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US Army turns to older PAC-2 Patriot missiles as war against Iran drains stockpiles

Press TV – July 23, 2026

The United States Army has been forced by Iran’s resolute resistance to procure outdated PAC-2 Patriot missiles for the first time in decades, as its vaunted air defense stockpiles were severely depleted during its war of aggression against Tehran.

Raytheon RTX received a $441.6 million contract modification on April 30 for the production of Patriot Guidance Enhanced Missile-Tactical (GEM-T) interceptors, essentially upgraded versions of the older PAC-2 series, to support what Washington called Operation Epic Fury, twz.com reported on Thursday.

The rush order, funded by special fiscal 2026 appropriations outside normal budgeting, demands completion by September 30 and marks the first domestic US purchase of these missiles in over 30 years. Work is underway solely at Raytheon’s Chambersburg, Pennsylvania facility, the only US production line for the system.

The move comes after American forces expended an estimated 1,060 to 1,430 Patriot interceptors between late February and early April 2026 in a desperate attempt to counter Iran’s precision missile and drone strikes.

What began as a reckless imperialist assault aimed at crippling Iran’s defensive capabilities quickly exposed the fragility of US and allied air defenses.

Iranian forces, employing a sophisticated mix of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and low-cost drones, overwhelmed the expensive Western systems, forcing repeated high-cost intercepts that drained inventories at an unsustainable rate.

PAC-2 GEM-T missiles rely on blast-fragmentation warheads designed primarily for tactical ballistic missiles and aircraft. They are widely acknowledged as less capable than the more advanced PAC-3 variants, which use hit-to-kill technology for greater precision against modern threats. Yet the US Army has no choice: production of newer interceptors cannot keep pace with consumption, and existing PAC-3 stocks have been further strained by transfers to the Kiev regime, the Zionist entity, and Gulf monarchies.

This desperation underscores the strategic failure of Washington’s aggression. Iran’s resilient missile industry and asymmetric capabilities turned the tables, compelling the Pentagon to scramble for whatever interceptors it can obtain, even decades-old designs that were phased out of primary US inventories long ago.

Analysts note that each PAC-2 costs significantly less than a PAC-3 but offers diminished performance, highlighting how Iran’s cost-effective saturation tactics rendered America’s multi-million-dollar defenses economically and operationally bankrupt.

The contract’s urgency, with full funding obligated immediately and a compressed five-month delivery window, reveals the depth of the crisis.

US officials have long touted the Patriot as the “gold standard” of air defense, yet the reality of confronting a determined and technologically sovereign nation like Iran has laid bare its limitations.

Stockpiles were already pressured by prolonged support for proxy conflicts, but the direct confrontation with Iran’s armed forces accelerated the depletion beyond recovery through standard channels.

As the Islamic Republic continues to strengthen its deterrent posture, this procurement serves as an admission of vulnerability.

The United States, despite its vast military-industrial complex, finds itself recycling outdated hardware while Iran demonstrates the superiority of indigenous innovation and national resolve. The war machine that sought to impose its will has instead been forced to dig into the past, a telling indicator that aggression against Iran carries unsustainable costs.

July 23, 2026 Posted by | Militarism, Wars for Israel | , , , | Comments Off on US Army turns to older PAC-2 Patriot missiles as war against Iran drains stockpiles

James Woolsey, influential neocon and Iraq War booster, dies at 84

In his heyday, the former CIA director was among America’s loudest voices pressing for military intervention abroad

By Jim Lobe | Responsible Statecraft | July 23, 2026

R. James “Jim” Woolsey, a major Iraq and GWOT promoter and neoconservative Democrat, passed away Tuesday at 84.

Woolsey served briefly as CIA director but rose to much greater prominence as a consistent promoter on television and in the Wall Street Journal’s op-ed pages of both the Iraq War and the broader Global War on Terror, which he sometimes referred to as “World War IV.”

Indeed, immediately after the 9/11 attacks, Woolsey was ubiquitous in arguing that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein not only was linked to al-Qaeda but may very well have approved or helped plan the plot himself.

