“The Iran war is risking America’s global security ties and damaging its reputation, especially among the world’s Muslims, according to a set of State Department cables,” Politico reports.

“The cables, dated Wednesday, described the fallout of the war for America’s standing in three countries in different parts of the world: Bahrain, Azerbaijan and Indonesia.”

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said Thursday that she believes the U.S. war in Iran will need congressional authorization once it hits a 60-day mark that past legislation established for military conflicts — and she doesn’t think she’d vote for it, Semafor reports.

Said Collins: “It is very likely that I would vote not to authorize further hostilities.”

“President Trump announced that the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports will remain in full force, casting uncertainty on whether the Strait of Hormuz would be fully open to commercial shipping in the near future,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the Strait of Hormuz “is completely open for commercial ships for the remainder of the ceasefire,” NBC News reports.

Shortly after Iran’s announcement, President Trump responded in a social media post: “IRAN HAS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THE STRAIT OF IRAN IS FULLY OPEN AND READY FOR FULL PASSAGE. THANK YOU!” 

“The U.S. and Iran are negotiating over a three-page plan to end the war, with one element under discussion being that the U.S. would release $20 billion in frozen Iranian funds in return for Iran giving up its stockpile of enriched uranium,” Axios reports.

“Some Gulf Arab and European leaders believe that a US-Iran peace deal will take about six months to be agreed and that the warring sides should extend their ceasefire to cover that timeframe,” Bloomberg reports.

“After peace talks between the US and Iran floundered last weekend, leaders from all corners of the globe rushed to speak to one man: Xi Jinping,” Bloomberg reports.

“China’s president had his busiest week in nearly two years, excluding major summits, as he welcomed at least five high-profile officials.”

“An intensifying U.S. naval blockade of Iran is aimed at inflicting such severe economic pain that Tehran will be compelled to submit quickly to Washington’s demands to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and abandon its nuclear ambitions,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“With crude exports from Iranian ports effectively stopped up, the country will be deprived of a large chunk of its oil revenue. It could also be forced to start shutting down oil wells within weeks as it runs out of storage space, a costly and damaging prospect that could impair production for years to come.”

President Trump on Thursday said that “the war in Iran is going along swimmingly,” CNBC reports.

Said Trump: “It should be ending pretty soon.”

He added: “It was perfect. It’s perfect. It was the power we have. We had the most powerful military anywhere in the world.”

“President Donald Trump said Thursday that Iran has agreed to hand over ‘nuclear dust’ that was buried by last year’s U.S. airstrikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities, a claim that, if accurate, would be a significant step in U.S. efforts to reduce Tehran’s ability to produce a nuclear weapon,” the Washington Post reports.

Wall Street Journal: “In an unusual attempt to get President Trump’s ear, the grandson of Cuban leader Raúl Castro tapped a wealthy Havana entrepreneur to try to personally deliver a letter to the White House last week outside of regular diplomatic channels.”

“The letter was formatted similarly to a diplomatic note and carried an official Cuban seal… The attempted back-channel message to Trump proposed economic and investment agreements as well as sanctions relief, and also warned that the Cuban regime was preparing for a U.S. incursion…”

New York Times: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday renewed his threat to attack Iran’s electrical infrastructure if the cease-fire between Washington and Tehran failed.”

Said Hegseth: “Our forces are maximally postured to restart combat operations should this new Iranian regime choose poorly and not agree to a deal. We are locked and loaded on your critical dual-use infrastructure, on your remaining power generation and on your energy industry.”

President Donald Trump announced a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, a move that may ease broader tensions between the US and Iran, Bloomberg reports.

Miad Maleki: “Before the outbreak of war in late February, 20 percent of the world’s commercial shipping may have transited the Strait of Hormuz, but over 90 percent of Iran’s seaborne trade traversed this 21-mile-wide chokepoint. Even before the U.S. naval blockade, Iran was struggling severely to move shipments vital to its own economy through the passage. A blockade will inhibit Iranian exports of all kinds—oil being the most important, but also petrochemicals—as well as imports of much of the country’s grain.”

“Within weeks of a blockade, the country could run out of food, as well as space to store unshipped oil, requiring it to decrease or stop production at major oil wells—an act that can damage such infrastructure permanently. By closing the strait, Iran has not established a new, meaningful source of long-term clout. Instead, it has indicated how militaries can decimate the Iranian economy and thus really exert power over the Islamic Republic.”

The US and Iran are considering a two-week ceasefire extension to allow more time to negotiate a peace deal, Bloomberg reports.