The Strait of Hormuz operational scope has expanded into a broader strategic maritime zone including Jask and Sirri, according to an IRGC Navy official. | Iran has “significantly expanded” the operational scope of the Strait of Hormuz as part of a new plan, extending it to include the area stretching from the coasts of Jask and Sirri to beyond the major islands, describing it as a “strategic zone", Mohammad Akbarzadeh, political assistant to the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps Navy, stated. ● "We closely monitor the movements of the enemies, and recently we spotted an American frigate attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz. However, our forces fired warning shots toward it and forced it to change its course," Akbarzadeh added.

■ Strait of Hormuz now a 500-kilometer operational ‘crescent’: IRGC Navy (Press TV)

The UAE has a partnership with Israel, a result of the normalization deals known as the Abraham Accords, which were signed during the first Trump administration, and Israel reportedly deployed an Iron Dome air defense battery to the UAE and IDF troops to operate it. | The report said that one of the attacks included the bombing of oil infrastructure in Iran’s Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf, which occurred in early April, right after the ceasefire between the US and Iran came into effect. At the time, Iranian media blamed the attack on the UAE, saying it was likely launched by the country’s French-made Mirage fighter jets, and Iran responded with attacks on the UAE and Kuwait.

In the latest episode of MintCast, MintPress director and host speaks with Dr. Seyed Mohammad Marandi, professor at the University of Tehran and a prominent voice in Western media debates, to unpack the latest developments in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran — and why Tehran is increasingly dismissive of Washington’s calls for negotiations. ● The interview comes amid a dramatic shift in rhetoric from Donald Trump, who moved from threatening to “annihilate” Iran to calling for renewed talks. According to Marandi, who was present during recent backchannel negotiations in Pakistan, the U.S. approach has been inconsistent and ultimately unconvincing to Iranian officials.

Moon of Alabama | Russia is still hoping to make a deal with Trump. But I am sure that it is well aware that it is the U.S. which is pushing for further European’s aggression against Russia. | Lavrov/Excerpts:

A Catholic charity has condemned Israel after its forces destroyed a convent in southern Lebanon, in what it said is a deliberate attack on a place of worship. | The French organisation L'Oeuvre d'Orient said Israeli troops demolished a convent belonging to the Salvatorian Sisters, a Greek Catholic religious order, in the village of Yaroun.

The charity said the attack forms part of a wider pattern of attacks on Christian heritage, noting that “Christian sanctuaries were also destroyed during the war in 2024, such as the Melkite churches in the villages of Yaroun and Derdghaya, both classified as part of Lebanon's heritage”.

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Moon of Alabama | Two remarkable pieces appeared during the last days. They are related to each other as both authors are seasoned right-wing strategist who were deeply involved with the George W. Bush administration and its war on Iraq. | The first piece is by Turki Al-Faisal:

A second op-ed, by arch-neoconservative Robert Kagan in the pro-war Atlantic, confirms that take. Kagan, who had pushed the Bush/Cheney administration towards its war on Iran is conceding that the U.S. has lost its war on Iran:

Tarik Cyril Amar | Tehran’s resistance to the US exposes Berlin’s dependence, turning the war into a brutal measure of who rules and who obeys | Sovereignty, as defined in international law, is both crucial and complex. In the real shark-pool world of geopolitics, it is not hard to spot: if you have the ability to rule at home and resist attack from outside (any outside), then you are sovereign. Otherwise not. No exceptions. ■ That’s why Iran has sovereignty, but Germany does not. Iran has withstood two months of a devious and brutal war of aggression waged by the US and Israel, which in turn is “merely” the culmination of decades of assaults levied via economic warfare, assassination campaigns, and subversion. ■ However, Iran has not only successfully foiled the current Israeli-American blitzkrieg-and-regime-change scenario, but also put the attackers on the backfoot. Tehran’s achievement is already historic. It has changed and will change the course of history. ■ Germany, by contrast, cannot even defend its own vital infrastructure, as the Nord Stream sabotage and its aftermath have demonstrated. What is even worse, its governments have had no will to do so. On the contrary, they have been rewarding the Ukrainian attackers with untold billions to feed Kiev’s ultra-corruption. Their backers – certainly including the US and Poland, and most likely Great Britain, too – need not worry about any trouble from Berlin either. ■ Case closed: Iran is sovereign, Germany is not. If you are German and find this uncomfortable, complain to Berlin.