“Iran is replacing its top national security adviser with a longtime military commander whose appointment could represent a further consolidation of power by the country’s old-guard security establishment,” the New York Times reports.
“Mohsen Rezaei, who led Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, will be the new secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.”
“Two years ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin blessed an effort to turn Wildberries, a company founded by a young mother on maternity leave, into a global online retail behemoth designed to compete with the likes of Amazon.com,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Now, Wildberries is under assault from Ukrainian drones, as Kyiv seeks to use the company’s size against it and knock another chunk out of Russia’s economy. The latest drone barrage Friday started a fire at one of its warehouses in Yekaterinburg.”
“Based in Moscow, Wildberries sits at the intersection of business and power in Russia. Ukraine’s attacks against it are an example of how firmly the company’s fortunes have become tied to the state.”
“President Donald Trump signalled on Sunday he is prepared to let economic pressure mount against Iran, apparently backing away from ordering more military strikes even as Tehran issues tough demands,” AFP reports.
Said Trump: “We are low-keying it.”
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“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected President Trump’s plan for disarming Hamas, a key plank of the Gaza peace process that also requires Israel to withdraw from the enclave,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The Israeli leader issued a statement in a government meeting Sunday spelling out his rejection of the plan, in an unusual public break with Trump. The move risks angering the president, who hailed what he called ‘a historic agreement’ to disarm Hamas late last month.”
Bloomberg: Netanyahu rejects U.S.-backed proposal for Hamas disarmament.
“For weeks, President Trump had been laying the groundwork to declare victory in the Iran war should Tehran fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, even floating the idea privately to senior aides that he’s willing to walk away without a nuclear deal,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“But that scaled-back objective became more difficult when Iran insisted Saturday on its highest price yet for permitting the free flow of traffic in the waterway, seeking billions of dollars in U.S. payments, the removal of American troops from the region and an end of the U.S. naval blockade, among other things.”
“This rapid chain of events suggests Trump’s options for walking away from the conflict have again narrowed.”
“Iran’s politburo-like body known as the Supreme National Security Council said the Strait of Hormuz will not open until the United States ‘corrects its behavior,’ issuing new demands that could shake up talks on a deal to manage the waterway and traffic on it,” Politico reports.
”Iran’s state broadcaster published the statement by the council’s secretary, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who is also a commander in the powerful Revolutionary Guard.”
“The United States must never threaten Iran again, the statement said, and must permanently end the war with Iran and its armed allies in the region. The U.S. must lift the naval blockade of Iranian ports and withdraw its military from the area. It also must ‘completely compensate’ Iran for war damage, lift sanctions and ‘unconditionally’ release frozen assets.”
Bloomberg: Wait for Hormuz deal stretches on as Iran says terms must be met.
“President Trump’s war against Iran has depleted U.S. weapons stockpiles to troubling levels, siphoning supplies from Asia and Europe, according to senior officials,” the New York Times reports.
“The rapidly shrinking supply of air-defense missiles and other critical weaponry in Europe and Asia not only leaves the U.S. military less equipped, but could also leave Russia and China feeling emboldened should they contemplate a potential conflict with the United States, experts said.”
“A top Iranian national security official delivered a sweeping set of demands on Saturday that he said the United States must meet before the Strait of Hormuz can reopen to maritime traffic, throwing the fate of the critical trade waterway into question,” the New York Times reports.
“Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, issued a statement carried by state media laying out multiple requirements for reopening the strait. He called for the United States to lift its naval blockade and sanctions on Iran, withdraw the U.S. military from around Iran, pay war reparations and release frozen Iranian assets, as well as end attacks on Iran’s allies in the region and threats against the country.”
“The Trump administration is unlikely to agree to those demands.”
“Key members of President Donald Trump’s foreign policy team — special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner — may visit Kyiv and Moscow within the next seven to 10 days, Russian state-run Tass news agency reported,” Bloomberg reports.
“The possible trip would mark a renewed push by Trump’s two main intermediaries in the Russia-Ukraine talks after earlier negotiations to end the conflict stalled, and the U.S. pivoted to the situation in the Middle East.”
“Iran said it’s ‘very close’ to a deal with Oman on a new maritime transit route in the Strait of Hormuz, after expectations grew this week that an announcement may soon be made,” Bloomberg reports.
“Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that negotiators are closing in on temporary lanes for ships entering and exiting the Persian Gulf. He cautioned that any agreement won’t result in an immediate reopening of the strait, signaling that any respite for energy supplies may be limited.”
Associated Press: Iran thinks the U.S. will let it keep the Strait of Hormuz.
“Two drones were sighted flying over a key military base in western Germany late on Thursday, just days after an armed unmanned aircraft was discovered at a major cargo hub in the country’s east,” Bloomberg reports.
“Russia’s war effort in Ukraine might be faltering, but the Kremlin has a high-tech superweapon to neutralize Western sanctions,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“It is called A7. The state-backed payment network moves money in and out of Russia, defying U.S. and European efforts to isolate Moscow from the global banking system. A7 helps Russia pay for everything from military-drone parts to luxury cars to imported fruit, using a mix of cryptocurrency transactions and more-traditional banking methods, researchers say.”
“Iran is vowing to bar U.S. Navy warships from passing through the Strait of Hormuz as part of an agreement to reopen the waterway, pressing its goal of curtailing America’s decades-old military presence in the Persian Gulf,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Tehran’s threat highlights the ascendance within the Iranian leadership of hard-liners in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who have long sought the ouster of American forces from the region. Though Iran has taken a devastating military beating, its leaders now see an opportunity to use negotiations on ending the six-month war to dislodge the U.S. as the dominant power in the Persian Gulf.”
CNBC: Iran’s chief negotiator accuses Trump of “theater diplomacy” with Hormuz traffic near standstill.
“An explosive-laden drone discovered at an airport in Germany this week likely belongs to the Russian government, according to U.S. officials familiar with intelligence reports about the incident,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The Trump administration has been looking for a current or former Cuban official who could be persuaded to take over the government in Havana as the United States ratchets up its pressure campaign, according to current and former U.S. officials,” the New York Times reports.
“The plan is more regime alteration than regime change.”
“The Trump administration has pressed its spy agencies to identify someone in the mold of Delcy Rodríguez, who became Venezuela’s interim president after U.S. forces captured the previous leader, Nicolás Maduro, in January.”
The Guardian: Trump unbound: the making of an imperial presidency.
“Over the last few weeks, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine has privately made clear to other top Trump advisers that the U.S. needs to find an off-ramp from the war with Iran — because the military options on the table to escalate the conflict could backfire and airpower alone is unlikely to achieve President Donald Trump’s stated objectives,” CNN reports.
“The Senate voted overwhelmingly to pass legislation to impose sanctions against Russia and Iran after months of fits and starts, with the death of Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham providing the final push,” NBC News reports.
“The 61-page legislation, re-named the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, in honor of the bill’s biggest proponent, is designed to punish major buyers of Russian oil and gas. It also features additional sanctions on Russian leaders, family members and oligarchs.”
“The Trump administration this week sparked enthusiasm that the U.S. and Iran could soon strike a deal on the Strait of Hormuz, driving down oil prices and sending stocks soaring — only for no deal to emerge,” CNBC reports.
“If that sounds familiar, it may be because President Donald Trump has claimed dozens of times that the U.S. is close to an agreement that will end the war it began more than five months ago.”
“Investors have reacted to many of those claims with bursts of buying on hopes a breakthrough is near, even as the war instead appears to be widening and progress on Trump’s chief stated goal — containing Iran’s nuclear ambitions — is at a standstill.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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