Iranian hard-liners used the June memorandum of understanding with the United States to prepare for broader conflict, The Wall Street Journal reported on August 16, citing intercepted communications, intelligence assessments and Iranian and Arab officials. The report said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sent advisers to allied militias in Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon, accelerated missile and drone production, and expanded the battlefield to the Red Sea while negotiations failed to get off the ground. Iranian officials said the MOU's 60-day negotiating window had effectively lost meaning after alleged U.S. violations, even as Tehran announced an agreement with Oman on a transit-lane plan in the Strait of Hormuz and stressed that this was not the same as fully reopening the waterway. The Journal said Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei also reshaped Iran's security leadership, placing hard-line veterans in key roles as Tehran shifted toward a prolonged confrontation that has raised supply risks for global energy markets and deepened doubts over any durable diplomatic settlement.