New York Post: “We can’t predict the future, but I think the president is right to say that this thing will enter a much different phase in a couple of months,” Vance said. “He’s also the commander in chief, so he’s the person who determines … when conflicts start and when they stop.”
…“I certainly understand there’s some impatience from the American people, but fundamentally what’s happening right now is that the United States is not engaged in aggressive operations. We’re just not,” he added.
“But what is happening is that the Iranians are occasionally shooting at commercial shipping, usually not successfully,” Vance said…
Iran war expected to cause a spike in US inflation, according to budget watchdog
The office said, in a letter to Congress, that the projected spike was tied to the “inflationary pressures caused by the reduction in shipments of oil and natural gas through the Strait of Hormuz and disruptions to shipping through the Red Sea (which have intensified since CBO completed the analysis underlying this letter).”
On top of the impact on the US economy, the CBO estimates the war has cost approximately $38 billion through August 1. The estimate does not include the cost to repair US facilities damaged during the war, with most of the price tag coming from munitions expenditures, the office said…
Missile shortages, damage to US facilities: Pentagon watchdog issues first review of Iran war
The inspector general, citing its communications with US Central Command, said that “Iranian strikes damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan” during the war’s first months. The report, which covers the start of the war on February 28 through June 30, also acknowledged the depletion of key US munition stockpiles…
The U.S. Is Burning Through Its Supply of Interceptors to Counter Iran’s Attacks
The U.S. military fired up to 70 or more of its high-end air defense interceptors last week when Iran launched a missile attack on Jordan, U.S. and regional officials familiar with the matter said, a heavy expenditure that underscores Iran’s improved ability to target U.S. forces and challenge American air defenses…
US prosecutors say Chinese groups used Binance to launder $61mn from Iranian oil deals
The justice department filed a forfeiture complaint seeking to seize the funds, which were sent through a network of digital wallets that received and distributed more than $1.5bn in proceeds from the illicit sale of Iranian oil, according to the US government. At least some of the funds were used to finance terrorism, prosecutors said…
MBS and Saudi Arabia Face Crisis With Key Oil Pipeline Shut for Weeks
The hostilities had already pushed Saudi oil production to the lowest level in decades. They now threaten to complicate the kingdom’s multi-trillion dollar plans to diversify the economy, and come just weeks before a flagship investment conference in Riyadh set to feature JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon and David Solomon of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
UK authorities fear the East-West pipeline, as it is known, may be mostly shut for six weeks, Bloomberg reported on Monday. That would likely push up global fuel prices and add to inflationary pressures, according to several senior European officials.
For Saudi Arabia, it potentially means the loss of tens of billions of dollars in export revenue…
Trump Approves $2.8 Billion Arms Sale to Israel
The package includes 40,000 one-ton bombs and would be among the largest deliveries of U.S. munitions to Israel…
U.S. Probes Cyberattacks on Energy Tankers Bound for American Coast
At least two foreign tankers bound for American shores were targeted in cyberattacks now under U.S. government investigation, fueling concerns that Iran or other adversaries are seeking to widen the Middle East conflict, according to U.S. officials familiar with the incidents.
…U.S. authorities haven’t confirmed whether Iran or another adversary like Russia or China is behind the attacks. But officials say they are concerned the recent incidents are opening up a new front in the seven-month war. Bloomberg News earlier reported one of the boardings…
Iran Blockade Costs Are Draining America’s Global Military Power
So far, at least 28 Navy ships have rotated through the latest blockade, which began on July 14, racking up an estimated bill of more than $2 billion in ship operating costs. Since the naval buildup began in January, those costs have topped $7.1 billion, according to a Bloomberg Economics analysis of the blockade’s naval operations. That price tag does not include all the US assets being used to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz…
Americans Have Spent $100 Billion More on Fuel During the Iran War
U.S. consumers have collectively spent about $107 billion more on gasoline and diesel during the Iran conflict and disruptions from the Russia-Ukraine conflict than they would have had there been no war, according to estimates by the Climate Solutions Lab at Brown University. That averages to more than $500 million a day since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, and a recent surge in crude assures that the price tag will only grow in the weeks ahead…