After being forced out of his CIA director role by President Bill Clinton in 1994, Woolsey moved increasingly to the right, as noted in a generally respectful obituary published by the New York Times Wednesday, joining with the Washington-based Likudist neoconservatives led by the “Dark Prince” himself, Richard Perle of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).

Woolsey, an engaging if rather glib speaker who never seemed to run out of words, became a key part of what George Mason University anthropologist Janine Wedel identified as the “Neocon Core” in the years running up to and following the Iraq War and the GWOT. That included the promotion of confrontation with Syria and Iran as well as other states deemed hostile to Israel, and, hence, in their view, to the United States, as well.

That 11-member core, according to Wedel, included men who would hold key posts under President George W. Bush, among them Bush’s future deputy defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz; his undersecretary of defense, Douglas Feith; his director for Near East policy on the National Security Council, Elliott Abrams; and Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff and national security adviser, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby.

All of these men served on a variety of overlapping boards of major Washington-based organizations and think tanks that aligned themselves with Israel’s right-wing Likud Party. Together, these groups acted as a remarkably effective media echo chamber after 9/11 and in the run-up to the Iraq invasion, particularly in spreading mis- or disinformation about Saddam’s alleged development of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction programs and ties to al-Qaeda.

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In addition to Perle and the rest of AEI’s foreign policy wing staff, they included groups such as the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (recently renamed the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, or JINSA); the Center for Security Policy (CSP); the more moderate Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), a spin-off of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee; and the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), a letterhead organization that promoted U.S. global hegemony and regime change in Middle Eastern countries considered hostile to Israel.

Woolsey was involved in nearly all of the veritable galaxy of neoconservative front groups created to advocate for policies like invading Iraq. He held positions on the advisory and other boards of CSP, WINEP, and the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq. He also served as the chair of the Leadership Council of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), which, for most of the past 20 years, effectively replaced AEI as the most prominent pro-Israel Washington think tank promoting war with Iran. Woolsey was also a co-founder of United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI), an advocacy group closely tied to Israeli intelligence that has promoted comprehensive economic sanctions against Tehran since its founding in 2008.

Although Woolsey was not a signatory of PNAC’s 1997 charter, which was signed by a number of top Bush Jr. policymakers, including Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, he did sign on to nine of the group’s open letters, including an April 2002 statement that called for the administration “to accelerate plans for removing Saddam Hussein from power” and asserted that “Israel’s fight against terrorism is our fight.”

Woolsey also served as a member of the Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board, a civilian advisory body during the Bush administration initially chaired and organized by Perle. Just days after 9/11, Perle convened the Board and invited Ahmed Chalabi, head of the previously CIA-backed opposition Iraqi National Congress (INC) and a long-time Perle collaborator, to participate in its deliberations about Iraq as a possible target for U.S. military action and regime change. As a result of that meeting, Wolfowitz dispatched Woolsey — who, like Perle, had already declared on network television news that Hussein was likely to have been behind the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon — to gather evidence about Saddam’s alleged (but non-existent) ties to al-Qaeda and a previous 1993 bombing in the parking garage of the World Trade Center.

His mission — about which neither the State Department nor the CIA (which had several years before severed ties with Chalabi due to their assessment that he was completely unreliable) were informed — ended without acquiring the desired intelligence. Still, Woolsey, backed by the administration and the neoconservative network and echo chamber of which he had become an important part, continued to claim that Saddam and al-Qaeda worked together.

Chalabi’s INC nonetheless became the key source of disinformation about Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction that was seized upon and promoted to the mass media by the Pentagon, the White House, and the neoconservative echo chamber, including Woolsey himself.

Jim Lobe is a Contributing Editor of Responsible Statecraft. He formerly served as chief of the Washington bureau of Inter Press Service from 1980 to 1985 and again from 1989 to 2015.

July 23, 2026 Posted by | Mainstream Media, Warmongering, Timeless or most popular, Wars for Israel | , | Comments Off on James Woolsey, influential neocon and Iraq War booster, dies at 84

Iran: UK decision to aid US strikes amounts to ‘act of aggression’

Press TV – July 23, 2026

Iran’s foreign ministry has strongly condemned the British government’s decision to allow the US to use UK military bases and facilities to prepare and facilitate military strikes against Iran, declaring the move a violation of the UN Charter and international law.

