Heading into the weekend
Iran
Thursday British marines seized an Iranian owned tanker illegally destined to Syria. Today the Gibraltar has extended the seizure holding 14 days. Iran has responded by threatening to capture a British ship. Not sure if related but Trump tweeted today “Iran has to be very, very careful,”.
Observation - as the sanctions are internationally recognized, any Iranian attempt to seize a British vessel would likely trigger military actions by US and British forces.
US has called for an IAEA meeting to address iran’s Declaration to increase the concentration of its uranium stockpile. Also revealed is that Iran has exceeded its allowed amount of heavy water.
RUMINT - Iran got its hands on a nonfunctional old Soviet warhead.
Observation - uranium enrichment will become an increasing issue and potential cause of war.
Iran/Syria
Russia is reported to be increasingly nervous about Iran positioning it’s Syria forces. Russian military is concerned about the safety of their troops, as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah are currently deployed near their forces in eastern Syria. Russia expecting Israel to launch more attacks in the near future.
Venezuela
Protests reportedly planned for this weekend. This is the first reported activity since Guideo’s aborted coup.
China
several thousand Chinese are protesting in Wuhan, uncertain if related to Hong Kong protests. China is cracking down hard on dissidents across the country.
Back from a week in the woods.
Iran
Continues forward with uranium enrichment and restart of heavy water plant. Threatens more apocalyptic destruction of enemies.
Iranian supported militias in Iraq are increasing falling into disfavor with the Iraq govt.
Iran attempted last Wednesday (10 July) to capture a British tanker in the Persian gulf. Apparently a nearby British warship was close enough for them to call it off. This would be in retaliation for the seizure last week of an Iranian tanker headed for Syria. Japan is also considering sending defense naval forces to the Persian gulf region - probably to protect vessels headed to Japan with oil. In response to continued threats and this attempt the US is looking at sending command and control vessels into the region to better coordinate actions. They would likely work to coordinate the developing multi-national naval force gathering to protect shipping.
On a related note, Houthi rebels have developed “Blow Fish” unmanned low-profile explosive boats in Red Sea. Two have been discovered so far. Probably targeting Saudi related vessels.
Israel
Pretty much status quo. Hamas and Hezbollah are beating their chests and Israel replies back.
Hong Kong
Protests over extradition laws (now fully pulled) are continuing.
Antifa/leftists
Poorly attended rallies against ICE were reported. The most significant is the attack on an ICE facility in Washington state by a 69 yr old antifa supporter affiliated with the John Brown Gun club - an antifa affiliated ‘militia’ movement. His opus stated he wanted to start an increasing violent assault on ICE and the govt. John Brown gun club and Redneck revolution are leftist/antifa groups that have been growing and arming themselves for conflict should CW2 become kinetic.
My observation - this could be the start of ‘lone wolf’ antifa related attacks against not only ICE but could spread to other govt agencies and conservatives.
Cyberattack?
The EU’s Galileo satellite navigation system with 22 satellites is completely off line - and no one knows why. Designed to be a backup to the US GPS system. Some suspect cyber attack - probably Iran (IMHO) - in retribution to the lack of support given Iran during the current sanctions.