Trump waived the new Russia sanctions on Friday, two days before they took effect. On Monday, Tehran said the price is the point.
Iranian officials and diplomats in the region told The Washington Post that Tehran "is scrambling to inflict maximum pain now by escalating attacks in the Strait of Hormuz," because it expects Trump "will be less sensitive to high energy prices after the midterm elections." An Arab diplomat put it more plainly: "They think they can bring down a presidency."
The midterms are 15 days away.
Saudi Arabia paid the same day. Houthi missiles hit a Yemeni government training camp in Shabwa and killed at least 53 people, officials said, with more than 200 wounded. By evening, the organizers of the Future Investment Initiative, the Riyadh conference the press calls Davos in the Desert, postponed it to 2027 and promised a new date "very soon." Wall Street lobbied for the delay, Semafor reported.
