Sen.-elect James Talarico (D-Texas) closed his Nov. 3 victory speech in Austin by presenting Jesus overturning the tables in the Temple as a model for his Senate term. “2,000 years ago when the people at the top hurt his neighbors, that barefoot rabbi didn’t stay in his room and pray. He walked into the seat of power and he flipped over the tables of injustice,” Talarico said.

“As this movement heads to the seat of power, as we head to the United States Senate, we know what this moment requires of us. Texas, it’s time to start flipping tables.”

Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian who defeated Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, is one of four Democrats elected on Nov. 3 who built their campaigns around their Christian faith. The other three are Kansas Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton, a United Methodist pastor, and two ordained ministers from Iowa, Reps.-elect Sarah Trone Garriott and Lindsay James.

Talarico, the first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate from Texas since 1988, opened his speech with the story of David and Goliath. He identified his own Goliaths as “the richest man in the world, the most powerful man in the world and the entire Washington D.C. establishment.” He said his grandfather, a Baptist preacher in South Texas, taught him that “we follow a barefoot rabbi who gave us two commandments, love God and love neighbor.”

He then tied Scripture to policy proposals that included universal health care and an end to what he called “corrupt forever wars,” adding, “And we must heal the deep spiritual corruption at the root of all of these crises.”

Talarico’s statements about the nature of God drew criticism throughout the campaign. During an October 2021 Texas House debate on a bill barring boys from girls’ school sports, he said, “God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God is nonbinary.” In an October 2023 sermon, according to FactCheck.org, he told the congregation, “God is not a Presbyterian. God is not a Christian. God is not a noun at all. God is a verb.”

On Joe Rogan’s podcast in September 2025, Talarico cited the Annunciation in defending abortion, saying the angel Gabriel “asks Mary if this is something she wants to do, and she says, ‘If it is God’s will, let it be done.’”

In another podcast appearance, he said atheists are “more Christ-like than” some of his Christian colleagues in the Texas House. In a 2021 podcast interview circulated by RNC Research in June, he said, “I always think of myself as a Christian who hates Christianity.”

At a CNN town hall in October, a Christian voter asked him about the nonbinary remark and his biblical case for abortion. Talarico called the comments “provocative” and said he had made them “in an annoying way.”

Texas Republicans challenged his claims. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in June that Talarico would “go to hell” for his biblical interpretations. Paxton, a Southern Baptist, said Talarico is not a Christian. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Dallas, called Talarico “not a Christian” and “evil” and said on Fox News that his beliefs “disqualify him from being a Christian.”

Other Democratic winners also emphasized faith in their victory speeches, a shift from earlier election cycles, when faith was more often a defining feature of Republican campaigns.

In Kansas, Hamilton defeated Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, becoming the first Democrat elected to represent the state in the U.S. Senate in 94 years. The founding pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, the country’s largest United Methodist congregation, delivered his victory speech from a pulpit. He led the crowd in reciting Matthew 7:12: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Hamilton’s teachings on Scripture became a campaign issue. In a December 2024 episode of his podcast, he said Christians do not have to believe in the virgin birth of Jesus. His campaign responded by citing a passage from his book “Making Sense of the Bible,” in which he writes that he accepts “four and a half” of the five fundamentals of the Christian faith.

In a sermon titled “Is the Bible True?” he held up a colander, compared Jesus to it and urged believers to set aside passages of the Bible that do not match Jesus’ words. In October, a group of Kansas pastors called on Hamilton to repent and withdraw from the race over his teachings on homosexuality and abortion.

Hamilton’s campaign platform states, “I support safe and legal access to abortion.” He also notes that he voted against the 2022 Value Them Both amendment, which would have removed the right to an abortion from the Kansas Constitution.

In Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, Trone Garriott, a state senator and ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, defeated Republican Rep. Zach Nunn. Her campaign presented her as “Minister. Mother. Leader.” She has argued that Democrats’ silence on faith left a vacuum “filled by the religious right.” In her victory speech, she said that “the love we have for our neighbors is so much more powerful.”

Trone Garriott told her congregation, “This is not a Christian nation. It’s a nation for all of us,” according to the Daily Signal. In a 2023 speech on what she called “Christian nationalism” at Ames First United Methodist Church, she described the LGBTQ movement as challenging “who’s a man and who’s woman and how relationships are.” In the same speech, according to the Daily Wire, she said evangelical opposition to “GLBTQ” ideology stems from racial anxiety rather than theology.

