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The ongoing war with Iran has had serious ripple effects on the global economy, on maritime trade, and, according to a new scientific report, on the marine ecosystem as well.

The long-term closure of the Strait of Hormuz could have serious repercussions for marine ecosystems worldwide.

Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73). Creative Commons Image.

Cargo and oil tankers, which have been waiting outside the strait for several months, could unleash invasive marine species into other fragile environments once trade through the vital waterway resumes.

While the US and Iran are locked into a struggle over the Strait of Hormuz, where 20 percent of the world’s oil passed through prior to the current conflict, Iran’s proxies in Yemen, the Houthi rebels, are threatening to close the narrow Bab el-Mandab Strait, whose name means “Gate of Tears” in Arabic, which links the southern Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, a week after declaring a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia.

The Iranian-proxy group on July 20 declared a maritime embargo against Saudi ‌Arabia and its ports, opening a new front against the U.S.

The Defense Information Systems Agency is conducting market research on its planned CommandNet migration weeks after General Dynamics Information Technology protested the agency’s decision to award the work without holding a competition.
A sources-sought notice posted to Sam.gov on July 27 is requesting industry feedback on the CommandNet effort — which aims to move users across all 11 combatant commands to a single, DISA-managed IT architecture known as DODNet by fiscal 2028.

Ukraine War Update: Tragedy struck in Crimea on Tuesday when four people were killed by a Russian soldier in Sevastopol.

According to France 24, the soldier, who has not been identified, opened fire on his colleagues, one of whom was killed and another wounded, before he then turned his weapon on civilians, killing three. Three other civilians were also wounded.

“All circumstances and causes of the incident are being established,” the region’s Russian-backed governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said of the incident.

Anyone watching news from the Russia-Ukraine war with any degree of regularity is by now used to seeing the spectacular footage after a Ukrainian attack drone has impacted one of Moscow’s many oil refineries.

The inevitable immediate reaction is usually one of storage tanks exploding, volcanic-like fire plumes, and massive columns of black smoke rising high into the sky.

Lancet Drone. Image Credit: Russian State Media.

Lancet Drone from Russia. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

The United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has told CNBC that there’s “a chance” the Trump administration and the Islamic Republic of Iran will reach a deal within the next 24 hours over the Strait of Hormuz (SoH).

If that’s the case, it’d mark the second time in the Iran War that the two sides agreed to allow civilian shipping to move through the SoH once more free of charge (the first time being with the Memorandum of Understanding).

President Donald J.

Trump Tells Iran That He Wants A Deal Over The Strait Immediately: President Trump is calling for Iran to reach a deal with Oman on the Strait of Hormuz as soon as Tuesday, or face more ‘decapitation’ air strikes.

“I want to give them every last chance before decapitation,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “You’ll find out today or tomorrow. I mean, they’re going to go quickly, one way or the other. It’s not very complex.”

President Donald J.

The US Defense Budget After the Iran War – The United States and Iran are trapped in a bizarre, slow-motion war in the Persian Gulf. Neither seems to actually want to fight the war. But now, neither can back down. The war continues to drag on and is likely to do so for a while. Earlier, the conventional wisdom was that US President Donald Trump would be compelled to end the war before the US midterm elections. The war is woefully unpopular and will likely hurt Republicans’ chances in November.

In 2007, actor and comedian Robin Williams traveled to Kuwait for an appearance at Camp Arifjan.
Williams was doing his best to entertain the troops when they suddenly stopped paying attention to the stage. They immediately shifted their focus behind them to render honors as the American flag was lowered. Williams wasn’t so much offended as mildly perplexed. At first, he didn’t understand what was going on.
Related: Bob Hope entertained the troops from WWII to Desert Storm
Once the service members explained it to Williams, he brought it back to why he traveled 8,000 miles from home.

Iran Is Offering Trump a Hormuz Off-Ramp—But Not the One He Wants: Trump can accept the Oman-Iran shipping arrangement taking shape right now. What he cannot do is call it the thing he asked for.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his own cabinet on Sunday that talks with Muscat over managing the Strait of Hormuz are “nearing completion” and in their “final stages.