• President Donald Trump asserts that the US maintains “total control” over the Strait of Hormuz with plans to hold it, while Iranian officials say the vital waterway remains closed until Washington meets Tehran’s conditions.
• The US military says it has redirected 59 commercial vessels, disabled three and boarded two since reinstating its naval blockade on Iran.
• Islamabad says it is working to bring Washington and Tehran “to the negotiating table”, as Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi held talks with senior Iranian officials.
• The International Energy Agency projects that global oil production will drop by 4.3 million barrels per day this year due to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.
• An oil spill from a grounded tanker has reached Oman’s coast, with the slick covering more than 2,000sq km (770sq miles).

Iran seeks ‘security assurances’ and end to US blockade

Mediated diplomatic engagement is under way as the Pakistani interior minister visits Iran for meetings with top Iranian officials, including the president, foreign minister, and Supreme National Security Council secretary.

Meanwhile, observers pointed out that in Iran, there was less concern about the deal itself, but more concern regarding the implementation of any agreed conditions between the two countries, which centred on two primary perspectives:

First was the security assurances Iran sought, ensuring that a reached deal could pave the way for a period of stability in the country.

Second were economic concerns, primarily articulated in demands for the US naval blockade to be removed and sanctions frozen, which represented the key demands coming from the Iranian side.

Oil prices drop more than $1 a barrel

Oil prices are continuing their downward trajectory, with Brent crude futures losing $1.29 as of 01:00 GMT or 1.5 percent to reach $87.69 a barrel.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude went down $1.30, or 1.6 percent, to $81.97.

The losses came after forecasters lowered global oil demand projections for 2026 due to disruptions from the US-Israel war on Iran, though supply constraints from the conflict provided a floor for the market.

OPEC lowered its world oil demand growth forecast for 2026 to 580,000 barrels per day in its monthly oil market report on Wednesday.

US intelligence skeptical that Iran threatened to assassinate Trump: US media

The Washington Post reports, citing US officials, that US intelligence officials expressed skepticism about an alleged Iranian assassination threat against Trump that was relayed by Israel and prompted a secret maneuver to fly him out of Turkiye in an alternate military aircraft.

The Israeli government reportedly passed on information about the threat to the CIA, but the agency’s analysts did not find the intelligence convincing and informed administration officials of their reservations, according to the report.

Reports concerning threats against Trump’s life were based on Israeli sources rather than US agencies, with some analysts considering them to be of low credibility, according to The Washington Post account.

Addressing reporters on Tuesday, Trump confirmed that he had secretly switched planes on the tarmac in Ankara, Turkey, following the NATO summit last month, stating he was simply following the direction of security personnel.

Our opinion is that the "incident" is a false flag as the claim that Iran wants to assassinate Trump has its roots in an interview that Fox News had with Netanyahu on June 16, 2025 in which he claimed with no evidence that Iran wanted to assassinate Trump twice.

Netanyahu has been spreading claims about Iran without having any verifiable evidence for more than 30 years.

Iran’s FM slams France’s ‘hypocrisy’ on human rights

The Iranian foreign minister has criticised France and other Western nations for condemning Tehran’s handling of domestic dissent while not taking meaningful action on Israel’s war crimes and rights abuses in the Middle East.

“Countries like France should stop lecturing the world about ‘human rights’ and international law. The hypocrisy is blatant and embarrassing,” Abbas Araghchi wrote on X.

“Your backing of Israel’s genocide in Gaza—and aggression against Iran—has destroyed whatever moral high ground you imagined you had.”

Araghchi’s comments come after France confirmed on Wednesday that the EU and 20 other nations had issued a statement condemning ‌Iran’s executions of protesters. The nations called on Tehran to take meaningful ‌steps ⁠towards ensuring respect for human rights, end use ⁠of the death penalty and release ⁠those arbitrarily detained.

The conflation to treat human rights issues in Iran and the war on Iran is one has its roots in an Israeli coordinated campaign on social media in an attempt to cover up the real intention of the war on Iran, its nuclear program.

US senator demands answers on conditions on board USS Abraham Lincoln

US Senator Richard Blumenthal has demanded answers from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao about the conditions on board the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has remained at sea for more than 250 days.

