Middle East War

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More pressure on Iran. And more strain on US forces.

The US is planning measures against Iran that have “never been seen,” including further economic isolation and a continued blockade aimed at preventing goods from moving in or out of Iranian ports, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday. He said more announcements are expected next week. Meanwhile, the US is sending another carrier group to the Middle East to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln amid reports of low morale and deteriorating living conditions aboard the ship, which is carrying more than 5,000 US service members. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the reports were “completely misrepresented,” though he did not specify his concerns with the reporting. However, multiple families have raised concerns about sailors’ mental health after more than 200 days without a port call during operations against Iran.

The USS Abraham Lincoln at the Naval Base in Guam in 2025. (Valerie Lynn Maigue/US Navy)

+ Read more: Sailor rescued after going overboard from USS Abraham Lincoln following reported mental health episode

+ Video: Military reporter shuts down Hegseth’s denial of sailors jumping overboard (2:00)

+ Interactive: How traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is adapting to war

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Trump turns to ‘economic warfare’

President Trump announced on social media Wednesday what he described as a “crushing economic operation” against Iran, threatening “economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale.” He offered few details about what the operation would involve but warned of economic consequences for any country whose financial institutions, businesses, airports or government entities provide “any type of lifeline to Iran.” Despite ramping up the pressure, Trump also said Wednesday that the situation with Iran is “so good” right now — days after halting all US talks with Tehran. ps:As I've said many times, he talks out of both sides of his mouth!!!!!

+ Analysis: Trump has a new plan to crush Iran’s economy. But will he stay the course?

+ Meanwhile: More than 750 US service members wounded since start of Iran War, Pentagon database shows

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🇸🇾 Syrian foreign minister: Israeli bombing unjustified

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photos: Tom Nicholson, Antonio Masiello, and Ula Muhammed/Anadolu via Getty Images Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani made it clear to Israel that his government wasn't working with Turkey to amass a military presence at a Syrian airbase — but Israel attacked the site anyway, he tells Axios' Barak Ravid. The Tuesday morning strike on the Abu al-Duhur airbase has heightened tensions among three close U.S. partners in the region, just as the Trump administration is trying to prevent further escalation. 🇹🇷 Al-Shaibani tells Axios: "[T]here was no intention to establish a Turkish base there, nor to establish a permanent Turkish military presence or deploy Turkish forces at the site." President Trump told Axios in a phone call yesterday that he'd been briefed on the Israeli strike, but declined to comment on it. "I can't talk about it," he said. 💥 Israel dropped at least eight bombs at the base in northern Syria, about 45 miles from the Turkish border. The strike damaged the runways, which had recently been rebuilt. There were no casualties. Keep reading.

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Trump warns of ‘economic D-Day’ against Iran, but Tehran is well acquainted with sanctions Nearing the six-month mark of the Iran war and facing diminishing stockpiles of key weapons, the Trump administration is touting a crushing financial campaign against a country that has so far withstood nearly five decades of punishing American sanctions. Read more.

Why this matters: With sparse details, President Donald Trump announced this week that the U.S. would be imposing an “unprecedented” level of economic warfare and isolation on Iran, aiming to force its leadership to cave to demands to end its nuclear program and fully reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz to oil and natural gas tankers. The president is refocusing America’s might on bringing Iran to its knees through an accelerated sanctions campaign against one of the most economically penalized countries in the world.   Iranian officials and analysts have accused the Republican president of flip-flopping with his latest pivot to economic pressure against Iran. Trump has long derided past leaders who used sanctions to limit Iran’s ability to pay for its military and nuclear development. In a post last week on X, Esmail Baghaei, spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, wrote that Washington’s pattern of retreating to sanctions when it doesn’t want to pursue diplomacy has proven to be futile.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Iranian families struggle to afford the basics as US ratchets up economic warfare US aircraft carrier arrives in Middle East, relieving long-deployed USS Lincoln A quiet channel between ICE and Iran shaped deportation flights, newly released emails show

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Iran warns of a harsh response as US announces new sanctions and other Middle East news

Iran warned that new U.S. sanctions on Tehran announced Monday would not bring peace to the region. Meanwhile, Israeli and Syrian officials met less than a week after Israeli strikes in Syria. And Israel said it killed a Hamas commander in Gaza. Read More.

