Renewed US bombing of Iran is now in its fourth day. Is this a renewal of the war that began with US-Israel attacks on February, or a short-term blip before returning to negotiations, which some analysts believe is in the interests of both the US and Iran. A new element entered the picture today as President Trump claimed that, going forward, the US would manage the Strait of Hormuz, the contentious issue assigned (for 30 days) to Iran under the Memorandum of Understanding that brought about the ceasefire.
Today both Drop Site News and Aljazeera posted reader-friendly summaries of the latest events in the war.
On Sunday, Aljazeera’s program “The Bottom Line” (with Steve Clemons) posted a very useful half-hour program, “Why the US-Iran Ceasefire with Iran is Falling Apart,” with guest Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group.” Vaez observes that both the US and Iran are attempting to enforce their different understandings of the “Memorandum of Understanding,” especially Article 5 that relates to the management of the Strait of Hormuz; and that these understandings are sharply different. The can view this useful program here.
On Monday, Democracy Now! hosted Jeremy Scahill of Drop Site News. He gives us a concise and user-friendly analysis of what has happened in the war, and why the US is abandoning the ceasefire and “ripping up” the Memorandum of Understanding. [Link].
(Video) “Iran Is Not Going to Capitulate”: Jeremy Scahill on Renewed War, Strait of Hormuz & More [July 13, 2026]
---- “U.S. CENTCOM, Central Command, and the Pentagon at large have concealed the impact of Iranian strikes, in some cases entirely,” says Jeremy Scahill, co-founder of Drop Site News, adding that “There is no question, objectively speaking, that it’s the United States that’s been violating the terms of this agreement. It is quite explicit that Iran is supposed to have managing authority of the Strait of Hormuz.”
Also on Monday, US-Iran expert Trita Parsi posted an article on Responsible Statecraft titled “A new US-Iran war would end where the last one did.” “The fundamentals won’t change,” he observes. “Iran can threaten Hormuz, the United States can punish Iran, and neither can secure its objectives through force.”
… “For all practical purposes, the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of (Mis)Understanding is over. The dispute over how to manage the Strait of Hormuz in the interim has pushed the two sides back into open war. But to what end? There is little reason to believe another round of fighting can alter the fundamentals enough to change the reality from which the two sides must ultimately negotiate. If they are fortunate, the MOU’s collapse may yield another round of talks in which the allure of reshaping facts on the ground through force has finally faded. ...What is clear is that the outlook of Iranian strategists has hardened markedly in recent weeks as they have become increasingly convinced that Trump intends to restart the war. … Much indicates that another round of war will not fundamentally change realities on the ground or the balance between the US and Iran. Trump, in particular, does not have time on his side when taking into account both economic and political realities, and even some military factors. [Read More]
Finally, it appears that the war is expanding. From Antiwar.com, Dave DeCamp’s new article is titled “Saudi-Led Forces Bomb Yemen’s Sanaa Airport, Reigniting War With the Houthis” [July 13, 2026]. He writes:
---- “Saudi-led forces bombed the international airport in Sanaa, Yemen, on Monday, reigniting the war with Yemen’s Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, which has been in a state of ceasefire that has held relatively well since 2022. The attack was claimed by Yemen’s so-called “internationally recognized government,” which is based in Saudi Arabia and doesn’t have an air force of its own, meaning the strikes were almost certainly launched by Saudi warplanes. In response, Ansar Allah’s military spokesman, Yahya Saree, vowed Yemen would hit back and said the era of “de-escalation” between the two sides was over. A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition later claimed that Saudi “air defenses intercepted a ballistic missile threat launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards the southern region.”
War, war everywhere. Work for peace.
Frank Brodhead
For CFOW
