The US is pushing defense companies to accelerate weapons production as the Iran war drains through their missile supplies. Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg gave companies three weeks to lay out how they would drive significantly faster delivery schedules and increased production for critical capabilities. Years-long development cycles are not acceptable, Mr. Feinberg added in the memo.
We must dramatically accelerate our program schedules and expand our production capacity now. This comes as the head of Iran’s supreme national security council, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, said the Strait of Hormuz will remain shut until the US meets six conditions. The conditions include permanently ending the war with Iran and its armed allies in the region, lifting the naval blockade of Iranian ports, withdrawing its military from the area, completely compensating Iran for war damage, lifting sanctions, and unconditionally releasing frozen assets.
Iran is currently not holding negotiations with the US and is only communicating through intermediaries, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has said. He added that talks can’t resume until Washington makes amends for what he described as violations of a Memorandum of Understanding between them. Iran’s Mehr news agency reported that Araghchi said mediators were still trying to find ways to restart talks.
President Donald Trump’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Dan Caine, is seeking an off-ramp from the ongoing war in Iran, according to a new report. Caine has privately told other top administration officials that the country needs to find a way to exit the war, according to CNN, which cited three sources familiar with the matter. The economic fallout from the regional conflict has driven up food and fuel prices, while more than four months of conflict with Iran has driven renewed escalation in Yemen, compounding one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
More than half the population were already facing hunger, but slow progress from world leaders to re-open the Strait has caused months of disruption to global food and energy supplies, disrupting humanitarian aid operations.
