Quote of the day
“The best way to see this is that none of the further negotiation parts of this deal are going to happen. Those provide each side, but especially the U.S. with a figleaf to sell their respective publics. This is really just an agreement to stop. The U.S. will have achieved none of its strategic objectives but will have done significant damage to Iran’s military and economy. Iran meanwhile has suffered a huge amount of economic damage — destroyed factories, destroyed supply chains, etc. But they survived and they’ve demonstrated that they can shut off the Strait of Hormuz at any time they choose. That’s a deterrent far greater than a few nuclear weapons.”
~Josh Marshall
Just as significant is that Iran need only look askance at Trump and threaten to close the Strait of Hormuz for the President to feel an urgent need to rein Israel in or else see the global economy collapse. If nothing else, this stupid war seems to have taught Trump that.
CNN: “US intel assesses Iran can shut down the Strait of Hormuz at will from now on
https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/16/politics/us-intel-assessment-iran-shut-strait-hormuz
RIP to US global oil protection “service/racket” to assure reliable supply to “friends” who submit and to threaten denial to nations who insist on their sovereignty.
All to distract the public attention, prevent publication of The Epstein Files