CNN: The Saudi defense ministry said today that 14 countries have backed the kingdom’s proposal to establish a “Maritime Defense Alliance” to protect international shipping routes and global trade.
Drone strike: The announcement comes as the US-Iran conflict is pulling in more countries. Egypt reported that a drone strike Wednesday caused a fire on two ships in the port of Damietta. No party has claimed responsibility. If confirmed as a deliberate strike, it would mark the first time Egypt has been directly drawn into the conflict…
A shrinking weapons stockpile is testing the Pentagon’s sweeping new strategy
The Defense Department is betting on Silicon Valley start-ups to replenish stockpiles amid the Iran war. Now the firms must prove they can manufacture at military scale…
Iran’s Araqchi presses European counterparts over use of bases in US operations
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi urged Bulgaria to reconsider its decision to allow the temporary deployment of U.S. military aircraft at the Bezmer air base, Iranian state media reported on Thursday.
During a phone call with his Bulgarian counterpart, Velislava Petrova-Chamova, Araqchi said Sofia’s approval of a U.S. request to station military aircraft at the base to support military operations amounted to facilitating aggression against Iran, adding the move was unacceptable and contrary to the traditionally friendly relations between the two countries…
Trump is stuck in Iran. Here’s one idea that could offer a way out
At a barren diplomatic moment, there are two flickers of hope.
One is an emerging concept for an international institution under which Gulf nations, including Iran, would eventually jointly manage and monetize the trade, but in such a way that would stabilize global oil prices. Ironically, the way forward might be hiding in plain sight in the scrapped MOU, which called on Iran and Oman to “define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz, in discussions with other Persian Gulf Littoral States.”…
Yemen’s Houthis are attacking Saudi Arabia from Iraq, sources say
The assessments, which differ from official accounts, indicate that members of Iran’s so-called Axis of Resistance have deepened their ties and ability to inflict damage to U.S. allies in the region despite years of U.S and Israeli strikes on them from Lebanon to Iran after Hamas’ 2023 attack on Israel…
Drone strike in Egypt sparks security concerns about Suez oil exports
A drone strike that damaged two gas tankers in Egyptian waters has renewed energy security concerns about the nearby Suez Canal and a related pipeline, a vital export route for Saudi Arabian oil since the beginning of the Iran war.
Even as Iran and its Houthi allies have fired on tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, Egypt’s Suez Canal and Sumed pipeline continued to offer safe, northbound export routes for Saudi Red Sea energy cargoes…
Saudi economy shrinks as Middle East conflict takes heavy toll
The contraction was driven by a 24.7 per cent decline in the oil sector, which has suffered since the conflict in effect closed the Strait of Hormuz to shipping…
Across Tehran, billboards threaten Trump, Israel
From Trump lying in a coffin to drowning in the sea, billboards and murals around Tehran take aim at the U.S. president and Israel…
Why Democrats Won’t Stop Forcing Votes on the War
Even after winning approval of a measure calling on President Trump to end the war, they continue to call votes to force Republicans to answer for it…