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Iran and Oman are inching closer to announcing a temporary arrangement for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz – but the circumstances surrounding whatever deal may or may not emerge today suggest that the United States will now begin work on a lasting peace deal that includes major concessions for Tehran.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Wednesday, August 5, that Tehran and Muscat had reached a “mutual understanding” on the geographic parameters of a new route through the waterway.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen.

The Air Force and Lockheed Martin recently demonstrated an artificial intelligent agent autonomously flying a fighter jet using live infrared sensor data — a critical step in ongoing developments of AI-enabled combat.
The service announced Tuesday that it conducted multiple flight tests in April at Edwards Air Force Base in California where an AI agent processed live targeting data and then controlled an aircraft to execute intercepts.

A deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, at least temporarily, is close at hand, according to a series of reports on Wednesday.

According to the Associated Press, President Donald Trump said Tuesday night that a deal could be near reopening the important waterway. Indeed, officials from Iran and Oman told the AP on Wednesday that they had “finalized the draft deal” to reopen the Strait and that it was awaiting final approval from Iran’s Supreme Leader.

Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz and efforts to extract payments for safe passage — plus, more recently, the Houthis’ move to attack Saudi shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — have highlighted the risks of maritime chokepoints to global shipping and raised questions about the future for freedom of navigation. The impacts extend beyond the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, so we asked five experts to consider the implications for several other crucial waterways: the Strait of Malacca, the Taiwan Strait, the Panama Canal, the Suez Canal, and the Turkish Straits.Read more below.

Might Russia’s illegitimate president be ready to negotiate an end to the Russian war against Ukraine? One of America’s leading Russia experts, Thomas Graham, thinks so. Noting that both Russia and Ukraine are experiencing enormous human and economic losses that can only get worse, Graham argues that a window of opportunity currently exists for a peace deal brokered by the Trump administration.

Can the Ukraine War End? One Idea 

F-16 in Sunset US Air Force Photo

Graham’s logic is persuasive, but his rationally grounded belief that Putin wants peace is, alas, unfounded.

Ukrainian esprit de corps is palpable throughout the country, from Lviv near the Polish border to Kharkiv, a university town just 12 miles from the frontline, where schoolchildren study in metro stations and once-abandoned nuclear bunkers. Ukrainian men who evaded service are largely gone, and those who remain contribute to their country’s military industry, rescue, and reconstruction, if not on the frontline itself.

Iran Keeps Pouring Cold Water On A Deal – But Does It Matter? – Iran has once again thrown efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz into disarray, publicly disputing Washington’s description of how negotiations are progressing only hours after the U.S. suggested that an agreement could be announced as soon as Wednesday, August 5.

The most recent confusion arose when Axios reported early today, citing two regional sources and a U.S.

The EU has received the latest tranche of funding from Russian windfall profits accrued from frozen Central Bank of Russia funding.

Mistral and Uvision have completed the first Lot Acceptance Tests (LAT) for the HERO 120 loitering munition, a key US Army requirement.

According to President Donald J. Trump, negotiations with Iran are progressing steadily, with a deal that could allow Iran to retain partial control of the Strait of Hormuz alongside Oman.

Over the last few days, the war in Iran slowed down once again, which, according to the President, was due to ongoing negotiations between the two sides.

Airman 1st Class Tommy Day (left), Senior Airman Phillip Ruiz (center) and Tech. Sgt. Dwayne Bolles prepare to load a BDU-56 bomb on a B-2 Spirit bomber at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, on April 11, 2005.