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Category: War

‘The damage is done’: Global oil crisis has changed fossil fuel industry for ever, IEA chief says

‘The damage is done’: Global oil crisis has changed fossil fuel industry for ever, IEA chief says

The Guardian reports: The oil crisis triggered by the Iran war has changed the fossil fuel industry for ever, turning countries away from fossil fuels to secure energy supplies, the world’s leading energy economist said. Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), also said that, despite pressure, the UK should forgo much of its potential North Sea expansion. Speaking exclusively to the Guardian, Birol said a key effect of the US-Israel war on Iran was that…

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Iran deploys more mines in the Strait of Hormuz, sources say

Iran deploys more mines in the Strait of Hormuz, sources say

Axios reports: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy laid more mines in the Strait of Hormuz this week, according to a U.S. official and a source with knowledge of the issue. Why it matters: The military standoff in the world’s most important oil chokepoint is escalating, with Iran laying mines and attacking commercial ships on one side and the U.S. tightening its naval blockade on the other. After being briefed on the new developments, President Trump ordered the U.S. Navy on Truth Social on Thursday to “shoot and…

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World’s top producer of condoms raises prices by up to 30% as Iran war rattles supply chains

World’s top producer of condoms raises prices by up to 30% as Iran war rattles supply chains

The New York Times reports: The world’s largest condom maker is raising prices of its products by up to 30 percent, warning that shortages of raw materials and chemicals because of the Iran war could disrupt production. The Malaysian condom company, Karex, which produces about five billion condoms a year, blamed a surge in raw material prices, global shipping disruptions and higher freight costs for the price increases. The de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz has led to…

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Graham Platner went to hell and back. He has a simple message for Democrats

Graham Platner went to hell and back. He has a simple message for Democrats

Ben Rhodes writes: Americans have a dysfunctional relationship with 21st-century wars. Most of us do not fight in them, see the carnage or live with their physical and psychological ruins. Yet we cannot heal our own nation unless we reckon with their monstrous futility. For Graham Platner, that reckoning began when he was a 20-year-old infantryman in Iraq. His company was constructing a patrol base near Falluja. To build it, they hired locals who often brought their kids to the…

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Betrayed: Trump is said to be in talks to send Afghans who aided U.S. forces to Congo

Betrayed: Trump is said to be in talks to send Afghans who aided U.S. forces to Congo

The New York Times reports: After halting a U.S. resettlement program for Afghans who helped the American war effort, President Trump is in talks to send as many as 1,100 of them to the Democratic Republic of Congo, an aid worker briefed on the plan said Tuesday. The group includes interpreters for the U.S. military, former members of the Afghan Special Operations forces and family members of American service members. More than 400 children are among them. The Afghans have…

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Downing Street says Falklands sovereignty rests with UK after report of Pentagon ‘review’

Downing Street says Falklands sovereignty rests with UK after report of Pentagon ‘review’

BBC News reports: Sovereignty of the Falkland Islands “rests with the UK”, Downing Street has said, following a report the US could review its position on Britain’s claim to the territory. An internal Pentagon email reported by Reuters suggested the US was considering options to punish Nato allies it believed failed to support its war on Iran. The options discussed also included seeking Spain’s suspension from Nato over its opposition to the war. BBC News has not been able to…

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The looming food crisis: Why the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is disrupting global agriculture

The looming food crisis: Why the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is disrupting global agriculture

  The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have raised fuel costs and caused shortages of key fertilizers around the world, wreaking havoc on the agricultural industry. Adam Hanieh, director of the SOAS Middle East Institute at the University of London, says the effects could be felt for a long time, particularly in the Global South. “About a third of the world’s basic fertilizers now pass through the Strait of Hormuz,” says Hanieh, who…

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Has the Strait of Hormuz emerged as Iran’s most powerful form of deterrence?

Has the Strait of Hormuz emerged as Iran’s most powerful form of deterrence?

By Christian Emery, UCL One of the US and Israel’s justifications for launching the war on Iran was to ensure the regime in Tehran could never possess nuclear weapons, the ultimate deterrent against external attack. But the main lesson that has been taken from the war, according to some commentators, is that Iran’s own geography already provides it with all the deterrent it needs. The US-Israeli strikes have inflicted massive damage on Iran’s leadership and have destroyed billions of US…

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IEA chief: ‘We are facing the biggest energy security threat in history’

IEA chief: ‘We are facing the biggest energy security threat in history’

CNBC reports: “We are facing the biggest energy security threat in history,” Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), told CNBC Thursday. “As of today, we’ve lost 13 million barrels per day of oil … and there are major disruptions in vital commodities,” he told Steve Sedgwick virtually at CNBC’s CONVERGE LIVE in Singapore. Birol has previously warned that the Iran war and ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz would result in “the largest energy crisis…

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Clearing Strait of Hormuz of mines could take six months, Pentagon tells Congress

Clearing Strait of Hormuz of mines could take six months, Pentagon tells Congress

The Washington Post reports: It could take six months to fully clear the Strait of Hormuz of mines deployed by the Iranian military, and any such operation is unlikely to be carried out until the U.S. war with Iran ends, the Pentagon has informed Congress — an assessment that means the conflict’s economic impact could extend late into this year or beyond. A senior Defense Department official shared the estimate during a classified briefing Tuesday for members of the House…

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Iran’s military more capable than Trump administration is publicly acknowledging, sources say

Iran’s military more capable than Trump administration is publicly acknowledging, sources say

CBS News reports: The Islamic Republic of Iran maintains more military capabilities than the White House or Pentagon has publicly admitted, according to multiple U.S. officials with knowledge of intelligence on the matter. About half of Iran’s stockpile of ballistic missiles and its associated launch systems were still intact as of the start of the ceasefire in early April, three of the officials told CBS News. Roughly 60% of the naval arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is still…

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Trump extends ceasefire indefinitely as Iran says it won’t join talks until U.S. ends the blockade

Trump extends ceasefire indefinitely as Iran says it won’t join talks until U.S. ends the blockade

The Washington Post reports: President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he would extend a ceasefire with Iran hours before it was due to expire, pledging to refrain from attacks until discussions with Tehran “are concluded, one way or the other.” Trump said Iran’s leadership was “seriously fractured” and needed to “come up with a unified proposal.” Trump made the announcement of an indefinite ceasefire as talks scheduled to take place between U.S. and Iranian delegations in the Pakistani capital were…

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Even Trump’s most basic claims about the Iran war can’t be trusted

Even Trump’s most basic claims about the Iran war can’t be trusted

Daniel Dale writes: On Monday morning, President Donald Trump told The New York Post that Vice President JD Vance was already on his way to Pakistan for negotiations with Iran. “They’re heading over now,” the Post quoted Trump as saying. “They’ll be there tonight, [Islamabad] time.” Except that wasn’t true. A bit later on Monday morning, people familiar with Vance’s plans told CNN’s Alayna Treene that the vice president was expected to depart for Pakistan on Tuesday for talks beginning…

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Escape route from Iran energy shock leads to China, U.S. allies find

Escape route from Iran energy shock leads to China, U.S. allies find

Politico reports: America’s allies, stung by soaring energy costs due to Washington’s attacks on Iran, are confronting an uncomfortable truth: The escape route from fossil fuel shocks leads straight into China’s arms. From the European Union and the United Kingdom to South Korea and the Philippines, numerous countries have responded to the war-driven spike in oil and gas prices with calls to accelerate electrification and the rollout of clean energy infrastructure. While that doesn’t offer an immediate fix to higher…

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The forces of scarcity hitting Asia may soon spread across the world

The forces of scarcity hitting Asia may soon spread across the world

Damien Cave writes: When the war in Iran started on Feb. 28, Asia expected to see serious, gradual impacts from losing access to a huge portion of the world’s oil and gas. But the conflict’s economic and social impacts have hit the region harder and faster than officials and experts expected. Many countries across the Asia-Pacific are experiencing sudden jolts of disruption that they are struggling to manage, with some comparing the crisis’s breakdowns and scope to the Covid pandemic….

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Distrust, dishonesty and Trump’s elusive Iran deal

Distrust, dishonesty and Trump’s elusive Iran deal

Axios reports: President Trump told reporters to expect a peace deal with Iran by Monday, and said Monday morning that Vice President Vance was heading to Islamabad for talks. But Vance was actually still in Washington, waiting for a signal from Tehran before boarding his plane — a sign of the deep uncertainty over what will happen next. The big picture: Trump wants the war to end, now, on his terms. But there’s only one day left before the ceasefire expires, Iran still controls the…

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