Links to report and analysis from the Cradle, and to a report from Middle East Monitor; others are accessible by clicking on its name. (Scroll up or down for today’s UKRAINE and WEST BANK so far, and down for IRAN 10-20-26.) — MCM

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Iran shuts key border crossing with Iran under U.S. pressure. From the Cradle. Iraq shut the strategic Sheeb border crossing with Iran today, sources told western media outlets, framing the move as a result of intensified U.S. pressure on Baghdad to strangle the Islamic Republic. READ MORE . . .

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FROM OCT. 20  Iran says supertanker carrying over 2 million barrels of oil hit mine near Hormuz. From Middle East Monitor. A supertanker carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude oil exploded and caught fire after striking a naval mine south of the Strait of Hormuz, the Navy of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Tuesday, Anadolu reports. READ MORE . . .

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FROM OCT. 19  The shadow of a new war looms as Iran prepares for the worst, by a Cradle correspondent. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh arrived in Beirut amid renewed U.S. and Israeli threats to attack Iran. In meetings with officials and journalists, he outlined Tehran’s preparations for a war that could last months, making clear . . . READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED