President Trump excoriated War Sec Hegseth, WaPo scoops, for apparently misleading him on the Iranian war’s depletion of US missiles. Scroll down this column for more on a (maybe) impending deal between Iran and Oman. [White House photo]
><Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay argues in the right column that Abdul El-Sayed’s win Tuesday in the Democratic primary race for senator from Michigan hands MAGA Republican Mike Rogers a win. Contributing Pundit K.E. Bell disagrees, in the left column.
Iran War, Week 20 – Will there be a 21st?
Iran and Oman – without the US – have reached the “final stages” of an agreement for a commercial route through the Strait of Hormuz, Semafor reports. The deal would make a path to enter the Strait near Iran and exit near Oman, according to the report.
But a dysfunctional Iranian regime exacerbated by “very difficult” interaction with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who was “gravely wounded” in the initial US attack on Iran late last February, is complicating negotiations with Oman, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Iranian state television.
President Trump’s last flip between negotiating a deal with Iran and conducting the biggest US military attack “since World War II” was further weakened by reports that our military has used up virtually all its long-range precision missiles, reported by Reuters Tuesday.
On Wednesday, The Washington Post scooped that Trump and his war/Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “clashed” at last weekend’s Camp David meeting (pictured above) when the president told the war secretary he thought the munitions shortage “had been fixed.” (WaPo quoted two people familiar with the matter on condition of anonymity.)
Mideast advisor to the George W. Bush administration Michael Singh told NPR’s Michel Martin on Morning Edition Thursday that Iran considered Trump’s WWII-level threats not credible.
“We’re nearing a deal it seems that would hand Iran much more control of the Strait and is frankly better for Iran than the deal they rejected last week,” Singh said.
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Meanwhile, At the Pump – National average of unleaded regular is $4.0633, off 1.68-cents from Wednesday and up $1.2613 over February 27, the AAA reports. Diesel comes in at $5.3474 Thursday, or 1.48 cents lower than Wednesday and +$1.6236
over late February. –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa