Former MI6 Spy Alastair Crooke: Iran Takes Its Chances With War
Former MI6 Spy Alastair Crooke: Iran Takes Its Chances With War Authored by Alastair Crooke The US war with Iran has moved beyond its initial phase to an emerging new one — one in which Iran implicitly stakes its chances on the next phase being war. Most likely this will be in abbreviated episodes of limited war, but possessing nevertheless a potential to widen regionally, should the US (and Israel) elect to sharply escalate. The new phase involves risk of course, yet Iran holds the high cards of an ability to impose disproportionately heavier damage upon Gulf infrastructure as retaliation for any hurt inflicted upon it — and the awareness that the West is edging ever closer to dropping off the energy “cliff.” The three pillars underlying this shift are firstly, confidence that Iran will not (and cannot) be shifted from its hold over Hormuz, and that in consolidating its administrative structures there, the reality of Iran’s hold over Hormuz will increasingly be assimilated by states, and reflected in their coming to terms with Iranian-Omani control.
Key takeaway
"Former MI6 Spy Alastair Crooke: Iran Takes Its Chances With War" — BullBear's AI rates this story as a mixed, direction-neutral signal, with a market-impact score of 0 out of 100. Former MI6 Spy Alastair Crooke: Iran Takes Its Chances With War Authored by Alastair Crooke The US war with Iran has moved beyond its initial phase to an emerging new one — one in which Iran implicitly stakes its chances on the next phase being war. Most likely this will be in abbreviated episodes of limited war, but possessing nevertheless a potential to widen regionally, should the US (and Israel) elect to sharply escalate. The new phase involves risk of course, yet Iran holds the high cards of an ability to impose disproportionately heavier damage upon Gulf infrastructure as retaliation for any hurt inflicted upon it — and the awareness that the West is edging ever closer to dropping off the energy “cliff.” The three pillars underlying this shift are firstly, confidence that Iran will not (and cannot) be shifted from its hold over Hormuz, and that in consolidating its administrative structures there, the reality of Iran’s hold over Hormuz will increasingly be assimilated by states, and reflected in their coming to terms with Iranian-Omani control. That score reflects how strongly the story is likely to move Bitcoin, US equities, the dollar, and gold, and near-duplicate coverage of the same event is clustered so only the representative article is scored. BullBear analyzes hundreds of market stories a day this way, turning each into a structured bullish, bearish, or mixed read rather than a raw headline, so the signal can be compared across sources and over time. Reported by ZeroHedge on June 10, 2026. The bullish and bearish evidence behind this assessment, plus a 24-hour price-move check that verifies the call against what actually happened, are all tracked publicly on BullBear.news.
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