分类： politics

A new report from The Wall Street Journal has brought urgent attention to a growing gap in U.S. military stockpiles, driven by extensive weapons expenditure in ongoing operations against Iran. Multiple senior U.S. officials have raised alarms that the heavy drawdown of munitions leaves America ill-prepared to execute its longstanding defense commitments to Taiwan in the event of a potential Chinese incursion in the near term. According to the report published Thursday, this munitions shortage would not only hinder U.S. military operations but also put American service members at substantially elevated risk if a conflict over Taiwan broke out in the near future.

The scale of depletion is significant: U.S. forces alone have expended between 1,500 and 2,000 air defense interceptors during strikes and defensive operations against Iran, alongside more than 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles, one of America’s primary long-range offensive weapons. What makes the shortage particularly pressing is the extended timeline to replenish these stockpiles: defense industry production chains currently require up to six years to replace the munitions already used in the Iran campaign. This production lag has forced senior U.S. national security officials to open discussions about revising existing operational plans for Taiwan’s defense, an issue that remains the top strategic priority for U.S. policymakers in the Indo-Pacific.

The ripple effects of this munitions shortage extend far beyond the Indo-Pacific, reshaping security dynamics across the Middle East. When the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran launched earlier this year in June 2025, regional U.S. allies including Gulf Cooperation Council states requested urgent resupplies of Patriot air defense interceptors to fend off retaliatory Iranian drone and missile strikes. However, the U.S. turned these requests down, as its own stockpiles were already drained supporting Israeli air defense operations during the opening phase of the war. As the conflict has dragged on, Iran has launched thousands of drones and missiles against Gulf states, with Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates enduring the heaviest wave of attacks, and the U.S. has been unable to fill the growing security gap.

This vacuum created by U.S. stockpile shortages has been filled by an unexpected actor: Ukraine. On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Kyiv has signed new security agreements with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar focused specifically on countering Iranian drone threats. Ukraine has first-hand experience countering the same Iranian-origin drones that Russia has deployed extensively against Ukrainian targets throughout the full-scale invasion, and has developed lower-cost anti-drone technologies that outperform more expensive American systems like the Patriot in this specific niche, making it an attractive alternative partner for Gulf states.

The strategic ramifications of this depletion are already shifting the global balance of power. The Trump administration has acknowledged the need to ramp up domestic defense production, and the Pentagon unveiled its new 10-year $1.5 trillion defense budget proposal this week – the largest in U.S. history – designed to expand production capacity and rebuild stockpiles. Even so, many independent defense analysts argue that the ongoing Iran war has already handed China a major strategic advantage. By draining U.S. conventional arsenal and drawing American strategic attention and resources back to the Middle East, the conflict has strengthened China’s diplomatic and military influence across the globe.

Recent reports have further highlighted this shifting dynamic. Following the June 2025 Iran war, Middle East Eye documented that China completed sales of air defense systems to Iran, and later followed up with deliveries of unmanned aerial vehicles. The New York Times added to these reports Saturday, confirming that U.S. intelligence assessments indicate China may have also provided man-portable shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles to the Iranian military. These developments mark a significant deepening of military ties between Beijing and Tehran, a shift that would have been far less likely if the U.S. had not been distracted and depleated by its own operations in the region.

A high-profile trial of six Palestine Action activists opened this week at London’s Woolwich Crown Court, with shocking testimony about police use of force and violent confrontations during an August 2024 raid on an Israeli-owned arms factory near Bristol.

On the first day of witness testimony Thursday, the court heard detailed accounts of the injuries sustained by 30-year-old Leona Kamio, a nursery school teacher from Swansea and one of the six defendants facing joint criminal damage charges linked to the break-in at Elbit Systems’ Filton facility. A medical examination following her arrest documented multiple injuries: taser burns to her right arm and right hip, a bruise to her chin, a small scratch, and a distinct wound to her right hand inflicted by a sledgehammer. Kamio told the court she cannot identify who caused the sledgehammer wound.

Body-worn camera footage from arresting officer PC Peter Adams played in court shows Adams deploying his taser against Kamio during the raid. After being stunned, Kamio was tackled to the ground, where she hit her chin on the floor and went rigid. Kamio described the experience of being tasered as “not good, very painful”, adding that Adams twisted her arm behind her back and attempted to drag her up by her wrist while she screamed in pain. The footage captures Kamio shouting “you’re fucking hitting me” as Adams attempted to place her in handcuffs, calling the officer an “idiot” in response to his own verbal provocation. Kamio emphasized she was not faking her pain or resisting arrest, joking to the court “I failed drama” to underscore the authenticity of her reaction.

Alongside Kamio, the other defendants facing criminal damage charges are Charlotte Head, 29, Jordan Devlin, 31, Fatema Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and 23-year-old Samuel Corner. Corner faces an additional charge of intentionally causing grievous bodily harm, for allegedly striking two police officers with a sledgehammer during the confrontation.

