AfricaNews

Iran said Monday it has received proposals from mediators as back-and-forth attacks with the United States continue. “Proposals have been put forward and conveyed to us by the mediators. We have received them, but please excuse me from going into their details,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said at a briefing.

He said the diplomatic apparatus had been active and that ideas from some mediators had reached Tehran. Baghaei dismissed U.S. statements about being open to diplomacy. “We have seen and tested their so-called readiness before,” he said.

“When the U.S. talks about diplomacy, it actually means dictation, intimidation, threats and sanctions.” He said Iran’s response would be to defend its dignity and national sovereignty as long as Washington sought to impose its demands. When asked about reports that the U.S. might consider a ground operation to seize Khargh Island, home to the terminal through which Iran exports most of its oil, Baghaei warned of consequences.

“I think there are people in those regions (southern Iran), and their number is not small, and they are looking forward to welcoming those guys (U.S. troops),” he said. U.S. President Donald Trump has previously threatened to take the island. Baghaei also said Iran had repeatedly urged neighboring countries to stop the U.S. from using their territory and facilities for attacks.

These would be all the Kurdish, MEK proxies the US and Israel have groomed for years.

“What we are doing is self-defense,” he said. “As long as these crimes and military aggression against Iran continue, our armed forces will continue to respond.” The U.S. conducted a new round of airstrikes early Monday, hitting an area around a northwestern city believed to be home to underground missile bases, after announcing the death of another American service member.

Iran responded with attacks targeting Bahrain, home of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, and Kuwait. The latest strikes showed how the two sides have inched closer to all-out war as last month’s interim deal meant to permanently end the fighting has crumbled and shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has largely stalled. Both sides have targeted civilian infrastructure relied on by millions of people.

In short:

The global economy was spared from the worst of the biggest oil shock in 50 years because of large oil reserves, according to the International Monetary Fund.

It says lower consumption in Asia and higher oil production outside of the Gulf helped absorb further price shocks.

What’s next?

Experts say global oil prices are likely to increase as reserves dwindle.

Depleted oil reserves have left economies vulnerable to soaring fuel prices as the US-Iran conflict resumes, the IMF has warned.

Before the war began, global oil supplies were at about 2 million barrels a day above demand.

The IMF the closure of the Strait of Hormuz had not led to a “full-blown price shock” because the reserves absorbed what the market could not.

It said that by the end of May oil reserves were estimated to be about 1.2 billion barrels, which was half the level prior to the conflict.

“That cushion, however, has been spent,” the IMF said.

“If the disruption were to persist at current rates, that lower bound would be reached by early 2027.“

“Well before that point, prices would likely move sharply higher, as the market would effectively be operating without a safety net.”

Trump and Bibi look like they want to keep this one going..

I’m going to post a bunch of links and other information for readers to view/read for themselves

Iran’s IRGC attacks on US military assets in Bahrain, Kuwait in ‘Operation Nasr 2’

Iran claims strikes on weapons depots in Bahrain, drones in Kuwait

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said its navy and aerospace forces destroyed several weapons storage depots and vessel and aircraft parts at Bahrain’s Sheikh Isa base in a combined missile and drone strike, in its tenth communique on Operation Nasr 2, IRNA reported on July 14.

The IRGC said the same operation also hit the ramp used to deploy US MQ-9 drones at Kuwait’s Ali Al Salem base, destroying or damaging a number of the aircraft.

The UK proscribed “state enemy” group described the strikes as retaliation for US attacks that afternoon on several coastal stations belonging to Iran’s armed forces, and warned of further reprisals if the strikes continued, saying it would meet any repeat with what it called surprising responses.

The statement said Iran would keep responding in kind for as long “American crimes” continued, and warned that no oil or gas would be exported from the region while what it called American hostility persisted in the area, adding that the attacks would only delay the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

The claims form part of a wider wave of communiques issued by the IRGC on July 14 under Operation Nasr 2, in which it earlier said its forces had struck weapons-support depots, a satellite communications centre and accommodation used by US personnel at Bahrain’s Juffair base, along with a Patriot radar, a Fifth Fleet air control radar and a counter-rocket, artillery and mortar radar system.

The attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait are in response to US attacks on Iran, earlier today

The Saudis attacked Yemen- Yemen retaliated

Report: Trump Backed Saudi Strike on Houthis

Trump approved this. I have zero doubt about that.

