Global flashpoints: Iran, Gulf, and Israeli diplomacy
From a 20-year UK sentence for an Iran-linked plot to CENTCOM revelations and Chinese pressure on settlements, the world stage is crowded with friction.
Global flashpoints: Iran, Gulf, and Israeli diplomacy — Johannes Natland, a Norwegian teenager, was sentenced to 20 years in a UK prison on Friday for planning to commit murder in Britain — a plot the court heard was orchestrated by the Foxtrot Network, a Swedish criminal group that pays young people to carry out 'violence as a service' on behalf of clients, including the Iranian state. Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said she was sure Natland would have carried out the murder if not arrested. Yet Commander Helen Flanagan of Counter Terrorism Policing London said there was no evidence of any direct link to Iran in Natland's case, leaving a gap between the network's clientele and the operational proof.[^1] Meanwhile, the commander of CENTCOM, Admiral Brad Cooper, revealed that Iran-backed organizations including Hezbollah, Hamas, and Shia militias in Iraq have begun transferring funds back to the Revolutionary Guards — a reversal of the usual flow that Cooper attributed to 'desperation' as the American naval blockade has cost Iran $25 billion in lost oil revenues.[^2] In recent weeks, CENTCOM and the US Treasury have frozen Iranian assets in cryptocurrencies worth $350 million. The White House has almost completely stopped strikes against launchers in the region to avoid escalation before the US midterm elections, a move that has boosted Iranian confidence.[^3] On the diplomatic front, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Israeli President Isaac Herzog on the sidelines of the CICA summit in Baku that Israel should stop and reverse its 'forced establishment' of West Bank settlements, calling the Palestinian question 'the greatest historical injustice of this century.'[^4] In a separate development, US President Donald Trump said Friday that the possibility of Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords is back on the table, 'perhaps more than ever.'[^5] The Saudi-led coalition also announced the interception of a ballistic missile launched towards the Red Sea city of Yanbu, underscoring the persistent threat from Yemen. What remains unclear is whether the White House's pre-election restraint — avoiding strikes on launchers — is buying time or simply emboldening Tehran,