Iran
Iran Lets Iraqi Oil Tankers Through Hormuz
Iran has allowed a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz after repeated requests from Baghdad, providing limited relief to one of the countries most exposed to the disruption of shipping caused by the Iran war. Iran's state news agency IRNA said securing special passage was among Baghdad's main requests during Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf's visit to Iraq this week, Reuters reported. The request underscores how heavily Iraq's main export route now depends on access through a waterway that Iran has effectively closed to normal traffic. Iraqi President Nizar Amedi said Saturday that Iran had facilitated the passage of vessels carrying Iraqi oil in recent days and that Baghdad had discussed exports through Hormuz with Iranian officials. He said the issue remained complicated. The statement did not specify how many tankers had received passage or how long the arrangement would remain in effect.…
Trump Declares “Economic D-Day” Against Iran
U.S. President Donald Trump announced a new economic offensive against Iran on Wednesday, writing on Truth Social that Washington would launch "the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country," which he called "an economic D-day." The announcement followed the collapse of the latest diplomatic track between Washington and Tehran and came after Trump said no talks with Iran were taking place or scheduled. He said the campaign would target oil smuggling, currency swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, shipping registries and front companies sustaining Iran's economy. Trump warned that any country allowing its financial institutions, businesses, airports or government entities to aid Iran would face "Tremendous Economic Consequences," without naming targets. U.S. officials have framed the campaign as an effort to increase economic pressure rather than immediately expand military operations. The warning extends the pressure campaign beyond Tehran itself toward foreign intermediaries – banks, shipping registries and re-export…
Stealth Convoys Restore Hormuz Oil Flow
The U.S. military has built an armed convoy system through a southern channel of the Strait of Hormuz, hugging the Omani coastline, that now moves roughly 10 million barrels of crude a day out of the Persian Gulf. Two U.S. officials described the operation to Axios, which first reported it. The route keeps tankers on Oman's side of the strait, clear of Iran's primary anti-ship missile zones, and has restored roughly half of pre-war export volumes even as the broader U.S.-Iran war stays stalemated. Each night, the operation moves both outbound laden tankers and empty inbound vessels, collecting crude from the UAE, Bahrain, and Kuwait. A task force based at the Army's 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg coordinates the schedule, while U.S. Air Force jets patrol overhead for Iranian drones and cruise missiles. One official said forces shot down eight drones and two cruise missiles in a single night…
Iran Considers Strikes on Europe and Ukraine
Iran has assessed striking US military assets in Europe. It has separately warned Ukraine of retaliation, signaling that Tehran's response to any renewed escalation in its war with Washington could extend well beyond the Middle East. Two regime insiders told the Financial Times that Iranian forces have examined striking US assets in Bulgaria, whose Bezmer air base was approved last month for American refuelling aircraft, and potentially Cyprus, where a drone hit a British base in March. The insiders said Iran has also considered attacking undersea fiber-optic cables in the Strait of Hormuz if the conflict resumes in full. One insider said Tehran was preparing to expand the war if President Donald Trump made good on threats to strike Iranian infrastructure; the other said Iran would place "no limits" on its response, including hitting Europe. The reported deliberations follow Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei's decision this month to elevate hardliners…
UAE Suspends Trade With Iran After Missile Accusation
The United Arab Emirates has suspended all trade, commercial and financial transactions with Iran, reopening a diplomatic and economic rupture that first emerged after the United States and Israel went to war with Iran on February 28. According to the UAE Ministry of Defense, cited by Reuters, the country's air defenses detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran toward maritime traffic, with one splashing down outside the UAE's territorial waters and the second landing inside them. No casualties or damage were reported, and neither Reuters nor U.S. Central Command has independently verified the launch data. The UAE's Foreign Ministry said the suspension would remain in effect "until further notice," citing regional escalations that undermine peace and security. Iran's Foreign Ministry rejected the accusation as baseless. Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei described the incident as a "false flag operation" and said the allegation contradicted the principle of good-neighborly relations. The denial came a…
Trump Cuts Iran Talks as Hormuz Crisis Widens
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that no talks with Iran were taking place or scheduled, cutting off the diplomatic track meant to replace the interim Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Washington and Tehran that expired on Monday. The statement directly contradicted special envoy Jared Kushner, who had told Fox News a day earlier that talks with Iran were "probably more robust than it's maybe ever been." Trump's reversal left the diplomatic track that was meant to replace the expired MOU without any clear path forward. Strait Status Disputed Trump also posted a map on Truth Social labelling the Strait of Hormuz "New US Territory," while maintaining that the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports remained in force and that the strait itself was open to shipping. Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told parliament that the strait would not reopen until Washington met the conditions of the MOU:…
