Full story
Iran targets US recruitment
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei urged Americans to reject an Israeli proposal to recruit debt-burdened U.S. students to fight in a war against Iran, framing it as a plan to shift “Your lives. Your taxes. Someone else’s war.”
“Americans, ask yourselves one question: Why should your sons and daughters be offered debt forgiveness”
In a post on X on Friday night, Baghaei questioned why “your sons and daughters” should be offered debt forgiveness in exchange for “fighting and dying in a war Israel wants continued & expanded?”
Baghaei said an opinion column in The Jerusalem Post was “openly floating exactly that idea: using student-loan and credit-card debt to recruit Americans for war with Iran,” and he warned, “Do not let anyone turn you into the cannon fodder - and the bill - for a war you never chose.”
The message was repeated by Pars Today, which said Baghaei called on the American people not to allow themselves to be turned into foot soldiers or forced to pay the bill for the costs of a war they never chose.
Missiles near Kharg Island
Iranian media cited by Al Jazeera reported that an Iranian oil tanker off the coast of Kharg Island was struck by four US missiles, with the Student News Network saying the crew was being evacuated.
Il Sole 24 ORE said “Several explosions” were reported around Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf, according to Iranian news agency Fars, which added that no smoke or flames were visible and that there is currently no official confirmation of the cause of the explosions.
The Il Sole 24 ORE report also said the Student News Network reported an Iranian oil tanker had been struck by a missile near the island and that no casualties had been reported so far.
Kharg Island handles around 90 per cent of Iran’s oil exports, according to Il Sole 24 ORE, as Iranian outlets described the incident and the status of the crew.
Debate over war recruitment
TRT World reported that Baqaei’s response came after an opinion piece in The Jerusalem Post called on the US to leverage student loans and financial debt to recruit young Americans for a potential ground assault on Iran.
“Recruitment numbers are running below what a ground invasion of Iran would require.”
TRT World said the column argued that “Recruitment numbers are running below what a ground invasion of Iran would require,” and it cited estimates for a successful ground campaign against Iran’s “31 provincial commands” and its “Mosaic Defense Doctrine” running “between 750,000 and 1.5 million American troops.”
TRT World also quoted the column’s claim that the current active US Army “stands at roughly 452 thousand,” and it said the piece argued that “this is the cohort the Pentagon needs.”
In the same TRT World account, Baghaei accompanied his post with a satirical meme referencing Squid Game, and he warned Americans not to let their children be turned “into mercenaries” for Israel’s war.