05/13/26
Iran, Oman discuss legal rules on shared sovereignty of Hormuz
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 12 May | The Iranian delegation was headed by Abbas Bagherpour, director general for International Legal Affairs at the Iranian Foreign Ministry, and included representatives of relevant institutions. ● According to Fars, the meeting was held as part of ongoing consultations between Tehran and Muscat at several levels on bilateral relations and regional developments. ● During the talks, the two sides reviewed the latest developments related to the Strait of Hormuz and discussed arrangements for the safe movement of ships through the strategic waterway. ● Iran and Oman also emphasized their sovereign rights and jurisdictions over the strait, stressing that it is part of the territorial waters of both countries.
■ Iran parliamentary commission finalizes plan to secure Strait of Hormuz: Chairman (Press TV)
Trump Goes To China
Moon of Alabama | A big hope for U.S. financial interest is to open the Chinese (consumer) markets for their virtual ‘products’. | His larger plan had been to take Venezuela, Iran and their oil before pressing China, via tariffs and energy restrictions, to concede to U.S. hegemony. ■ That plan has failed. Trump has lost two wars. His tariff schemes ended in retreat after China restricted the export of its rare earth products. His war on Iran has is one big failure. ■ Trump is coming to Beijing with his cap in his hand. He, as usual, will try to bluff a way to ‘victory’. He will proceed as if the U.S. were in a great position. The Chinese will be polite, but won’t have any of it. ■ There have been little preparations for the trip. The sherpas did not convene beforehand to straighten out serious issues between the countries. There are no big contracts or treaties to sign. ■ Trump will want to sell soybeans and Boeing airplanes. The Chinese are only mildly interested in any such deals. They may sign some contracts to give Trump something to boast about. But they will hedge their deals as the U.S. is known to be a unreliable partner. ■ Trump will want support for making peace (on U.S. conditions) with Iran. There will be some solemn and wise responses to that. ■ It is in Chinese interest to see the U.S. bogged down in the Middle East. Any U.S. airplane, ship, gun and soldier in the Middle East is one less to worry about in east Asia. Any munition fired against Iran can not be used against China. ■ China does not want Iran to lose the war. It will support it, as it already does, wherever needed.
✅ The future of China-US relations is bright: Global Times editorial (Global Times Editorial)
■ Trump arrives in Beijing for state visit after almost 9 years (Global Times)
■ Washington slaps new sanctions on China–Iran oil network ahead of Trump's visit to Beijing (The Cradle)
New Israeli ‘double tap’ strike kills Lebanese paramedics amid attempts to expand occupation
Two Lebanese paramedics were killed in an intentional “double tap” strike by Israel on 12 May, as they were engaged in a mission to rescue the victim of an earlier attack, Lebanon’s Civil Defense said. | The General Directorate of Civil Defense announced “the martyrdom of two Civil Defense personnel from the Nabatieh Regional Center's roster, killed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted them while they were carrying out an ambulance mission for a victim injured in an Israeli airstrike that targeted him in Nabatieh.” ● “Additionally, a third personnel member was injured during the execution of the mission,” the Civil Defense statement added. ● The two rescuers killed by Israel on Tuesday have been identified as Hussein Jaber and Ahmad Noura.
US suffers 'total defeat' in war against Iran, faces irreversible strategic collapse: Neocon analyst
In a noteworthy mea culpa from one of America's most influential neoconservative commentators, Robert Kagan believes the United States has suffered a "total defeat" in its ongoing war against Iran, which has permanently shattered its global standing. | Kagan, a co-founder of the Project for the New American Century and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, was a vocal advocate of the war against Iraq and a lifelong champion of American military interventions in West Asia. But in a recent article for The Atlantic, he offered a grim verdict on the current war of aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran, launched on February 28.
📌 "The US suffered a total defeat," Kagan writes, describing the loss as having no precedent in American history and one that can "neither be repaired nor ignored." ● "The defeats in Vietnam and Afghanistan were costly but did not do lasting damage to America's overall position in the world," the prominent commentator writes. "Defeat in the present confrontation with Iran will be of an entirely different character." ● "Iran will be able not only to demand tolls for passage, but to limit transit to those nations with which it has good relations," he writes.
■ Trump dismissed Iran’s response since it wasn’t a ‘letter of surrender’ (Press TV)
■ Iran sues US at Hague tribunal, demands war reparations for June 2025 aggression (Press TV)