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<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nWhen global events reach a fever pitch, global leaders should be trying to bring the temperature down. But instead, we are witnessing almost constant provocations. In fact, I am extremely alarmed by a number of things that Iran, China and Russia have just done. Let me start with breaking news out of the Middle East. It is being reported that a U.S. fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone after it \u201caggressively approached\u201d<\/a> the USS Abraham Lincoln\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The U.S. military shot down an unmanned Iranian drone Tuesday after it \u201caggressively approached a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier with unclear intent,\u201d a U.S. Central Command spokesman told Fox News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUSS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) was transiting the Arabian Sea approximately 500 miles from Iran\u2019s southern coast when an Iranian Shahed-139 drone unnecessarily maneuvered toward the ship,\u201d Capt. Tim Hawkins added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Iranian drone continued to fly toward the ship despite de-escalatory measures taken by U.S. forces operating in international waters,\u201d CENTCOM also said. \u201d An F-35C fighter jet from Abraham Lincoln shot down the Iranian drone in self-defense and to protect the aircraft carrier and personnel on board.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n With tensions so high at this moment, why would the Iranians send a Shahed-139 drone directly toward a U.S. aircraft carrier?<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Were they just trying to monitor it, or did they intend to test the Abraham Lincoln\u2019s defenses?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A short while later, six Iranian gunboats reportedly tried to board a U.S. oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Six Iranian gunboats unsuccessfully attempted to halt a U.S.-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The security firm Vanguard Tech told its clients on Tuesday that the Iranian vessels were armed with 50-caliber guns, and they ordered the oil tanker to turn off its engines and prepare to be boarded. Instead, the tanker sped up and was ultimately escorted to safety by a U.S. Navy vessel, according to the Journal.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n We are very fortunate that a naval skirmish did not break out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A single miscalculation could result in missiles flying all over the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Talks that are scheduled for Friday represent the last hope to avoid an apocalyptic war in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately, the Iranians are apparently not happy<\/a> with the venue and the format for the talks\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Iran has demanded changes to the venue and format for negotiations with the United States this Friday, potentially putting the talks at risk of collapse, two sources with knowledge of the situation tell Axios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to sources, the Iranians want to move the talks from Istanbul, Turkey to Muscat in Oman, and instead of a talks featuring several Arab and Muslim, they want to hold them in a bilateral format, only with the Americans.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Of course even if the negotiations go ahead as scheduled, the Iranians are extremely unlikely<\/a> to agree to the core demands that the Trump administration is now making\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2013 Renunciation of the nuclear program<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2013 Halting the ballistic missile program<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2013 Cease all funding of proxy groups<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2013 Proper treatment of protesters who participated in anti-regime demonstrations<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n There is no way that the Iranians are going to agree to all of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But if they don\u2019t, President Trump is warning that \u201cbad things would happen\u201d<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have ships heading to Iran right now, big ones \u2014 the biggest and the best \u2014 and we have talks going on with Iran and we\u2019ll see how it all works out,\u201d Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. \u201cIf we can work something out, that would be great and if we can\u2019t, probably bad things would happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019d like to see a deal negotiated. I don\u2019t know that that\u2019s going to happen,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n At this stage, I think that just about everyone is losing patience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the Iranian side, one member of parliament is suggesting<\/a> that it is time for preemptive strikes on U.S. bases and Israeli cities\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Iranian MP Amir-Hossein Sabeti called for ending negotiations and urged pre-emptive strikes on Israel and U.S. bases in the region.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course it is always possible that Israel could be the first one to pull the trigger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Defense News<\/a>, some Israeli officials are also considering the possibility of conducting preemptive strikes\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Israel\u2019s security cabinet is approaching a critical decision on how to respond to Iran\u2019s advancing military capabilities, amid growing concern in Jerusalem that U.S. strategy may diverge from Israeli threat assessments. According to reporting by Walla, senior Israeli officials are weighing whether to proceed with a preemptive military strike independently or delay action in anticipation of coordination with the United States, despite uncertainty over Washington\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n We are so close to war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So let us hope that the diplomats can pull off some sort of a miracle on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While tensions in the Middle East continue to rise, the Chinese are trying to encourage the use of the yuan as a global reserve currency<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chinese leader Xi Jinping has called for the Chinese yuan to become a global reserve currency, perhaps capitalizing on the dollar\u2019s decline over the past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Over the weekend, the ruling Communist Party quoted Xi as saying Beijing needed to build a \u201cpowerful currency\u201d that could be \u201cwidely used in international trade, investment and foreign exchange markets, and attain reserve currency status.