July 10, 2026

Good morning! Today is Friday, July 10th 2026, and this is The American Conservative's Morning Brief. As U.S. and Iranian forces trade fire for a second straight night and strikes hit civilian infrastructure near Khamenei's funeral, President Trump declares last month's memorandum of understanding with Tehran "over.". Ted Snider argues Washington is deceiving itself about a "victory" in Iran, citing Mearsheimer's assessment that Tehran has "clearly won the war" and drawing an uncomfortable parallel to Ukraine. James P. Pinkerton zooms out to place the Iran War within the twenty-five-year Neoconservative Era, weighing whether it truly ranks as "a bigger defeat than Vietnam" or, as J.D. Vance put it, merely "a little blip.". and now for the details. We begin with the latest from the Iran War, now in its one hundred and thirty-second day. For the second consecutive night, the United States carried out a bombing campaign against Iran, with Iran responding by launching drones and ballistic missiles at American and allied bases across the region. Central Command described the American targets as military in nature, but the Financial Times reports that strikes hit civilian infrastructure as well, including railroad bridges on the route to Mashhad, where the funeral of assassinated former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is underway. Electricity infrastructure in southeastern Iran was struck, cutting power to parts of the country, and the deputy governor of Bushehr province says the perimeter of the Bushehr nuclear power plant was also bombed. Iran's Revolutionary Guard retaliated against a satellite early-warning site in Qatar, fuel storage in Bahrain, and air defense in Kuwait, and launched missiles at the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain and bases in Kuwait and Jordan. As Harrison Berger reports for The American Conservative, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed sharply, with only thirteen tankers crossing on Wednesday against a recent daily average of thirty-three. President Trump on Wednesday evening declared last month's memorandum of understanding with Tehran "over," while also claiming that Iran had called wanting to make a deal. Brent crude sits above seventy-seven dollars, and the national average price for regular gasoline stands at three dollars and eighty-five cents. Ted Snider, writing for The American Conservative, argues that the collapse of the ceasefire reflects a dangerous self-deception in Washington. President Trump has invoked America's "recent victory" in Iran and claimed the United States "wiped out" the Iranian military. Snider counters that Iran retains ninety percent of its underground missile storage and launch facilities, seventy-five percent of its mobile launchers, seventy percent of its ballistic and cruise missiles, and half of its drones. The regime in Tehran remains firmly in place. Meanwhile, thirteen American service members have been killed, expensive munitions have been depleted, and unprecedented damage has been done to U.S. bases in the region, including the Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain. Snider quotes University of Chicago political scientist John Mearsheimer, who told TAC that Iran has "clearly won the war" and that the memorandum of understanding Trump signed was, in Mearsheimer's words, "effectively a surrender document." Snider draws a parallel to Ukraine, where he argues President Zelensky and his European backers are similarly convinced that the tide has turned, even as Russia grinds forward in the Donbas and Ukrainian air defenses failed to stop a single ballistic missile in this week's Russian barrage. In both theaters, Snider warns, leaders convinced they can still win the unwinnable risk prolonging wars that ought to be ended. Those are today's highlights. For the full stories and more, visit theamericanconservative.com. Thank you for starting your morning with us.