“The Trump Admin must explain what they are doing to support sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln who have been continuously at sea for nearly 7 months. Widespread reports of supply shortages, plumbing issues, deteriorating mental health & more demand immediate attention,” Blumenthal wrote a post on X, attaching a letter he sent to Hegseth and Cao about the matter.

The carrier has been at sea since the US naval buildup announced in late January, before the war on Iran began, when the Trump administration ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group to divert from manoeuvres in the South China Sea to the Middle East.

Hegseth says reports about poor conditions aboard carrier are misrepresented

The US defence secretary says reports about poor conditions aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East were “completely misrepresented.”

“We make sure every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment. Some deployments are longer than others and I have more respect and gratitude for those sailors than anybody. What they do in those high seas in those austere conditions with fewer port calls – it’s incredible,” Pete Hegseth told reporters during a visit to Panama.

Earlier, we reported that US Senator Richard Blumenthal demanded answers from Hegseth and acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao about the conditions on board the carrier, which has remained at sea for more than 250 days.

“There have been widespread reports of shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing issues, deteriorating mental health, deck safety concerns and disruptions in the mail system, which have caused many care packages en route to the ship to be lost in transit for months,” Blumenthal wrote to Hegseth and the navy secretary.

Hamas backs Iranian position that all wars in region should end

The Palestinian group has welcomed the recent remarks by Mohsen Rezaei, the newly appointed secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, who on Tuesday called for a “region-wide ceasefire, including in Lebanon and Gaza”.

Rezaei added that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until the conditions were met.

Hamas’s Arab and Islamic Relations Office said in an official statement that ending the wars would serve “the best interests of the region, its peoples and their future”, while the continuation of the wars “only serves the Zionist enemy’s plans, which are based on dismantling the region, destabilising it and depleting its resources”.

US has ‘fallen into trap of Strait of Hormuz’, ex-Iranian diplomat says

Former Iranian diplomat Abbas Khameyar says the US has failed “the test of economic and military warfare” against Iran, emphasizing that Tehran will not submit to American conditions or ambitions.

Khameyar said that the Strait of Hormuz serves as a “deterrent card that has succeeded in changing the course of aggression and re-imposing the rules of engagement”.

Washington broke its previous commitments, he argued, adding that obligations could only be fulfilled through serious negotiations carried out in good faith.

According to the former diplomat, the US has ultimately “fallen into the trap of the Strait of Hormuz” in the process of the war.

Salvage under way for stricken tanker causing oil spill off Oman coast

British maritime security company Ambrey says it has been engaged in the salvage of the stricken tanker Caroline Bezengi off the Omani coast, Reuters reports.

Ambrey says salvage vessels are en route to support the operation, adding that specialist personnel have already boarded the tanker to assess conditions on board and begin cargo and vessel stabilization.

The security firm said it is working diligently with all relevant stakeholders, including authorities within Oman, and has contracted the support of a leading international oil spill response company.

The salvage efforts come after Oman’s Environment Authority reported that oil from the Caroline Bezengi, which has been leaking crude since running aground in June, reached beaches in Ras Madrakah and polluted up to 40km (25 miles) of the central coastline.

Oil prices slip as demand worries outweigh supply risks

Oil prices dipped on Thursday, with Brent futures slipping 11 cents, or 0.12 percent, to $88.87 a barrel by 06:24 GMT, trimming gains over the prior six sessions.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 16 cents, or 0.19 percent, to $83.11, after advancing over the past five sessions.

The slide came as investors assessed prospects for weaker global demand this year, though the slide was offset by a lack of major progress in talks over the blockaded Strait of Hormuz and supply disruptions.

Analysts say the market is trying to determine if potential supply constraints from Middle East disruptions would be sufficient to offset a possible moderation in global consumption.

Hormuz is under control of Iran, says Basij paramilitary chief

Hojjatoleslam Hossein Taeb, the commander of the paramilitary Basij Organization – an affiliate of the IRGC – says the Strait of Hormuz is “under Iran’s control and management”.

