Two oil tankers were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S. and Iran returned to hostilities in a six-month war that appears to be locked in a stalemate.
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Trump strikes Iran, G20 backs economic war, Iran calls US stuck in massive error

The receipts show the sequence: US launches strikes, G20 Summit backs economic war, and Iran labels the Americans as stuck in a massive error. Each step is policy by headline, and the outcome is measured not in diplomatic folders but in the cost of staples and the price of oil. The powerful call it unity, the opposition calls it error, and the ordinary folks call it a bill. The cycle isn’t broken by strategy; it’s broken by the consequences that the receipts record. The column asks: whose strategy is paid for by whose groceries?
“They bomb Iran, get the G20 to back an economic war, and Iran says Americans are making a massive mistake. The folks running the show call it strategy, but the price lands in the pantry every time.”
“The US is defending its interests, and the G20 support shows international unity. Iran's complaints are expected—'massive error' is just rhetoric. Did I say error? I meant disagreement. Economic war is just policy.”
The receipts
As US President Donald Trump returns to bombing Iranian territory, Esmaeil Baghaei Hamaneh, the spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, said at a press conference on Tuesday that it's only a sign of the quagmire he's found himself in, and emphasized that the only way out will be negotiation rather than force. "It has become clear they…
The Treasury secretary is also facing pushback on the Trump administration’s trade policies at the global gathering.
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.