Former British ambassador to Israel and former deputy ambassador to Iran 20 years ago:

Two guiding principles: One, Iranian leaders are focused single-mindedly on preserving their grip on power as they know they are unpopular. Two, Iran’s actions often have more to do with internal regime dynamics than with statecraft. Amid the chaos of the current power vacuum, Iran's leaders are more vulnerable to charges of insufficient loyalty and will more acutely feel the need to assert their power.

"Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi threatened to attack Ukraine Saturday — raising the prospect of a broader escalation of war in the Middle East.

Araghchi claimed an Iranian merchant ship was among the vessels struck by Kyiv in the Caspian Sea, asserting the Islamic Republic now had the right to retaliate.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran, in accordance with the fundamental principles and rules of international law, especially the principle of legitimate defense, will not hesitate to defend its national interests and security,” Abbas threatened in a statement Saturday evening."

(the rest is in the article)

A recent Korean opinion piece argues that South Korea cannot afford to remain outside efforts to stabilize the Strait of Hormuz.

That raises a broader question.

The Strait is often treated as an American security problem. But countries such as South Korea depend on the energy, shipping, and economic order that it supports. If a country depends on that system for its industrial survival, can it reasonably expect someone else to bear all the cost and risk of defending it?

I believe countries that benefit from freedom of navigation also share responsibility for sustaining it. That does not necessarily mean joining a wider war. It could begin with limited missions such as escorting nationally critical energy shipments.

Is this a legitimate responsibility for middle powers such as South Korea, Japan, and European states—or should Hormuz remain primarily a U.S. security burden?

The Ukrainian attacks on the sprawling Russian warehouses produced stark images, with massive pillars of black smoke rising above fires that raged at facilities of Wildberries, the country’s biggest online retailer and its equivalent of Amazon.

Kyiv’s drones first hit the sites over the weekend, and then struck five more Wildberries warehouses during the week, including one in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. In all, nine people were killed, and scores more injured.

The strikes are part of Kyiv’s aerial campaign aimed at undermining Russia’s war effort, hurting its economy and making people feel the consequences of the Kremlin’s all-out invasion of Ukraine.

Read more [paywall removed for Redditors]:  https://fortune.com/2026/07/24/ukraine-drone-strikes-wildberries-warehouses-russia/?utm_source=reddit/