“Today you see that the Strait of Hormuz is under the management and control of the Islamic Republic, and our country continues on its path in complete security,” Taeb said in remarks quoted by Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency.

“The Americans saw the power of the Islamic revolution,” he added.

The remarks came a day after US President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that his country had “total control” of the strategic waterway.

Araghchi says US ‘miscalculated’ due to poor intelligence

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said the US “has long miscalculated due to intelligence failures,” including when launching its war on Iran.

In a post on X, Araghchi said Washington’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz were “an even bigger miscalculation.”

“Worse than fake news is fake intelligence,” the foreign minister said.

Iran aiming to drag war out, make war more painful for US

Iran is aiming to prolong the war as it believes the economic squeeze poses no existential threat to the survival of its government, Michael Stephens, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), has said.

Nearly six months since the beginning of the war, Iran is now convinced that the US is not willing to conduct a ground invasion. “That existential threat is gone,” Stephens said. “So they want to up the tempo and maybe make the pain a little bit more acute for President Trump. And the best way to do that is to drag this out.”

Prior to the US-Israeli attack on February 28, the widely held belief was that the Iranian government would readily collapse, after enduring months of civil disobedience and unrest during major demonstrations in late December and January.

“That doesn’t seem to be the case now, and I’m not really sure the US has any tools in the bag to force the regime to do what they want,” the analyst said. Iranians can “live in this stalemate at the moment – it hurts them, but it’s not existential, and I think that’s the problem the US has now”.

Iran says it will join BRICS bank soon

Iran’s central bank governor says that the country will soon join the New Development Bank, the multilateral lender established by the BRICS group of nations.

The comments from Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati were published by state media on Wednesday ahead of a BRICS finance meeting in India.

The NDB’s corporate communications department did not confirm the information, according to the Reuters news agency.

The bank was set up by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in 2015 to finance infrastructure and sustainable development projects. It has since expanded its membership to include the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and other emerging economies.

Iran joined BRICS in 2024.

"... United Arab Emirates ..."

The UAE is also the most closest ally of the Israelis. How will they respond?

Iran strengthening its hand as it imposes new reality in Strait of Hormuz

Royal United Services Institute analyst Michael Stevens has said that talks are ongoing behind the scenes between Iran, Oman and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on how to manage maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, which is the object of a tug-of-war between Tehran and Washington.

It is unclear whether Iran and Oman have agreed to charge a toll as ships enter or leave the waterway.

“My understanding is that the Omanis have engaged in this discussion with the Iranians with quiet backing from the GCC,” Stevens said. “What that already seems to point to is that the GCC accepts that there’s a new reality in the Strait of Hormuz.”

While US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the strait would become “irrelevant” due to new pipelines bypassing the waterway, Stevens said their construction would take time.

Meanwhile, “Iran is strengthening its hand as we go into another negotiation phase,” the analyst continued. “I don’t think there’s a way in which the US can present that as a political or strategic win.”

German shipping giant says Hormuz closure cost it $600m

Hapag-Lloyd, one of the world’s top container shipping companies, says the closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to conflict in the Middle East cost the group $600m in the second quarter.

The German shipping giant said on Thursday that its net profit fell to $83m, down from $306m a year earlier. It added that strong exports from Asia and improved demand in the United States partially offset losses arising from Middle East disruptions.

In its Liner Shipping segment, operating profit fell to $153m from $167m due to additional costs for bunker, insurance, storage, rerouting and inland transportation following the strait’s closure.

Iran will act ‘more aggressively’ in next round of war, official says

Brigadier General Rasoul Sanaei-Rad has said Iran will act more aggressively in the future, the Fars news agency quoted him as saying.

“We stood firm in the recent war and, God willing, we will stand firmer and more aggressively in a possible future war,” said Sanaei-Rad, who serves as political adviser in the office of the supreme leader.

Without openly mentioning the US, the official said Iran’s “enemy” was aiming to create internal divisions through economic pressure, but that its plan did not succeed.

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkiye to form political, military framework under Mecca pact

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye will establish a joint political and military mechanism under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, signed on August 7, according to the Turkish Defence Ministry.

