Bloomberg reported speaking with an attorney working with the Justice Department on reviving the court. “Our national security interests may require the United States military to seize vessels or cargo supporting the enemy during military conflict,” Aaron Reitz, a Houston-based attorney, said in a statement. “If that happens, our federal courts must be ready to adjudicate the disposition of these captured vessels and cargo.”

He described prize courts as an “ancient body of maritime law.”

Maritime lawyers and former prosecutors told Bloomberg they anticipate “ship owners and Iranian terrorism victims” to be among the plaintiffs filing with the prize court to receive funds generated by selling off seized Iranian oil.

While US officials and politicians often label Iran as the leading state-sponsor of terror, many of the alleged terror attacks that Tehran has ordered have been debunked, such as Iran supplying EFPs during the Iraq War and the Kohbar Towers attack.

“Let there be no ambiguity as to the position of the United States,” Bessent said during a news conference unveiling what the Trump administration is calling Operation Economic Outcast. “An economic engagement of any kind with this murderous regime will expose those responsible to the full reach of American power.”

The “economic D-Day” campaign targets five sectors – technology, gold, aviation, shipping, and digital assets – and is intended to choke off virtually every remaining source of hard currency for Iran.

Bessent warned that it is “no longer acceptable to operate in the gray spaces” of US policy. The secretary said he anticipates the announcement of sanctions against a major financial institution as soon as next week.

The White House and Kremlin confirmed that CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow this week to meet with his Russian counterpart.

On Tuesday, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe flew to Russia to meet with officials, according to CBS News. At the time, the sources did not say who Ratcliffe met with or what was discussed.

Washington and Moscow confirmed that Ratcliffe was in Moscow to meet with the top Russian intelligence official. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump told Glenn Beck that the meeting was “sort of semi-routine.”

As weeks went by, however, it became apparent that the rosy picture that had been painted in the war’s infancy was not based in reality. One month turned into two, and then three, and here we are now about six months later, with none of the war’s stated objectives having been achieved. Because of the historic nature of this defeat, it is important to reflect on how we got here.

Who were the voices cheering the administration on as it led us down this dark path?

Why did they have such hatred for those of us who opposed the war?

Most importantly, who can’t we trust going forward?

Unfortunately, Trump failed to prevent hawks from both parties in Congress and in the overall national security establishment from sabotaging such conciliatory efforts. Indeed, the president made a fatal blunder of his own by appointing the rabidly hawkish John Bolton as his National Security Advisor. Congressional opponents of any meaningful relationship between the United States and the DPRK also excoriated Trump for moving to reduce Washington’s confrontational stance toward Pyongyang.

Indeed, hardliners in Congress and the broader policy community denounced the president for his willingness even to interact with Kim. The United States gave the odious dictator a huge boost in prestige, critics contended, merely by affording him a face-to-face meeting with the president and treating him as an equal. “In his haste to reach an agreement, President Trump elevated North Korea to the level of the United States while preserving the regime’s status quo,” intoned House minority leader Nancy Pelosi.

The Israeli outlet Maariv reports speaking with senior officials familiar with an IDF assessment that Netanyahu will attempt to escalate an ongoing conflict or ignite a new one. The Prime Minister hopes that putting Israel on a more active military footing will create a political opening to delay elections scheduled for October 27.

Maariv speculates that the military operation will intensify the ongoing genocide in Gaza. In an interview with Mario Nawfal on Friday, US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said Israel was attempting to “bait” Turkey into an escalation by attacking a military base in Idlib, Syria.

Senior Israeli military officials told Maariv that the IDF would not allow Netanyahu to start a new war before the upcoming election.

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