The bombing of Iran paused at the edge of a different war

For two nights after US Central Command announced a 13th consecutive night of strikes, it issued no announcement of fresh attacks on Iran. Yet coercion continued at sea. American forces said they had redirected 12 commercial vessels attempting to breach the blockade of Iranian ports, disabled two and boarded two. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said warning shots had forced four vessels away from the southern route near Oman. The air campaign paused; the struggle over who writes the operating rules of the Strait of Hormuz did not. This is neither a ceasefire nor proof that talks, which Tehran says have made technical progress, will produce one. The lull exposes the limit of controlled force. Washington cannot restore normal navigation merely by […]