SIX MONTHS IN, THE DECAPITATION STRATEGY WORKED AND CHANGED NOTHING

Khamenei killed February 28, Larijani killed March 17 1RTN Six months ago, Iran was supposed to collapse. Here’s what happened instead. The strikes landed. The state did not fall. Authority shifted to the IRGC and the Supreme National Security Council, which contracted and hardened rather than fractured 1RTN Six months ago, Iran was supposed to collapse. Here’s what happened instead. The anticipated popular uprising never materialised either: foreign bombs turned out to be a terrible recruitment tool for domestic opposition, and when protests did erupt in January, the new Basij commander suppressed them with live fire 3YNT Trump promised ‘regime change’: the hard-line core that has taken control of Iran. The painful irony for Washington is that the strikes eliminated the figures most capable of cutting a deal. The people now running Iran were attacked twice during active negotiations 3YNT Trump promised ‘regime change’: the hard-line core that has taken control of Iran. They are not in a hurry to negotiate again.

Mohsen Rezaei, the new Supreme National Security Council secretary, posted publicly this week that "if the economic war continues, not a single drop of oil will be exported" from the Persian Gulf 3YNT Trump promised ‘regime change’: the hard-line core that has taken control of Iran. He posted it on X, which makes it hard to quietly walk back. Iran's Oil Ministry is also reporting that oil revenues for the first four months of the Iranian fiscal year hit 99 percent of budget projections, with enough foreign-currency reserves to cover expenditure through December 5AAM Iran transfers $7.5B in oil revenues to central bank despite US naval blockade: Report. The IRGC Navy flatly contradicted US claims that Hormuz is open, saying all vessels must coordinate with Tehran before transiting 4TSN IRGC Navy Highlights Decisive Control over Strait of Hormuz. The blockade is squeezing Iran. It is not bankrupting it on schedule.

Treasury proposed Friday to revoke correspondent banking access for Banque Misr's UAE branches, which allegedly processed roughly $1.8 billion across 103 companies tied to Iranian shadow networks between January 2024 and June 2026 7GLT US imposes new economic sanctions on Iran 9JPO US Treasury revokes 'critical node' of Iranian access to US dollars in latest Tehran sanctions. The action is limited to the UAE branches, not the Egyptian parent, and Egypt's central bank moved quickly to say other Egyptian institutions are unaffected 9JPO US Treasury revokes 'critical node' of Iranian access to US dollars in latest Tehran sanctions, which tells you Cairo is worried about contagion. One Gulf branch does not collapse Iran's financial system, but every node closed forces Tehran to route through smaller, more expensive, and more opaque channels, which is the point.

The Pentagon is planning to end military funding to the Kurdish Peshmerga when its agreement expires September 30, according to four sources who spoke to the BBC 10BBM US plans to cut off military aid to key Middle East ally, BBC told. The Peshmerga, roughly 180,000 troops, received $61 million this year in weapons, training, and stipends. Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones into Iraqi Kurdistan since the war began 10BBM US plans to cut off military aid to key Middle East ally, BBC told. Abandoning a loyal partner while it is actively being attacked by the enemy you are fighting is the kind of decision that gets studied in foreign policy classrooms for a generation. Every US partner in the region is watching.

Iran's president will meet Putin on Monday in Kyrgyzstan, on the sidelines of a summit that also includes Erdogan and Xi 11MHR Pezeshkian to meet Putin on September 1: Russian official. The SCO gathering is where the alternative architecture to US economic pressure gets quietly reinforced. Watch the Pezeshkian-Putin bilateral specifically: any language on financial cooperation, energy routing, or defence commitments would punch a structural hole in Operation Economic Outcast that secondary sanctions alone cannot plug. Six months of maximum US pressure is precisely the kind of moment that makes Moscow's offers look attractive to Tehran.