Iran, 5-13-26

Links to NINE-plus reports (at least 12): from the Associated Press, National Public Radio, Middle East Monitor, Middle East Eye, the Cradle, and Reuters, and to a commentary from Real Scott Ritter; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll up or down for GAZA, LEBANON, WEST BANK, UKRAINE and ALL OF IT, and down for IRAN 5-12-26.) — MCM

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Soaring inflation and plummeting economy test Iran in wartime, byMehdi Fattahi and Amir-Hussein Radjyp | AP  TEHRAN — Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz is throttling the world’s energy supplies and inflicting global economic pain, but the struggles of the Islamic Republic’s own economy are testing its ability to withstand the war and defy Washington’s demands. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish; and HERE for others.
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Lawmakers question Pete Hegseth about rising cost of U.S. war against Iran.Reported by Claudia Grisales and Michel Martin | NPR  Members of Congress are pressing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about the growing cost of the war against Iran and the administration’s plans to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Click HERE to listen and, later, read; and HERE for links to all four Iran war-related reports today from NPR‘s “Morning Edition.”
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FROM MAY 12  Iran sets 5 conditions for new talks with U.S. From Middle East Monitor. Iran will not enter a second round of negotiations with the United States unless five trust-building conditions are met, Fars News Agency reported Tuesday, citing an informed source, Anadolu reports. READ MORE . . .
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Iran has regained access to most missile and underground sites, U.S. intelligence finds: report. From Middle East Eye. U.S. intelligence agencies are telling policymakers that Iran has regained access to most of its missile sites, launchers and underground facilities, contrary to Washington’s rhetoric about decimating Iran, according to a report by the New York Times. READ MORE . . .  Click HERE for report from the Cradle.
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FROM MAY 12  Saudi Arabia launched covert attacks on Iran as regional war widened, sources say, by Timour Azhari and Parisa Hafezi | Reuters  RIYADH / DUBAI — Saudi Arabia launched numerous, unpublicized strikes on Iran in retaliation for attacks carried out in the kingdom during the Middle East war, two Western officials briefed on the matter and two Iranian officials said. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 12  Trump and Hegseth claim ‘control’ over Iran and the Strait of Hormuz as ceasefire talks are stalled, by Jon Gambrell and Melanie Lidman | AP  DUBAI — “We have Iran very much under control,” U.S. President Donald Trump said on his way to China. “We’re either going to make a deal or they’re going to be decimated. One way or the other, we win.” READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish; and HERE for others.

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FROM MAY 12  Iran, Oman discuss legal rules on shared sovereignty of Hormuz. From the Cradle. Iranian and Omani delegations convened a legal-technical meeting in Muscat to discuss the Strait of Hormuz, arrangements for the secure passage of ships, and the sovereign rights of both nations over the waterway, Fars News Agency reported on Tuesday. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 12  UK to send drones, fighter jets, warship for future Hormuz security mission. From Middle East Monitor. The United Kingdom will deploy drones, Typhoon fighter jets and the Royal Navy warship HMS Dragon as part of a future multinational mission to secure the Strait of Hormuz, the UK Defence Ministry said on Tuesday, Anadolu reports. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 12  Mushroom clouds, by Scott Ritter | Real Scott Ritter  The former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer and former UN weapons inspector talks about Iran’s nuclear ambitions, actual and otherwise. “The U.S.,” he says, “has a tendency to create risks where they don’t exist to justify wars that shouldn’t be fought.” Click HERE for video of monologue.

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FROM MAY 10  U.S. heading for ‘checkmate’ and ‘total defeat’ in Iran war, says neocon Robert Kagan, by Elis Gjevori | Middle East Eye  Robert Kagan, one of the United States’ most prominent neoconservative voices and a long-time pro-Israel hawk, has warned that Washington is heading towards “total defeat” in its war on Iran — a setback he says “can neither be repaired nor ignored.” READ MORE . . .

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