US
39 briefs
Iran Rejects U.S. Peace Terms as 'Surrender.' The Strait Stays Closed.
Tehran's counterproposal demands war reparations and full Hormuz sovereignty. Trump called it totally unacceptable. Drones are still flying.
The Strait Nobody Can Open
The Hormuz blockade is costing $2 billion a day in global shipping, yet neither side can afford the deal that would end it.
Iran Rejected the US Proposal. Trump Called It Unacceptable. Now What?
Tehran's counteroffer focused on ending the war. Washington's proposal required ending the nuclear program first. Those are not the same negotiation.
The Price of Playing Both Sides
Pakistan tried to mediate between the US and Iran. The UAE responded by expelling hundreds of thousands of Pakistani workers. That is what it costs to be indispensable.
The Ceasefire That Keeps Shooting
US and Iran are exchanging fire in the Strait of Hormuz while both sides insist a ceasefire is still in effect. One of them is lying, or neither knows what a ceasefire means.
Saudi Arabia Shut Down Project Freedom. Then Reopened the Bases. Neither Act Was What It Looked Like.
Riyadh blocked US forces from using Prince Sultan Air Base for the Hormuz operation, forcing Trump to pause it after 36 hours. The bases reopened days later. What Saudi Arabia demonstrated is that it can veto American military operations from within the alliance.
The Ceasefire That Isn't
US and Iran exchange fire in the Strait of Hormuz while both sides insist the war is over.
Europe Is Taking Over NATO. Washington Hasn't Noticed It's Losing the Alliance.
The Iran war forced Trump to fight alone, and in doing so he handed European capitals the leverage they needed to rewrite the alliance's power structure from the inside.
Project Freedom Cracks the Ceasefire
The US forced ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded by attacking the UAE. A three-week truce is unraveling in real time.
Iran's 14-Point Proposal and the War That Neither Side Can End
Trump says he can't imagine it being acceptable. Iran says the nuclear question can wait. Neither is telling the truth about what they actually need.
China Just Made US Sanctions on Iran Unenforceable. Legally. In Writing.
Beijing issued a formal ban ordering Chinese companies not to comply with US sanctions on five Chinese refineries buying Iranian oil. This is not defiance through inaction. It is defiance by decree.
Pakistan Staked Its Credibility on the Iran Deal. It Lost.
Army Chief Asim Munir flew to Tehran, hosted 21 hours of talks, and watched them collapse. The second round never happened. Iran just sent a new proposal anyway.
US and China Trade Barbs Two Weeks Before the Summit. Both Sides Are Building Leverage, Not Trust.
Bessent calls Beijing's new supply chain rules 'provocative' on the same day He Lifeng voices 'solemn concern' over US trade measures. The Trump-Xi meeting is 15 days away.
The US Just Indicted a Sitting Mexican Governor for Running Cover for the Sinaloa Cartel
Ruben Rocha Moya of Sinaloa state is the highest-ranking member of Mexico's ruling Morena party ever charged by US prosecutors. Mexico City has not said whether it will extradite him.
Canada's Sovereign Debt Fund
Mark Carney announced a sovereign wealth fund this week. Norway built its fund from oil surpluses. Canada plans to build its fund from borrowed money. Those are not the same thing.
Iran's Nuclear Sequencing Gambit
Tehran offers to reopen the Strait of Hormuz now and discuss nuclear issues later. Washington says that is not a deal, it is a surrender.
The Ceasefire Mediator Bombs a University
Pakistan is mediating the US-Iran nuclear talks. It is also striking Afghan universities while a ceasefire with Kabul is supposed to be holding. These two facts are not separate.
After Islamabad: Iran Goes to Moscow Because Washington Stopped Showing Up
Trump canceled the Islamabad talks. Iran's foreign minister flew to St. Petersburg. Putin pledged strategic partnership. The ceasefire holds in name only. And Russia just inserted itself as a necessary intermediary in a war it didn't start.