“British policymakers, fully aware that US military strikes against Iran – which began with the participation of the Zionist regime and are still ongoing – constitute a clear act of aggression and a gross violation of the fundamental principles of the UN Charter and peremptory norms of international law, have decided to join these actions,” the ministry said in a statement Thursday.

The decision, the ministry said, is “clearly contrary to the fundamental principles and rules of the Charter of the United Nations and international law” and, under paragraph (f) of Article 3 of UN General Assembly Resolution 3314 on the Definition of Aggression, “constitutes an act of aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran”.

The foreign ministry sharply criticized Britain’s role as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

“The UK government, both as a state and as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, instead of fulfilling its legal and moral responsibilities to condemn the military aggression and war crimes of the United States and the Zionist regime against Iran, has stepped onto the path of aligning with the aggressors and has degraded its position to that of an accomplice in their war against the Iranian nation.”

“This decision,” the ministry added, “further undermines London’s claims about supporting the rule of law, human rights, and international peace and security.”

The statement drew explicit parallels with Britain’s long history of intervention in Iranian affairs.

It listed “the coup of August 19, 1953; full-scale support for Saddam Hussein’s regime during the imposed war; the imposition of illegal sanctions under the pretext of the nuclear issue; complicity with the United States in the so-called ‘snapback’ mechanism; and the designation of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).”

“The Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to defend its national sovereignty, territorial integrity, national interests, and national security against any aggression,” the ministry emphasized.

“Any party that in any way participates in the military aggression against Iran will be responsible for the consequences and repercussions of its own decision.”

According to a report from Bloomberg, the new British prime minister has agreed to allow the United States to use UK territory to continue its aggressive strikes against Iran.

The report said Andy Burnham has permitted the US to use British military bases for “defensive strikes” against Iran – meaning that UK bases such as RAF Fairford and the Diego Garcia naval base in the Indian Ocean will likely be used in the current round of US aggressive strikes.

The report added that former prime minister Keir Starmer, in his final hours at 10 Downing Street, chaired a government meeting on Britain’s policy following seven days of renewed US bombardment of Iran.

Sources revealed that ministers at the meeting decided to continue the existing policy of using UK bases to counter missiles from Iran and facilities used to target the Strait of Hormuz.

Burnham was briefed on the decision and appears to have agreed to it, despite the risk of angering anti-war Labour Party supporters, the report said.

Some Labour MPs, as well as members of the Green Party and Liberal Democrats, have argued that US use of the bases makes Britain complicit in war crimes.

July 23, 2026 Posted by | War Crimes, Wars for Israel | , , , | Comments Off on Iran: UK decision to aid US strikes amounts to ‘act of aggression’

Iran will destroy multiple energy facilities for every bridge, power plant struck by US: Report

Press TV – July 22, 2026

A senior Iranian military source has warned that any attack by the United States on Iranian bridges or power plants will face a devastating response targeting multiple infrastructure and energy facilities across the region where America has interests.

The warning came after US President Donald Trump threatened to destroy one Iranian bridge or power plant for each Iranian attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

“From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT,” Trump wrote on social media.

In response, the Iranian military source told Tasnim News Agency that Tehran has an “iron will” in exercising its sovereignty over the strategic waterway and will never allow the Strait to once again become a threat against Iran.

The military source said vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz will only be safe if they coordinate with Iran and operate under Iran’s arrangements.

“If the Americans target a bridge or power plant in Iran, Iran will in turn strike infrastructure and bridges in the region, including energy facilities in which America has interests.”

The source said the Americans should have become fully convinced over the past ten days that Iran can strike wherever it deems necessary, warning that any gamble by Trump would once again lead to his humiliation.

Trump escalates threats as war costs mount

Trump’s latest threat came as the war enters its fifth month, with the Pentagon confirming that the conflict has already cost Washington $37.5 billion.

The United States has launched 11 consecutive nights of strikes against Iran, targeting military sites to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.”

