they should wave. They’re very proud. Maybe you won’t see a white flag, but essentially that’s already what they are. They need they should wave the white the flag the white flag of surrender. In hockey they say uh uncle, right? When are they going to when are they going to cry uncle? But but and they have another expression. If this were a fight, they would stop it. But you know, we have to go out and we have to do it.”
And it’s so we we’re just uh waiting for Marco Rubio. Uh he’s still not there yet, although we are getting some quick updates. Okay. The uh the secretary of state just before he’s obviously going on to do the press conference, he’s now said that the United States is proposing a United Nations Security Council resolution on the situation in the Strait of Holmos in Iran.
So they are now getting the UN involved. I’m not really sure if that’s going to do anything because the UN, especially the security council, don’t really care much about helping uh the Trump administration, but we will have to wait and see. If they could find a way, then they’re going to find a way.
Uh and uh at the same time we also have this quick update from the head of the IDF Aal Zamir who has now said our forces are deployed across all sectors fighting and preparing in immediate readiness for any scenario from near and from far. Zamir said that the military’s the military in Israel is closely monitoring the developments in the Persian Gulf and is prepared to respond with the force against any attempt to harm Israel from obviously the Islamic Republic side.
Uh that is the latest from the IDF. They’ve been on standby for the past few days anyway. And um let’s have a look.
“The foreign minister is a joke. Your government murdered 40,000 plus of your own citizens in a few days. You’ve got the audacity to complain about blue check. Seriously, your statements speak to delusion.”
This is the other thing, by the way. It’s not like X have uh banned his account. He still has an account. He still they still got the followers. You could post whatever you want. You just don’t have your blue check. Why do you need that? You want to brag to your other uh dictator friends saying, “Look, I got a verification check mark.” Yeah, because you paid. If you want to get your refund, just send the DM to Elon and he might do it potentially.
Uh [snorts] but you have violated the terms of service on X by being a bit of a murderous psychopath. So, if you read the terms and conditions on X, it says you’re not allowed to be a murderous psychopath. Word for word. Marco Rubio is now 6 minutes late. And why is this happening? Or why is this not happening? But we also keep getting updates about Marco Rubio, who’s not apparently there.
Is he somewhere else? Has he gone somewhere else? Where is the Secretary of State? He did visit the headquarters of the southern command uh to discuss the situation in Cuba as well. So maybe he’s just on his way back. Uh do we have some reactions here? We got Sarah saying, “Tushy, you are a lifesaver for actual news. This uh is where I come. Did you get a haircut?”
Not yet. I’ll do it tomorrow. Um I blame Marco Rubio. He ruined my plans even though I’ve known he was going to do this all day. But uh uh cardboard Oh, I’ve got a message from Goldie. Cardboard Tusy. H I don’t have the video. She wants me to play the cardboard to see video. I’ve lost it, so I I didn’t save it. Goldie, uh those explosions seem pretty large. But I wonder if they are teaching people how to use drones or just uh uh bog standard explosives.
Nobody knows exactly what’s going on because uh theoretically this could also just be part of the infighting. But uh I think this is just sabotage. The Iranian people continue to do sabotage. Um what does it feel like? Hypocritical mush. Mush means mouse in Persian in case you didn’t know. So good. Trump will have to choose his 30 Congress free carefully. I really really hope the people will be ready then. Signed a blue check member of X. Well, even you’ve got the blue check. That’s good.
Uh now he’s officially almost 9 minutes late. Yep. See, it’s literally Marco Rubio’s first day at this new job as press secretary, and he hasn’t even turned up on time. Marco, where are you? He’s going to get fired. Uh, okay. See, Caroline is never late. Actually, no, Caroline is always late. Caroline is usually 5 minutes late, but not really 10 minutes. This is getting embarrassing.
