Escalation in Iran

Plus: NDAs for federal employees, standardized test standards slipping, SpaceX IPO, and more...

Back in business: Tensions appear to be mounting again between the U.S. and Iran.

Yesterday, Iran accused the U.S. of a "grave violation" after our military launched new strikes on missile sites and boats that were trying to place mines in southern Iran. U.S. Central Command characterized these actions as "self-defense"—merely an effort "to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces" but Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) disagreed: They fired at several U.S. drones and a fighter jet that entered their airspace.

The two countries had been on the verge of an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

"The U.S. military's Central Command said in an update Tuesday that the ongoing U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and vessels linked with the regime had turned around a total of 108 ships since it was implemented on April 13," reports CBS News. The blockade—implemented by President Donald Trump a few days after a very loose ceasefire was hammered out, due to the mid-April talks in Pakistan failing to produce an agreement with which he could be happy—has repeatedly been referred to by Iran as a violation of that agreement; the Strait of Hormuz, and whether ships are allowed passage through the major shipping corridor, has been a consistent point of disagreement and tension. (Central Command has clarified that U.S. forces "will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports.")

The strait is, of course, where about one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas passes through, so the blockades have resulted in soaring prices (and intense unpredictability) globally. Watch also for other weird supply chain disruptions and the knock-on effects they might have. Will disruptions in, say, fertilizer shipping affect crop yields? Reason readers don't need too much reminding on this front, but, you guys, war is bad on a lot of dimensions.

Key questions remain about what a durable peace deal would look like, including whether Iran would be allowed to maintain a nuclear program in any form. Trump also appears to be using the Abraham Accords—trying to get Qatar and Saudi Arabia to sign on, which would normalize ties with Israel—to get the Iran hawks within his administration to feel like they already have a win under their belt, to allow for more flexibility elsewhere.

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Scenes from New York: "The mayor announced a new plan Tuesday to help rescue some of the most distressed rent-stabilized landlords. Eligible apartment owners will be able to charge a one-time rent increase on certain empty units, even if a rent freeze is enacted later this year," reports The Wall Street Journal. "The percentage increases would be determined on a case-by-case basis but could amount to hundreds of dollars a month in some cases." He's a classic communist: Handpicking winners and losers. ("The roughly 300,000 apartments financed through the city's housing agencies are potentially eligible for the rent increase once they are empty, along with other assistance," reports the Journal. It's government entanglement in real estate all the way down.)

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QUICK HITS

• "The Trump administration is moving to create a government-wide nondisclosure agreement for federal workers after a number of high-profile and unauthorized leaks in recent months," reports Bloomberg. "The proposal specifically mentions leaks related to the American military raid in Venezuela in January and planned enforcement actions by immigration agents in the US.…The draft says violators are subject to disciplinary action 'up to and including removal and debarment from future Federal employment or contractor status, and civil and criminal penalties.'" It's not clear how (or whether) this will actually be enforced, exactly.
• "Under federal law, states must administer annual standardized tests in math and reading in grades three through eight. But several states have recently lowered the score a child needs to be deemed 'proficient,' producing big gains on paper without any change in the classroom," reports The New York Times. "Wisconsin redesigned its assessment, and English proficiency in the state increased to 48 percent from 39 percent. Illinois and Kansas have followed suit. In more than half of the states, proficiency rates on state reading tests now exceed the rates on national tests by 15 percentage points or more, and in some states the gap is much larger."
• SpaceX moves in the IPO direction.
• LOL:

at long last, our nation's enemies have stolen the most dangerous technology in America's arsenal: the California Environmental Quality Act https://t.co/E8wOsvuhYD

— Armand Domalewski (@ArmandDoma) May 26, 2026

• A good read from Selim Koru at Reason: "Ayn Rand Is Alive in Ankara"
• The French return to tradition:

France bans Zyns and other nicotine pouches - with violators facing 5 years in prison and a shocking fine https://t.co/eG49CMesKD pic.twitter.com/dw1GpdsihQ

— New York Post (@nypost) May 24, 2026