Fighting over the Strait has led to the collapse of a preliminary deal between the United States and Iran, and Tehran has re-imposed its blockade on the strategic waterway for oil and gas shipments, firing on vessels that seek to transit without coordination.

The blockade has rattled markets and sent oil prices climbing, adding to the pressure on Trump to find an off-ramp to a war that has hit Americans’ pocketbooks heading into closely-fought midterm elections.

Brent Crude, the global benchmark, briefly topped $95 a barrel for the first time in six weeks on Wednesday.

Despite the pressure, Trump has so far resisted calls for a swift end to the war.

“We’re not finished at all… we’re not leaving right now,” he said on Tuesday.

The threats came as Tehran continued offensive operations against American assets in the US-allied Persian Gulf states.

The Iranian military said it targeted assets in Kuwait and Bahrain, including air defence systems, radar installations and administrative buildings. Iran’s IRGC also said it had targeted US bases in Jordan.

July 22, 2026 Posted by | Wars for Israel | , , , | Comments Off on Iran will destroy multiple energy facilities for every bridge, power plant struck by US: Report

Trump’s bombing campaign in Iran just sinks U.S. into a deeper quagmire

By Martin Jay | Strategic Culture Foundation | July 22, 2026

The coming days and weeks will see Trump lower himself in the acid bath of what analysts call the ‘escalation trap’. Many analysts comment that he has already fallen on his sword in the Iran war, as his fantasy of bringing Tehran to its knees – served up by Israel’s PM Netanyahu – has proved to be the greatest deception in U.S.-Israeli relations since the birth of the entity in 1948. He has, to many, lost the war, which was really the essence of him signing the MOU on June 17th, agreeing in principle to all of the points of unconditional surrender, making Iran a bigger, bolder regional power which now controls the Straits of Hormuz and is revered by the GCC elites like never before.

Yet his own lack of diplomatic verve both with Western leaders, NATO and above all Benjamin Netanyahu made his signature worthless, and his only recourse was to continue the war, to at least make it look like he is still relevant.

But this gambit, which is foolish on so many levels – not least of all because the U.S. is very low on military hardware used up between February 28th and April 7th – is more reckless than he understands and will soon destroy him.

Just recently, GCC countries’ elites frantically called him to tell him to stop bombing Iran’s civilian infrastructure, as, unbeknown to him, the capability of Iran to completely wipe off the surface of the map the same infrastructure in the Gulf countries is within arms’ reach. It is one thing to have your U.S. air base bombed, but quite another for your schools, hospitals, bridges, power plants and water facilities to be blown up with a handful of hypersonic missiles. And it is hard to imagine how those elites would rebuild their countries if Iran chose to retaliate in such a fashion.

The call seems to have done the job. But Trump is a mercurial man-child who understands little and only cares about nursing his ego, and so there is no telling what he might do in the future if pushed, or if he simply fails to take the warning seriously.

And yet, whichever route he chooses, it all ends badly for him, and the Iranians are taking the time to remove entirely the U.S. presence in the region. If Trump persists in hitting their infrastructure, one move which Iran is mulling is destroying the oil shipments presently coming out of the UAE and Saudi Arabia outside of the Persian Gulf – in other words, oil which the Saudis send via pipeline to the Red Sea and oil which is sent to Fujairah port, currently being expanded. The 7 million barrels of oil each day which together these two countries export could easily be stopped by Iran, and so it is hard to see what strategy Trump thinks he has with his bombing, other than he believes that this will soften the Iranians up for coming back to the MOU.

What Trump doesn’t understand is that the hardliners in the Iranian government never believed he was serious about the MOU and saw it as a ruse to buy time before continuing with a bombing campaign. Now that they have been proved right, any return to an MOU will be much harder on Trump, as the demands from Tehran will be higher than the first time around.

Top of that list will be Lebanon, and this is where Trump’s problems start, as the position that he will be in if an MOU 2.0 is put together will be very weak, while Netanyahu’s will be very strong. Bibi is never going to pull Israel’s troops out of Lebanon, and so a peace deal will be impossible, leading Trump to only one recourse: the mother of all maddest ideas, which is the land invasion of Iran – which he might be thinking about around November when the weather is cooler. But the U.S. doesn’t have either the number of men required, the stockpile of weapons, or even, frankly, the competence to carry out such a remarkably risky venture. The casualties would be incredibly high, and Trump would go down in history as the egghead U.S. president who fell into Israel’s trap and got the ultimate lesson from Iran. The humiliation Jimmy Carter had to endure after a failed rescue mission of U.S. embassy workers in Iran in 1980 will pale into insignificance in comparison to what the Iranians have lined up for Trump.