In an August interview, she declined to identify a point at which abortion becomes murder. In the Iowa Senate, she voted against bills barring boys from girls’ sports and restricting gender transition procedures for minors.

In Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, James, a Presbyterian minister and college chaplain who serves in the Iowa House, flipped the seat vacated by Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson, who ran for the U.S. Senate. Her Republican opponent, Joe Mitchell, called her a “Pastor in Name Only.” He said, “If you’re a pastor and you think that 6-year-olds can change their gender, I don’t think you’re much of a pastor.” James called the attack offensive and said it “insults all Christians and pastors.”

In a March 17, 2023, Iowa PBS appearance alongside Republican Rep. Steven Holt, James, then the Iowa House minority leader, opposed a bill requiring transgender students to use school bathrooms and locker rooms that match their biological sex. She cited Trevor Project figures indicating that “52% of transgender youth struggle with suicidal ideation.”

She also opposed a bill banning puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and gender transition surgeries for minors. “Every medical, U.S. medical society, every medical experts agree that gender affirming care is medically necessary and can be lifesaving care,” James said. When Holt cited the British Medical Journal’s warning about puberty blockers, she replied, “Conspiracy theories do not equal science. Google searches do not equal medical degrees.”

On abortion, she said Democrats were “working on reproductive freedom” because Iowans “want politicians out of their doctor’s offices.”

All four take office in January, Talarico and Hamilton in the Senate and Trone Garriott and James in the House. Each campaigned as a Christian while supporting abortion.

The post Meet the Democrats Who Won on Crackpot Christianity: ‘God Is Nonbinary,’ the Bible Has Errors, and ‘This Is Not a Christian Nation’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Syrian border guards traded fire on Nov. 6 with smugglers crossing from Lebanon near Serghaya, in rural Damascus, and seized 280 kilograms of hashish and 28,000 Captagon pills after the gunmen fled back into Lebanon. Syria’s border security commander for the region has said that “most smuggling gangs” on that border are affiliated with Iran-backed Hezbollah, which denies involvement in the drug trade.

Captagon was originally a German brand name for the prescription drug fenethylline, which was later banned internationally. According to the EU Drugs Agency, illegal tablets now sold under that name typically contain amphetamine, often mixed with caffeine.

The same day, authorities in the United Arab Emirates announced that a tip from Iraq’s Interior Ministry had led them to an international network that planned to smuggle 200,000 Captagon pills and more than 30 kilograms of cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, marijuana, hashish and synthetic cannabinoids into the country through Ras Al Khaimah.

The UAE’s National Drug Enforcement Authority said it had arrested all 20 members of the network. Several were caught trying to enter the country, and the rest were picked up in separate raids by police in Ras Al Khaimah, Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman, working with Iraq’s General Directorate of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Affairs.

The bust comes as Captagon production and trafficking networks expand into Iraq following Assad’s fall.

Iran’s proxies have long participated in the Middle East’s drug trade. In October 2024, the Treasury Department called Captagon “a billion-dollar illicit enterprise” operated by senior members of the Syrian regime, and sanctioned Lebanon-based trafficker Khaldoun Hamieh. Treasury said Hamieh controlled Captagon labs in Sayyida Zainab, near Damascus, an area largely under the control of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah. It said his ties to Maher al-Assad, the Syrian army’s Fourth Division and Hezbollah allowed him to move the pills from Lebanon into Jordan.

Assad’s fall in December 2024 did not end the trade. According to the EU Drugs Agency’s 2026 strategic assessment, producers moved closer to their markets, including Iraq. Iran-aligned militias in Iraq and Yemen took over the transit fees that regime networks once collected. The report says Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella of mostly Iran-backed militias drawing state salaries, reportedly collect fees at checkpoints and use southern ports such as Basra.

Among countries surveyed for the EU assessment, Iraq was the only one that described itself as both a source and a transit route for Captagon, and the only one that described itself as a source of methamphetamine. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime recorded a 3,380% increase in Iraq’s Captagon seizures between 2019 and 2023.

The Trump administration has used terrorism designations against major drug-trafficking organizations. Days after taking office, Trump signed Executive Order 14157, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio followed by designating eight cartels and gangs as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. They included the Sinaloa Cartel, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (Jalisco New Generation Cartel), Tren de Aragua and MS-13. The military has since carried out strikes on drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has described as strikes on narco-terrorists.

