With All Eyes on Iran, North Korea Nuked Up

The Strait of Hormuz remains closed despite weekend hopes for a reopening, and President Trump called Iran's position "a total violation of the ceasefire agreement" in a series of social media posts Sunday, threatening to "knock out all of Iran's British" — a line that left markets uncertain as a three-week stock rally brought U.S. indexes to record highs. Meanwhile, with global attention fixed on the Iran conflict, North Korea has quietly accelerated its nuclear program to a point where international mechanisms to stop it have effectively been eliminated.

Iran Talks Stall as Strait Stays Closed

The U.S. and Iran left their last round of talks "very far apart on key issues," according to the reporting, particularly around Iran's future uranium enrichment — a sticking point from the beginning. The U.S. is now pushing for three demands: that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz for commercial shipping, freeze enrichment of uranium for at least 20 years, and agree to remove its stockpiles of enriched uranium. Iranian state media has called these demands "excessive" and considers Washington's blockade of the strait an act of war.