President Donald Trump approved Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s request for U.S. backing before a military strike targeting Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement, according to two U.S. officials cited by Axios.

Houthis: Saudi airport targeted in retaliation for strikes on Sanaa airport

Yemen’s Houthis say they struck Saudi Arabia’s Abha airport with missiles and drones in retaliation for a strike on Sanaa’s international airport

Again, thanks Trump and Bibi…

It seems the people of Bahrain are cheering the bombing of their country (majority Shia) Leadership Sunni

So much for the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed by Trump on June 18 at Versailles. It was essentially a lucrative deal for Iran to reopen the strait—the conduit for 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas. Trump pledged many billions of dollars in economic relief for Iran by lifting sanctions, unfreezing Iranian funds, and providing reconstruction assistance.

This deal was widely criticized as an act of appeasement on Trump’s part after failing to reopen the waterway by military force or to achieve his other military objectives—the overthrow of the Iranian regime and the abandonment of its nuclear program, its missile program, and its support for terrorist proxies across the region.

Yet, hardliners in the Iranian regime are apparently not satisfied to pocket the lucrative gains their country could accrue from this deal.

“Not satisfied to pocket the lucrative gains”

This is rubbish, because ships were attempting to negate the agreement by using Oman’s coastline to avoid Iran making any “lucrative gains” In other words, they were not following the MOU signed between the US and Iran

A fact that is acknowledged right in the oped and I quote

“Iran attacked merchant ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz near the Oman coast, rather than the Iranian shoreline.”

Trump has, predictably, responded by bombing Iran and reinstituting the U.S. blockade while claiming that the U.S. will charge its own tolls on traffic through the strait, thereby seemingly abandoning the United States’ age-old commitment to freedom of navigation through international waterways.

Trump’s threat to collect tolls is probably just bluster, but the bombing and the blockade are real. The question is what will they accomplish?

Yes, Trump is claiming he’s going to collect 20 percent fees on ships

President Donald Trump announced that the United States is reinstating a naval blockade targeting Iranian shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and said Washington would impose a 20% charge on cargo passing through the strategic waterway.

Back to CFR oped

The United States and Israel bombed Iran for thirty-nine days (February 28-April 8) without overthrowing the regime or forcing it to give in to U.S. and Israeli demands. Iran ultimately made Trump back down and agree to a humiliating MOU by holding the Strait of Hormuz and the energy infrastructure of U.S. Persian Gulf allies hostage. Trump is in a weaker position to pressure Iran today, after having let the regime cash in on his temporary lifting of sanctions; by one estimate, Iran earned at least $5 billion in oil exports since the United States lifted its blockade on June 17.

The fundamental problem, as I previously noted, is that for all of Trump’s bluster—and that of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth—they have no good military options to bring Iran to its knees. Truly defeating Iran and overthrowing its regime would require an invasion by hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops. This contingency is impossible to imagine given how unpopular the war already is with the American public. In one recent poll, 60 percent of those surveyed said the Iran war was not worth it.

Trump is left facing the same dilemma as many of his predecessors in the Oval Office: He is fighting a limited war with limited means and, not surprisingly, achieving limited results, at best. The most that can be said for Trump’s war is that it has degraded Iranian military capabilities, but Iranian drones and missiles remain as much of a threat as ever, and Iran has actually increased its ability to blackmail the world since the war began. Even after the signing of the MOU, maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz never returned to prewar levels. Now, with Iran claiming the waterway is closed, even fewer ships are likely to pass through it.

Trump is left with an unpalatable choice: Either acquiesce to Iran charging a toll for traffic through the strait or else run the significant risks of military escalation. More than four months in, the Iran war once again shows why presidents should be wary of starting wars of choice based on wishful thinking and without an obvious exit strategy.

Russia, Iran said to be close to a gas deal

Russia’s Minister of Energy Sergey Tsivilev and Iran’s Minister of Petroleum Mohsen Paknejad met today as the two sides move closer than ever to finalizing a gas trade agreement between the two countries, Iran’s Shana agency reported on Monday, AzerNEWS reports.

Paknejad told the agency that this is a “subject whose negotiations have seen significant progress over the past months” and that “the main clauses of this contract have been agreed upon.”

According to the minister, only two clauses that require supplementary negotiations remain. The move comes as Russian chief diplomat Sergey Lavrov is preparing to visit Tehran.

