“Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf says “the time has come”,” I24, Ariel Oseran, 8-18-26.  They are determined to re-open the fighting, certainly not to let go of the opportunity to hold the world hostage through the vehicle of Hormuz.

Interesting, but redesigning U.S. presence is not only because of Trump and Hegseth missteps.  We have been pivoting toward China for some time.  Did you know that during Carter’s administration there were no U.S. bases in the Gulf?  Our closest was in Kenya, over a 1,000 miles away.  We have come a long way since FDR’s meeting with the Saudi king after WWII, and can mainly blame it on the threat to the GCC from Saddam Hussein in Iraq after his 1990 invasion of Kuwait, but also turning after 1979 to protect allies on the west side of the Gulf from the Ayatollah, including after the ruinous 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War.  See “Pentagon weighing smaller U.S. military presence in Gulf once Iran war ends,” WPost, 8-18-26.

“UAE says it halted all trade with Iran after new ballistic missile launches,” Iran International, 8-18-26.