At a weekly news briefing in Ankara, the ministry said the alliance would also deepen cooperation across defence industries.

These new frameworks are to bring together the defence ministers, foreign ministers and military chiefs of the three countries.

The ministry added that joint military exercises are being planned under the pact with potential cooperation extending to joint production and technology-sharing in the defence sector.

Strait of Hormuz remains central to US-Iran conflict as MoU set to expire

The stalemate in the war between the US and Iran is leaving international markets and regional stability hanging in the balance, as a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on June 17 is set to expire on Sunday.

Central to this protracted crisis is the strategic chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz. Article 5 of the MoU promises “safe passage of commercial vessels” through the strait, but the two states resumed strikes on bases and military assets across the Gulf shortly after the agreement was stipulated.

Pakistan has invited top Iranian officials for talks, reinvigorating mediation efforts as the deadline looms. Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited Tehran for discussions with Iranian officials in a bid to halt the war and unblock the waterway.

Iran has held firm on its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, including that Washington end its military campaign and release Iranian funds held abroad. The US president has swung between threats of escalation and assurances of an imminent peace deal.

Iran says members of US-Israeli intelligence killed by security forces

The Iranian intelligence ministry has said two members “affiliated with American and Israeli intelligence agencies” were killed during a confrontation with security forces in the southeast of the country, state broadcaster IRIB has reported.

The ministry also announced the arrest of four other people for attempting to enter the country to carry out plans to destabilize the Sistan and Baluchestan province and damage its infrastructure.

Trump considering large-scale attack amid attempts to end conflict: Expert

Amid the failure to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, US President Donald Trump is looking for ways to end the conflict without admitting defeat, Mostafa Khoshcheshm, a professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Tehran, has said.

“Trump never says that it’s been defeated no matter what happens on the ground in reality,” Khoshcheshm said. “He’s been trying to find an exit door to claim victory but he’s failed again and again.

“The only ships to go through the strait are passing through the Iranian corridor, so it’s quite a long time that Trump has failed in this war,” he added.

Khoshcheshm said Washington has ordered US embassies in the region to operate at minimum capacity, which suggests he intends to carry out a large-scale attack on Iran in the coming weeks or months.

US is ‘expanding the number of personnel in the region’

Michael Stephens of the Royal United Services Institute says the United States is building up its options for the future amid the current impasse in the conflict with Iran.

“A couple of people I spoke to yesterday noted that their relatives have been called up from the US Air Force to go into the region,” he said.

“They are expanding the number of personnel in the region, which obviously is a sign that there is some kind of build-up,” Stephens added.

However, he said the purpose of the expansion remains unclear for now.

“My assessment remains that the US currently cannot invade Iran and hope for any sort of victory.”

Stephens stressed that the current impasse situation is “difficult for both sides”, adding: “I don’t think anyone is currently winning.

“We are totally stuck.”

US-Iran war negotiations deadlocked amid competing demands

• Talks on ending the war between Washington and Tehran are stalled as the terms of an interim peace agreement signed in June have broken down over control of the Strait of Hormuz.
• Trump has demanded compensation from Iran for those he claimed Iran killed after Tehran conditioned the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz on receiving war reparations from Washington.
• Iran demanded that the US meet six conditions in order for the strait to be fully reopened: not threatening Iran or insulting the nation; permanently ending wars in Iran and its allies; lifting the US naval blockade; paying damages; lifting sanctions; and releasing frozen assets.
• Iran says it is nearing a final pact with Oman to define new shipping lanes between them through the strait, while Trump claims the US Navy has full control of the waterway.

Iranian military rejects US claims that vessels are transiting the Strait of Hormuz

The Iranian military has rejected the US claims that vessels are transiting the Strait of Hormuz normally, insisting that no ship can pass through without its permission.

“The Strait of Hormuz, as in the past, remains under the full management and control of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said a spokesman for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, according to state media.

“No commercial vessel or oil tanker can or will have safe passage through the Strait without the permission and supervision of Iran’s powerful Armed Forces.”

Iran is waging an economic rather than military war on US: Expert

Iran is determined to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed as it sees itself as waging an economic rather than a military war on the US, says Mostafa Khoshcheshm, a professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Tehran.

“Iran knows that if it’s going to defeat the United States, it should be asymmetrical warfare, and in this economic warfare, the Strait of Hormuz matters the most,” Khoshcheshm said.

The Strait of Hormuz is Iran’s ultimate bargaining chip to get the US to agree to the various criteria agreed upon in the memorandum of understanding, including releasing frozen Iranian assets, ending Israel’s occupation of Lebanon, bringing peace to Gaza and ending the maritime blockade.

Iran is also hoping that the US will simply “acknowledge defeat and leave the region”, said the professor.

Iran’s Hormuz ultimatum could reshape ‘global power dynamics’: Iranian official

The strategy of Iran’s supreme leader to escalate the war if Iran’s conditions are not met “will undoubtedly upend global power dynamics”, says Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to the Iranian leader.

“With the proven inability of the United States to protect its allies in the Persian Gulf, the most enduring path to a new regional order lies in implementing the Hormuz economic-security mechanism, independent of Washington’s military guarantees,” Mokhber said in a post on X.

Despite Trump’s claim that the US maintains “total control” over the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has continued to assert its influence over the strait as it pursues talks with Oman on the waterway’s future management.

Iran has said it will not allow full traffic in the strait until the US naval blockade is lifted, sanctions are lifted and its assets are unfrozen.

British firm starts containment of oil spill from struck tanker off Oman

Ambrey, a UK-based maritime risk and response company, says it has been hired to salvage a grounded Russian shadow fleet tanker off Oman’s coast and stop an oil spill that is threatening wildlife.

Ambrey said its personnel boarded the vessel with help from the Omani air force to assess its condition before stabilizing it.

“This is an extremely challenging situation, compounded by adverse weather conditions associated with the Khareef monsoon,” Ambrey’s global response director Ed Wollaston said in a statement.

The company did not immediately have any estimates of how long the salvage operation would take or cost.

Satellite images have shown that oil from the tanker Caroline Bezengi has exponentially spread over hundreds of square kilometres during stormy weather, endangering a marine protected area.

Experts have warned of an unprecedented environmental disaster if the vessel sinks or breaks open and leaks its entire cargo.

The vessel has been grounded off Qabiliyah Island in southwestern Oman following an explosion of unclear cause in early June. Its cargo was previously estimated at more than 800,000 barrels.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry reports oil pollution along Qeshm Island coastline after spill off Oman

Oil pollution along the coastline of Iran’s Qeshm Island has been caused by US-Israeli military action in the region, according to Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi.

Yesterday, Omani authorities said that oil from the Caroline Bezengi, a tanker that has been leaking crude since running aground off Oman in June, had begun to reach surrounding coastlines.

Gharibabadi said the damage to Iran’s Gulf coastline further underscored the need for Iran to “define and implement” a mechanism for managing the Strait of Hormuz.

Hegseth says US can keep naval blockade on Iranian ports ‘indefinitely’

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth says that the US military can maintain a blockade on Iranian ports for as long as needed.

“Indefinitely the United States Navy can maintain a blockade like that because we’ll rotate ships in and out, as we have, and we’ll continue to,” Hegseth told reporters.

Under international law—specifically the law of naval warfare and customary international humanitarian law (IHL)— an indefinite or permanent blockade outside of active hostilities or a formal peace/ceasefire framework violates the principles of necessity, proportionality, and the prohibition on punishing civilian populations.

The US war on Iran at a deadlock

Iran continues to deny US claims that it controls the Strait of Hormuz as talks aimed at negotiating a peace deal between the two sides falter.

President Trump repeated his claim that the US is in “total control” of the critical waterway on Wednesday, but was met with angry denials from Iran, which has stated that it will not reopen the strait until demands regarding US aggression, reparations and sanctions are met.

“Claims and repeated posts by US officials that the Strait of Hormuz is no longer blocked do not change the reality,” Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority posted on X on Wednesday. “The Strait of Hormuz remains blocked and will not be reopened until Iran’s conditions are accepted.”

IRGC says US statements on Hormuz reality on the ground

The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy says “the Strait of Hormuz is closed”.

