According to the Financial Times, citing people familiar with the matter, the U.S. has told its European partners that CIA Director John Ratcliffe will played a larger role in future trilateral Ukraine-U.S.-Russia negotiations, that have largely stalled up until now. Per the report, the Trump administration is considering easing up on the involvement of White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and White House Envoy Jared Kushner, but Witkoff would stay in the wider role as an envoy for peace missions elsewhere. Another venture also being mulled by the White House is appointing a new ambassador to Moscow. This comes following the recent visit of Witkoff and Kushner to Russia, a visit that merited little.

Principal Deputy White House Press Secretary Anna Kelly has now denied reports from the Financial Times that CIA Director John Ratcliffe will be playing a bigger role in Ukraine-U.S.-Russia negotiations moving forward, saying the entire story is fake news, attributed to low-level anonymous sources.” Kelly also mentioned that the Financial Times ran the story before the deadline and said that the White House declined to comment anyway, without hearing back from the White House.

Additional reports now of possible strikes in the vicinity of Iran’s Qeshm Island. At the time of writing, no confirmation on reported strikes earlier in Jask and just now in Qeshm from U.S. Central Command.

More information has come out regarding Pakistan’s involvement in the ongoing escalation in Yemen between the Houthis, Saudi Arabia, and the Internationally Recognized Government. According to Reuters, citing sources from all three countries, Pakistan has relayed to Iran Saudi warnings to pressure the Houthis to deescalate, with the hopes that the possibility of the trilateral Mecca Joint Defense Agreement being triggered might weigh heavily on the minds of Iranian decision-makers. This comes following reports from earlier today that Pakistan was mulling strikes against the Houthis at the request of Saudi Arabia.

According to @JenniferJJacobs and @JimLaPorta of CBS News, a number of U.S. aircraft were damaged in last night’s Iranian strikes on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. Per the report, an A-10 “Warthog” was damaged, leaving it with a missing wing, and approximately 8 F-15s were damaged but returned to service. Additionally, over 30 Patriot missile interceptors were used during the inundation of Iranian fires overnight.

Despite loss of ground to Yemeni government forces along their northern axis of advance, in a notable move, the Houthis have taken the coastal Yemeni city of Mocha overnight, as reports indicate they are now closing in on key island holdouts that put control of the strategic maritime choke point, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in question.

Reuters reports that Britain, Norway and the United States disrupted a Russian undersea warfare exercise near Svalbard this spring, after detecting Russian vessels associated with Russia’s Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research (GUGI) using deep sea submersibles to simulate deployment of a new weapon intended to disable subsea cables.

The exercise did not damage any cables, but Western officials told Reuters it focused on practicing how the technology could be used during a conflict with NATO. The operation occurred near two 1,400-km fiber-optic cables connecting Svalbard to mainland Norway, which carry satellite data from SvalSat, the world’s largest satellite ground station.

The incident comes amid growing NATO concerns over Russian activity around critical undersea infrastructure. Reuters reports that ships have increasingly been observed slowly passing over or near cables and pipelines, potentially mapping them for future use, while NATO and European countries have expanded monitoring through initiatives including Baltic Sentry and Nordic Warden.

The three Western countries confronted the Russian vessels at sea, while British and Norwegian officials separately presented Moscow with evidence that they were aware of the technology and its use. Norway’s defense minister said the operation was intended to make clear that attempts to covertly target critical infrastructure would be detected and face consequences. Russia has not commented on the specific incident and routinely denies conducting sabotage operations against NATO countries.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/nato-allies-foil-russian-subsea-cable-sabotage-plot-2026-09-10

With the Polymarket market for the Brazilian elections now trading almost $150 million in volume, trading on Polymarket has now shifted significantly.
With the Brazilian election, set for early October, looming, and Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, largely recovering from the documentary scandal, traders on Polymarket are predicting that the race between him and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will be a tight one. Traders are assessing that Bolsonaro has an edge over Lula, as they assess at 50% that Bolsonaro will win and at 46% that Lula will win.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Iran has resumed low rate ballistic missile production, using stockpiled components and underground facilities despite extensive U.S. and Israeli strikes on its missile infrastructure.

U.S. and regional officials say Iran is primarily assembling missiles from existing warheads, airframes and guidance systems, with activity identified at multiple underground sites including the Khojir complex. Production remains below prewar levels because strikes damaged key industrial facilities and the blockade has complicated access to components and solid fuel materials. One U.S. official assessed Iran could assemble at least a few hundred missiles from supplies currently on hand.

The renewed production is occurring alongside evidence that Iran is rebuilding damaged missile infrastructure, including reopening tunnel entrances and repairing access roads. Iran has continued launching ballistic missiles against U.S. positions in the region, including a heavy salvo against Muwaffaq al Salti Air Base damaging several F-15s and taking the wing off of an A-10.

Source: https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/iran-ballistic-missile-production-5538af12?st

The Ali al-Taher ridge in Southern Lebanon has now been destroyed, per Israeli news outlets. Iran has tacked down the destruction of the sprawling underground facility as a red line for its direct involvement against Israel, which would likely mean renewed standoff strikes against Israel.

The Israel Defense Force (IDF) confirms that the Lebanese Hezbollah’s (LH) Ali al-Taher Ridge complex was destroyed, along with numerous drones, missiles, rockets, small arms, and other weapons. The underground facility, which the IDF says sprawled for more than 2 kilometers, also had living spaces and command centers, which acted as a principal enabler for LH’s Badr unit in the area.

Video circulating on social media appears to show a U.S. Navy Saildrone unmanned surface vessel (USV) on fire, reportedly in the Strait of Hormuz earlier today.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has claimed that its forces targeted and destroyed the unmanned vessel near the entrance to the Strait. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has not publicly confirmed the loss, and the circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear.

Saildrone USVs are designed for persistent maritime surveillance and can carry sensors supporting maritime domain awareness, undersea detection and ocean mapping. Their ability to operate autonomously for extended periods makes them particularly useful for monitoring chokepoints and other contested maritime environments.

CNN reports that the U.S. has expanded intelligence and targeting support specifically for Saudi Arabia’s military campaign against the Iranian backed Houthis in Yemen. More than 100 U.S. military personnel are reportedly dedicated to that effort, with one U.S. official putting the number at roughly 200, operating as part of a newly established joint forces command.

The U.S. is providing intelligence sharing and geospatial targeting support, including a battlefield tool that gives Saudi officers a near real time picture of the battlespace. However, U.S. personnel are not directly participating in Saudi strikes, refueling Saudi aircraft or providing other operational support. Sources characterized the effort as an extension of existing U.S.-Saudi cooperation and training.

The expanded support comes as Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia intensify, with U.S. officials saying Iran is providing substantial support to the group. CNN reports that U.S. officials believe hundreds of IRGC personnel are currently in Yemen and are helping the Houthis develop the capability to threaten the Bab el-Mandab Strait.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/10/politics/us-military-support-saudi-arabia-houthi-iran-yemen

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Center has issued a warning to commercial vessels operating near the Strait of Hormuz after receiving a report that two vessels were struck by unknown projectiles approximately 4 nautical miles west of Khasab, Oman, with at least one vessel reportedly catching fire.

The incident occurred near the entrance to the Strait and close to the maritime route established through Omani waters for vessels seeking to transit outside the main Iranian shipping lanes.

Upscaled airstrikes being reported against Houthi formations along the Mocha axis of advance may lend credence to previous reports that the Yemeni government/government-aligned forces withdrew from key areas to draw Houthi formations into open areas to be targeted more efficiently by CAS.
More to come.