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Pageviews: 71,709,502. 8:30 p.m. CT, August 1, 2026.
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Updates
- 4:06 p.m. 2 August 26: it's becoming clear that the most recent deal is very, very unlikely to hold. Reasons:
- the Iranian government and the IGRC have both said that Iran did not agree to what Trump said in his Truth Social tweet; if true, and it likely is, Trump was snookered again, but had little choice after that phone call from Saudi Arabia
- Iran says they are now negotiating with Iran to determine new routes
- they are not negotiating with the Allies to give up control of the strait
- the big question: why did Iran invite Oman in? It bought time for Iran.
- it appears the new deal between Iran and Oman:
- Iran will control who enters the Gulf;
- Oman will control who departs;
- Iran will never negotiate the end of their control over the strait
- this is the only chance Iran may ever have to defeat "the Great Satan."
- if that happens, the root cause: Trump's vacillating
- if that happens, the immediate cause: lack of armaments, poor planning on Hegseth's part;
- shared responsibility: Trump's opponents
3:45 a.m. 2 August 26: overnight notes on x suggest that President Trump "caved" to Crown Prince MBS of Saudi Arabia to hold off on massive strikes. Those sources suggest that Saudi Arabia would have been the main target of Iran if the massive strikes had proceeded. If that is accurate, President Trump is a) being played by negotiators in the Mideast; and/or b) he is giving Iran yet another reprieve, again at the request of Saudi Arabia. Obviously, this time one assumes President Trump is keeping the blockade on Iran in place. This will be fascinating to watch, to see if the strait is completely opened without conditions.
Original Post
So, let's see how many attacks by the IRGC will the administration let go over the next 72 hours.
This does not seem to be a headline story over at The NYT. Fox News is reporting it. Trump says we're "locked and loaded." At one time we were locked, loaded, and launched. I don't see any headlines over at The Washington Post either.
