JUSTTHENEWS (Misty Severi) - US military says it has redirected 44 vessels in naval blockade against Iran
CENTCOM resumed its naval blockade against Iran last month, which aims to halt all maritime traffic "entering and exiting" Iranian ports.
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY (Grant Newsham) - US military’s Iran war pivot forces Asia-Pacific security rethink – CSP Senior Fellow, Grant Newsham, quoted
Originally published by South China Morning Post
As assets are diverted to the Gulf, the Iran war’s high ‘burn rate’ risks creating a ‘thin spot’ in the US security umbrella The redeployment of US military assets from the Asia-Pacific to the Middle East has split security analysts, with some arguing that any strategic damage is largely “psychological” while others warn of a real and measurable gap opening in the region’s defences. More than 2,000 marines and at least one amphibious assault ship have begun moving from Japan towards the Gulf as the US-Israeli war on Iran grinds on. The assault ship USS Tripoli, docked at Sasebo in Nagasaki prefecture, is expected to reach the Middle East within one to two weeks. The redeployment comes as maritime traffic through the…Open
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY (Sam Faddis) - What happens when the Houthis enter the war?
Originally published by AND Magazine
The Straits of Hormuz are effectively closed to tanker traffic. Virtually no ships are entering or exiting the Persian Gulf. For all practical purposes, the flow of oil and natural gas from the Gulf to the rest of the world has stopped. In response, tankers are now shifting to the Red Sea to load oil from the Saudi port of Yanbu. There are in excess of two dozen tankers loading oil there now. This appears to be a potential workaround allowing oil to flow from the region despite the ongoing hostilities. There’s just one problem. To get in and out of the Red Sea, ships have to pass through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean . The strait is 20 miles wide and is divided into two…Open
AXIOS (Barak Ravid) - Scoop: U.S. dismayed by Israel's Iran fuel strikes, sources say
Israel 's strikes on 30 Iranian fuel depots Saturday went far beyond what the U.S. expected when Israel notified it in advance, sparking the first significant disagreement between the allies since the war began eight days ago , according to a U.S. official, Israeli official and a source with knowledge. Why it matters: The U.S. is concerned Israeli strikes on infrastructure that serves ordinary Iranians could backfire strategically, rallying Iranian society to support the regime and driving up oil prices . Driving the news: The Israeli air force's Saturday strikes created large fires in Tehran, igniting flames visible for miles and blanketing the capital in heavy smoke . - The IDF claimed in a statement that the fuel depots "are used…