Trump’s problem is credibility. No world leaders respect him nor trust him, and this is a major factor now with the Iranians, who simply consider Trump to be a clown at best or a dangerous, insecure child at worst – ready to burn the family house down just to get the attention that he craves. Nothing he says is taken seriously, as Tehran knows all along that Trump is always creating distractions while he is listening to his generals’ latest crackpot ideas about invasion. While Trump panics, Iran moves at a painfully slow, measured pace – confident about itself, its history and its destiny. Iran thinks long term and about how the world will judge it, also keeping in mind negotiating with the next U.S. administration. As an ancient civilisation, they are used to thinking in terms of decades and centuries. Trump only thinks about this week’s coverage in the Wall Street Journal or New York Times. His gate-crashing of the World Cup and having the president of FIFA actually manhandle him out of the Spanish team’s photo shoot must have been very embarrassing for many Americans.

July 22, 2026 Posted by | Wars for Israel | , , , , | Comments Off on Trump’s bombing campaign in Iran just sinks U.S. into a deeper quagmire

US Threats Against Iran’s Nuclear Facilities Violate International Law – Iranian Foreign Ministry

Sputnik – 22.07.2026

Statements from the US that it might bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities violate international law, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said on Wednesday.

“The repeated US attacks and threats against Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities not only constitute a flagrant violation of the core principles of the UN Charter, international law, and the relevant resolutions of the IAEA Board of Governors, General Conference, and UN Security Council, but also reveal the United States’ deep-rooted enmity toward Iran’s scientific progress and technological development,” Baghaei wrote on X.

Iran does not conduct any nuclear activities in the area of the Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La Mountain, otherwise known as “Pickaxe,” which the United States wants to strike, the diplomat said, adding that the relevant remarks are just an excuse for more aggression.

On July 21, US President Donald Trump threatened to attack Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain, where, per Israeli intelligence assessments, a fortified nuclear enrichment facility is located.

The US has been conducting strikes against Iran since July 8, in violation of the provisions of the memorandum of understanding signed on June 17.

July 22, 2026 Posted by | War Crimes, Wars for Israel | , , , | Comments Off on US Threats Against Iran’s Nuclear Facilities Violate International Law – Iranian Foreign Ministry

Yemeni naval blockade forces six vessels to turn back

Press TV – July 21, 2026

Six ships have turned back in the past 24 hours after Yemen’s armed forces imposed a maritime ban on Saudi vessels, a military source confirmed to the Yemeni News Agency (Saba), as the “blockade for blockade” strategy against Riyadh takes effect.

The move came after Yemen’s Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center sent a warning to shipping companies, stating that vessels are banned from loading or discharging cargo at any Saudi ports and that violators “may be subject to targeting in any location within the operational reach of the Yemeni Armed Forces.”

Shipping data from LSEG confirmed that at least two oil tankers carrying Saudi crude to China and India have been forced to make U-turns in the Red Sea.

The Xin Long Yang, a Very Large Crude Carrier carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi crude loaded at Yanbu, reversed course and headed toward the Suez Canal rather than risk transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The smaller tanker Rodos, carrying about 700,000 barrels of Saudi crude for India, also made a U-turn for Suez.

With the Strait of Hormuz transit blocked amid the illegal US’s war on Iran, Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu has become the main alternative route for West Asian oil, allowing exports of millions of barrels per day.

The Yemeni armed forces announced the naval blockade on Saudi Arabia on July 20, in response to the kingdom’s 12-year siege and aggression against Yemen.

“Vessels calling at Saudi Arabian ports are advised to reconsider transiting the Red Sea and to consider implementing enhanced mitigation measures,” British maritime security company Ambrey said, adding that it assessed vessels calling at Saudi ports “were at high risk.”

