Day: September 29, 2026

Fmr. U.S. National Counterterrorism Center director Joe Kent says sanctions and blockades on their own just teach the other side to widen the target list across every maritime route it can reach.

His answer is surprisingly practical: waive the restrictions on pilgrim travel into Iraq, which takes real political heat off Baghdad without giving up an inch on counterterrorism.

Nobody gets a medal for that kind of fix, which is probably why nobody in Washington has tried it.

@joekent16jan19
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  Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal)🇮🇶🇮🇷 8 US Marines were reportedly wounded on a contracted ship in the Strait of Hormuz, and Kataib Hezbollah says it will shoot at aircraft over Iraq if flights to Iran don’t resume by October 1

The Marines were aboard a US-contracted vessel, not a warship, when an Iranian cruise missile hit on September 14, according to NBC citing three officials.

Joe Kent’s guess at what that means is that Washington is contracting Gulf-owned tankers and putting troops with rudimentary drone defenses on deck to keep oil moving, which gives Iran an argument that every ship in the strait is a military target.

The Iraq ultimatum is the second front opening.

The militia says it will close Iraqi crossings with any country honoring the American embargo and will warn hostile aircraft, then try to bring them down.

Kent’s fix is small and obvious: a waiver for pilgrim flights between Qom and the shrines at Najaf and Karbala, so Baghdad isn’t forced to choose.

The larger point runs through everything.

The better the squeeze works, the harder Iran hits back.

@joekent16jan19
Video
  —  https://x.com/MarioNawfal/status/2104712067009720700