Islamic State slogans painted along the walls of the tunnel was used by Islamic State militants as an underground training camp in the hillside overlooking Mosul, Iraq, March 4, 2017. Photo: via Reuters Connect.

Fifteen people were arrested in the Netherlands on Tuesday on suspicion of spreading propaganda for Islamic State on TikTok and trying to persuade people to commit terrorist attacks, Dutch prosecutors said.

The arrests were triggered by a TikTok account that spread large amounts of IS propaganda with Dutch subtitles, the prosecutors said.

The TikTok posts, some with more than 100,000 views, encouraged people to join Islamic State and glorified becoming a martyr for the violent Islamist group, they said.

Thirteen of the suspects are Syrian, and four have Dutch nationality, prosecutors said, implying that some were dual nationals. Four are minors.

The suspects, aged 16 to 53, were detained in raids across the Netherlands, following the arrest last month of a person who the prosecutors said was the main suspect.

TikTok is owned by China’s Bytedance.

Satellite image shows F-15E, A-10 Thunderbolt, and C-130 Hercules at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, in Al Azraq, Jordan, Feb. 2, 2026. Photo: 2026 PLANET LABS PBC/Handout via REUTERS

US forces in Qatar‘s al-Udeid, the biggest US base in the Middle East, put missiles into truck launchers as tensions with Iran ratcheted up since January, analysis of satellite images showed, meaning they could be moved more quickly.

The decision to keep the Patriot missiles in mobile trucks rather than semi-static launcher stations — meaning they could rapidly deploy to strike or be moved defensively in case of an Iranian attack — shows how risks heightened as frictions grew.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, its backing for allied terrorist groups in the Middle East, and crushing of internal dissent, though talks to avert a war continue.

There are also US bases in Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Turkey, and on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

Iran‘s Revolutionary Guards have warned that in case of strikes on Iranian territory, they could retaliate against any US base.

A comparison of satellite photographs in early February with those taken in January shows a recent build-up of aircraft and other military equipment across the region, said William Goodhind, a forensic imagery analyst with Contested Ground.

At al-Udeid, the Patriot missiles were visible parked mounted into M983 Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks (HEMTT) at the start of February, Goodhind said.

“The decision to do so gives the Patriots much greater mobility, meaning they can be moved to an alternative site or repositioned with greater speed,” he said.

It was not clear on Tuesday whether the missiles were still in the HEMTTs.

A spokesperson for the Pentagon was not immediately available for comment.

Iran says it has replenished its missile stocks after two weeks of conflict last summer when Israel bombed its nuclear facilities and some other military targets, a campaign that the United States joined late on.

Iran has underground missile complexes near Tehran, as well as at Kermanshah, Semnan and near the Gulf coast.

The Iranian naval drone carrier IRIS Shahid Bagheri was visible in satellite photographs on Jan. 27 at sea some 5 km from Bandar Abbas. It was also visible near Bandar Abbas on February 10.

Here are changes at US Middle East bases observed in satellite pictures:

AL-UDEID, QATAR:

Images from February 1 showed an RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft, three C-130 Hercules aircraft, 18 KC 135 Stratotankers, and seven C-17s. On Jan. 17 there had been 14 Stratotankers and two C-17s.

Up to 10 MIM-104 Patriot air defense systems were parked in HEMTTs.

MUWAFFAQ, JORDAN:

Images from Feb. 2 of one location in Muwaffaq showed 17 F15-E strike aircraft, 8 A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft, four C-130s, and four unidentified helicopters. Images from Jan. 16 were low resolution and it was not possible to identify all aircraft there.

Feb. 2 images of a second location in Muwaffaq showed a C-17 and a C-130, as well as four EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft. Pictures of that location on Jan. 25 had not shown any aircraft.

OTHER BASES:

At Prince Sultan base in Saudi Arabia, images on Feb. 2 showed a C-5 Galaxy and a C-17 aircraft. Images on Dec. 6 showed five aircraft that appeared to be C-130s.

Satellite images from Feb. 6 showed seven more aircraft than had been observed on Jan. 31 at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

Images taken on Jan. 25 and Feb. 10 showed an increase in aircraft at Dukhan base in Oman.

US Vice President JD Vance speaks to the media before boarding Air Force Two upon departure for Azerbaijan, at Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan, Armenia, Feb. 10, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/Pool

The White House on Tuesday deleted a post from Vice President JD Vance’s account that commemorated massacres of Armenians as a “genocide,” saying the message that was likely to irk US-allied Turkey was posted in error.

Vance, who was on a two-day trip to Armenia, visited the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan during the first-ever visit by a US vice president to the South Caucasus republic.

There, he and wife Usha Vance participated in a ceremonial laying of a wreath of carnations, chrysanthemums, and roses at the site, which honors the 1.5 million Armenians who lost their lives in the final years of the Turkish-led Ottoman Empire.

Vance’s official account on X later described the visit as designed “to honor the victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide.”

After that post was deleted, a Vance aide who declined to be named said the message was posted in error by staff who were not part of the traveling delegation.

“This is an account managed by staff that primarily exists to share photos and videos of the Vice President’s activities,” said a spokesperson for Vance, referring to his own comments, which did not include the phrase “genocide.”

TRUMP’S TIES TO TURKEY

Turkey is a NATO ally of the United States and President Tayyip Erdogan has maintained close ties with President Donald Trump, including supporting the US diplomatic initiative on Gaza.

Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War I, but contests the figures and denies the killings were systematically orchestrated and constitute a genocide.

Although the US Congress and Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, have both recognized the 1915 massacres as a genocide, Trump avoided that language in his own statement on the killings last year.

The social media deletion came four days after the White House defended, and then deleted, a racist depiction of former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama as apes posted to Trump’s Truth Social account.

Trump later told reporters that he had not watched the entire video before a White House aide posted it to his account.

Asked by a reporter whether his visit to the memorial was intended to recognize a genocide, Vance said, “Obviously, it’s a very terrible thing that happened little over 100 years ago, and something that was just very, very important to them culturally.”

“So, I thought out of a sign of respect, both for the victims, but also for the Armenian government that’s been a very important partner for us in the region, to Prime Minister Pashinyan, I wanted to go and pay a visit and pay my respects.”

Vance’s visit was aimed at promoting agreements the Trump administration struck with Armenia and Azerbaijan to build toward peace after nearly 40 years of war between the Caucasus rivals. Trump has presented those diplomatic efforts as among the chief accomplishments of his time in office.

In Armenia, Vance signed a deal with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan that could pave the way for the US to build a nuclear power plant there.

On Tuesday, he traveled to Azerbaijan and signed a strategic partnership deal encompassing economic and security cooperation, as Washington seeks to expand its influence in a region where Russia was once the main power broker.