War risk insurance costs have already ticked higher in the past 24 hours, with risk assessments for Saudi ports being re-evaluated, insurance industry sources said.

In recent months, an average of 10 crude tankers have sailed through the Bab el-Mandeb daily.

The Yemeni blockade comes after more than a decade of Saudi-led aggression against Yemen.

Since March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition has imposed an air, land, and sea blockade on Yemen, strangling the country’s access to food, fuel, and medicine.

The coalition has conducted over a quarter of a million airstrikes across Yemen, causing widespread devastation and killing tens of thousands of civilians.

The United States has provided critical support throughout the war, including intelligence sharing, logistical assistance, target identification, in-flight refueling of coalition warplanes, and arms sales, making Washington a direct partner in the coalition’s actions.

The war has devastated Yemeni society. By 2026, millions faced acute food insecurity, with aid deliveries severely restricted and the healthcare system in collapse.

Despite the immense suffering, the coalition has maintained its chokehold, closing border crossings, grounding humanitarian flights, and ordering ships away from Yemeni ports.

July 21, 2026 Posted by | Wars for Israel | , , | Comments Off on Yemeni naval blockade forces six vessels to turn back

Iran warns Bulgaria against supporting US military aggression

Press TV – July 21, 2026

Iran has warned Bulgaria against approving a reported US request to station military aircraft at one of its air bases, saying any cooperation with military aggression against Iran would make Sofia complicit in unlawful acts of aggression.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei issued the warning on Tuesday in response to reports that the Bulgarian government is considering a US request to deploy military aircraft at Bezmer Air Base in support of operations related to the war with Iran.

Baghaei said Bulgaria is fully aware that recent US military aggression against Iran constituted a violation of the UN Charter and international law.

He said any participation in preparing or facilitating such operations would amount to complicity in the crimes of aggression and war crimes.

Baghaei expressed surprise over remarks attributed to Bulgarian Prime Minister Roman Radov regarding the reported request, saying that even considering support for an “illegal war” against Iran would be inconsistent with Bulgaria’s international legal obligations and the principle of respect for national sovereignty.

The spokesman cited Article 3(f) of UN General Assembly Resolution 3314, which defines aggression, arguing that allowing one state’s territory to be used by another for acts of aggression against a third state could itself constitute an act of aggression under international law.

While emphasizing that Iran and Bulgaria have maintained relations based on mutual respect, Baghaei warned against any decision that would permit the United States to use Bulgarian territory or facilities for military operations against Iran.

“Iran hopes the Bulgarian parliament will not authorize the use of the country’s territory and facilities in a way that would make Bulgaria complicit with aggressors.”

Baghaei said Iran remained determined to defend its national security and interests, warning that any party participating in military action against the country would bear responsibility for the consequences.

The United States and the Israeli regime waged their illegal war of aggression against Iran on February 28. However, forty days later, on April 8, the enemies were forced to accept a ceasefire amid Iran’s brave resistance and successful retaliatory operations.

On June 17, Tehran and Washington signed the Pakistan-brokered Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to end all hostilities and prepare for further negotiations.

However, Washington violated all provisions of the understanding, prompting Iran to deliver a firm response.

July 21, 2026 Posted by | Militarism, War Crimes, Wars for Israel | , , | Comments Off on Iran warns Bulgaria against supporting US military aggression

DeBasification… A Fancy Word for Booting the US Out of the Middle East

By Larry C. Johnson | SONAR21 | July 21, 2026 

Tehran delivered to Washington via Pakistan in early April, a formalized demand for the withdrawal of US combat forces from military bases across the region. It sat in a package alongside the lifting of all sanctions and UN resolutions, the release of Iranian assets held overseas, reparations, and Iran’s right to nuclear enrichment.

Instead of waiting for the US to agree to the demand, Iran has launched targeted attacks during the past two weeks on key US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. This has produced a de facto evacuation of US forces and equipment from most of these bases. The US Navy’s Fifth Fleet Headquarters in Bahrain is in shambles; the Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) at Al Udeid in Qatar has been closed and moved to Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina. And Iran continues to pound bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar to ensure that no US aircraft or missile launchers remain intact at those locations.

