Free Republic

Is the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important chokepoints, returning to normal? Crude oil exports through the strait have returned to prewar levels, according to CNBC-cited data. Seven-day averages, as of last Monday, were 13.5 million barrels per day through the strait, roughly matching the prewar crude baseline. More notably, total crude exports from the Middle East region, including the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, reached 19.5 million bpd—above the prewar baseline of roughly 17 million bpd. The uptick in exports has occurred despite tumultuous circumstances, i.e., Iran repeatedly declaring Hormuz closed, US naval blockades, and the...

Yesterday, the UN Security Council finally reacted to the new intelligence indicating that — surprise! — Iran continues to lie about its work on nuclear technology. After a smuggled laptop showed significant new evidence of Iranian deception on weapons research, including a video of the work being done under the nose of the IAEA, the UNSC took action … in the usual manner. It passed an expansion of sanctions that the Washington Post describes as “watered down” and mostly voluntary: The United Nations imposed new sanctions on Iran yesterday, capping a year of difficult diplomacy that may represent the Bush...