According to Politico, the U.S. House on Wednesday passed the Stop Insider Trading Act, restricting members of Congress and their families from trading individual stocks. The measure cleared the floor 232-198, with 13 Democrats voting yes; only two of the bill's 93 cosponsors are Democrats. Many House Democrats said the bill is too weak because it does not require lawmakers to sell existing holdings. A separate, tougher bill that would force divestiture had broader bipartisan support but never r

Sputnik, citing an Iranian military source, warned a US attack on Iranian nuclear facilities would be a dangerous escalation and push regional confrontation to a new level. US media reported Israel handed intelligence to Washington alleging Iran moved thousands of centrifuges into an underground complex beneath a mountain and is urging Trump to resume large-scale strikes on Tehran’s nuclear sites.

The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said on the 22nd local time that transit lanes into and out of the Strait of Hormuz are clearly defined and are entirely under Iranian control; any alternative routes are "unsafe and extremely dangerous" and would carry "serious and irreversible" consequences. The IRGC earlier, in the early hours of the 18th (Tehran time), said two tankers exploded and caught fire after passing a mined area in the southern Strait. U.S. Central Command disputed Iran's account. The tankers were using the Strait's "south-side route" near Oman; the U.S. has been encouraging vessels to use the "south-side route" and says it is safe, while Iran says that route is unauthorized.