Off Leash update: Iran conflict, migration tensions and political instability

Off Leash update 11 June 2026

IRAN •The U.S. and Iran exchanged strikes again overnight, and Pres. Trump threatened to continue to hit Iran "hard" today because its leaders were taking "too long to negotiate." Iran's Pres. Pezeshkian retorted that Iran "will stand firm against any pressure or threat." •The U.S. also fired on the Settebello, an Indian-crewed oil tanker that had allegedly "violated the ongoing blockade by attempting to transport oil from Iran." Three Indian sailors are missing and 21 others were rescued following the strike. •Iran says the Strait of Hormuz is "completely closed" and claims it is actively targeting ships that try to defy its blockade. •U.S. officials don't consider the Strait closed: Pres. Trump says U.S. vessels have helped tankers carrying a cumulative total of 100 million barrels of oil through the Strait. •Experts suggest around two million barrels of oil are leaking through the Strait per day, which is around one-seventh the pre-war volume that passed through daily but still a decent rate. That's perhaps why oil prices have remained lower than analysts thought they'd be after a prolonged blockade.

NORTHERN IRELAND •A stabbing attack blamed on a Sudanese-born man ignited anti-immigrant riots and racist retaliation in Belfast. •Police are using baton rounds and water cannons in an effort to restrain an angry minority" that used the stabbing as an excuse to engage in opportunistic racist violence and arson.

SOUTH AFRICA •Anti-immigrant campaigners called for all undocumented immigrants in South Africa to leave the country by June 30, and - unsettled by the memory of the attacks that followed similar prior eviction notices - thousands are heeding the call to return home. •Nigerians are the largest contingent of undocumented immigrants in South Africa, comprising around a quarter of the estimated 2.2 million total. Around 1,000 have voluntarily returned to Nigeria.

RUSSIA •A senior Russian military officer (whose name has yet to be released) was killed by a car bomb outside Moscow on Tuesday. Ukrainian agents or sympathizers were likely responsible, but Ukraine declined to comment on the incident.

DRC •DRC's National Assembly quietly passed a bill that paves the way for a referendum to alter the constitution so Pres. Tshisekedi can run for a third term. Lacking the numbers to block the measure from passing, the opposition boycotted the vote in protest.