“Canada imposed sanctions Friday on five Iranian officials over activities it said obstructed navigation rights in and around the Strait of Hormuz and undermined international peace and security, Global Affairs Canada said in a news release.”  And “Nine European countries have aligned themselves with an EU decision imposing sanctions on six Iranians over serious human rights violations, the Council of the European Union said Friday.”  See “Trump says US will hit Iran economically as Iran has ‘not a lot’ of missiles, drones left,” Iran International, 8-20-26.

“The End of the American Middle East:  Iran and the Last Gasp of a Failed Order,” Foreign Affairs, 8-20-26.  “The American Middle East is finished. The regional order that has prevailed since 1991 has been one of the many casualties of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. The American and Israeli failure to dislodge the regime in Tehran has proved the bankruptcy of decades of sanctions and violence. The inability of the United States to protect its Gulf allies from Iranian attacks or to keep the Strait of Hormuz open has fatally undermined the core security bargain that justified its network of military bases in the region. And Israel’s increasingly threatening posture and abandonment of any pretense of interest in reaching an accommodation with the Palestinians have ended Washington’s decades-long mission of bringing its Arab allies and Israel together into an enduring security partnership.”

“IRGC Threatens More Destructive Weapons in Potential Conflict,” IranWire, 8-20-26.