"Six Months In: Iran's War, a Collapsed Ceasefire, and a Shrinking List of American Demands

The war, six months in The US and Israel have been at war with Iran since roughly February 2026, when a strike killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His son, Mojtaba Khamenei, took over — and hasn't been seen publicly since. Mojtaba recently reshuffled Iran's military leadership, naming Ali Abdollahi as armed forces chief of staff, Ahmad Vahidi as IRGC commander-in-chief, and Ali Azmaei as IRGC Navy commander. (CNN) A ceasefire just collapsed A memorandum of understanding meant to end the fighting expired this past Monday, with neither side willing to extend it — each accuses the other of violating it for weeks. (Al Jazeera) The original deal had the US lifting sanctions, issuing oil export waivers, and unfreezing Iranian funds, in exchange for Iran clearing mines from the Strait of Hormuz and letting ships pass free of charge for 60 days. (Al Jazeera) Iran's foreign minister said this weekend they haven't decided to restart talks, though Qatar and Pakistan are still shuttling messages. The economic squeeze Food inflation in Iran has hit nearly 130% over the past year, and people are reportedly paying for food and medicine in installments. (CNN) The US has piled on eight rounds of sanctions this year targeting Iran's "shadow-banking" system (CNN) — Washington claims it's "suffocating" the economy; Iran insists it won't be strangled. Shifting war aims Perhaps the most telling detail: the list of US goals — Iranian surrender, regime change, denuclearization, ending support for Hezbollah — has quietly narrowed. (CNN) VP JD Vance recently boiled it down to just two things: keeping oil and gas cheap for Americans, and making sure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. (CNN) That's a big retreat from "regime change." The Strait of Hormuz standoff Trump claims the US has swept the strait for mines and has full naval control, but shipping traffic has stayed "subdued" and weakened further over the weekend, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler. (CNN) Want me to dig into any one thread — the succession question around Mojtaba Khamenei, the economic collapse, or where ceasefire