Moon of Alabama | The war on Iran continues to escalate. | Yesterday a U.S. Apache helicopter went down in the Strait of Hormuz near the coast of Oman. The pilots were saved. The U.S. at first did not claim any external influence for the incident. Only hours after it happened it claimed that an Iranian Shahid drone had hit the helicopter. That claim is not plausible at all. ■ Shahid are point to point kamikaze drones. They get their target coordinates before they are launched. They are not radio controlled. They do not have the capability to maneuver against a moving target. They explode when they hit something. Whatever happened to the downed helicopter it wasn’t a hit by a Shahid drone that took it down. ■ After the U.S. had suddenly claimed that Iran had caused the incident it announced to strike on Iran. Some 10 targets were bombed including radar, communication equipment and, in the port of Sirik, a desalination station. Iran responded by firing some 20 missiles and drones against U.S. installations in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain.

■ Trump Says US Will Be ‘Taking’ Iran’s Kharg Island (Antiwar)
■ What to know about Trump's plans of new strikes on Iran, oil market reaction (TASS)
■ US strikes targets across Iran as oil prices surge (RT)
■ Strait of Hormuz fully closed after US strikes on Iran (IRNA)
■ Iran’s Armed Forces to continue response to US aggression (IRNA)
■ IRGC launches 12 ballistic missiles at US al-Azraq base in Jordan (Press TV)

The government on Wednesday summoned US diplomat after a vessel, with Indian crew, was attacked off the Oman coast. | Additional secretary (Americas) in the ministry of external affairs Nagaraj Naidu summoned Jason Meeks, Chargé d’Affaires of the United States to protest the attack on the ship. The move comes as India condemned the attack on the commercial vessel Settebello off the coast of Oman, which had 24 Indian crew members onboard. While 21 Indians have been rescued, 3 remain missing.

■ Three Indians missing after U.S. attack on ship off Oman (The Hindu)
■ India Summons US Diplomat Over Tanker Strike Off Oman Coast; Three Indians Missing (The Wire)

Paul R. Pillar | A measure in a must-pass bill would dramatically increase Israeli access to American secrets | Buried deep inside a 192-page intelligence authorization bill is Section 622, titled “United States-Israel Intelligence Sharing Enhancement.” It would require the president, acting through the director of national intelligence and as necessary the secretary of defense, to “expand and enhance intelligence sharing with the Government of Israel” on a list of subjects that encompasses almost every topic of intelligence interest in the Middle East. ■ The bill, put forward by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, would prohibit any suspension, reduction, or limitation of such sharing “except on the basis of a specific and identifiable national security concern determined by the President.” [...] This proposal is one of several recent moves by those in Washington who carry the Israeli government’s water to keep the United States tied to Israel despite plummeting support for the country among the American public.

■ Israel Asks For A Guaranteed Share Of U.S. Weapon Purchases (06/07/26)
■ Congress quietly moves to integrate US and Israeli militaries (05/31/26)