🇮🇷❌🇮🇱🇦🇪 - i24 News reports Iranian strikes are increasing:

🔴 UAE says Iran launched 16 missiles and 121 drones at its territory today despite Iranian President’s vows to cease attacks on neighbors.

🔗 i24 News

📝 Calvin - Funny how individual nations are reporting more Iranian ordinance than that CAL group is saying is being launched in total, the one everyone is building their missile/drone charts on.

‼️🇺🇸🛢️ - The national average price of diesel has seen its largest single day price increase ever recorded- rising 22.3c/gal today, beating the previous largest daily rise of 22.2c/gal on 3/4/22, according to GasBuddy data. The average for diesel is up 71.4c/gal vs a week ago.

🔗 Patrick DeHaan

🚨🇸🇦🇮🇷 - Saudi Arabia Steps Up Direct Contacts With Iran to De-Escalate War

In recent days, Saudi officials have deployed their diplomatic backchannel to Iran with greater urgency to de-escalate tensions and prevent the conflict from worsening, the officials said, asking not to be named discussing private and sensitive conversations. Several European and Middle Eastern nations are backing these efforts, according to these officials.

The talks have involved security agencies and diplomats, they added, but it isn’t clear whether they have included higher-ranking officials. So far, Iran has shown little inclination to negotiate with the US or Israel.

The Saudis are in communication with the Iranian ambassador to Riyadh on a near daily basis to reiterate that the kingdom’s territory is not being used by the US or anyone else to attack Iran, said another person with knowledge of the situation. Saudi Arabia is also saying to Iran that if it keeps up its attacks, the kingdom may be forced to retaliate, the person said. Still, Saudi authorities don’t have high confidence they can stop the war at this stage, the person said.

🔗 Bloomberg

📝🇺🇸❌🇮🇷 - In the first week of Operation Epic Fury alone, U.S. military equipment losses are estimated at around $3 billion

3× AN/TPY-2 missile defense radars, one of which has been visually confirmed destroyed.

3-4 F-15E Strike Eagles (including three shot down by friendly fire from a Kuwaiti Air Force F/A-18)

4× MQ-9 Reaper drones

Damage to a U.S. AN/FPS-132 early-warning radar owned by Qatar

These figures do not include additional equipment losses from strikes in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar, where multiple SATCOM and SIGINT radomes were confirmed destroyed.

🔗 Egypt’s Intel Observer

🇺🇸🇮🇱❌🇮🇷 - Why the US is facing strategic defeat

Irrespective of the ever-shifting war aims peddled out by Administration officials, there is a clear and obvious sense in which strategic victory and defeat are defined here. If the United States cannot, either through direct denial or military coercion, suppress Iran’s attacks on its own assets and those of its allies and protectorates, that would constitute a strategic defeat for the United States. If the US declares mission accomplished whilst the Iranians are still firing their weapons at the oil monarchies, US military bases, Israel, and, above all, if Hormuz is still closed, that would constitute an unambiguous strategic defeat for the United States.

By the same token, if Iran can continue its attacks and keep Hormuz closed despite whatever the US throws at it, until such a time as the US offers a ceasefire, it would’ve succeeded in reestablishing deterrence. That would constitute a strategic victory for Iran. This is not a definitional question; it is a question of the perception of adversaries, third parties, and disinterested analysts. The Western media spin won’t count; it would just be too blatantly obvious.

🔗 Policy Tensor

🇲🇽 Mexico’s Security Plan for World Cup

In response to recent violence, Mexican officials have unveiled a comprehensive security plan ahead of the World Cup. This initiative includes a massive deployment of security forces to ensure the safety of millions of fans expected to attend.

This proactive measure illustrates the ongoing challenges Mexico faces regarding cartel violence and public safety. As the U.S. observes these developments, the implications for border security cannot be overstated. A secure Mexico is vital for the stability of the U.S.-Mexico border, and effective enforcement strategies are essential to prevent cartel spillover into the United States. The Trump administration’s focus on border security must align with efforts to bolster safety in neighboring countries.

🔎 Source

☠️ Blood Meridian

Nvidia's AI chips are consuming memory at an unprecedented pace:

Nvidia's, $NVDA, most recent Rubin chip now requires 288GB of RAM.

This is +800% more than the memory of a high-end PC, and +2,300% more than a high-end smartphone.

By comparison, the H100, launched 4 years ago, https://t.co/ijoCuMuzh2
(@TheKobeissiLetter)