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n China can see that the U.S. dollar is steadily getting weaker and nations all over the globe are losing faith in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So now the Chinese are ready to step in and take advantage of the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course it is our own fault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have been treating our currency like toilet paper for a long time, and now we are starting to suffer the consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n China has also just revealed plans to construct a \u201cspace carrier\u201d<\/a> that will be able to carry 88 unmanned fighter jets to the edge of the Earth\u2019s atmosphere\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n China has unveiled plans for a futuristic \u2018Star Wars\u2019 space carrier than can deploy nearly 100 unmanned fighter jets and fly to the edge of Earth\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The nation has claimed the Luanniao \u2013 slated to be 794ft-long, 2244ft-wide and have a takeoff weight of 120,000 tonnes \u2013 will be up in the air in the next 20 to 30 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The warship, set to be the biggest in the world if it is ever made, is being designed to carry up to 88 unmanned Xuan Nu fighter jets.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n This is another example that demonstrates how far ahead of us China is when it comes to drone technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At this stage, our leaders can only dream of building something similar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this article, I also wanted to address a couple of things that Russia has just done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As peace talks loom, the Russians just used an enormous barrage of ballistic missiles to attack Ukraine\u2019s energy infrastructure<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Russia has used a record number of ballistic missiles to target Ukraine\u2019s energy sector, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The combined missile and drone strikes hit power plants and infrastructure in Kyiv and multiple locations causing \u201cthe most powerful blow\u201d so far this year, according to private energy company DTEK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The strikes were launched as temperatures dropped to -20C (-4F) and left more than 1,000 tower blocks in the capital without heating once again and damaged a power plant in the eastern city of Kharkiv beyond repair.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The Russians are making it clear that they are not going to back down until they get what they want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the Ukrainians have absolutely no intention of giving that to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So the war will continue to escalate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is being reported that Russians forces have just crossed the border of Ukraine<\/a> in a new area of the Sumy region, and it appears that this new breach has been successful\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Russian troops crossed the border in the Belgorod region from the village of Kolotilovka and entered Pokrovka in the Sumy region, according to enemy analytical resources. They emphasize that the Russian advance currently covers an area of \u200b\u200bthree square kilometers.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Of course Russian forces had already been operating elsewhere in the Sumy region, and Ukrainian resistance is really starting to crumble<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same time, reports are coming in of Russian forces advancing in the eastern Sumy region. Local authorities report that in the past 24 hours alone, Russian forces have liberated a 24-square-kilometer area.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n A gain of 24 square kilometers in a 24 hour period is very significant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ukrainian lines are stretched so thin, and the Russians have all of the momentum at this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the Russians gobble up more territory, European leaders will feel an enormous amount of pressure to intervene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think that this is going to be a huge story as the year rolls along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But what is occurring in the Middle East is of more immediate concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have one last chance to avoid an apocalyptic war with Iran, and so let us hope that a peace agreement can be reached before it is too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Michael\u2019s new book entitled \u201c10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next\u201d<\/a> is available in paperback<\/a> and for the Kindle<\/a> on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n About the Author:<\/strong> Michael Snyder\u2019s new book entitled \u201c10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next\u201d<\/a> is available in paperback<\/a> and for the Kindle<\/a> on Amazon.com. He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including \u201cChaos\u201d<\/a>, \u201cEnd Times\u201d<\/a>, \u201c7 Year Apocalypse\u201d<\/a>, \u201cLost Prophecies Of The Future Of America\u201d<\/a>, \u201cThe Beginning Of The End\u201d<\/a>, and \u201cLiving A Life That Really Matters\u201d<\/a>. When you purchase any of Michael\u2019s books you help to support the work that he is doing. You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter<\/a>. Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog<\/a>, End Of The American Dream<\/a> and The Most Important News<\/a>, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: \u201cFor God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.\u201d If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior<\/a> today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When global events reach a fever pitch, global leaders should be trying to bring the temperature down. \u00a0But instead, we are witnessing almost constant provocations. \u00a0In fact, I am extremely alarmed by a number of things that Iran, China and Russia have just done. \u00a0Let me start with breaking news out of the Middle East. \u00a0It is being reported that a U.S. fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone after it \u201caggressively approached\u201d the USS Abraham Lincoln\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2521,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"iawp_total_views":17,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2249],"tags":[2375,429,196,2315,26,2376,2374],"class_list":["post-2520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-michael-synder","tag-arabian-sea","tag-china","tag-iran","tag-michael-synder","tag-russia","tag-shahed-139","tag-uss-abraham-lincoln"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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