“Wait, did we start the fire?”
By 
Are we shooting people today?
Two ships came under attack in the Strait of Hormuz as tensions flared in the waterway, after President Trump said the U.S. would extend its cease-fire with Iran and continue its blockade until Tehran presents “a unified proposal.”
An Iranian gunboat fired on a containership northeast of Oman, before a second vessel reported being fired at off the coast of Iran. The two incidents within hours of each other demonstrate that while the aerial war between the U.S. and Iran is on pause, the fight for control of the strait continues.
Trump’s move to extend the cease-fire came after Vice President JD Vance canceled plans to travel to Pakistan for negotiations with Iran over ending the war, highlighting uncertainty about future peace talks.
The U.S. is expected to maintain economic pressure on Iran, even as Trump says he will hold off on resuming military strikes for now, according to U.S. officials. The pressure campaign involves sanctions, a blockade of Iranian ports and an effort to seize Iran-linked ships in waters around the world.
US blockade is leaky:
USS Spruance is shooting people:
AU.S. warship striking another vessel with its deck gun is very rare occurrence in modern times. When the Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Spruance opened fire on the Iranian cargo ship Touska on April 19th with its 5-inch MK 45 gun, it marked the first time in almost four decades something like that had happened. In fact, the prior incident took place almost exactly 38 years ago to the day in the same general vicinity against the same enemy.
“From what we are tracking, the last known irrefutable instance of a Navy ship firing its deck gun at another ship was on April 18, 1988 during Operation Praying Mantis,” a U.S. Navy official told us, referring to a duel between the U.S. and Iranian navies in the Persian Gulf.
I don’t think Iraq really needs anymore destabilizing right now:
The Trump administration has suspended U.S. dollar shipments to Iraq and frozen security cooperation programs with its military, escalating the pressure on Baghdad to dismantle powerful Iranian-backed militias, said Iraqi and U.S. officials.
A cargo-plane delivery of nearly $500 million in U.S. banknotes, the proceeds from Iraqi oil sales from Federal Reserve Bank of New York accounts, was blocked recently by Treasury Department officials because of U.S. concerns about the militias, some of the officials said.
It was the second scheduled shipment of dollars to the Central Bank of Iraq delayed by the U.S. since the start of the Iran war in late February, the U.S. and Iraqi officials said. It came after weeks of militia attacks on American facilities in Iraq and neighboring countries in a show of support for Tehran.
The U.S. has informed Baghdad that it was also suspending funding for some counterterrorism and armed forces training programs until the militia attacks stop and Iraqi officials take steps to dismantle the armed groups, the U.S. and Iraqi officials said.