We're low-keying it.

Levels

August 10, 2026 · Ibid.

Editorial cartoon: Donald Trump in golf clothes and studio headphones works an enormous mixing console in a windowless war room; a bank of faders labelled BLOCKADE, STRIKES and SANCTIONS is shoved to maximum, one lone fader with masking tape marked SEMI sits at halfway, a level meter needle is pinned in the red above a readout of 83.77, a wall monitor reads HORMUZ 8, and Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi waits on a video call holding a long unrolled list of conditions.

Brent crude rose to $83.77 a barrel on Aug 10, 2026, about 16 percent above pre-war levels, as Iran kept the Strait of Hormuz closed. Traffic through the strait fell from roughly 130 transits a day before the war to between eight and 15 vessels in early August, per MarineTraffic. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the strait stays shut until Washington lifts its naval blockade, halts strikes, eases sanctions and pays reparations; Trump told Axios the US was "low-keying it" and "only semi-negotiating."