🛢️ 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 bypasses IRGC interdiction zones signals the US is managing the blockade, not closing it.
newsupdates
🛤️ 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,
newsupdates
🎯 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.
newsupdates
🇮🇱 TEL AVIV — Public relief is being mistaken for political stability. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: Street-level optimism in Tel Aviv doesn't translate to a functioning government fast enough to matter. Eisenkot forming isn't Eisenkot governing — coalition talks take weeks. Meanwhile Katz already signaled a new Iran campaign. CENTCOM&
breaking
🚢 HORMUZ — Satellite smoke confirms what IRGC just admitted: they hit three ships this morning. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: IRGC framing the route as "unauthorized" is legal cover for deliberate interdiction — not an accident. Three simultaneous fires suggest coordinated strike, not mines. With Jask already hit and Qeshm on fourth cycle,