The Islamabad Walkout: Iran Goes to Moscow as US-Iran Talks Die in Pakistan
Trump canceled his envoys' Islamabad trip while Iran's foreign minister was already on the ground. Now Araghchi is in St. Petersburg with Putin, proposing to decouple the Strait from the nuclear file. Washington rejected that last month too.
Iran Sends Diplomat to Pakistan, Refuses to Meet US Envoys
A ceasefire without a deal: both sides need the talks to succeed and both need to be seen not needing them.
Washington and Brussels Just Signed an Anti-China Deal They Cannot Say Is Anti-China
The US-EU critical minerals memorandum of understanding targets supply chains 'dominated by non-market practices' and does not name China once.
The White House Says China Is Copying America's AI. The Timing Is the Story.
A memo accusing China of industrial-scale AI theft lands three weeks before Trump visits Beijing. That's not a coincidence.
The Ceasefire That Isn't
The US and Iran are both blocking shipping and calling it peace.
The Iran Ceasefire Expires Wednesday and Trump Says He Won't Extend It
A 14-day pause in a seven-week war is about to end. The market gives a deal only 17% odds. The blockade of Hormuz is the real fight.
The Gulf States Just Watched the US Go to War Next Door. Now They're Reconsidering.
The Iran war exposed a fault line the Gulf states had managed for decades: the US security guarantee requires hosting a war you didn't choose. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are quietly hedging.
India Comes to Washington to Renegotiate a Deal It Never Signed
Three-day talks in DC open today to restart the India-US bilateral trade agreement. India had agreed to major concessions under the old IEEPA tariff regime. The Supreme Court wiped out the baseline. Now New Delhi wants those concessions back.
The Ceasefire That Was Never a Ceasefire
Iran pulls out of second-round talks as the US seizes a cargo ship and the two-week truce expires in 48 hours.
The 90-Day Truce That Changes Nothing
The US and China rolled back their tariff war from 145% and 125% to 30% and 10% respectively. The deal expires in 90 days. Neither side agreed to anything structural.
China's Green Weapon
China is considering restricting solar panel equipment exports to the US. The US clean energy buildout depends almost entirely on Chinese-made manufacturing tools. Tesla, Google, and Amazon are directly exposed.
The Deal That Depends on Beijing Keeping Its Word
Trump says China agreed not to arm Iran. That claim is doing enormous diplomatic work for a ceasefire that does not yet exist.
The IMF Is Describing a Recession. Bessent Is Calling It a Strategy.
The IMF cut global growth forecasts and warned the Iran war could tip the world into recession. The US Treasury Secretary told the BBC the pain is worth it.
The Siege That Talks Are Supposed to End
The US blockade of Iranian ports is working militarily and collapsing diplomatically at the same time.
Jensen Huang Said There Was No Evidence. There Were Six Indictments.
Federal prosecutors have charged six men in three weeks with smuggling billions in Nvidia chips to China. The CEO who denied it is now selling chips to the US government instead.
Europe Is Building a NATO Without the US. Germany Just Agreed to Help.
European allies have moved from theorizing about American withdrawal to actively designing command structures that exclude Washington. The 80-year alliance is splitting in plain sight.
The Blockade That Is Already Being Traded Away
Trump imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports after Islamabad talks failed. Iran offered a 5-year uranium pause. Markets say both sides want a deal before May.
The Islamabad Impasse
Twenty-one hours of talks, no deal, and a blockade announced before dawn.
No Deal in Islamabad
21 hours of direct talks between the US and Iran collapsed over nuclear weapons and the Strait of Hormuz. The ceasefire is now strain-tested with no replacement framework.
The Islamabad Gamble
Vance flew to Pakistan to negotiate a peace with Iran that neither side can fully afford to want.
Iran's 10-Point Plan and the Coerced Ceasefire
A hostage exchange disguised as diplomacy. both sides are trading things they can't afford to lose.