//The Wire//2300Z July 13, 2026//
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//BLUF: GULF WAR REIGNITES AS MAJOR STRIKES REPORTED THROUGHOUT MIDDLE EAST. HOUTHIS JOIN THE WAR AS MILITARY BASES STRUCK IN SAUDI ARABIA. USA/IRAN CONTINUE MUTUAL TARGETING WITH MANY MILITARY INSTALLATIONS TARGETED THROUGHOUT THE DAY. SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM PASSES AWAY UNDER UNCLEAR CIRCUMSTANCES IN WASHINGTON.//
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-International Events-
Middle East: Over the weekend the war continued to escalate with major attacks being reported throughout the region. On Saturday, the Iranians allegedly struck a containership in the Strait of Hormuz for attempting to sneak through the waterway without their permission. The crew of this vessel abandoned ship, and the vessel is reportedly sinking in the Strait.
After this initial strike, the United States struck several dozen targets within Iran. One of the most significant strikes conducted by the United States was an airstrike at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant. One of the buildings a few feet away from the reactor core was struck, and the status of the power plant is unknown. At least one of the attacks this morning involved the United States conducting several Unmanned Surface Vessel attacks on the port of Bandar Abbas, targeting an Iranian submarine and several other warships.
Analyst Comment: Other more traditional airstrikes also continued regularly throughout the day, with Iranian retaliatory strikes being reported at nearly every US base in the region, from Kuwait to the UAE. Full battle damage assessment will take some time due to the sheer volume of locations struck by both the United States and Iran.
Red Sea/HOA: Following last night's targeting efforts to the north in the Persian Gulf, the Houthis and Saudi Arabia engaged in mutual targeting early this morning. Houthi rebels launched several ballistic missiles toward targets in Saudi Arabia, and the Saudi's responded by conducting airstrikes throughout the Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
Analyst Comment: These targeting efforts in Yemen have complicated maritime shipping through the Bab El Mandeb Strait, elevating concerns that another major maritime choke point might be turning into a warzone. During the American campaign to combat the Houthis in March of last year (dubbed Operation ROUGH RIDER), the Houthis demonstrated the ability to disrupt shipping through the Strait, to the point that nearly all maritime shipping chose to re-route around the continent of Africa. Though that military operation departed the news headlines after a few weeks, even as of a year later (even before the Iran war began), many maritime shipping companies were avoiding the Red Sea a full year after the strikes. Everyone has been waiting for the Houthis to enter the current war on the Iranian side, and last night's strikes may be an indication that relationship is growing.
-HomeFront-
Washington D.C. - Saturday night, Senator Lindsey Graham reportedly died after suffering a cardiac incident at his home on Capitol Hill, after returning from his trip to Ukraine. Initial statements claim that he suffered a tear of his aorta, and died instantly.
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Analyst Comments: As one might expect based on current events, the theories surrounding Graham's death largely focus around his trip to Ukraine. Normally, the trip into Ukraine for diplomats involves flying into Poland, then taking a train into Kiev. This trip usually takes most of the day. Also, on the same day as Graham's trip, Russia conducted two major strikes in Kiev. Some claims have been made that both of these strikes targeted both the drone factory that Graham visited, but also the hotel where he was staying during his visit. These claims will take some time to verify independently.
Due to the timing of Graham's alleged departure, it's possibly mathematically questionable that Graham would have had enough time to transit back to the United States before his death was reported. As always, there's enough discrepancy in the timing to make it technically possible for Graham to have arrived home from Ukraine and immediately had a cardiac incident, but this timing would have been incredibly tight. In short, the theory that Graham was actually killed in Ukraine holds some weight at this present moment, based on the evidence we have right now, even as speculative as it is. Further investigation will indicate whether or not more credence should be granted to this possibility.
Perhaps the biggest bit of evidence countering the theory of Graham being killed in Ukraine, is the sheer logistics of such a coverup operation. There's very little chance that his remains would have been located, recovered, identified, and transported back to the United States if he was killed during the strikes on a Ukrainian drone factory. These attacks would have made it challenging to identify anyone's remains, and similarly to the concerns of Graham possibly not having enough time to arrive back in the US, timing is the main issue. If Graham was observed alive after his departure from Ukraine, this would obviously dispel any of the more nefarious theories, but as it stands, it is not known which flight he took from Poland to the United States (which was likely a military or government flight).
All things considered, the suspicious and coincidental circumstances of Graham's death can certainly be verified either way in due time, but Graham's death coupled with Senator Mitch McConnell's questionable status, means that Washington has been host to several shakeups involving key wartime decision makers this week.
Analyst: S2A1
Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
NomadNet: 5fa68c88be727a0e1a250a75e5e79269
Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.
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