On the same day, July 2 -- "We will not leave our two ships stationed in Djibouti until autumn, simply hoping that something might eventually happen." It would be better, he said, for German soldiers to spend their summer in Berlin. That statement, offered on Wednesday, was the most direct acknowledgment yet that Europe's Hormuz naval mission has quietly collapsed.

"Hormuz is defined under Iran's command, not CENTCOM." The post was a direct response to a US-convened military coordination meeting in Bahrain. Iran argues that any regional security architecture in the Strait of Hormuz must reflect what Gharibabadi called "new geopolitical realities" - which is a diplomatic way of saying Iran expects to emerge from the current negotiations a...