Testifying earlier on Thursday, Corner – an autistic Oxford graduate with an ADHD diagnosis – explained his actions as a reaction to the panic and disorientation caused by Pava, a synthetic incapacitant pepper spray sprayed at him by PC Aaron Buxton. Corner told the court the spray produced an “all consuming” stinging and burning effect that left him unable to see or focus clearly. He added that he did not initially recognize the approaching responders as police officers, and believed they were aggressive security guards intent on harming him and his fellow activists.

“I was scared about what they were going to do to us, especially the women,” Corner told the court. He explained that when he heard screaming and saw what he believed was a large male security guard attacking a fellow female activist, he acted instinctively. He has since acknowledged the person he struck was Sergeant Kate Evans, a female police officer who was not attacking Rogers, the activist he thought was in danger.

Corner admitted he raised his sledgehammer and struck Evans twice, but said he had no intent to cause her serious harm. When pressed by prosecutor Deanna Heer KC on whether attacking a police officer with a sledgehammer was unreasonable, he responded: “it seemed reasonable to do something and I had to act quite quickly. If I had thought about what it was going to do to her, I agree it would have been unreasonable.” When asked if he understood the severity of harm he could have caused, he replied “I genuinely didn’t.” Footage also shows Corner striking PC Buxton twice with the sledgehammer, though Corner says he has no memory of the encounter.

Multiple character witnesses have described Corner as a gentle, compassionate person with a strong commitment to justice who finds any form of violence abhorrent. The court heard he has even helped fellow prisoners improve their literacy skills while in pre-trial detention.

Kamio, for her part, told the court how she joined Palestine Action in March 2024, after receiving an email from the direct action group about its campaign to close Elbit Systems facilities across the UK. She was soon added to a Signal messaging group to plan the Filton raid, which the group identified as Elbit’s most important UK site, opened in July 2023 by the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom.

The activists’ stated goal, Kamio told the court, was to remain inside the facility for as long as possible to destroy as many weapons components as possible. Organizers had told the group security would not enter the facility, but head of security Nigel Shaw burst into the area within the first five minutes, an encounter that left Kamio frightened. “He looked so angry. Everything about his body language and face was just rage. He was charging towards us,” she said, adding that she believed Shaw was holding his umbrella in a position to strike her. She said she shouted at him to “fuck off” and told him confronting activists was “above your paygrade” – that stopping them was a job for police, not private security. She only later realized Shaw had been injured and was bleeding.

Kamio added that a second security guard, Angelo Volante, appeared extremely unpredictable, swinging an angle grinder and holding a hammer. “I panicked because I’m at Elbit, this is a very evil company, the people that work there describe themselves as being the backbone of the Israeli military,” she explained. She stressed she never intended to harm anyone, and had the sledgehammer taken from her before she could use it against anyone. She also reaffirmed her belief that the action was necessary: “I came here to do something to stop people from suffering. Working with children, I would put one of their lives before any property.”

Kamio’s employer at the Swansea nursery where she works submitted a character reference confirming that her extended pretrial detention has “upset and confused” the children in her care, and that “I cannot imagine her ever hurting anyone.”

The trial, which is being closely watched by activists on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is set to continue in the coming days.

Truce talks aimed at de-escalating conflict between the United States and Iran have reached an impasse, with top Iranian leaders directly blaming Washington’s bad-faith tactics and uncompromising posture for the breakdown, as escalating military and maritime moves in the strategic Strait of Hormuz threaten global energy supplies. As of April 23, 2026, Washington has unilaterally extended its proposed ceasefire on its own terms, but ongoing exchanges of attacks and counterattacks have continued to disrupt critical commercial shipping through the key waterway, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil flows daily.

In a public social media statement released Wednesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian pushed back against US claims that Iran has refused to negotiate in good faith, emphasizing that the Islamic Republic has consistently remained open to meaningful dialogue. “Bad faith, siege and threats are the main obstacles to genuine negotiation,” Pezeshkian said. “The world is witnessing your hypocritical empty talk and the contradiction between your claims and your actions.”

Hours after Pezeshkian’s remarks, US President Donald Trump issued his own provocative social media statement, announcing he had ordered the US Navy to “shoot and kill” any small Iranian vessels that attempt to block passage through the strait. “There is to be no hesitation,” Trump added, doubling down on his administration’s aggressive posture toward Iran.

The day before Trump’s order, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the White House cites inconsistent messaging from Tehran as a core barrier to progress, noting that US leadership retains full authority to end the unilateral ceasefire extension at any time. “We see a lot of different messaging and rhetoric,” Leavitt said, adding that the US maintains full control of the regional situation and holds significant leverage over the Iranian government. “Not only have they been significantly weakened and obliterated militarily, but they are losing economically and financially every single moment that passes with this blockade. So the president is going to continue to lead the free world, to run the United States of America as we await the Iranian response,” she said.

