The boy who cried we have a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz:\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>We’ve done this over and over again, but maybe this time, it’s real. Anonymous sources within the government are telling news outlets that they’ve drafted up a “memorandum of understanding” with Iran (which still needs approval from President Donald Trump) that would deal with reopening the Strait of Hormuz and extend the ceasefire.<\/p>\n

“Should an agreement be finalized, it could give Mr. Trump an off-ramp from a war that has driven up oil prices and grown deeply\u00a0unpopular<\/a> at home,” reports<\/a> The New York Times. <\/em>“It could also eventually allow Iran to regain access to frozen overseas assets<\/a> and provide a route for Tehran to get billions of dollars of oil revenue flowing again.”<\/p>\n

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Vice President J.D. Vance confirms that the administration is “very close” to a deal; one sticking point appears to be that Trump wants Iran to get rid of its enriched uranium, which might not end up happening. Mediators have, over the past few weeks, struggled to agree on a lasting deal, with ceasefires happening in tiny spurts and tensions flaring back up again. It doesn’t help that the entire region’s been running hot, so mediators sometimes struggle to figure out whether an agreement between the U.S. and Iran should also attempt to cover tensions between Israel and Lebanon (which have flared back up again this week with an attack on Beirut<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Russia hit Romania:\u00a0<\/strong>The Russian war on Ukraine has now spilled over into Galati, Romania, with a drone hitting an apartment building there, injuring two people and starting a fire.<\/p>\n

“The episode comes amid heightened fears that Russia might seek to expand the war beyond Ukraine to target a member of the NATO security alliance,” reports<\/a> The New York Times.\u00a0<\/em>(Romania is part of NATO.)<\/p>\n

Romanian President Nicusor Dan said<\/a> he would “order proportionate measures in relation to the Russian Federation” in consultation with his national defense team. “The unprecedented nature of the event demands a firm, coordinated, and appropriate response\u2014at the national, allied, and international levels.…What happened today in Gala\u021bi is the direct consequence of Russia’s war of aggression unleashed against Ukraine, the irresponsible and indiscriminate manner in which Moscow operates these weapon systems in the immediate vicinity of NATO borders, as well as the systematic disregard for international law. There is no ambiguity regarding the perpetrator or the cause of this aggression.”<\/p>\n

“Russian drones have strayed across Romania’s border a number of times during the four-year war with Ukraine,” reports<\/a> the BBC, “but it is the first time citizens from the Nato member state have been hurt.”<\/p>\n