🚢 HORMUZ — The deal just became real. A tanker is moving. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: First Hormuz transit since closure is operational proof the MOU is live. A Maltese LNG carrier using Iran's traffic separation scheme means Tehran is actively facilitating passage — not just permitting it. European LNG prices reprice now. Every hour the Strait stays open narrows IRGC hardliners' window to reverse the deal without visible cost.
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💥 QESHM — Five cycles on the same island, and Iran still hasn't closed the strait. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: A fifth Qeshm strike confirms CENTCOM's attrition logic is holding — each cycle tests Tehran's threshold without triggering full Hormuz closure. With three tankers already ablaze and Trump'
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🛢️ BAGHDAD — Iraq found a workaround to Hormuz, and Washington quietly helped. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: A bilateral US-Iraq shipping lane agreement near Oman is a pressure valve — it keeps Iraqi crude moving without resolving the blockade. For CENTCOM, it removes Baghdad as a friction point. For Tehran, a sanctioned corridor that
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🛤️ BAGHDAD — Washington is asking Baghdad to cut Tehran's land lifeline while Bessent calls Beijing. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: Closing Iraq-Iran crossings targets the terrestrial supply corridor CENTCOM activated as a third front days ago. It also tests Baghdad's loyalty — Iraq trades heavily with Iran. If Baghdad complies,
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🎯 TRUMP — Iran at 10% missiles, but the deal window is what keeps guns quiet. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: Trump's 10% missile, 15% drone figures are the first public US damage assessment — anchoring Iran's negotiating floor. Naming the threshold (strong deal + Hormuz) converts military leverage into a public auction.