The shooting from Iran and the Toilet Nation, ostensibly, is because of a new transit route through the Strait of Hormuz that is entirely in Omani waters. From the excellent nytimes article by Erika Solomon linked below:
Iran’s rulers see the newly devised routes through Omani waters as directly contradicting the fifth article of what Washington signed onto in its memorandum of understanding with Tehran.
In their reading of the vaguely worded document, this article granted Iran oversight of the waterway because it charges Iran with ensuring safe passage through the strait.
That is a not unreasonable, but overly broad, reading. The MoU does not say Iran and Oman will guarantee the Strait is kept open--because Oman had not shut it with shoot-'em-ups, only Iran did.
It also says that Iran is to conduct dialogue with Oman, the other nation bordering the strait, “to define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz.”
From Iran’s perspective, analysts said, the route Oman organized with the U.N. maritime organization — and without consulting Tehran — violated that, and had to be challenged.
"Ostensibly", because Iran saw itself as losing control of the Strait in the fairest reading. Also, because it does not trust the Florida Criminal---completely understandably! Iran thinks, reasonably enough, that it is the Criminal-in-Chief who is buying time--before the midterm elections--after which he will attack Iran again, the mirror image of the Criminal Regime's mistrust of Iran, also reasonable, that it is buying time to replenish its stocks of drones and munitions in the 60-day window of the MoU.
The MoU sets the terms for a ceasefire: abide by it, both sides, and the shooting stops. But if there is a misunderstanding, the agreement does not say, go to mediation, for example; it does not say in the event of a breach by one party, "pick up the phone", as veep JD Vance said Iran should have done. That is, Iran was not violating the letter of the MoU by shooting first and agreeing to talks later (Tuesday in Doha, Qatar).
But: if Iran sincerely had been animated by the spirit of the MoU, if it had sincerely wanted a ceasefire, then it would not have started this tit-for-tat.
I don't trust Iran. After Olympic-level mental gymnastics I came out against the 2015 5+1 JCPOA. No reasonable person could believe that Iran's nuclear program was for energy production only. You don't enrich uranium far, far in excess of peaceful levels if you don't intend to build an A-bomb.
7:36 pm:
This is what it is. It is power that the Toilet Nation gave them, the Strait had never been tolled before
| the war. But it is also true that Iran has flexed its newfound muscle after signing a | "Memorandum of Understanding saying that they would not---for only 60 days. They | couldn't wait 60 days. That's bad faith. That's a bad actor. Iran cannot be trusted.
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Iran Risks Peace Talks With U.S. to Maintain Leverage Over Strait
Iran Titted Again (Bahrain, Kuwait); Fourth Day in a Row of Titting for Tatting; Florida Felon's Turn
