Dave Patterson: Where Does the US Stand With Iran?

President Trump has let it be known that he is not putting up with Tehran’s negotiating games. In response to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s (IRGC) surprise attack, launching numerous ballistic missiles at American military facilities in Jordan on Tuesday night (July 28), America’s commander-in-chief said the strikes would be answered with ferocity. All incoming missiles were intercepted, and no damage was done, nor were US service members killed or injured. What the attack did accomplish, however, was to motivate the US president to act decisively. As Fox News reported: “The United States resumed airstrikes inside Iran Wednesday night in retaliation for Tehran’s attempted surprise ballistic-missile attack on American forces, as an Iran expert warned that the regime has become increasingly willing to test Washington despite its weakened military capabilities.”

Dave Patterson: Can the US Fight Iran and the Houthis at the Same Time?

The Iran-sponsored Houthis, a Yemeni militant terrorist organization, control much of northern Yemen and remain a persistent problem in the Middle East. Houthis are engaged in regional upheaval using asymmetric attacks, including cruise missiles, drones, anti-ship missiles, and general maritime harassment. On July 20, the Houthis announced a naval blockade against Saudi oil exports from Yanbu, located halfway up the western Saudi Arabian coast along the Red Sea, through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait into the Gulf of Aden. Saudi officials have pledged to protect their shipping. Will the United States get dragged into this conflict? That is the question.

DTNZ: Iran declares Strait of Hormuz closed until US ends ‘illegal’ interventions

Tehran has defied President Donald Trump’s demands to fully reopen the strategic waterway to shipping.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has declared that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed to shipping until the US ends what it called its “illegal” interference in the region.