Lufthansa extended the ban on flights to Teheran for another 2 days. They don’t want their flight crews staying overnight in what may become a target if the war actually expands. Both Israel and Iran are engaged in sabre rattling over potential events following the threatened Iranian retaliation over the presumed IAF attack in Beirut (Israeli has not officially admitted responsibility, but then they usually don’t comment about attacks on Iranian weapons en route to Hezbollah).
There has also been a great deal of diplomatic activity as other countries try to dissuade Iran from actions that could easily result in a much larger war. Both Israel and Iran have placed many units on high alert status. On the Iranian side, this includes proxy forces in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq.
The ship carrying the components for that American floating pier port project has arrived in Cyprus. The entire project is currently on hold because there is not yet an agreement between the US and Israel regarding inspection of the aid cargos. This could be a legal problem since Gaza is officially still under blockade. The original plan seems to have been to have the ship sail to Ashdod in Israel. The floating pier would then be assembled and towed (under Israeli escort) to where it would be beached. I have no details about how inspections would be done. I also don’t know who would handle offloading cargo and transportation by truck from the pier. The Americans promised not to have their people involved in operation, The Israelis vetoed Hamas participation. So far, there doesn’t seem to be an agreed candidate. But the assembly process will take another month, do there is time to iron out those problems.
Wetherhorn 