Mr Lavrov’s visit is highly suggestive that Russia and Iran are going to make this deal.

Also notice it was Israel that tipped Trump off

Israeli officials tipped off the Trump administration about an apparent Iranian plot to assassinate him as the war between the two countries continues, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal

This Iran assassination fabrication/falsification has been going around for 2 years now- It’s always been bullshit. Straight up war time propaganda, catapulted repeatedly

Kurdistan24

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States is preparing for another round of military strikes against Iran, just hours after declaring that the ceasefire had effectively ended following Iranian attacks on American military sites in the Gulf.

Speaking on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Trump said the U.S. had carried out heavy strikes overnight and suggested more military action was imminent.

“We hit them very hard last night,” Trump told reporters. “We’ll probably hit them hard again tonight.”

Trump said the strikes were in retaliation for what he described as Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, accusing Tehran of launching drones and missiles at ships transiting the strategic waterway.

“They are behaving very badly,” he said.

The renewed exchange of fire has intensified fears that the conflict between the United States and Iran could escalate again after weeks of fragile calm. Trump further heightened those concerns by declaring that the temporary ceasefire was effectively finished.

“For me, I think it’s over,” Trump said when asked about the truce. While he said U.S. representatives could continue diplomatic talks with Iran, he expressed little confidence in the negotiations.

“They can talk, but I think they’re wasting their time,” he said.

The remarks triggered renewed uncertainty in global markets, with oil prices rising amid concerns that a wider regional conflict could once again disrupt energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important oil transit routes.

Responding to Trump’s remarks, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf struck a defiant tone, writing on X: “The era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don’t fold.”

The latest developments underscore the fragile security situation in the Middle East, where repeated military exchanges have threatened to derail diplomatic efforts and reignite a broader regional conflict.

Israel was allegedly going to assassinate the Iranian negotiating team- But the US dissuaded them from doing so. If the US really did dissuade Israel from acting, why don’t they don’t more to reign in that nation, from it’s endless pursuit of war and genocide? Just asking?

Israel planned to carry out an assassination attempt against the Iranian negotiating delegation during talks between Washington and Tehran, The New York Times reports.

The article notes that, according to former and current US officials, during the negotiations that intensified in April, Israel sought to kill the negotiating delegation led by Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

US officials, however, dissuaded Israel from the plan, fearing that if those individuals were killed, there would be no one left in Iran with whom to conduct dialogue.

The Iranian side, in turn, demanded guarantees from the United States that the negotiating delegation would not be killed.

The Israeli Embassy in Washington did not comment on the report.

Fertilizer shortages, food shortages, higher prices

With the strait closed, fertilizer shipments from the Persian Gulf slumped and prices rose, affecting countries all around the world that import fertilizer. The war also created a global shortage of natural gas, a key component in nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing.

Mass Mourning in Iran for murdered Leader

Iran Holds Funerary Processions for Late Supreme Leader

The mass funeral rites for Khamenei, who was killed by the U.S. and Israel at the start of their war with Iran, will begin in Tehran. The processions will continue next week in Qom, as well as ceremonies in Karbala and Najaf in neighboring Iraq, before the late leader is buried in Mashhad on July 9.

Iran’s rulers have cast the funeral procession as a symbolic rebuke to the U.S.-Israeli war that sought to decapitate the country’s leadership. Officials expect as many as 20 million people to attend, which would make it one of the largest public gatherings in Iran’s history.

Oil glut calls getting ahead of reality

Oil prices have fallen as traders bet on recovering Hormuz exports and renewed oversupply, but analysts warn the rebound reflects delayed tanker departures rather than a full restoration of Middle East production.
Production remains well below pre-war levels in key Gulf producers, while high shipping costs, limited insurance coverage, and slow inbound tanker traffic continue to constrain supply.
Despite record U.S. crude output, uncertainty over Iran, Hormuz, and regional production means the market may be underestimating ongoing supply risks.

Interpol issues notice for Ukrainian woman over Monaco bomb attack

The organisation named 39-year-old Anastasiia Berezovska as the main suspect in the bombing, which took place on Monday evening and left multiple people injured. Ukrainian business tycoon Vadym Yermolaiev was reportedly one of those wounded in the attack.

The alert says Berezovska speaks German, has dark hair, and has a tattoo – possibly of a snake – on her upper right arm.

