CNN: Tehran’s counter-proposal to a US plan to end the war included a demand for compensation and recognition of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, reported Iranian state media. President Donald Trump has called Iran’s response “totally unacceptable” and accused Tehran of “playing games.”…
Energy Secretary Floats Pause in Federal Gas Tax
The tax is a little over 18 cents a gallon for gasoline. With the average national price above $4.50, the measure will provide little relief…
US experience fighting Iran offers lessons for China, experts say
They warned of China misreading its own strengths, lack of experience and holding on to a too-narrow view of the conflict and its consequences…
Iran’s two-tier internet access fuels anger and exposes cracks in the regime
“Imagine dealing with unemployment and crazy inflation, and somehow managing to scrape together 500,000 or a million tomans (about $13), only to spend it on a couple of gigabytes of VPN just so you can get on X or other platforms, check the news, and have a voice,” said Faraz, a 38-year old resident of Tehran. The average monthly wage in Iran is between 20 million and 35 million tomans ($240 to $420).
“And then, in the middle of all this stress and frustration, when you finally manage to open X or Telegram, you see people with unrestricted access acting like everything is normal, it honestly feels like a punch to the gut,” Faraz told CNN…
Netanyahu Tells CBS He Wants to Phase Out US Funding for Israel
“I want to draw down the American support for Israel to zero,” he said in an interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes that aired Sunday. “We’ve come of age.”
He added, “I think that it’s time that we weaned ourselves from the remaining military support and go from aid to partnership.”…
Donald Trump to press China’s Xi about Iran war at summit
President Donald Trump will urge President Xi Jinping to curb China’s support for Iran when the leaders meet in Beijing next week.
“I would expect the president to apply pressure,” a US official told reporters in a briefing…
Iran War Hangs Over China Summit
“It’s hardly an ideal position for a U.S. president visiting China for the first time in a decade,” said Aaron David Miller, an American Middle East negotiator during Democratic and Republican administrations. “Trump comes without leverage he might have had now without tariffs and a war that’s alienating much of the world, handing Xi more than a few points.”…
China Is Becoming Dangerously Overconfident
As the Chinese public’s hubris rises, it raises the political cost for the country’s leaders to show any restraint in potential crises over the South China Sea or Taiwan. Game-theory research last year showed that even modest increases in nationalism measurably raise the probability that both China and the United States will adopt more hawkish stances in a standoff…
Gulf nations hoped to move beyond oil. The Iran war made that much harder.
The same structural security weaknesses and challenging geography that have darkened the outlook for the region’s fossil fuel economy now threaten its emerging sectors. The prospect that Iran can shut down the Strait of Hormuz on a whim could shake the confidence of foreign investors and unravel the reputation of wealthy Gulf states as safe harbors for business…
China Green Tech Firms Target New Consumers Hit by Iran War Energy Shock
China’s clean technology titans, hungry for export markets to boost flagging profits, aren’t letting a crisis go to waste. Manufacturers of electric vehicles, batteries, and solar panels have been wooing nations looking to wean themselves off costly fuel imports since the Iran war triggered a global energy shock…