Of heartbreaks and renewed aggression

Good morning, friends. It’s been a tumultuous 14 hours in our neighborhood: We went to bed heartbroken over Egypt’s World Cup exit against Argentina in what was initially shaping up to be the biggest upset of the tournament (and an excellent showing overall for the Pharaohs). We then woke to news of a fresh round of aggression between the US and Iran that once again throws into question the lasting power of last month’s interim peace agreement.

The US military launched a fresh round of retaliatory strikes against Iran overnight, putting last month’s interim agreement squarely at risk. Central Command says the strikes on military targets came in response to Iranian attacks on commercial vessels crossing the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week. Washington also revoked the 60-day waiver that had let Tehran sell oil openly — in USD, even to US importers — a lever it granted only last month and has now yanked back.

Iran, for its part, isn’t claiming the vessel attacks — but isn't backing down either. In a document filed with the International Maritime Organization, the UN’s shipping agency, Tehran reasserted its authority over parts of the strait. Read that as a floor, not a ceiling — the diplomatic language is doing a lot of quiet work.

A Qatari LNG carrier also got hit leaving Hormuz: The Nakilat-owned Al Rekayyat was struck by a drone or missile early Tuesday while exiting Hormuz, with a fire reported roughly 8 nautical miles east of Oman, Bloomberg reports. This attack came right as Gulf trade was tiptoeing back — with Qatar and Iran recently just restarting maritime shipping between Iran’s Dayyer port and Qatar’s Al Ruwais port on Sunday after roughly five months of disruption.

AND- Longtime readers will remember EnterpriseAM launching with editorial commentary from the then-resident seven-year-old. She is now a non-resident 18-year-old, having completed her first year of university. This morning’s Lede is Jamilah FitzPatrick’s first feature for EnterpriseAM MENA+. –Salma