While this is happening, couple of updates from inside Iran again. the so-called president or when we say president in Iran firstly the role of president is just a being a puppet you’re not really that important your job is to fix their potholes on the streets and you know set the tax rate or income tax for example you don’t really do much but uh the president has released a statement which again when we say president we haven’t seen his face they they tell us the Islamic Republic media they tell the president of the Islamic Republic has said the following and then they just post a picture of him on the screen like okay so if what we should probably say is that the office of the president in the Islamic Republic has now said that the demands coming from the United States for these negotiations which are not happening by the way there are no negotiations are impossible to meet.
So basically today is Tuesday the 5th of May. I have a very very interesting feeling that by the end of this week something is about to happen because uh it seems like the IRDC don’t want to play ball. But the Americans don’t really need to rush into strikes either because the the blockade is working.
And project freedom which has started yesterday is also just continuing because the Islamic Republic thought if they start launching a couple of missiles and drones at the US Navy, some vessels and the UAE, they’re either going to bait the president uh of the US to just launch strikes again or scare them off basically so that they could ruin Project Freedom. But actually, nobody’s reacting. Everybody just continuing.
So, [laughter] and it seems like the the IRGC have gone back to square one, which is just waiting there, losing money, losing their resources, getting suffocated, and just waiting and hoping for at least the return of war because at this point, that’s the only thing that can unite them. This uncertainty of ceasefire, as I said on Fox News an hour ago, is killing them because they they are busy. There we go. They’re busy killing each other. Let’s go to Marco Rubio.
“Thank you guys for having me today. I’ll uh I’ll be filling in for Caroline today obviously. So um I I I’ll have a brief remarks here and then we’ll get to your questions. Um it’s a bit laggy. Sorry guys. As you know over the weekend the president announced this project uh freedom and the goal of it is to frankly if you want to talk about it it’s to rescue like almost 23,000 civilians from 87 different countries that are trapped inside of the of the Gulf and left for dead. uh in the Persian Gulf by this Iranian regime.
You know, for more than two months now, these innocent sailors and commercial crew members have been stranded out at sea because Iran is conducting something that’s not just criminal. It’s criminal for sure, but it’s desperate and destructive. This blockade of the Straits of Hormuz, nations from around the world, the overwhelming majority of whom are not even engaged in any military hostilities, are now at risk not just of losing their cargo uh but the lives of their own citizens because of this blockade.
these ships, you know, you don’t leave a ship out there for this long. You start running out of food. You start running out of potable water, essential supplies, and they’re at the mercy of this piracy. What it is, it’s piracy. And and uh not only that, but some of them have seen, you know, been opened fire on and rained down senseless attacks on on several civilian ships already.
So, frankly, the way to put it, these are innocent bystanders. These are countries that and and ships and so forth that have nothing to do with any of this and nonetheless are being caught in the middle of it and being held hostage merely because Iran could do that just because of uh just as the regime brutally slaughtered tens of thousands of their own citizens for the for the crime of peaceful protest because they’re unhappy with the quality of life or the lack of quality of life in Iran today.
And so they’re sitting ducks. They’re isolated. They’re starving. They’re vulnerable. And uh and at least 10 sailors have already died as a result of it. civilian sailors. So already many nations privately and some publicly have asked the United States to to help free their ships and to restore freedom of navigation in the streets of Ormuz and this critical artery of global trade.
And so President Trump, as he always does, stepped up and answered the calls for their help. And he’s directed the United States military to guide these stranded ships to safety to provide a protective bubble under which they can operate and move product and get themselves out of there and out of the harm’s way. And this is the first step towards reopening the strait and bringing this regime’s last ditch uh act of economic arson.
Bringing that to a close. Only we’re doing it not only because we were asked, but because we’re the only ones who can. We only we have the power to sort of take the steps that we’ve taken now. Under this president, under President Trump, the United States uh will help our friends. We’re going to stand up to rogue regimes like the one in Tyrron. And we’re going to be unashamed to use our power and our abilities uh to project military power in the service of our national interests above all else.