“We have complete and decisive control over all movements. No movement in this strait goes unnoticed by the warriors of the IRGC Navy”, Rear Admiral Ali Azmaei added in a statement carried by Tasnim news agency.

The US continues to insist that the vital waterway is open for transit, while Iran counterclaims by saying that no ship may transit the strait without its express permission.

“The reality must be seen on the ground, not in announcements and statements by US officials,” Azmaei said.

Saudi hosts third Multinational Maritime Defence Alliance meeting

Saudi Arabia has hosted the third planning meeting of the Multinational Maritime Defence Alliance.

The meeting took place in Jeddah and was attended by representatives from 39 countries, Saudi’s Defense Ministry said in a statement shared on social media.

Fifteen of the countries in attendance “have signed the joint statement, whilst 13 countries have completed their national procedures, signed the coalition’s charter and officially announced their accession … while the remaining countries continue to finalize the necessary national procedures for joining the coalition”, continued the statement.

“This reflects the determination of the participating states to build a maritime defence partnership capable of enhancing maritime security and stability, protecting freedom of navigation and shared interests, and to contribute to security and stability in the region and the international community, in accordance with the Coalition’s Charter, its founding documents and the provisions of international law.”

Last week, Saudi Arabia announced the appointment of a commander for the multinational maritime defence alliance, aimed at protecting freedom of navigation through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

UAE says two vessels attacked in Hormuz Strait

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company says two of its vessels were attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz this evening, the United Arab Emirates’ state news agency WAM reported.

ADNOC said no injuries were reported and the situation was brought under control.

The UAE’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack.

UAE condemns Iranian attacks on two ADNOC vessels in Strait of Hormuz

The Emirati Ministry of Foreign Affairs has “strongly condemned” Iran’s targeting of two of Abu Dhabi’s energy vessels while transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

The ministry said the attacks constitute a “flagrant violation” of UNSC Resolution 2817, which affirms freedom of navigation and rejects the obstruction of international maritime routes.

It added that the “targeting of commercial shipping” and the use of the strait as a tool of “economic coercion or blackmail” represent an act of “piracy by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps”.

The UAE called on Iran to “halt these unprovoked attacks” and ensure full commitment to “the cessation of hostilities” – which it said are a “threat to the stability of the region and its people”.

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company said no injuries were reported in the attacks and the situation was brought under control.

The new trilateral defence group: genuinely sovereign or just better armed US-backed club?

Junaid S Ahmad, a professor of law at The College of William & Mary, says it is too early to tell whether the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, signed by Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, and Pakistan, is genuinely autonomous or simply an extension of US regional hegemony by different means.

Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice promised the “birth pangs of a new Middle East”, Ahmad said. “Twenty years later, the child has arrived with Saudi money, Turkish technology and Pakistani muscle – and Washington appears not to be on the birth certificate.”

“The deeper irony is that decades of American dependency and Israeli escalation may have done more to encourage regional strategic autonomy than any manifesto ever could,” he said.

“Whether this becomes genuine sovereignty or merely a better-armed club of ruling establishments remains the question history has yet to answer.”

JD Vance: US goals in Iran war are ‘twofold’ – economic and military

United States Vice President JD Vance has told Fox News host Will Cain that the goals of the US in its months-long war with Iran are “twofold”: on energy, to recover the world economy due to the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and on military, to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Vance told Fox News that the first goal involved “ensuring that the Gulf countries continue to send oil and gas to the world economy so that we have energy price stability … That’s goal number one, keep oil and gas cheap for Americans all over our country”.

“Obviously, goal number two is to ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon,” Vance added. “I feel confident we’re accomplishing both of those goals, but it’s inherently an unpredictable thing because the Iranians themselves are unpredictable and they sometimes don’t honour the commitments they’ve made to us.”

Questioned by Cain about the “seesaw” nature of the war with Iran and how it will end, in light of currently stalled US-Iran peace talks, Vance said: “I think this ends with the United States in a strong position with Iran not having a nuclear weapon and with the Strait of Hormuz returned to a place where oil and gas prices are stable for the American people.”