In response to the ongoing US blockade and escalating rhetoric, Iranian legislative and security bodies are now reviewing a new framework to assert full sovereign control over the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran’s official Mehr News Agency. Fada Hossein Maleki, a senior member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, confirmed Thursday that both parliament and the Supreme National Security Council are conducting joint reviews of proposals for the strategic waterway.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a Wednesday social media post that any meaningful ceasefire can only function if Washington ends its maritime blockade, which Tehran argues is holding the global economy hostage. Ghalibaf stressed that reopening full unimpeded navigation through the strait is impossible while Washington flagrantly violates the terms of the proposed truce. “They did not achieve their goals through military aggression, nor will they through bullying. The only way forward is to recognize the rights of the Iranian nation,” he added.

On Thursday, Iran’s state-run media outlets Islamic Republic News Agency and Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting released the first public footage of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGC-N) operations in the strait, directly contradicting recent claims from the Trump administration that Iran’s naval capabilities have been completely destroyed. The IRGC confirmed it has seized two foreign commercial vessels for violating Iranian shipping restrictions in the waterway, and opened fire on a third vessel that failed to comply with orders.

Tasnim News Agency, another Iranian state outlet, also reported Thursday that the first revenue collected from new shipping tolls imposed on vessels passing through the strait has been deposited in the Central Bank of Iran, marking the formal launch of the country’s new toll regime for the waterway.

For its part, US Central Command confirmed Thursday that American forces have diverted or ordered 31 vessels back to port as part of Washington’s ongoing economic blockade against Iran. Most of the redirected vessels are oil tankers, US officials said, and the vast majority have complied with US orders to avoid the region.

A recent Pentagon assessment, first reported by The Washington Post, estimates that it would take up to six months to clear all naval mines laid by Iran from the strait, a timeline that would keep global oil prices elevated for an extended period. International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol confirmed the severe impact of the ongoing conflict on global energy markets, noting that the world is currently losing 13 million barrels of oil supply per day due to disrupted shipping and production tied to the confrontation.

On Thursday morning, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan touched down in London, kicking off a high-stakes two-day diplomatic visit that will culminate in the signing of a landmark UK-Turkey strategic partnership framework agreement by Thursday afternoon.

Fidan’s first scheduled engagement of the visit is a formal meeting with British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper set for 4 p.m. local time. While the full scope of the upcoming strategic partnership framework remains under wraps ahead of the signing, preliminary outlines of the agenda have emerged from diplomatic and media sources.

Turkish state-affiliated broadcaster TRT World has confirmed that Fidan plans to open the discussion by highlighting the steady upward momentum of bilateral ties between Ankara and London, and to lay out Turkey’s ambition to deepen cooperation across multiple priority areas. One key bilateral issue Fidan is expected to raise is the ongoing delays Turkish residents in the UK face when processing applications for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), a long-term residency status that impacts hundreds of thousands of Turkish citizens currently living in Britain.

Defense industry collaboration and expanded energy sector partnership are also set to be core topics on the meeting agenda, with both sides expected to formalize a shared commitment to advancing work in these two critical areas. Beyond bilateral concerns, Fidan and Cooper will also turn their attention to regional and global tensions, particularly the ongoing standoff between the United States and Iran. The two top diplomats are expected to explore pathways to advancing a diplomatic resolution to the conflict and align on shared goals for de-escalation.

This visit marks the second high-level meeting between Fidan and Cooper in less than a week, following Cooper’s attendance at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in southern Turkey last weekend, where the pair held preliminary talks. Beyond his meeting with Cooper, Fidan’s packed two-day schedule includes engagements with British members of parliament, a public address at the University of Oxford’s Global History Centre as part of the university’s Changing Global Order Program, and a closed-door meeting with representatives of the UK’s large Turkish community, which is estimated to number between 350,000 and 500,000 people across the country.

The visit also comes on the heels of stark remarks Fidan delivered at the Antalya Forum regarding shifting security alliances in the Eastern Mediterranean. During that appearance, Fidan warned that Muslim nations across the region are growing increasingly alarmed by the expanding military partnership between Israel, Greece, and Cyprus, noting that Greece’s participation in the alliance is notable given its status as a fellow NATO member. “Israel has been pursuing an overtly expansionist foreign policy in recent months, so Turkey’s security concerns are not without justification,” Fidan stated at the forum.

In recent months, Turkey has worked to rebuild and expand regional diplomacy, launching regular formal dialogue mechanisms with key regional powers including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Pakistan to coordinate on shared regional security and policy challenges. This current diplomatic outreach to the UK represents another step in Ankara’s broader strategy of strengthening ties with both regional and Western actors amid a shifting global security landscape.