CENTCOM seeks 'ideas to pressure and punish Iran'

• Foreign Policy: The administration has repeatedly fallen prey to the sunk cost fallacy. In the face of this strategic failure, Trump has mostly acted as if the problem were one of scale or duration. In reality, US negotiating leverage has diminished as the war has progressed and will likely continue to erode as the US exhausts its munitions and domestic political consequences mount. New Houthi attacks on Saudi oil exports add precarity to a war that has already induced global economic shocks, damaged US credibility, and put America’s regional allies in the middle of a conflict they advocated against.

• The Financial Times confirms that the US has withdrawn some of its presence across West Asia after Iranian attacks. The US is now fighting at a pace that’s set by Iran. Washington withdrew its forces from Kuwait, Erbil (Iraq), and Bahrain, and redeployed them to Germany, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Crete, Ovda, Ramon, and Ben Gurion.  

• Washington Post notes the plummeting public opinion of the war: The Iran war is increasingly unpopular among the US public, and members of Congress - from both political parties - have grown frustrated with the administration as top officials struggle to articulate a plan for ending the conflict on terms deemed favorable to the US. There is a deepening worry among many Republicans, particularly, that the war’s impact on the price of gas, food and other goods will cost the party in November’s midterm elections.

• Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson: Negotiations between Iran and the Sultanate of Oman to regulate safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz are ongoing. Our negotiations with Oman focus on establishing safe routes for ships to and from the Strait of Hormuz. The talks with the Sultanate of Oman at both the technical and political levels are positive.
• Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian denied rumors that he would resign, saying he would remain in office and continue his work.
• The were recently rumors that Trump wants to cut electricity to Tehran in its entirety, punishing the Iranian people he so valiantly professed to be defending from the “regime” he now can’t even locate. But it is this very misunderstanding of the Iranian people that is fatefully leading Trump into his Waterloo moment. 

• Hebrew Channel 24: Gulf Disagreement and Disappointment with Trump Behind Cancellation of Nighttime Attack on Iran. Recent developments have revealed growing disagreements between the Gulf states and the US administration regarding how to handle the escalation with Iran, at a time when the region's countries are increasingly disappointed with Trump's positions.
• The US Central Command (CENTCOM) has asked military analysts to develop “unconventional” ideas for punishing Iran, CNN reported. “We are looking for new creative and unconventional ways to pressure and punish Iran,” a US Central Command intelligence officer wrote in a message to a group of military analysts. According to CNN, the request highlights the limited and potentially politically unpalatable options available to the Washington administration in dealing with Iran. Meanwhile, a source told Fox News that CENTCOM was prepared to consider any new proposals. The US military believes the strategy toward Iran requires reassessment.

• Israeli occupiers on Sunday cut electricity to a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank by attacking power infrastructure, while the Israeli army arrested five Palestinians during raids across several areas. Official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that a group of occupiers attacked Madama in the northern West Bank, near the city of Nablus, cutting and damaging electricity poles, causing power outages in the northern part of the town. 

• Sovereignista: While Israel cannot strike Iran, it is killing people in Gaza and West Bank, in the most cruel manner.  A witness states:  'Today, I saw a Palestinian child picking up the brain of another Palestinian child. Yes, the actual brain. He used a small rag to pick it up. I also saw an infant ejected from his mother’s womb, due to the sheer power of the explosives Israel used in Gaza last night. But the most inhumane thing was witnessing someone open up a baby’s soft pink onesie – only to discover pieces of bones and diaper inside. Israel evaporated her little body with chemical weapons that are internationally banned.'

• Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine: Policeman attacks a one legged Ukrainian veteran. 

• Drop Site News is reporting Trump’s former campaign manager Brad Parscale has been quietly working with Israel to help influence how artificial intelligence chatbots talk about Gaza. Israel awarded Parscale’s firm a $46.5 million contract for the project, which involves creating websites and blog posts about Israel. The target audience for the sites is AI chatbots like Claude or ChatGPT. When Drop Site asked one chatbot whether it would be beneficial for the US to enhance military cooperation with Israel, the chatbot responded with a one-word answer: “Yes.” The top source cited was a website created by Parscale’s firm for the Israeli government.

• Israel demands freedom to strike areas of the Gaza Strip set to be handed over to a temporary International Stabilization Force under the emerging agreement with Trump’s Board of Peace, a source familiar with the matter told Haaretz.

• China will launch its first weekly container service between China and Europe via the Northern Sea Route. The voyages will begin in August, with a sea transit time of approximately 20 days. The destination is Felixstowe (UK), with potential stops at other European ports. The distance between Shanghai and Rotterdam via the Arctic is approximately 12,800 km, while the distance via the Suez Canal is over 20,000 km. However, on most world maps, the "Arctic Express No. 1" appears longer due to the Mercator projection. 

• Stars & Stripes: Iran war brain injuries could outlast US troops’ return to duty. More than 600 service members have been wounded in action during the five-month war with Iran, with a majority suffering traumatic brain injuries, according to statements from the Pentagon and US Central Command.
• Matthew Whitaker, the US representative to NATO, said that a potential deal between the US and Ukraine regarding a license to manufacture Patriot missiles will not be finalized by this winter.