Middle East Crisis

The situation in Iran
Iran sneaks out news about the leader: "Not a figurehead"

Iran has recently started giving updates on the condition of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, writes the Financial Times. Recently, they went so far as to reveal the injuries he sustained in the attack that killed his father, Ali Khamenei, the then leader of the regime.

According to the newspaper, this is happening, among other things, because Iran wants to avoid speculation that the country is ruled by the Revolutionary Guard. Vali Nasr, a professor at Johns Hopkins University and former American official, says that they want to counteract the image that Mojtaba Khamenei is just a figurehead.

– They are trying to signal that nothing has changed. The Supreme Leader was at the top of the system and still is. 

Economic Impact
Analysis: Concerns Give Iran and Democrats a Chance

The United States is far from immune to the economic impact of Donald Trump's war with Iran, writes Keith Johnson in an analysis for Foreign Policy.

He writes that the war is fueling inflation and disrupting supply chains in a way that makes it flash "all over the dashboard." Opponents both in Iran and at home know this.

"The economic headwinds are one reason why Iran is holding firm to its positions in negotiations with the United States to end the war. It is also the reason why Democrats are increasingly confident that they will win back at least one of the chambers in the midterm elections."

CNN's Daniel Dale writes that Donald Trump has repeatedly made claims that are not true regarding the cost of living in the United States. Among other things, the president has referred to the efforts before the war, and claimed that oil and gas prices had fallen before then.

That is not fooling voters, Dale believes.

“It’s not like people don’t remember what they paid for things less than three months ago.”

Iran war
Sources: US has used more air defense than Israel

The US has accounted for the majority of the air defense missiles used to protect Israel during Iranian missile attacks, Pentagon figures show, according to sources who spoke to the Washington Post.

In the US’s case, this is about 300 missiles of various types, and in Israel’s case about 200, since the start of the war in late February.

Kelly Grieco of the Stimson Center think tank believes that the US has taken the greatest responsibility, while Israel has been able to save on its stocks.

– These are striking figures.

Both the Pentagon and Israel defend the distribution and say that the air defense missiles are only a small part of the joint effort.