The Venezuela government has started releasing prisoners with U.S. citizenship, people with knowledge of the situation said. - Bloomberg

Justice Department official says there's 'currently no basis' for criminal civil rights probe in Minnesota ICE shooting. - AP

Reza Pahlavi said: “My fellow compatriots, as I stated in my previous message, the world has not only seen and heard your courage and your voices—it is now taking action. By now, you have surely heard the message from the President of the United States. Help is on the way. Continue your struggle. Do not allow this regime to present the situation as normal. After all the bloodshed, there is now an ocean of blood between us and this regime. Record the names of these criminals. One day, they will be held accountable for their actions. And I have a direct message for members of the military: You are Iran’s national army, not the army of the Islamic Republic. Your duty is to protect the lives of your fellow citizens. Time is running out. Join the people as soon as possible.”

In his recent best-selling book, Republican Senator John N. Kennedy offers a colorful portrayal of Lindsey Graham, writing, “If you want to stump Lindsey, just ask him to name a country he wouldn’t bomb.” Kennedy goes on to describe the South Carolina senator as unpredictable, adding, “Invite him to dinner, and you don’t know whether he’ll sit down for an intelligent conversation or get drunk and vomit in the fish tank. But that’s why I like him.”

ISRAEL: This week in Hebron, Israeli Arab Bedouins posing as IDF soldiers robbed an Arab-owned jewelry store. The suspects wore IDF uniforms and carried military-issued weapons, and filmed themselves while traveling to carry out the robbery. One suspect was detained by Palestinian Authority security forces and later transferred to Israeli custody. The remaining suspects were captured by Israeli security forces. All stolen jewelry, along with the stolen IDF weapons, uniforms, and tactical gear, was recovered.

U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) said the Iranian regime has reportedly killed 12,000 of its own citizens for demanding freedom and shut down the internet to conceal the truth, calling it the behavior of a repressive government desperate to cling to power. He said the United States cannot look the other way and must hold the Iranian regime accountable for its atrocities while standing with the Iranian people in their fight to live free.

According to Arab Gulf officials cited by The Wall Street Journal, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar have been privately urging the Trump administration not to strike Tehran after the United States warned them to prepare for the possibility of an attack. The officials said the Gulf states are concerned that an effort to topple the Iranian regime would unsettle oil markets and ultimately harm the U.S. economy. Gulf leaders fear that military action against Iran could disrupt oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil shipments. Saudi officials have reportedly assured Tehran that they would not take part in any potential conflict or allow U.S. forces to use Saudi airspace for strikes, as part of an effort to distance themselves from and discourage American military action.

Tehran, Thursday night.

U.S. President Donald Trump, when asked whether he had a message for Iran’s leaders, said: “The message is that they’ve got to show humanity. They’ve got a big problem, and I hope they’re not killing people. It would seem to me that they’ve been badly misbehaving, but that’s not confirmed.”