The parties KEEP swinging at each other over the Strait of Hormuz…..
“President Donald Trump said the U.S. would continue talks with Iran but considers the ceasefire between the countries to be over,” Bloomberg reports.
Said Trump: “The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue ‘talks.’ We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!”
ISW.….Iran Update Special Report, July 10, 2026
- The United States and Iran are to resume talks following US strikes on Iran between July 8 and 9, but Iran’s negotiating position and war aims remain unchanged. Iran’s negotiating position and war aims include maintaining Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz, preserving the Iranian nuclear program, and protecting Hezbollah.
- Iran is attempting to deter the UAE and other Gulf states to prevent them from supporting efforts to end Iranian control of the strait. Likely Gulf states struck unspecified targets in Chabahar, Sistan and Baluchistan Province; Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island in Hormozgan Province; and Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province, on July 9, according to an open-source intelligence account.
- The Gulf states are divided over how to respond to Iran’s recent attacks. Iran launched strikes against Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar on July 9 in response to US strikes on Iran intended to degrade Iran’s ability and willingness to control the strait.
- The United States and Iraq will reportedly sign an agreement under which the United States will invest in Iraq in return for Iraq curbing Iranian influence in Iraq. The Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al Zaydi will reportedly sign the agreement with the United States during his upcoming visit to Washington, DC, starting on June 15.
- The United States also continues to oppose militia-affiliated figures controlling the Iraqi federal government, amid continued Iraqi negotiations over the remaining Iraqi ministries to be filled. The June agreement reportedly requires Baghdad to remove militia-aligned figures from senior-level government positions.
- Iranian-backed Iraqi militias are reportedly attempting to circumvent the Iraqi federal government’s disarmament initiatives. Unidentified framework sources told Iraqi media on July 9 that unidentified militias are handing over “scrap” missiles or inoperable drones to the government but holding onto functional heavy weapons.
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“‘Iran has never won a war and never lost a negotiation,’ tweeted Donald Trump in 2020. He had just ordered the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, head of Iran’s Al Quds,” the Financial Times reports.
“Now it seems like Trump has forgotten his aphorism. Six years later, Iran has survived the recent war with America and holds the whip hand over talks. In reality, nothing substantive has been discussed between U.S. and Iranian negotiators since Trump unveiled his 14-point MoU last month in the Palace of Versailles. Dubbed by others ‘the memorandum of misunderstanding’, the piece of paper is a list of inducements for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.”
“None of the points were binding. Iran did not agree to give up control of the waterway. It simply pledged a resumption of prewar traffic and a return to nuclear talks. In exchange, it would eventually get hundreds of billions of dollars via unfrozen assets, lifted sanctions and future investments. This was not a deal. To paraphrase Tacitus, Trump baked a dessert for Iran and called it a memorandum. The problem is that Iran has all the initiative.”
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