WEEKLY BRIEF: WASHINGTON DROPS THE DEAL AND TEHRAN TURNS TO MINES

During the week of 9–15 November, Washington walked away from a deal with Iran without walking away from the siege. After a White House meeting with Qatar's prime minister produced nothing, Donald Trump declared that the United States does not need an agreement and took JD Vance off the file, while the naval blockade and Task Force Iron Gate stayed in place. Tehran answered at sea and in the nuclear file: the Revolutionary Guard blames mines for fires on several tankers in Hormuz, it sent two drones towards US forces in Bahrain and the Assembly of Experts called for a review of Iran's membership of the NPT. Oil fell for a second week, gas rose, and in Abu Dhabi Russia and Ukraine agreed on little beyond a prisoner swap. Washington drops the deal, not the siege The diplomatic track that Qatar had kept alive since the US midterms closed in four days. On Monday Trump hosted Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani without announcing any agreement, and Marco Rubio called Iran's t...