Congress has taken notice of the Captagon trade as well. In January, Reps. French Hill (R-Ark.) and Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) introduced the Countering Captagon and Narcotics Post-Assad Act. The bill’s findings state that the shifting drug trade, “particularly in Iraq, could pose a significant threat to regional stability and United States interests.” It would require the secretary of defense to deliver a strategy for disrupting networks “linked to the former regime of Bashar al-Assad, Hezbollah, and Iran-backed proxies.” The bill remains in the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Washington has separately designated and sanctioned several Iran-backed Iraqi militias. The State Department designated Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (League of the Righteous) a Foreign Terrorist Organization in January 2020. In April 2026, Treasury sanctioned Kata’ib Hezbollah, Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq and at least three other Iran-backed militias for attacks on U.S. personnel and for diverting Iraq’s wealth to finance terrorism. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States “will not allow Iraq’s terrorist militias, backed by Iran, to threaten American lives or interests.”

Since late February, Iran and allied Iraqi militias have launched about 1,000 attacks using drones and missiles against Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, a longtime U.S. partner, killing 32 people and wounding nearly 150, according to Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani. In March, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Popular Mobilization Forces militias, claimed attacks on an oil refinery in the region and on the UAE consulate in Erbil.

Iraq has also expanded its domestic seizures and intelligence sharing. Interior Ministry spokesman Miqdad Miri said Iraq seized about 2.8 tons of narcotics from January through October 2026, while courts sentenced 6,045 defendants, including 348 to life in prison and 86 to death. Seizures included 600,000 Captagon pills in Khanaqin, Diyala province, and 120 kilograms of narcotics taken from six foreign suspects in Iraqi waters. A ministry operation in Maysan province netted 54 suspects and 5 kilograms of drugs. The same narcotics directorate that tipped off the UAE passed intelligence to Libya’s National Anti-Narcotics Agency in October, leading to the seizure of 1.2 million pills and the arrest of a Libyan national.

Iraq’s police are dismantling networks and sharing intelligence with the Gulf, while the EU reports that militias tied to Tehran collect fees on the same drug. Washington has designated cartels in the Western Hemisphere as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. The pending House bill would require the Pentagon to produce a strategy against Captagon networks linked to Iran’s proxies.

The post Iran’s Proxies Cash In on Captagon Drug Trade as Iraq Tips Off the UAE appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Deadline Passes on Notifying Congress After Crippling FEC Cyberattack.  What Really Occurred?

The Federal Election Commission handles more than campaign-finance disclosures. It also obtains official, certified vote totals from state election offices and publishes federal election-result compilations. Its information responsibilities encompass both political-finance records and the public record of election outcomes.[fec][fec]

That is why the attempted intrusion during early voting demands an urgent, documented accounting.

The FEC’s electronic filing system remained offline for nearly 41 hours following the detected threat. The public reporting did not establish the incident’s full reach or demonstrate whether systems supporting election-result publications were isolated from the affected systems.[reuters][politico]

The agency holds election-related information. The unanswered question is what the attacker could reach.

This is not merely an internal cybersecurity matter. It concerns public accountability at a federal election agency during early voting in a midterm election.

By October 26, an FEC official was warning campaign-compliance firms that a “bad actor” was attempting to breach agency systems. That warning subsequently became public. The public deserves a complete account of what followed.[unionleader]

Congress should demand the incident records, the notification timeline, and an explanation of how the agency fulfilled its reporting obligations. CISA should explain what role it played.

Federal guidance requires an agency to notify the appropriate congressional committees within seven days after it has a reasonable basis to conclude that a major incident occurred. The public deserves records showing how the FEC applied that requirement—not an unexplained gap in the timeline.[cisa]

Was Congress notified? When was the notice sent? Who received it?

The reporting review does not establish whether the required notification occurred. That uncertainty should end with dated records, not competing assurances.

An FEC electronic-filings official described a “bad actor” attempting to breach agency systems. POLITICO reported an ongoing internal investigation and quoted an unnamed source describing the attempted intrusion as “narrow and compartmentalized.” Its reporting did not identify the investigation’s leader or establish who independently verified that assessment.[politico][reuters]

Who investigated? Who supervised? Who reviewed the evidence?

An anonymous description is not a public accounting. Restoring a filing service does not establish the boundaries of an attempted intrusion.

The inspector general had already documented security concerns. Its fiscal year 2026 management-challenges report described controls insufficient to reduce potential breach risks to an acceptable level. Legacy systems impeded prompt patching of known vulnerabilities. Funding and staffing constraints compounded the problem.[fec]

Those findings documented weaknesses in the agency’s security controls before the attempted intrusion during midterm early voting. They make it essential to establish whether those weaknesses provided a pathway into FEC systems, what the attacker could reach, and whether election-related records were exposed.