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Exclusive: US Patriot missile stocks in Europe are ‘beyond critical’ due to Iran war, officials say

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military is experiencing a “beyond critical” shortage of advanced missile interceptors in Europe largely driven by President Donald Trump’s war with Iran, a U.S. defense official in Europe and a NATO official told The Associated Press, raising concerns about vulnerabilities in NATO countries to a potential Russian attack.

https://apnews.com/article/patriot-missiles-iran-war-russia-ukraine-trump-09c7d8030a2e11fbd8ee3f7176b3f2d4?

Iran scrambles to sustain trade as US threatens to sanction countries that refuse to break ties

Iran’s economy, already strained by high inflation, years of Western sanctions and a war that has sharply reduced oil revenue, is poised for more instability as the Trump administration tries to coerce other countries into ending all financial dealings with the Islamic Republic. Read More.

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🇮🇷 U.S. strengthens Hormuz hand

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty Images Today marks six months of the Iran War, which began Feb. 28. Axios' Barak Ravid reports the U.S. is improving its position in the waterway at the center of the quagmire: The Strait of Hormuz has been Iran's most powerful card since the start of the war in late February. U.S. officials say that over the past six months, the American military has steadily eroded Iran's leverage over the crucial waterway. Why it matters: What began six months ago with the goal of degrading Iran's missile capabilities and destroying what remained of its nuclear program has evolved into an open-ended fight over the world's most important energy chokepoint. U.S. officials say they've turned the tide in the strait and believe it could be a watershed moment in the war, bringing gradual relief to the world economy and a better deal with Iran. "The Iranian response is very mild," President Trump told Axios in a phone interview yesterday. "They don't want us to go back at them. That's the whole ball game. The rest doesn't matter." 🚢 Zoom out: The number of ships crossing the strait — and the amount of oil exported through it — remain far below prewar levels. But Iran has lost much of its control over the strait, U.S. officials said. Iran is still firing at ships. But its ability to target them accurately is limited. More than 200 mine-like objects have been swept from the main lane of the strait. U.S. officials say only 11 of them were actual mines and just a few were properly deployed. In recent weeks, traffic through the southern channel has grown to 20 to 30 tankers every night, carrying an average of 9 million to 10 million barrels, per U.S. officials. That's roughly half the prewar volume. 🛢️ Yes, but: Oil experts and tanker trackers are skeptical that the actual figures are that high. U.S. officials say they're undercounting. Periodic reports of oil tankers being struck by projectiles also raise questions about the safety of commercial shipping through the strait, despite U.S. assurances. Trump told Axios: "That sucker is open."

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Six months on, the Iran war has changed the Middle East, but not in the way its architects had hoped When they attacked Iran on Feb. 28, the U.S. and Israel hoped to topple its clerical leadership and replace it with a pro-Western government. But the Islamic Republic survived the assassination of its top leaders and weeks of heavy bombing, and found a potent form of leverage in the Strait of Hormuz. Read more.

Why this matters: Iran is now determined to exert permanent control over the strait, to use it to ward off future attacks and secure other concessions, while giving no ground on its disputed nuclear program. Meanwhile Gulf Arab nations saw worrying gaps open up in the American security umbrella they have relied on for decades — and some are looking at alternatives. Israel has once again thrashed its enemies without defeating them, and is at risk of a generational rupture with the U.S., its closest ally.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Trump used to say he saw a quick end to his Iran war. Six months later, he claims he’s in no hurry More Mideast developments Republicans face a midterm verdict as Iran war drags on months longer than Trump promised Exclusive: US Patriot missile stocks in Europe are ‘beyond critical’ due to Iran war, officials say