A red notice requests law enforcement around the world to locate and provisionally arrest an individual. It is not an international arrest warrant.

A prosecutor told reporters that the suspect had been sitting on a bench in the Place des Moulins before placing an explosive device outside the building in which the victims were staying as they returned from a dinner.

Greek PM’s Security Advisor Duped by Russian Pranksters

Russia plotting attack on Poland to test Nato’s resolve, US claims

The US claims, the US lies. The narrative originates with the US! I don’t believe this for a moment. False flag potential is very large

The US has warned Warsaw that Russia is planning an armed “provocation” against Poland to test Nato’s resolve, according to reports.

The assault could see Poland’s vital infrastructure targeted by missiles or drones, or even Russian soldiers crossing the border into Nato territory, Washington has said.

Sources close to Polish president Karol Nawrocki told Polish outlet Onet that the aim of Moscow’s possible assault, which could be launched in a matter of months, would be to provoke tensions and pressure Ukraine’s Western allies to suspend their military and financial aid.

The US has prepared Poland for more than a decade now, as it’s new front line against Russia..

Flashback to 2014, published at my censored site

Russians can now freely use Mir cards in Iran, following the completion of the final phase of integrating Russia’s Mir payment system with Iran’s Shetab network. Muhammad Abed Amiri, head of the Iran division at the BRICS Hub platform, confirmed the news to TASS on the sidelines of the Russia-ASEAN events in Kazan.

According to Amiri, Mir cards are now accepted without restrictions throughout Iran. “You can now easily use Mir cards in Iran. The third and final stage of integrating the Shetab payment system in Iran with Mir has been completed. Payments in Iran can now be made smoothly,” he said.

He clarified that this marks the conclusion of the last of three phases to connect the two national payment networks.

Addressing the impact of rising tensions in the Middle East on trade between Moscow and Tehran, the BRICS Hub representative noted that business is largely continuing as usual. However, he cited temporary communication outages-linked to internet shutdowns in Iran-as a challenge, though these did not halt trading activity.

Amiri also stated that Moscow and Tehran aim to boost bilateral trade by 2030, seeking to further expand business opportunities between the countries.

Earlier reports indicated that the A7 payment system, which helps bypass sanctions, along with Promsvyazbank, received a fatwa allowing Islamic cross-border transfers for settlements with partners in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, including Iran. This move forms part of Russia’s broader effort to build alternative financial infrastructure amid its limited access to SWIFT.

Link

Trump doubled down on his prediction that the deal would be signed Sunday, though he added that he was “very unhappy” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a Sunday phone call with Axios. The president told a reporter that Netanyahu “has no fucking judgment.”

Israel attacked Lebanon quite viciously today, again.- Trump is allegedly unhappy with this. I’ve heard this before. The US would have surely known Israel was going to and did attack Lebanon.

Top administration officials would not confirm whether a peace deal would be signed Sunday — though Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told CBS he thinks the agreement is “on track.”

“From all I know, we are on track. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when,” Hegseth said.

While U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz said Sunday morning he’s “confident” the peace deal will happen soon, he deferred to the White House when asked about the timing and logistics for signing the agreement.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday that a “great settlement” with Iran was close after more than 100 days of conflict. The president announced the timing of the peace deal in a pinned post on Truth Social on Saturday.

“The Deal is scheduled to get signed tomorrow, and immediately after it is signed, the Hormuz Strait is OPEN TO ALL,” Trump wrote, claiming his administration has “a much different and better” relationship with Iran than previous presidents.

A senior Iranian official shared details about the pending peace deal with Reuters on Sunday, claiming that in exchange for Iran immediately reopening the Strait of Hormuz and halting the expansion of its nuclear program (as well as agreeing not to acquire a nuclear weapon), the U.S. will deliver economic relief to the country in the form of $25 billion in frozen assets.

A White House source familiar with the deal told NOTUS that the framework reported by Reuters “isn’t accurate” but did not provide additional details.

So deal or no deal? Cause I’m not seeing one.

Conflicting messaging continues to encircle the status and details of a prospective interim peace agreement between the US and Iran, but regional industry sources tell Energy Intelligence that a deal may be more firmly grounded now than at any other time during the 3 1/2 month conflict.

Unclear, Murky,

Can Trump Restrain Israel?

The question really should be- Does Trump want to restrain Israel?

Personally, I think he can. But doesn’t want to.