Iran
The Gulf Did Not Stay Out
The Iran war did not unify the GCC. It exposed four divergent Gulf postures: Emirati escalation, Saudi contradiction, Kuwaiti ambiguity, Qatari restraint, and an Iraq too compromised to protest.
Saudi Arabia and UAE Struck Iran During the War
DATELINE: MAY 13, 2026 Reuters reported Tuesday that the Saudi Air Force conducted covert airstrikes inside Iran in late March, the first known Saudi military action on Iranian soil, citing two Western and two Iranian officials. The disclosure came one day after the Wall Street Journal reported that the UAE struck Iran’s Lavan Island refinery […]
THE BASE IRAQ COULDN’T SEE, AND WASHINGTON COULDN’T DISOWN
BAGHDAD, MAY 12, 2026 The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday that Israel built a covert forward operating base in Iraq’s western desert before the February 28 air campaign against Iran, with U.S. knowledge but without Iraqi consent. The site sits in a dry lakebed at 31.67°N, 42.45°E, roughly 180 kilometers southwest of Karbala. Sentinel-2 imagery […]
PROJECT FREEDOM IS NOT EARNEST WILL
DATELINE: STRAIT OF HORMUZ — MAY 4, 2026 CENTCOM began supporting Project Freedom on Monday with guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 aircraft, unmanned platforms, and 15,000 service members, framed by the White House as a humanitarian effort to free vessels trapped by Iran’s blockade.
Past OFAC, Past Destroyers.
Three IMO numbers, two database searches, and a shadow fleet built for exactly this moment.
CENTCOM’s Conditional Contraband Doctrine Outlasts the Ceasefire
DATELINE: WASHINGTON , APRIL 16, 2026 U.S. Central Command on Thursday published an updated advisory asserting the right to board and seize Iran linked vessels regardless of location on the open seas, classifying crude oil, iron, steel, aluminum, machine tools, and dual-use electronics as “conditional contraband” subject to capture beyond neutral territory. Gen. Dan Caine, […]
The Closed Loop
Russia refined Iran’s drone in Ukraine, is now sending it back, and is photographing US bases for Tehran. Ukraine is the only country that has fought this weapon at scale.
How Iran Is Still Firing
The mechanics keeping Iran’s missile and drone campaign alive
The Hidden Layer of Iran’s Drone Industry
Why hitting factories and bases is not the same as collapsing production
The Pressure Trap
How Iran’s campaign to coerce the Gulf is accelerating the regional alignment it was meant to prevent.
Can Money Buy Ukraine’s Playbook?
What the Gulf Can and Cannot Learn from the Drone War in Ukraine
The Architect Returns
Ahmad Vahidi helped build Iran’s proxy network decades ago. Now he’s back in charge as the system he designed goes to war.
The Axis Without a Head
Iran’s command structure is gone. But in Iraq, the militias it built are still armed, still funded, and already shooting back.
The Warning Wasn’t Theatrics
A step-by-step look at how Iranian-backed militias are signaling readiness as U.S. force posture shifts in Iraq
Iran: Window Closing
An open-source assessment of strike indicators