The Wire - July 27, 2026

This is the wire for 2300 Zulu July 27th 2026. Precedence is routine. Information cut off is 2200. Bottom line up front. Weekend shooting reported at Seattle festival. Vehicle ramming attack reported in Berlin. Stabbing attack reported in Paris. Iranian targeting continues to strike locations throughout Middle East. US has not responded yet. Beginning with international events in the Middle East. After the intense Iranian targeting of American positions Friday evening, sporadic Iranian drone strikes have been reported throughout the region. Other than targeting American positions, Iranian drone attacks have also been observed striking Kurdish militia encampments in northeastern Iraq. On the American side, Sentcom has not disclosed any strikes within Iran for several days. In the Red Sea Horn of Africa region, nearly the entire Jazan refinery in Saudi Arabia remains on fire following the Houthi targeting on Saturday. As of last night, fire detection satellites indicated that most of the facility has been totally destroyed and satellite imagery from yesterday indicates a very large fire at this facility is still burning and the smoke plume stretches over 50 mi to the south. In Europe imagery from yesterday indicates a very large fire at this facility is still burning and the smoke plume stretches over 50 mi to the south. In Europe this morning, Iran issued a public condemnation of the Ukrainian targeting of a Russian vessel. Over the weekend, a Ukrainian drone struck a Russian vessel which resulted in the death of one crew member. This crew member happens to be an Iranian citizen which prompted Foreign Minister Arachi to issue a statement of outrage. analyst comment. It is very unlikely that the Ukrainians would have known that one random crew member on board a vessel was technically Iranian, but intentional or not, this incident is another step towards linking the war with Europe with the conflict in the Middle East. In Germany on Sunday, a vehicle ramming attack was reported at the Pride Festival in Berlin. One asalent rammed his vehicle into a crowd in the vicinity of the tear garden west of the Brandenburgg Gate, killing one person and wounding 29 others. After the ramming, the suspect exited the vehicle and reportedly stabbed several people with a machete before fleeing the scene. This prompted a nationwide manhunt for the asalent that was carried out Sun reportedly stabbed several people with a machete before fleeing the scene. This prompted a nationwide manhunt for the asalent that was carried out Sunday afternoon. By Sunday evening, the suspect had been located in a residential area of Spando. Once located, the suspect allegedly tried to stab the arresting officers, which resulted in the suspect being shot and killed. The suspect was identified as Abdul Balout, who had reportedly just been released from a juvenile detention facility. In France this morning, a stabbing attack was reported in Paris near Porta Deichi. One asalant stabbed three women on the street before being restrained by bystanders and an off-duty police officer. While being held down by responding citizens, the attacker claimed that the attack was Islamic in nature, prompting the government to classify this incident as a terror attack. On the home front in Washington State yesterday, a shooting was reported at the Bite of Seattle Food Festival at the Seattle Center. Multiple black or Middle Eastern males began shooting at each other inside a crowd at the event, which resulted in three people killed and four others wounded. Analyst comment. This incident was initi ing at each other inside a crowd at the event, which resulted in three people killed and four others wounded. Analyst comment. This incident was initially reported as a mass shooting. However, the multiple shooters were not targeting the crowd as this was almost certainly a gang or cultural shooting. As a result of the cultural implications, Seattle police have not released the name of the suspect or suspects they have in custody, nor have they released the photo of the suspect, which remains at large. Analyst Thomas for this wire. Despite the substantial Iranian targeting over the past few days, the American response so far has been very minimal and no meaningful strikes have been conducted since Friday night within Iran. This is probably a reflection of the calm before the storm as the United States continues to stage assets for a large-scale attack sometime soon. Over the weekend, many phone calls were likely made which may have delayed whatever American targeting was planned to take place as several Iranian and Houthi targeting efforts appear to have been more substantial than expected. The Houthi strike on the Jazan refinery was very clearly an extremely devastating strike fro forts appear to have been more substantial than expected. The Houthi strike on the Jazan refinery was very clearly an extremely devastating strike from the Houthis which probably caused the Saudis pause regarding how much hurt the Houthies can bring to the table. Similarly, the heavy targeting of air bill and the Patriot battery at this base has likely resulted in a degradation of air defenses in this sector. How bad the damage is is anyone's guess, but based on the scorch marks observed from space last week, it is hard to imagine this air defense site remaining operational. The Iranians have also claimed to have struck half a dozen other air defense sites throughout the region, but these can't be verified until better satellite imagery is available, which might take some time due to the deliberate censorship of imagery as mandated by the US government. Over the past few weeks, anecdotal evidence from locals on the ground throughout the region has increasingly indicated fewer and fewer successful interceptions of Iranian munitions. These reports are very hard to quantify as most of the time it's a shepherd looking up and visually seeing the interceptors missed the Iranian missile o ese reports are very hard to quantify as most of the time it's a shepherd looking up and visually seeing the interceptors missed the Iranian missile or no interceptors being launched in the first place. Obviously, these reports are about as unconfirmed as they can get, but the smoking craters that are visible on satellite imagery add a lot of credence to the general theory that for whatever reason, interceptions are not as effective as advertised. However, as it stands, the US will probably respond in some way, not just because of the scale of the Iranian missile strikes, but also the fact that this targeting and the collapse of the ceasefire has resulted in the straight of Hormuz remaining fully closed. What the response will be or when it will be carried out, only time will tell. This concludes the wire for 2300 Zillow July 27th, 2026.