Two weeks into the current confrontation with Iran, the fight has taken a distinctly asymmetric shape. US and Israeli strikes continue to damage Iranian infrastructure, yet Tehran and its regional proxies keep finding ways to harass shipping and regional partners. President Trump has urged other countries to escort commercial tankers through the Strait of Hormuz — a narrow chokepoint that moves roughly 20% of global oil and LNG — but few nations have volunteered so far, leaving most on the sidelines.
From the Strait of Hormuz: Reporting from Ras Al Khaimah highlights how exposed the waterway remains. Supertankers carrying hundreds of millions of dollars of crude anchor off a channel just a few miles wide; Iran can menace them with mines, rockets, drones and small-boat attacks. Tehran appears to be using those asymmetric tools to inflict economic pain and raise the political cost of continued strikes on its infrastructure. The same reporting noted a drone attack on Abu Dhabi’s Shah oil field and rocket fire toward the US embassy in Baghdad, underlining that while US and Israeli forces “own the skies,” proxies can still disrupt neighbors and global energy flows.
Strategic view: A former CIA counterterrorism official described Iran’s approach as survival-driven: facing overwhelming conventional losses, Tehran leans on its strategic advantages — most notably the Strait of Hormuz and pressure on Gulf Cooperation Council neighbors — to force concessions or pauses from its adversaries. Choking the strait, he warned, would progressively damage global markets and fertilizer supplies. He also flagged the political problem: many US allies have not committed to tanker escorts, which plays into Tehran’s hands.
White House posture: Washington has publicly asked European and Asian partners to contribute to escort operations, but several pushed back, saying this is not a NATO obligation and that the US should not expect others to clean up problems it “broke.” President Trump has signaled that strikes against Iranian export infrastructure, such as Kharg Island, remain possible, though none have been ordered. Meanwhile, the asymmetric campaign continues to inflict damage on ships and energy facilities in the region.
UAE and Iraq incidents: A drone strike ignited a fire at the Shah oil field in Abu Dhabi — one of the world’s largest — with no reported casualties but serious implications for global energy security. Separately, rockets were reportedly fired toward the US embassy in Baghdad. Those incidents illustrate how Iran and its proxies can impose costs while avoiding direct conventional confrontation.
White House chief of staff news: Susie Wiles, the first female White House chief of staff, announced an early-stage breast cancer diagnosis and said she plans to continue working during treatment. An infectious disease and public health specialist noted that early-stage breast cancer (stage II or lower) is often treatable and that treatment depends on tumor biology; options include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy or immunotherapy. The announcement also raised broader issues about screening, workplace support and public awareness when senior officials face health challenges.
Partial DHS shutdown: A partial shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security has left about 61,000 TSA workers unpaid, prompting airlines’ CEOs to urge Congress to restore funding. On Capitol Hill, informal interactions mirror formal gridlock: lawmakers showed partisan reluctance to act unilaterally to fund specific agencies. Republicans insist they won’t give up leverage and point to funding wins for ICE and CBP; Democrats resist broader concessions tied to those wins.
FBI staffing and morale: The recently fired former head of the FBI Washington Field Office — who led the January 6 investigation — warned that political firings have hollowed out institutional expertise and capabilities. He said agents and analysts were removed without due process, often because their assignments touched investigations the current leadership disliked, especially those involving the president. Remaining personnel, he said, are anxious about assignments and political interference, and the loss of counterintelligence expertise could pose real national security risks.
Consumer credit oversight: Reporting from ProPublica found credit bureaus have scaled back relief for consumer disputes. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau used to forward complaints and require responses; when enforcement pressure eased after an administration change, two large bureaus reduced their relief rates significantly. One bureau that faced enforcement did not scale back as much. The trend has pushed consumers toward opaque internal dispute processes that deliver fewer fixes.
Politics and primaries: Illinois’s primaries will test the power of outside spending and endorsements. Governor J.B. Pritzker has backed Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton in a Senate primary, pouring millions into outside groups to boost her after weak fundraising and polls against Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi. Meanwhile, crypto and AI-aligned super PACs are backing opponents, and Democrats are worried about outside groups’ influence in party primaries. The Texas primary is also attracting national attention, underscoring the broader stakes of intraparty spending.
Republican politics and the war: Vice President JD Vance expressed broad support for preventing an Iranian nuclear weapon and voiced prayers for troop safety, but his comments appeared aimed at balancing support for the administration with MAGA voters’ unease about prolonged engagement. Some right-wing figures have signaled discomfort with an extended military commitment.
Culture and history: In a lighter vein, Avett Brothers bassist Bob Crawford discussed his new book on John Quincy Adams, highlighting Adams’s long arc of public service — one term as president followed by 18 years in the House — his anti-slavery petition work and his role bridging the revolutionary generation and the antebellum era.
What to watch: Immediate questions to monitor include whether allies will step up to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, whether attacks on Gulf export infrastructure escalate, how the conflict reshapes domestic politics, and the longer-term impacts of political decisions on the federal workforce and key institutions in Washington.