Make the communications accessible. Release the notification timeline and documented findings. Explain who acted, when they acted, and what investigators established so the public can understand exactly what happened.

Restore the FEC’s bipartisan decision-making capacity now.

Congress designed a six-member commission with no more than three commissioners from the same political party. Four affirmative votes for consequential actions prevent one party’s commissioners from acting alone. The FEC expressly identifies nonpartisan decision-making as the purpose of this structure.[fec]

That safeguard reaches beyond enforcement. It applies to consequential decisions involving regulations, advisory opinions, audit matters, and other commission business. Losing bipartisan representation also restricts certain administrative actions.[fec][fec]

During a contested election, this protection is not a technicality. It is central to public confidence.

For the people, the combination demands constitutional accountability: an attempted intrusion during early voting, unanswered questions about oversight, and an agency without its intended bipartisan decision-making capacity.

The president should advance qualified nominees immediately. The Senate should promptly consider their confirmation. Commissioners are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The House should press publicly for restoration and exercise its oversight responsibilities.[fec]

Each institution has a role. None should pass responsibility to another.

The relevant House and Senate committees should confirm whether they received notice and when. The president and Senate should state what they are doing to restore the commission and provide a public timetable.

The public deserves neither unsupported reassurance nor unsupported claims that votes were altered. It deserves evidence, functioning oversight, and lawful action.

Make the communications accessible.

Show the notice. Show the dates.

Restore the bipartisan FEC.

Formal Letter to Congress

November 8, 2026

Members of the United States Congress
United States Capitol
Washington, DC 20515

Subject: FEC Cyberattack—Congressional Notification and Public Accountability

Dear Members of Congress:

My name is Joe Hoft. I am an author, journalist, and contributor to The Gateway Pundit, with a professional background as an international corporate executive in audit and finance. My work has included overseeing financial reporting and participating in board, audit, and risk committee meetings around the world.[joehoft][thegatewaypundit]

That experience informs my insistence on documented findings, clear timelines, and identifiable responsibility. Public confidence requires evidence that can be examined—not assurances that cannot.

I write to request immediate congressional oversight of the reported attempted intrusion into Federal Election Commission systems during early voting in a midterm election and a public accounting of the federal government’s response.

The FEC’s responsibilities include campaign-finance disclosures and the publication of official federal election-result compilations. An attempted intrusion affecting this agency warrants clear answers about the systems involved, the information potentially exposed, and the measures investigators used to verify the integrity of agency records.

This is not merely an internal cybersecurity matter. It concerns public accountability at a federal election agency during early voting in a midterm election.

The distinction between information held by the agency and information an attacker actually reached is essential. The public should not be asked to accept unsupported reassurance or unsupported allegations. It needs documented findings.

By October 26, an FEC official was warning campaign-compliance firms that a “bad actor” was attempting to breach agency systems. That warning subsequently became public. Congress should obtain a complete, documented account of what followed.[unionleader]

Federal guidance requires notification to the appropriate congressional committees within seven days after an agency has a reasonable basis to conclude that a major incident occurred. Congress should establish how the FEC applied that requirement and release the notification records and timeline.[cisa]

I respectfully request that Congress obtain and make public:

1. The date the attempted intrusion was detected and a chronology of the agency’s response.
2. The agency’s assessment of the incident’s severity, the reporting requirements it applied, and the records supporting those conclusions.
3. Copies of any congressional and inspector-general notifications, their transmission dates, and confirmation of receipt.
4. Identification of the systems, accounts, and categories of records investigators determined were affected or potentially accessible.
5. Findings establishing whether systems supporting election-result publications were involved, accessible from affected systems, or isolated from them.
6. The identities and official responsibilities of those who directed, supervised, and independently reviewed the investigation.
7. The methods used to verify record integrity, the findings reached, and any material questions that remain unresolved.
8. An explanation of CISA’s role, including when it was notified and what assistance or oversight it provided.
9. Corrective actions completed or planned, the officials responsible for those actions, and a timetable for completion.

Make the communications accessible. Release the notification timeline and documented findings. Explain who acted, when they acted, and what investigators established so the public can understand exactly what happened.

Restoration of a public-facing service, by itself, does not answer questions about the scope of an attempted intrusion. Congress should obtain evidence supporting the agency’s conclusions and distinguish preliminary assessments from independently verified findings.

