The Iran Brief

Iran has sent its formal response to the US peace proposal — and President Trump has already rejected it. Trump called Iran's terms, quote, "totally unacceptable," posting that reaction on Truth Social on Sunday. The response passed through Pakistan, which has been serving as the go-between in these negotiations. What Iran is actually asking for, why Washington pushed back so hard, and what Netany...

A cargo ship was hit by an unknown projectile off Qatar's coast this morning and caught fire. That incident comes as the IRGC has issued a direct threat to strike US sites across the Middle East and to target what it calls "enemy ships" if Iranian tankers come under fire again. The two developments together mark a significant escalation in the risk environment in the Gulf — and both feed into a di...

Iran's Foreign Ministry today condemned US strikes on two Iranian oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, calling the attacks illegal. At the same time, Washington says those vessels were attempting to violate an ongoing US blockade. Both governments are still publicly calling the ceasefire intact. That contradiction — active strikes on one hand, an active ceasefire on the other — is the central te...

US Navy destroyers transited the Strait of Hormuz under fire Thursday. Iran's military headquarters says the US struck two Iranian vessels during that transit. Both governments say a ceasefire is still in effect. That contradiction — active fire exchanges alongside mutual declarations that the ceasefire holds — is where today's episode begins and where it keeps returning. Stay with us. Read the fu...

US forces fired on an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman after the vessel attempted to breach the American blockade of Iranian ports — the most direct use of force in a day that also included a US escort pause in the Strait of Hormuz, an Iranian foreign minister in Beijing, and a proposal delivered through Pakistan. These are events that have unfolded over recent days, and today we bring them...