Besides the bases in the Persian Gulf nations, Iran also has pummeled the Muwaffaq Salti Airbase and the Prince Hassan Airbase in Jordan. There are grainy satellite images showing that the United States has removed all aircraft from the open-air parking lot at the Muwaffaq al-Salti airbase, fearing that they would be destroyed by Iranian missiles.

The US also has relocated the $250 million MQ-4C Triton. In early May 2026, the US dispatched the MQ-4C Triton drone to Jordan:

The second US Navy MQ-4C Triton (reg. 169804) drone has yesterday departed from Naval Air Station Sigonella and relocated to Al Hussein Air Base in Jordan, further reducing the US Navy’s high-altitude ISR presence in Sicily. The aircraft involved is the Triton that had arrived in recent weeks to replace the drone lost in the Gulf area during operations linked to the regional crisis. . . .

The MQ-4C Triton is one of the US Navy’s most important intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets, designed for long-endurance maritime monitoring over vast operational theaters. From Sigonella, the platform has regularly supported surveillance missions across the Mediterranean, Black Sea, North Africa and the Middle East.

Relocating both surviving Tritons to Jordan suggests a clear operational reprioritization. By operating from Al Hussein, the drones gain shorter transit times toward the Red Sea, Arabian Peninsula, Iraq and Iran-related operational areas, allowing longer on-station persistence and more responsive ISR coverage during a period of continued regional instability.

Following massive missile strikes by Iran on 11 and 12 July on Jordan’s two airbases hosting US combat aircraft, including the MQ-4C Triton, the US pulled the plug on keeping the Triton in Jordan. Defense Security Asia reported on Monday, 14 July 2026 that:

The Pentagon Pulls $240M Triton Drone from Jordan to Italy After Devastating Iranian Ballistic Missile Strikes Threaten Strategic Airfields . . . . According to regional military planners, the strategic redeployment of the multi-million dollar maritime surveillance platform from forward-deployed hubs in Jordan to permanent facilities in Italy reflects an urgent effort to mitigate severe attrition risks.

The repositioning directly follows a series of sophisticated adversarial long-range strikes that successfully breached localized air defense networks and targeted high-value infrastructure. Open-source intelligence analysts observed that specialized hangar facilities designed to shield premium unmanned platforms sustained direct impacts during these intense bombardments.

In response to these escalating kinetic vectors, the United States Navy chose to pull back its premier intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets to the safer sanctuary of southern Europe.

During the first 43 days of the 2026 Iran war (Operation Epic Fury, beginning 28 February), Iran systematically targeted the sensor and communications layer of the US military’s integrated air defense architecture across the Persian Gulf. Rather than simply overwhelming interceptors with mass drone and missile barrages, Iran prioritized destroying the radars and SATCOM terminals that make the entire network function — a strategy described by analysts as “blinding US eyes in the Middle East.”

By the end of the first 43 days, Iran had hit at least 12–19 radar and SATCOM systems across seven countries, with total damage estimated at $3.15 to $5+ billion. The targeting pattern revealed a sophisticated operational concept:

  1. Day 1 priority: The AN/FPS-132 at Al Udeid was struck within hours — the single most valuable radar in the region, specifically deployed to counter Iranian ballistic missiles.
  2. THAAD radars next: All four deployed AN/TPY-2s (Jordan, UAE ×2, Saudi Arabia) were hit within 48–72 hours, effectively neutralizing the upper-tier missile defense layer.
  3. SATCOM infrastructure: Command-and-control nodes at Bahrain’s 5th Fleet HQ and Kuwait’s Camp Arifjan were destroyed, degrading the ability to coordinate defenses across distributed bases.
  4. Layered approach: After stripping away early warning and upper-tier defense, Iran could then attrit remaining Patriot batteries with mass drone waves — a cost-exchange ratio heavily favoring Iran (Shahed-136 at ~$20K–$50K vs. PAC-3 MSE at ~$4M).

The destruction forced interception duties onto already-depleted Patriot systems, compounding a crisis that saw the US and GCC allies burn through 86% of their combined Patriot inventory within five weeks.

