🇺🇸❌🇮🇷 — NEW: U.S. Central Command says it disabled the Curaçao-flagged tanker M/T Belma as it sailed toward Iran’s Kharg Island earlier today.

➡️ CENTCOM said the unladen vessel ignored repeated warnings before a U.S. aircraft fired Hellfire missiles into its smokestack, stopping it from continuing toward the Iranian port.

🗳 🇺🇸 🇮🇱 103 democrats voted to cut off aid to Israel. 10 present.

Nearly half of House Democrats voted to cut off aid to Israel Wednesday, underscoring a seismic shift in political support for the longtime U.S. ally.

The amendment to a State Department spending bill would have eliminated $3.3 billion in funding, and thanks to strong Republican support for the Jewish state, it failed 314-104. But the vote served as a moment of reckoning for House Democrats who have had to confront years of voter outrage about Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza.

“There’s also a real sense that the status quo cannot continue,” the House’s No. 2 Democrat, Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, said in an interview before voting for the amendment.

The vote came after months of contentious primary elections where progressive candidates toppled incumbent after incumbent by publicly eschewing spending from pro-Israel groups and promising to recast America’s relationship with the nation.

Just over two years ago, only 37 House Democrats — mostly on the party’s hard-left flank — voted for a similar bid to crack down on U.S. for Israel.

This time, a much broader swath of Democrats came along — 103 of the 211 members voting Wednesday, plus another 10 who voted “present.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/15/israel-aid-vote-house-democrats-00999917

📎 Politico

🗳 🇺🇸 🚷 The U.S. House has passed the NDAA, 217-209, with the SAVE America Act language included.

📝 Anon: "The House passed the State Department/national security/foreign affairs appropriations bill today, not the NDAA. Save America was not Included in the base text of the bill but the rule passed on Tuesday merges them together upon passage."

📎 Breaking911

🇲🇦 🇨🇳 🇪🇺 Thriving Morocco-China partnership raises European auto fears

Rabat and Beijing are closer than ever, but Europe fears that China could use Morocco to bypass its tariffs on subsidised Chinese automobiles.

While Chinese investment into Morocco has become increasingly important to Rabat’s economy, there are growing concerns that this could impact ties with another vital partner, the European Union (EU). Brussels is Morocco’s single largest trading partner, with more than a third of its exports heading to Europe.

China’s massive investment in Morocco’s automotive industry has raised eyebrows in Brussels, with some officials suspecting that Beijing is using Rabat as a way to circumvent European tariffs. The EU has taken significant steps to protect its domestic auto manufacturing – including a baseline 10% import duty on all vehicles – with special measures aimed at ensuring European manufacturers are not undercut by cheaper competitors from China, many of whom are subsidised by the Chinese state.

Savic suggests that the EU may consider targeted measures against Morocco to protect against the risk of Chinese firms avoiding tariffs via Rabat; but he is sceptical that more wide-ranging measures against the country would be under consideration.

The coming years will test whether Morocco’s growing status as a hub for Chinese investment in North Africa can coexist with its deep economic ties to Europe – or whether Rabat will face some harder choices.

⬇️ Continued:

https://african.business/2026/07/trade-investment/thriving-morocco-china-partnership-raises-european-auto-fears-2

🇺🇸❌🇮🇷 — President Trump is leaning toward expanding U.S. military operations against Iran after receiving briefings on new military options from senior officials, WSJ reports.

➡️ Discussions have included broadening the air campaign against Iranian military and energy infrastructure, deploying U.S. ground forces to seize Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub, and striking the deeply fortified, nuclear-linked Pickaxe Mountain complex, which has not yet been targeted.

➡️ Trump has not made a final decision and continues to say he would prefer a diplomatic solution.

➡️ However, officials say he has requested more escalatory options as Iran has refused to meet U.S. demands regarding its nuclear program and continues threatening commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

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📎Kobeissi Letter

🗳 🇺🇸 🇮🇱 How each member of the US House voted on Thomas Massie’s amendment to cut US military aid to Israel.

📎 Politics & Poll Tracker

🇺🇸🇸🇦🇰🇼⚡️ — The U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale of nearly $2.45 billion in military equipment to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, pending congressional review.

➡️ The $1.96 billion package for Saudi Arabia includes up to 20,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) guidance kits, launchers, warheads, spare parts, training, and logistical support.

➡️ The $484 million package for Kuwait will provide sustainment and support for its C-17 transport aircraft, including components, maintenance, software, training, and logistics services.

🇺🇸🇮🇷🛢 — Oil prices rose for the fourth day in a row as renewed U.S. attacks on Iran raise fears of a wider confrontation and additional interruption to oil supplies via the Strait of Hormuz.

➡️ Brent crude climbed 0.4% to $85.28 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 0.5% to $80.02.

🗳 🇺🇸 🇮🇱 U.S House vote on Thomas Massie's bill to end all military aid to Israel

https://yapms.com/app/usa/house/2024059/blank?m=nwycur4pj3q2pgz

📎 Owen

🇺🇸❌🇮🇷 — NEW: U.S. Central Command says it concluded another wave of strikes against Iran, targeting military sites across several locations, including Bandar Abbas.

➡️ CENTCOM said precision munitions hit Iranian command centers, air-defense systems, missile and drone capabilities, and coastal surveillance facilities in an effort to further reduce Tehran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

🇺🇸❌🇮🇷 — CENTCOM has published footage of the strikes against Iran.

Footage is included of U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter jets taking off from the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, and BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles launching from Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers.

Targets include TELs, UAV launch sites, UAVs in transport, aircrafts stripped & decommissioned (basically not usable), and a telecommunications tower.

📍 🇮🇷 📌 Iran map thread for Wednesday 15th July 2026 | EpicFuryMap

The map has been updated thanks to the hard work of geolocators who post their insights for people to see.

We've seperated strikes into between 28FEB-14JUN and after that, just for ease of seeing what's relatively recent and what isn't due to the stop-start nature of the conflict. You can turn the archive pieces back on by simply opening the left most bar and ticking the box

Overall, US strikes have hit numerous targets over the past week at a slightly higher tempo than before, but still far far less than previous. Nothing of particular note has been destroyed, just hangars for boats / drones and a few military bases - but once again, not at the levels as occurred during Epic Fury.

⬇️ Continued:
A quick thread below showcasing some of the more interesting geolocations over the past week

📎 Iran Conflict Maps