Six months into a war neither side has won, Iran and the United States find themselves locked in a cycle of strikes and counter-threats that now extends across the Persian Gulf itself. Tehran's announcement of a sweeping exclusion zone — paired with the combat deployment of an advanced ballistic missile — marks a deliberate escalation designed to remind the world that the Strait of Hormuz remains a pressure point of global consequence. Yet even as Iran projects defiance, the slow erosion of its economic leverage and the unmet ambitions of Washington suggest two powers caught between the costs
Iran threatens Persian Gulf exclusion zone amid escalating U.S. tensions
Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon killed at least 12 people on Monday, marking one of the deadliest bombardment days in recent weeks.