Congress should also examine whether staffing, funding, legacy systems, or unresolved security deficiencies affected the agency’s ability to prevent, detect, investigate, or respond to this incident. Specifically, Congress should establish whether previously documented weaknesses provided a pathway into FEC systems, what the attacker could reach, and whether election-related records were exposed.

Any findings should identify specific corrective responsibilities rather than leave the public with general assurances.

Separately, I urge the president and Senate to take the actions necessary to ensure that the FEC has its intended bipartisan decision-making capacity. The House should exercise its oversight responsibilities and press for a public accounting of any vacancies or other limitations affecting commission operations.

Congress must act now. Obtain the incident records, establish what the attacker could access, verify the integrity of election-related information, and hold responsible officials accountable for the response. The public requires action, documented findings, and a clear timeline—not further assurances.

The public deserves accountability supported by records.

Please provide a written response addressing these requests, identify the committees responsible for oversight, and publish a timetable for releasing the findings.

Show the notice. Show the dates. Account for the response.

Sincerely,

Joe Hoft

The post Deadline Passes on Notifying Congress After Crippling FEC Cyberattack.  What Really Occurred? appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

The current results for California’s statewide races are insane – They are identical. 

The results in California’s elections are impossible.

Here are the statewide results for Governor per state reporting with 75% of votes counted – almost exactly 2/3 or 65 percent for the Democrat and 34 percent for the Republican. The only exception is the SOS race which is a percent higher.

Here are the other statewide races – they are virtually the same:

Here are the statewide race results reported in Orange County. All the same, except for the SOS.

They differ from the statewide results but are all the same (54-46).

Los Angeles County results differ from the state totals, but the race results are the same (73-27), except for a slight difference in the SOS race.

These numbers don’t make sense:

I’ve used multiple artificial intelligences to go through each state’s election results to see if there is another Democrat state that has identical results like California. They don’t, not even close

This makes California’s results even less likely. It’s undeniable algorithmic fraud

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) November 8, 2026

It appears evident…

“It came down to the independent voter….” is the greatest crock of shit ever created by the election industrial fraud complex.

Ballots created out of thin air and tied to no or low propensity voters (i.e. independent voters) are being stuffed into ballot boxes.

Wake up people.

— David Clements (@theprofsrecord) November 7, 2026

Wake up!  These elections are garbage!

The post Wake Up! California Midterm Statewide Race Results Are Identical Percentages appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Democrat Congressman Robert Garcia (CA) on Sunday was unable to name one crime that Stephen Miller committed as he threatened Trump’s top advisor with lawfare.

Congressman Garcia, a gay man, was born in Lima, Peru, and came to the United States at age 5 with his mother on visas that later expired.

Garcia lived in the United States as an illegal alien until he became a US citizen in his 20s.

The incoming Democrat Oversight Chairman last week threatened Stephen Miller after he was announced as President Trump’s next White House Chief of Staff.

Garcia labeled Trump’s presidency as “corrupt and lawless” and wrote that Miller was the architect of the “unconstitutional ICE raids.”

Robert Garcia immediately tweeted “LAWYER UP” on election night after the Democrats swept the House.

Of course, the Democrats have no real policies. All they do is target their political enemies with lawfare.

On Friday evening, Garcia threatened Stephen Miller in an unhinged statement.

“Just days after the American people rejected his corrupt and lawless presidency. Donald Trump is doubling down. Stephen Miller is the architect of the unconstitutional ICE raids that have terrorized our communities and kidnapped and killed American citizens and immigrant families,” Garcia said.

“Oversight Democrats will continue to investigate Miller for his misconduct, and we will fight against his hateful policies in Congress and the courts,” Garcia said.

“Stephen Miller should lawyer up,” Garcia said.

Todd Blanche hit back at Robert Garcia on Friday.

“The Chief of Staff already has a lawyer. The Attorney General of the United States and the Department of Justice,” Blanche said.

On Sunday, Garcia appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union” with host Dana Bash, and he could not name a single crime committed by Stephen Miller.

WATCH:

The post There It Is: Democrat Rep. Robert Garcia is Unable to Name a Single Crime Stephen Miller Committed as He Threatens Trump’s Top Advisor (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

U.S. forces struck Iranian air defense systems early on Nov. 7, hours after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed it had shot down another American drone over Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump told reporters Saturday that the strikes were “minor” and that U.S. forces knocked out an Iranian anti-aircraft device “in about 15 minutes, maybe five.” Washington has not confirmed the loss of any drone.

