What about the 60 day MOU? And the Ceasefire? Who violated which and when? One of the advantages of having the daily news of Iran in front of us in this blog is that you can scroll through the last 10 or 20 days or so of news quickly and look at what happened. Here, as I think you know, the MOU and Ceasefire were violated by Iran, most recently after Iran shot at ships last week to halt traffic using the U.S.-supported route through the strait near Oman. See “Trump Says He Is Reimposing the U.S. Blockade of Iran,” WSJ, 7-13-26. “[MOU] Paragraph 5, which says Iran will make arrangements to restore shipping through the strategic waterway and then work with Oman to determine how to administer it in the future. But it also includes an Iranian pledge to ensure safe passage and remove military obstacles such as mines. … [T]he text clearly requires Iran to open the strait and stop shooting at ships. Iranian hard-liners, however, have used it to push for exclusive control over the waterway as a source of leverage. Iran has been pressuring Oman, which controls the southern side of the strait, to go along with its plan to take control. Instead, Oman has been operating a channel through the strategic waterway that runs through its territorial waters and skirts the lanes managed by Tehran. During a visit by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday, Oman offered a compromise under which no tolls would be charged in Oman’s territorial waters and Iran would decide what it wants for its own maritime corridor. … Iran rejected the compromise. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps signaled its displeasure with the idea by firing at ships in the waterway. … Iran struck Oman during the exchanges of fire in recent days, escalating the conflict. … Iran hit the port town of Duqm and an Omani naval base in Musandam, which serves as an operations center for monitoring traffic in the strait.” See also “Trump notifies Congress of new war against Iran,” Politico, 7-13-26.
Finally. And this added to the fuel to drive PM Starmer from office. If you’ve been to London, you’ve seen and heard the permanent protesters near 10 Downing Street but also heard the collective will over more than five years of the people to get this done. “U.K. to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist group,” WPost, 7-13-26. Starmer could never really pull himself to stand against this serious terror threat. “The designation comes after U.K. authorities linked the IRGC and its proxies to a wave of violent plots on British soil, including bombing and assassination attempts targeting Iranian journalists and activists in Britain. … The surge of attacks by … [t]he group, called the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right, or IMCR, has “claimed seven attacks at U.K. locations linked to Jewish and Israeli communities and Persian-language media,” the Home Office statement said. “Sitting behind IMCR were members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force, who almost certainly directed IMCR attacks across Europe.”
“President Donald Trump returned to Hugh’s program today with a focus on Iran,” Hugh Hewitt Show, 7-13-26.
“Jordan Air Defense Systems Intercept and Neutralize Four Iranian Missiles,” Petra News, 7-13-26.
“Oil prices rise as U.S. launches new Iran airstrikes, while Trump abandons Strait of Hormuz fee,” CNBC, 7-13-26.