Iranian attempts
** Air defense systems in Saudi Arabia intercepted two ballistic missiles from Yemen on Saturday targeting oil refineries in Yanbu on the Red Sea, Greek security sources told Reuters, a day after U.S. forces launched fresh air strikes on Iran.
Punishment
** U.S. missiles struck targets across Iran on Friday after President Donald Trump vowed “major military punishment” for Tehran and its Houthi allies in Yemen for extending the Middle East war to a second major shipping chokepoint, the mouth of the Red Sea.
Attacks
** Iran claimed new drone strikes Friday against U.S. military facilities in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, as explosions were heard near a military base hosting U.S. forces in northern Iraq and video showed dramatic drone interceptions. The attacks came hours after the U.S. military said it completed a 13th consecutive night of strikes on Iran aimed at halting attacks on ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz, which the Trump administration insists is open despite few ships risking passage.
Yemen?
** Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell to a trickle on Thursday, but the number of commercial vessels passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait increased, according to data from intelligence firm Kpler.
Bottleneck?
** With the Houthis joining Iran in attacking oil tankers, the Red Sea is becoming Saudi Arabia’s biggest oil bottleneck. Oilprice.com reports if the Bab el-Mandeb Strait where the Houthis are launching attacks is closed, the Suez Canal will be unable to fully replace the Red Sea route.
US Energy
** The PJM Interconnection, the largest regional transmission organization in the nation, has until the end of September to agree to governance and stakeholder reforms or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will impose them, the agency’s chairman, Laura Swett, said this week. “PJM is facing a grave legitimacy crisis,” Swett said at a technical conference FERC held on the grid operator’s governance issues.
** Some New York farmers say leasing land to solar developers can help keep their operations financially viable, even as the Trump administration and some state lawmakers say solar is taking over too much of the state’s valuable agricultural land.
** Attorneys are now delivering arguments in a drawn-out case over whether Minnesota can sue fossil fuel companies for knowing about the climate-destroying impacts of their products for decades.
** The U.S. Interior Department releases a report estimating that existing, active mines on federal lands contain 4.2 billion short tons of coal reserves and that unmined public lands contain an additional 356 billion tons of the fuel, saying that is enough to supply the nation for at least 600 years.