Now, what’s really important for you to report and for everyone to understand is this is not an offensive operation. This is a defensive operation. And what that means is very simple. There’s no shooting unless we’re shot at first. Okay? We’re not attacking them. We’re not But if they’re attacking us or they’re attacking a ship, you need to respond to that. You’re not going to let some fast boat come up on a ship and shoot it up. We’re going to respond to it and we’ve been successful at I don’t know what the exact number is, but I know a number of those fast boats have now been targeted and will continue to be if they pose a threat to our forces.
We’ll shoot down drones, we’ll shoot down missiles, but it’s defensive in nature. This is defensive. So, if you hear stories about attacks and launching of of firing back and forth, it’s not back and forth. We are only responding if attacked first. This is a defensive operation and that’s what’s occurring here. Just about the importance of the straits for a moment. This is approximately a quarter of the world’s oil trade along with significant volumes of fuel and fertilizer that that operate through the straits of Hormuz.
The the Iranian regime cannot be allowed to dictate who uses this vital waterway. I don’t think this is also being reported enough. Maybe you are reporting. I don’t read everyone. I don’t many damn outlets here. I don’t know who you all are, but um I mean I know who some of you are, but I don’t know all of you are. [laughter] But but I will say this about it. Um have this is an international waterway. Okay, this is an international waterway and international law is very clear and I love it because everybody always talks about international law on this.
International law on this is very clear. International waterways, no country can control them. There is no international law that allows you to say, ‘I’m going to put mines in an international body of water and I’m going to blow up ships that don’t listen to us and try to go through.’ That’s what Iran is doing. This is a criminal act and someone needs to do something about it. Something needs to be done. It’s completely illegal, completely illegitimate, and completely unacceptable.
And that’s why the United States military is guiding stranded commercial ships safely through the straight and is working to restore freedom of navigation and putting an end to these efforts to glow to hold the global economy hostage. So far, as a proof of concept and as a proof of function, two US flag merchant ships have successfully transferred the straight of Hormuz in the first stages of this project and they’re now safely on their way.
The US military is deploying the necessary assets to extend this defensive umbrella over commercial shipping. But there should be no mistake. And as I said this already, this is a defensive operation. I want to reiterate that point. This is important to understand. If no shots are fired at these ships and no shots are fired at us, we’re not firing shots. But if we’re fired on, we will respond. And we will respond with lethal efficiency.
The assets supporting this project, by the way, include guided missile destroyers, over a 100 land and sea-based aircraft, multi-dommain unmanned platforms, and 15,000 of the finest military service members on the planet. These forces have already destroyed, as I told you earlier, I thought it was six. It’s seven Iranian fastboats that failed to heed our warnings.
And by fast boats, we’re talking about, you know, some of these things look like Boston whalers. Okay? So, these are not like Navy ships, but nonetheless, they come fast at these boats, try to swarm them, try to harm them. We’re not going to let that happen. So, seven of them now sit at the bottom of the sea along with, by the way, the rest of Iran’s navy. That’s where you can find their navy today.
And we’re going to continue to systematically clear this passageway through the straits to restore freedom of navigation. Now, while this project steadily progresses, Operation Epic Fury, economic fury, I’m sorry, continues to impose maximum pressure on the Iranian regime and what remains of their already frail economy. Today, inflation in Iran is 70%. And their currency is in total and complete freefall.
US sanctions enforcement is stepping up. It’s moving in lock step with the naval blockade to degrade Iran’s cap capacity to generate, to move, and repatriate revenue. It directly targets the regime’s primary revenue life lifelines. The blockade alone is costing Iran as much as $500 million a day in lost revenue. 90% of total Iranian trade has been halted, causing permanent damage to Iran’s oil infrastructure as well are forced to shut in.
Again, all of this is in response to their piracy. Okay? It cannot be that you have these straits and they blow up any ship that moves and the only ships that get to go through are theirs. You can’t have a situation in which the straits are close to everyone else but they benefit from the piracy. That can’t happen. That’s why the blockade is in place and that’s why these sanctions are crippling them.
Any foreign financial in by the way Treasury is now identifying and cutting off every dollar of revenue that’s flowing to this regime. And so look any foreign financial institution or commercial actor that enables Iran sanctions evasion is going to face secondary sanctions exposure and a loss of access to the US financial system. As President Trump has said and the facts clearly bear out, the United States of America holds all the cards.
