Trump is back to threatening a resumption of attacks against Iran, something that has NOT been successful in bringing Iran to serious peace talks, opening the Strait of Hormuz with out protection money being paid and giving up its uranium …
American military assets have been milling around for about a month in the Middle East why Iran shoots at the UAE and other Middle Eastern Countries that have had to turn to Ukraine for assistance in defending themselves….
Russia IS sending Iran satellite imagery of US and other countries military in the region and China is talking to Iran…
Meanwhile?
Trump IS getting pressure from Congress and polling showing the War/Conflict is VERY UNPOPULAR and driving US gas prices up….
Donald Trump is LOUSY at Foreign Policy….
This situation IS a prime example why….
There IS a lesson for the Middle East in this….
Reliance SOLEY on oil exports is NOT a good thing….
The days of Oil exports being OPEC’s golden goose for prosperity seems to be in the hands of Iran…..
NOT a Good Look….
They can Thank American President Trump for the Reality Check….
ISW…..Iran Update Special Report, May 17, 2026
- The United States and Iran continue to pursue fundamentally incompatible negotiating positions. Unspecified sources familiar with the US response to the latest Iranian counterproposal told Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)-affiliated Fars News Agency on May 17 that the United States laid out its five main conditions in response to the latest Iranian proposal.
- Likely Iranian or Iranian-backed forces launched three drones targeting the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on May 17. Radiation levels at the plant remain normal. The drones approached the target from the west. Iran has previously used drones to approach a target from an unexpected direction to obscure its responsibility and create challenges for air defenses. IRGC-affiliated media used the attack to attempt to drive a wedge between the UAE and other Gulf States by blaming Saudi Arabia for the attack.
President Trump told Axios in a phone call that “the clock is ticking” for Iran and warned that if the Iranian regime doesn’t come with a better offer for a deal “they are going to get hit much harder.”
Why it matters: U.S. officials say Trump wants a deal to end the war, but Iran’s rejection of many of his demands and refusal to make meaningful concessions on its nuclear program has put the military option back on the table.
- Trump is expected to convene his top national security team in the Situation Room on Tuesday to discuss military options, two U.S. officials said.
- Trump spoke Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the situation in Iran.
Behind the scenes: Trump met Saturday with members of his national security team at his Virginia golf club to discuss Iran, a source with knowledge said….
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The latest: A drone struck the United Arab Emirates’ Barakah nuclear power plant Sunday, damaging an “electrical generator outside the inner perimeter,” the UAE defense ministry said.
- It was one of three drones that entered the country’s air space “from the western border direction,” the ministry said. The other two were intercepted. “Investigations are underway to determine the source of the attacks,” the ministry said.
- Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed told International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi there has been “no impact on radiological safety levels,” the UAE foreign ministry said.
- While the UAE hasn’t accused Iran directly, diplomatic adviser Anwar Gargash hinted at Tehran.
- “The targeting of the Barakah nuclear energy plant, whether carried out directly by the principal actor or through one of its proxies, represents a dangerous escalation and a dark development that violates all international laws and norms, with criminal disregard for the lives of civilians in the UAE and its surroundings,” he wrote on X.
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Qatar is suffering from Trump’s War…..
Qatar spent three decades building supply lines, shipping tens of billions of dollars of liquefied natural gas each year through the Strait of Hormuz to ports across Asia and Europe.
The state, which derives more than 60 percent of its revenue from gas and gas-related exports, used that money to transform the peninsula into a gleaming metropolis. Unpaved desert roads were replaced by monolithic corporate skyscrapers, at the base of which irrigation systems water perennial blankets of grass and fuchsia flowers.
Gas wealth funded a metro system linking the capital, Doha, to Lusail, a northern city that is home to a Parisian-style mall and a theme park with artificial snow. The riches were also funneled into the world’s most expensive World Cup, and a $600 billion sovereign wealth fund with stakes in everything from Heathrow Airport in London to the Empire State Building in New York.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz means virtually no gas has left Qatar’s shore for more than two months. The nation is also cut off from the sea routes through which it imports everything from vehicles to produce. Fears of regional instability have hurt tourism and eroded business sentiment.
Ras Laffan, Qatar’s industrial center for gas production, is shuttered, and roads are blocked. In this vast port north of Doha, loading cranes stand paralyzed. Throughout the capital, hotels and boutiques sit in noticeable silence. Qatar’s growth forecasts have been slashed amid the cessation of L.N.G. trade.
For Qatar, gas shipments “are nothing short of foundational,” Ahmed Helal, a managing director at the Asia Group, a strategic advisory firm, said in an interview in Doha recently. “Nothing you see here would have been possible without the wealth of energy,” he added. “That is why Qatar is quickly falling into a very challenging fiscal situation.”….
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Lindsey Graham Calls on Trump to Bomb Iran Again
Sen. Lindsey Graham expressed doubt Sunday that U.S. negotiations with Iran would prove fruitful and called on President Trump to follow through with his threats to strike Iranian energy infrastructure, NOTUS reports.
Said Graham: “I think we’ve hit a wall when it comes to negotiations.”
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