The Iran Brief — May 9, 2026

Iran's Foreign Ministry today condemned US strikes on two Iranian oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, calling the attacks illegal. At the same time, Washington says those vessels were attempting to violate an ongoing US blockade. Both governments are still publicly calling the ceasefire intact. That contradiction — active strikes on one hand, an active ceasefire on the other — is the central tension running through everything we'll cover today. Read the full written brief and learn about paid multi-country monitoring on Substack: https://threatsandtrends.substack.com/