Iran

New Attacks in Hormuz

Plus: a different type of pizzagate, Kevin Warsh as the new Jerome Powell, and more...

Liz Wolfe | 5.14.2026 9:31 AM

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The Strait of Hormuz sees more attacks: "In the latest incident on the trade route, an Indian cargo vessel carrying livestock from Africa to the United Arab Emirates was sunk on Thursday in waters off the coast of Oman," reports Reuters. All 14 crew members were rescued. But in a separate incident, "British maritime ​security agency UKMTO reported on Thursday that 'unauthorised personnel' had boarded a ship anchored off the coast of the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah, and were steering it towards Iran." Japanese and Chinese tankers have successfully brokered deals with Iranian authorities to pass through this week, with Chinese shipping companies in particular becoming rather obsequious toward Iran in a bid to ensure safety.

For a while during the war, an average of eight ships had been passing through the strait daily, down from a daily average of 130 prior to tensions escalating. Now, it's rebounded a bit: roughly 30 ships have passed through between Wednesday evening and now. But Iran is very much in control, and one must curry favor with it to guarantee safe passage. President Donald Trump's attempt last week to shepherd ships through fell flat and was paused indefinitely.

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Now Trump's strategy appears to hinge on getting China "to play a more active role in getting Iran to walk away from what they're doing now," Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters aboard Air Force One as they traveled to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.

But "this is not how President Trump wanted to arrive in China,"........

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