Two weeks into his war against Iran, the US president is now calling on other countries to send forces to help secure the Strait of Hormuz. At the moment, Iran is allowing only a handful of (mostly China-bound) tankers to pass through without threat of mines, drones, or missile attacks. Donald Trump wants help from European NATO allies and China, both of which rely more on Persian Gulf energy exports than the US itself. Will they answer the call? “We will remember” if they don’t, Trump threatened during an interview on Sunday. But the irony is rich. Trump has hit both allies and China with steep tariffs over the past year, and he launched the Iran war without consulting any of them. Still, soaring energy prices — tied largely to the strait’s closure — could soon put many of these economies over a barrel. Will Trump be able to drag a wider group of countries into the war?
Meanwhile, fighting continues to rage between Iran’s neighbors to the east. Pakistan carried out fresh attacks on Afghanistan over the weekend, targeting alleged hideouts for Tehrik-e-Taliban militants. The terrorist group has staged hundreds of attacks in Pakistan in recent months, and Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of providing them with a safe harbor (which Afghanistan denies). The conflict that erupted last month with clashes along the border has spread as Pakistan launches airstrikes on two of Afghanistan’s largest cities, Kabul and Kandahar. The conflict has regional significance, given that China is Pakistan’s closest military partner and India — which is Pakistan’s longtime rival — has a growing relationship with Afghanistan. China has also offered to act as a mediator, though neither side appears ready to lay down their arms.
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The US has paused Russian oil sanctions in a bid to stabilize energy markets rocked by the war with Iran. Administration officials stress that it’s a “tailored” measure, applying only to oil already loaded onto tankers, but it’s still a gift to Russia, which has already been clocking an extra $150 million daily in oil revenues since the war began.
4: The number of crew members aboard a US refuelling plane – out of six total – who died after the aircraft crashed in neighboring Iraq on Thursday, US Central Command said this morning.
The US president built a loyal Cabinet this time around, and has fired few of them. But his removal of Kristi Noem from the Department of Homeland Security shows that not all is right at the agencies of the Trump administration.