"Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, the American leader said Italy had "not been of any help to us," and accused Spain of being "absolutely horrible." Both Spain and Italy have denied U.S. military planes that are taking part in the Iran war from using their bases.

The remarks follow similar threats aimed at Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz earlier this week. All three European NATO allies have been critical of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran.

...

Sánchez has styled himself as a European counterweight to Trump, while Meloni — one of Trump's European staunchest allies after his reelection in 2024 — has been distancing herself from the U.S. president recently, in a bid to save her premiership ahead of the national election expected in 2027. Merz said the U.S. is getting "humiliated" by Iran in the Middle East conflict.

"Bloomberg Reporters Javier Blas Posts On X 'BREAKING: The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve released last week >1.22 million barrels a day (~8.6 million for the week). That's the largest ever weekly release, surpassing the peak rate seen in 2022 when President Biden tapped the SPR after Russia invaded Ukraine.'"

The war drums continue to beat, yet the strategic calculus has shifted unmistakably. Nearly 70 days since the United States and its Zionist proxy launched an unprovoked war of aggression against Iran, the enemy now finds itself ensnared in its own miscalculations – bewildered, trapped, and without any dignified exit.

Washington is mired in a state of deep strategic bewilderment – trapped between failed military calculations, unacceptable exit terms, and a blockade that is steadily crumbling.

For now, the US has adopted a precarious posture: suspension of full-scale war, a waiting game, and a hybrid pressure campaign. But this is not a display of strategic strength; it is the desperate reflex of a “superpower” that miscalculated catastrophically and is now searching for a face-saving exit that simply does not exist.

To understand why the enemy is trapped, one must revisit the root causes of this strategic imbalance. The war, launched as a carefully orchestrated attempt to topple the Islamic Republic, has instead become a living testament to America's catastrophic failure on nearly every front: military, strategic, intelligence, and operational.

"The newly-formed "Project Freedom" is a competing vision for marine traffic: guided by the U.S., conducted without charge. Iran opposes the mission and has used force in an attempt to block it, including attacks on merchant ships and on U.S. Navy destroyers."

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"Trump announces a pause on US escorts of ships in Strait of Hormuz

The reversal came just two days after the president said the U.S. would guide vessels from neutral countries out of the strait."