Trump also said talks through mediators were continuing. “We are talking to Iran. We have been,” he said.

According to Iranian state media, Iran is doing well in the war. However, no outside source has confirmed the IRGC’s claims of drone shootdowns and tanker damage. The IRGC said it shot down MQ-1 drones over Qeshm on Nov. 4 and Nov. 6, counting them as its 15th and 16th of the war. It also claimed to have downed an MQ-9 Reaper over the Strait on Nov. 4. As of that date, it put its combined total at 68 MQ-1 and MQ-9 drones since the war began.

The IRGC also said naval mines destroyed four tankers on Nov. 4 along a route it had declared prohibited, that it had seized two vessels, and that two more tankers struck mines on Nov. 6. CBS News reported “no confirmation of any of these incidents from maritime officials.” U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which says U.S. forces cleared the main shipping lanes of mines, has called earlier IRGC mine claims “FALSE”.

On Nov. 5, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center, which reports attacks on commercial shipping, said a tanker had been hit by two unidentified projectiles about 50 nautical miles north of Madinat ash Shamal, Qatar.

The United States is enforcing a naval blockade of Iranian ports and oil terminals with more than 10,000 personnel. CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper said on Oct. 30 that Iran had exported no oil since the blockade was reimposed in mid-July and that IRGC naval forces were absent from the Strait. “I didn’t see the IRGC out there, at all,” he said. “Iran’s navy is all at the bottom of the sea.”

During an Oct. 25 visit to the Strait, Cooper said, “This visit underscores our strong commitment to continued freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.” CENTCOM said U.S. forces had helped Gulf partners export more than 1.5 billion barrels of crude oil since summer and supported the passage of more than 3,000 commercial vessels through the Strait over the previous six months.

Iran has continued buying military goods despite the blockade. A Reuters investigation found that Iran had imported at least $2 billion in military equipment, explosives and heavy trucks since January 2025 through a network of more than 5,000 entities.

On Nov. 4, the State Department sanctioned two individuals and one entity based in Belarus, Russia and Nigeria for their roles in Iran’s efforts to obtain shoulder-fired air-defense missiles.

Iran is also seeking more weapons from Russia. On Nov. 5, the Financial Times reported that Russia had agreed to supply Iran with 90 helicopter-mounted launchers for precision-guided missiles. According to UNITED24 Media, the launchers are APU-L models designed for Mi-28 attack helicopters. Each carries two LMUR missiles, which Russia has used against Ukraine since 2022.

Russian defense industry documents obtained by the Ukrainian group Dallas Analytics show a 2024–2025 production schedule listing China and a customer coded “K-10” as foreign buyers. A source told the FT that “K-10” is the designation Russia’s state arms agency uses for Iran.

On Nov. 5, Vladimir Putin received Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, at the Kremlin. The two discussed a gas pipeline from Russia to Iran. Although Iran holds the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves, it is turning to Russia for supplies as war damage and underinvestment threaten to deepen its energy crisis. Iran International reported that Rezaei had been sent to Moscow to seek S-400 air defenses.

Iran also faces accusations of directing the Houthis in Yemen. The Houthis seized Yemen’s western Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandeb area in September, and Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of encouraging the escalation.

On Nov. 3, Yemeni Interior Minister Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Haidan said 21 foreign experts, 14 from the IRGC and seven from Hezbollah, were helping the Houthis plan and direct military operations from Hodeidah, Sanaa, Saada, Hajjah, Amran and Khokha.

He said their specialties included ballistic missiles, drones, electronic warfare, selecting commercial ships as targets, explosive-laden boats, autonomous submarines and mine-laying. Their work, he said, threatens shipping in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea. Al Jazeera’s report does not describe evidence supporting the claims.

Hezbollah’s Media Relations Office denied the accusations on Nov. 4. The following day, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei “strongly rejected claims about the presence of Iranian military advisers in Yemen.” He was also responding to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who had accused Tehran of interfering there.

On Nov. 4, Iran marked 13 Aban, the anniversary of the 1979 U.S. embassy takeover, with rallies at more than 900 locations, including a march in Tehran from Palestine Square toward the former U.S. embassy. Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said a change in Washington’s political leadership following the U.S. midterm elections would not alter U.S. policy toward Iran. He warned that Iran would respond on a much broader scale to any new U.S. attack

The post U.S. Strikes Iran’s Air Defenses as Tehran Seeks Russian Weapons appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.