There is no scenario here in which if they decide to join a ladder of escalation, they wind up getting the last say. But our preference is for these straits to be opened to the way they’re supposed to be open back to the way it was. Anyone can use it. No mines in the water, nobody paying tolls. That’s what we have to get back to. And that’s the goal here. Every day the conflict continues.
However, our leverage on Iran will continue to increase and their position will continue to weaken, especially as the blockade really begins to bite in conjunction with the sanctions. So look, the time’s come for Iran to make a sensible choice and it’s not easy for them to do that obviously because they have a fracture in their own leadership system and apart from that I mean the top people in that government are to say the least um you know um they’re insane in the brain and so we need to address that and it’s difficult because it’s hard to get past that in their system but it’s important for them to make a sensible choice and the one that’s right for their people.
The president, our president has proven time and again that his preference is peace. But Iran must accept the reality of this situation and come to the negotiation table and accept terms that are good for them but ultimately good for the world. The diplomatic path, if there’s a real diplomatic path, I’m not always going to be one, but if there’s a real diplomatic path and we continue to explore it, Steve and Jared are working on that very hard.
If there is one there, it could be one that leads them to reconstruction, to prosperity, and to stability and to not posing a threat to the world. The alternative is growing isolation, economic collapse, and ultimately total defeat. I know what the right choice is for Iran. I hope that the people over there making decisions will make the right one.
The last point I would make, and it really is important for them to understand this, is uh they really shouldn’t test the will of the United States, at least not under President Donald Trump. He has proven time and again, that he will back up what he says. And if they test him, ultimately they will lose. The hard way, the easy way, the long way, the short way, they will lose. And with that, um, it’s time for your questions. So, here we go. Catherine, why don’t we start with you first?”
“Catherine Harri, I’m an independent journalist. Secretary Rubio, have you seen any recent indications that Iran is willing to give up its nuclear weapons program that is credible, verifiable, and that would lead to an immediate deescalation?”
“Well, look, um, this is a long-standing problem for them, right? I mean, they have wanted they have always said they don’t want a nuclear weapon. That’s because they’ve always said that. They just don’t mean it. And why do you say, well, how do you know they don’t mean it? Well, we don’t mean it because they do all they’re doing all the things and historically have tried to do all the things that you do if you want a nuclear weapons program, for example.
They innovate and try to innovate long range delivery missiles that now in some cases are capable of reaching much of Europe. They uh enri they they build these large underground centeres to for enrichment activity. There are many there are countries in the world that are involved in the enrichment business, but these guys do it in mountains and in caves and in hiding. They they’ve always had secret components of their nuclear program undisclosed to the world.
And we know for a fact that they retain highlyenriched uranium at 60% that they that they did so and that has no civilian use. None. Zero whatsoever. So they have an opportunity here to agree to something that will make it clear that they’re that they are not interested in one thing is to say we don’t want a nuclear weapon. Another thing is to do the things that prove you don’t want a nuclear weapon.
By the way, if what Iran wants is ai civilian nuclear program for power plants and stuff like that, there are a lot of countries in the world that have that and they don’t enrich. They they import they import the enriched material. You know, they could have that if that’s what they wanted, but they’re not acting like that’s what they wanted. They’re acting like they want a military, you know, uh nuclear program. That’s unacceptable.
So that’s the process we’re engaged in now to create that’s the the object of this diplomacy is to come up with some level of understanding about what are the topics that they’ve agreed to negotiate on. We don’t have to have the actual agreement written out and one day this is highly complex and highly technical but we have to have a diplomatic solution that is very clear about the topics that they are willing to negotiate on and the extent and the concessions they’re willing to make at the front end in order to make those talks worthwhile.
That’s what Steven Jared and the whole team is working on and I hope to have good news on it. That’s the outcome we would prefer. That’s the outcome we would have preferred a year ago. That’s the outcome I think most of us would have preferred a long time ago. But that’s not the option they’ve given us given their activity. All right. Can I There’s no way I can figure out who to call on. I’m just going to like press right in the middle. Right there. You right there. Yes. Yeah. In the back row.”
“Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President.”
“I’ll I’ll go to you next. All right. Go ahead.”
“Thank you, Secretary Rubio. Going right. Welcome to the White House.”
“What’s that?”
“Talking to me, sir.”
“Yeah. To you. Yes, sir.”
“Thank you. I have two questions on two separate issues that come up.”
“Do they get two questions for these or one? There’s a lot of people in here under your umbrella.”
“All right. Well, you answer. You can ask me two questions. I’ll give you one answer. And I’ll pick the one I like better.”
“Thank Thank you, Mr. Secretary. The first has to do with the blockade. There are lawmakers from both parties who claim the blockade is an act of war. What do you say to that? And my second question has to do with the fuel embargo of Cuba. How long, Mr. Secretary, will that last?”
“Okay, two things. All right, good. I’ll answer both your questions because I like the second one, too. The first one on the blockade. And so, why do we have a blockade? We have a blockade because they shut down the straits. So, I don’t know which members of Congress you’re talking to, but here’s what I would ask them. I would ask everybody here. It’s very simple. These guys have shut down the straits of our moves.
This is what Iran is saying. We will shut down the straits. No one can go through. No country in the world can go through unless we allow you to go through and you have to pay us. But our ships can go through, meaning the Iranian ships, as much as they want. That’s crazy. Who would agree to that? So, how are we going to have a situation where they get to close the straits to everybody and the only people who are allowed to go through there 100% without paying anything are the Iranians?
If you do that, they’ll keep the straits closed forever. They’re trying to make this some new normal. Under no circumstances can we ever allow them to normalize the fact that they get to blow up commercial ships and put mines in the water. So, the response to that is we’re going to blockade your ships. If everyone’s ships are not getting out, your ships are not getting out either. That’s not an act of war.
That’s a defensive measure. It’s a counter to what they have decided to do. You know what is an act of war? Putting mines in the water. Why don’t the members of Congress or whoever it is is complaining about it. They should be all over that. These guys put mines in the water. That alone you mining in the water is illegal. Period. Under any circumstances and they’ve done it. That’s this is crazy stuff.
But this is what they’ve done on Cuba. Oil blockade on Cuba. There’s no oil blockade on Cuba, per se. Here’s what’s happening with Cuba, okay? Cuba used to get free oil from Venezuela. I used to give them a bunch of free oil. They would take like 60% of that oil and resell it for cash. It wouldn’t even go to benefit the people. So, the only blockade that’s happened is the Cubans have decided, I mean, the Venezuelans have decided we’re not giving you free oil anymore.
And you can only imagine nowadays the way oil prices are, no one’s giving away free oil, much less to a failed regime. So, the problem of Cuba is is worse. Okay? Their economic model doesn’t work. Doesn’t work. And the people who are in charge can’t fix it. And the reason I can’t fix it is not just because they’re communists. That’s bad enough. But they’re incompetent communists. The the only thing worse than a communist is an incompetent one.
And that’s what so incompetent communists run that country. They don’t know how to fix it. They really don’t. And we have 90 miles from our shores, a failed state that also happens to be friendly territory for some of our adversaries. So it’s an unacceptable status quo. And we’ll be addressing it, but not today. Okay. Uh all right. Let’s go to the front right there.”
“Secretary of Rubio. Secretary of Rubio. Uh, you are going to the Vatican to meet with the Pope. Is this an attempt to smooth things over with the Pope given the rhetoric between President Trump and Pop Leo?”
“No, I mean it’s a trip we had planned from before and obviously we had some stuff that happened and no, look, there’s a lot to talk about with the Vatican. I’ll give you one example. The Pope just returned from a trip to Africa where the church is growing very vibrantly and we have shared concerns about religious freedom, religious uh freedom in different parts of the world. We’d love to talk to them about that. the topic of Cuba. You know, we gave Cuba $6”