Now, with the MoU dead, Iran is focused on making life on the bases that are still hosting US troops and aircraft a living hell. It is no longer up to the US to decide to leave the Persian Gulf… Iran is making that decision for them.

July 21, 2026 Posted by | Militarism, Wars for Israel | , , | Comments Off on DeBasification… A Fancy Word for Booting the US Out of the Middle East

Houthis Close Bab al Mandeb Strait /Lt Col Daniel Davis

Daniel Davis / Deep Dive – July 20, 2026

July 20, 2026 Posted by | Militarism, Video, Wars for Israel | , , | Comments Off on Houthis Close Bab al Mandeb Strait /Lt Col Daniel Davis

US doesn’t have what it takes to repel Iranian counterattacks – expert

Sputnik – 20.07.2026

While the US does retain an enormous offensive capability, which allows it to conduct an intense wave of attacks against Iranian facilities, it can only weaken Iran, veteran war correspondent Elijah J. Magnier tells Sputnik.

The US has plenty of offensive weapons to attack Iran, but at the same time has a limited supply of interceptors needed to repel Iranian counterattacks against US assets, allies and Israel.

“The United States could therefore launch a major campaign, but sustaining it would force difficult choices: which bases to protect, which cities to defend, which incoming threats to intercept,” Magnier explains.

In the meantime, Iran will likely seek to widen the “geography of the conflict, multiplying the number of targets Washington must defend, and raising the political and above all economic costs of an additional American strike.”

Using concentrated ballistic and cruise missile attacks to saturate enemy air defenses, and forcing the US and its allies to expend their interceptors on decoys, Iran can unleash hell upon US bases, logistics hubs, ports, radar installations, and fuel storage facilities in the region.

Attacks upon the US allies in the Gulf can ramp up domestic pressure on local governments, which could prompt them to demand the US to back down.

The Iran also maintains its hold on the Strait of Hormuz, requiring very little resources to ensure that “no insurance company will accept to insure a tanker navigating in a war theater, and no ship owner will take the risk of jeopardizing his asset in that area.”

US media earlier reported that the growing American military presence in the Persian Gulf may signal preparations for a major confrontation.

July 20, 2026 Posted by | Militarism, Wars for Israel | , , | Comments Off on US doesn’t have what it takes to repel Iranian counterattacks – expert

Trump booed during FIFA World Cup trophy presentation to Spain

Press TV – July 20, 2026

US President Donald Trump was received with loud boos from sections of the crowd during the 2026 FIFA World Cup trophy presentation.

Trump was booed at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday at the FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and Spain as he presented the Spaniards with the trophy after their 1-0 victory over their rival.

Trump was asked to step aside by the “winners” of the globally sought Gold Cup, with Spain’s captain Rodrigo Hernández Cascante, also known as Rodri, ushering Trump to exit the stage before the World Cup trophy lifting ceremony. He, however, refused to leave the scene and awkwardly lingered on the side of the giant podium as the loud boos and whistles rang out across the stadium. Eventually, a brief exchange between FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Trump resulted in the host of the event giving in to his unpopularity and leaving the world stage viewed by billions of football fans across the globe.

Trump has spent much of his second term in office berating Spain over its NATO military spending and refusal to allow American forces to use Spanish bases in the illegal US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran, calling the Latinos in general, and Spaniards, in particular, “losers.”

The American president has also branded Spain as a “hopeless” country, deriding the Latino people as “bad people” and briefly threatened to cut off all trade in goods with Madrid.

For his part, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has been a vocal critic of Trump’s aggressive foreign policy for nearly two years.

Sánchez and Trump were present at the final match, both sitting in the VIP section of the stadium.

However, the two Western countries with a long history of territorial wars appear to be at loggerheads still over issues ranging from NATO spending to US militarism in West Asia, Latin America, and beyond.

Madrid censured Washington over US military operations in Venezuela, warning that Washington’s actions endanger sovereignty, international law, and the country’s natural resources.

July 20, 2026 Posted by | Militarism, Wars for Israel | , | Comments Off on Trump booed during FIFA World Cup trophy presentation to Spain

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