Iran and Oman have agreed to run the Strait of Hormuz together, cutting the US out entirely — bad news for Washington, and a sign the oil chokepoint stays under Iranian influence.

• Oman sided with Iran on a shared shipping corridor days after the US threatened to bomb it for cooperating with Tehran.
• Trump says the Navy cleared all the mines from the strait, but nobody outside the US has confirmed it.
• Oil is trickling out again, at maybe half the pre-war level, using slow, expensive, uninsured ship-to-ship transfers paid for by Gulf states.
• Iran is being squeezed hard at home — gas lines and rationing in Tehran — while Qatar's gas exports have all but stopped and Europe heads into winter with low stocks.
• The Houthis are still hitting ships in the Red Sea, landing a strike on a moving target from a thousand kilometers away.

Outlook: The tighter the blockade bites, the more likely Iran lashes out again — at US bases, Gulf oil infrastructure, or the shuttle boats now sneaking oil past the strait.