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| Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi arrives in Tehran for talks with Iranian officialsl He met the country’s Foreign Minister Araghchi. |
Iran has new intelligence warning of a major US-Israeli ground and air operation against Iran, citing a rapid military buildup across Gulf bases, senior Iranian officials attested.
Prof. QMohammad Marandi, an advisor to Iran's negotiation team adds "Trump regime forces in Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Jordan are mobilizing for a potential blitzkrieg, possibly alongside Zionist forces, against the Iranian people," warning "the Islamic Republic stands ready with a swift and crushing response."
Iran has previously warned of a major counter response to a US ground attack, saying "If the United States puts boots on the ground in Iran, we will also launch ground attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain." Iranian analyst Mahdi Khanalizadeh also warned that Iran has plans of "a ground incursion to seize US bases such as Camp Buehring, Camp Arifjan, or Ali Al Salem."
According to Israeli channel 15, Iran launches 2–5 drones every night at US ships and forces in the Strait of Hormuz, and that the US deliberately stays silent and hides the attacks including a recent drone strike on a US base in Kuwait to avoid escalation.
Pentagon has confirmed that the department has leaned on defense contractors to speed up weapons production and deliveries. Although while the military option against Iran proved abortive, the US forces are also experiencing shortage of munitions.
That the department of war embarked on direct engagement with industry leaders to accelerate production is nothing new... But from day one under Secretary Hegseth, this department has been laser-focused on transforming the speed, capability, and lethality of America's defense industrial base, and the 'Arsenal of Democracy,'" Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told US media.
The Washington Post earlier reported, citing an internal memo, that the Pentagon had ordered contractors to accelerate arms and ammunition deliveries to US forces. Deputy Secretary Steven Feinberg, the paper noted, gave industry just 21 days to submit plans for a major surge in supply rates.
Pentagon spox also added that Feinberg is spearheading a overhaul of what he called a "broken, antiquated, and painfully bloated procurement system" — all to ensure the US can crank out weapons "at the tempo the threat demands."
The urgency stems from the grinding aggression against Iran, where US stockpiles are being drained faster than they can be replenished. NBC News, citing sources, reported that Pentagon leadership recently convened an emergency meeting over munitions shortages, shortly after President Trump personally called Feinberg, the logistics chief, to chew him out over the delays.
More than fifty thousand American service men have been deployed to the middle east for a possible ground invasion of the Islamic republic of Iran.
Already, Gulf energy producers have completely lost faith in the Trump administration and are quietly accepting Iran's permanent control over the Strait of Hormuz — because the alternative, returning to war, would be worse, per WSJ.
Tehran leadership and IRGC commanders have repeatedly said and affirmed that Strait of Hormuz will never returned to the pre US and Israeli unprovoked aggression against Iran.
Gulf states don't like the emerging deal that formalizes Iranian oversight of inbound ships. But they see it as "the least-bad option" compared to further military escalation, which would put their energy infrastructure at risk. The conflict has left the region — vital to global energy security — with no good option for countering Iran.
Crude exports through the Strait have collapsed to 2.2 million barrels per day from 8.5 million a month ago. Pre-war flows of roughly 20 million barrels per day are now a distant memory. Gulf states' alternative export routes are also under attack — Saudi Arabia's Red Sea pipeline hit by Houthi strikes, Egypt's Damietta port struck by drones.
Iranian officials have declared the new Iranian order in the Strait is "irreversible," and the U.S. has no alternative but to accept it or face "costs much greater than in the past." Iran already holds effective control over the strait, with commercial shippers refusing to cross without Tehran's assurance.
The WSJ's conclusion is stark: Gulf states are adapting to a new normal where Iran's veto over their energy exports is permanent. The U.S. has been pushed out of the Gulf militarily. And the alternative to accepting Iran's control — a return to full-scale war — is worse.
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