JERUSALEM, Israel – President Trump believes the war with Iran could soon end. However, new reporting is raising questions about whether Russia helped Iran strike American forces. Meanwhile, a dramatic rescue is revealing one U.S. airman’s story of survival and faith.
At a campaign rally in North Carolina on Wednesday, the president predicted the end of the conflict with the Tehran regime.
“So, the Democrats gave us the dark age of America, and we turned it into the golden age,” he intoned. “We’re right now in the golden age of America, and that (Iran) war, that war is going to end very soon.”
The president again suggested that Iran wants a deal, but is not yet ready.
“They’re getting decimated, and they want to make a deal so badly, they call, ‘We want to make a deal, we want to make’… and they’re not ready yet, I don’t think, but we can have a deal anytime we want,” he claimed.
However, as the president talks about ending the war, photos obtained exclusively by CBS News reveal the toll that Iranian attacks have taken on U.S. bases across the Middle East, with damage to buildings and vehicles. The images came from active-duty service members speaking on condition of anonymity.
The situation could be further complicated by new reports that raise questions about possible involvement by the Kremlin in some of Iran’s most damaging strikes on American forces.
CNN reports that Russian surveillance satellites may have provided Iran with intelligence ahead of the March 27th attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. The strike wounded American service members and damaged U.S. military aircraft. CNN satellite tracking showed Russian satellites passing over target areas before Iran’s attacks.
At the same time, newly released Pentagon video is showing the extraordinary lengths to which U.S. forces went to bring two downed American airmen home.
One of them, known only by his call sign, “Bravo,” survived after his damaged parachute sent him crashing to the ground at an estimated 70 to 100 miles per hour.
Bravo told CBS News’ Sixty Minutes, “My parachute was damaged in the initial attack. At one point, when I looked up and saw no parachute, that was the most terrifying thing I’d ever seen. So, I paused right then, and I prayed, ‘Lord, your will be done, but if I’m getting through this I need your help.’”
Bravo survived with a broken back and other injuries. He then evaded capture and climbed to higher ground while waiting for rescue.
He calls his survival a testament to God’s provision. His pilot also survived and was rescued.
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Even as the war rages, another Middle East story is moving in the opposite direction. Israel and Morocco are deepening their relationship six years after the Abraham Accords.
Meeting with the U.S. in New York, the two countries agreed to elevate their diplomatic missions to full embassies and appoint ambassadors.
And, as world leaders gather for the U.N. General Assembly’s opening session next week, the Trump administration has denied visas to the Palestinian delegation for the second consecutive year.
The State Department stated that Palestinian officials failed to meet commitments under previous agreements to pursue peace with Israel.
Palestinian Ambassador to the U.N. Riyad Mansour rejected efforts to push the Palestinian issue aside.
“Nobody can remove Palestine from being center and front in the United Nations … but more importantly, we need to see the war to stop the illegal occupation to start the process of evacuating and peace to take place through the two-states solution,” he declared.
