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Evening Brief: American Veterans Wounded in Gaza, China and Russia Snub Iran

BY Guy D. McCardle

From Gaza to Tehran to the blockchain, America’s enemies are throwing grenades, empty promises, and crypto scams—and whether it’s veterans under fire, Iran’s fair-weather friends, or digital con men, the message is clear: the U.S. isn’t backing down. Welcome to the SOFREP evening brief for July 6th, 2025.

Three autocrats, one common strategy: let Iran burn while they cash checks, issue statements, and keep their boots far from the fire. Image Credit: The Century Foundation

Targeted in Gaza: American Veterans Injured in Grenade Attack on Aid Mission

Two American veterans working in Gaza with the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) were wounded on July 5, 2025, when attackers launched a grenade assault at a food distribution site in Khan Younis. These weren’t random do-gooders—they were highly decorated former U.S. service members providing security for aid operations. The grenades, reportedly Iranian-made and rigged with ball bearings for maximum damage, were tossed directly at them in what GHF called a deliberate, targeted strike.

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Both men survived the blast and are currently in stable condition, receiving medical care. It’s the latest in a series of escalating threats against GHF staff. According to the foundation, Hamas has been making their intentions crystal clear for months—placing bounties on the heads of both American and Palestinian workers and already killing 12 local employees. GHF didn’t mince words after the attack, saying the incident “tragically affirms” their repeated warnings.

No civilians or other aid workers were harmed this time, but the message was obvious: humanitarian missions are in the crosshairs. GHF and the Israeli military both pointed fingers at terrorist organizations—namely Hamas—for trying to sabotage critical food aid in a war zone that’s already on the brink. This was no accident. It was a coordinated strike meant to rattle the foundation and send a warning to anyone who dares to help the people of Gaza without permission from the people holding the guns.

The takeaway? It’s open season on aid workers in Gaza, and no one is off limits. 

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All Talk, No Backup: China and Russia Keep Iran at Arm’s Length During Crisis

China and Russia love to talk a big game when it comes to Iran, but when the bullets start flying, they’re nowhere to be found. Despite all the handshakes, summits, and public chest-thumping, both Beijing and Moscow are keeping Tehran at arm’s length during the current crisis.

Let’s start with the basics—neither of them is getting directly involved in the fight. After Israel hit Iranian nuclear sites and the U.S. threw in a few punches of its own, China and Russia responded the way you’d expect from two PR departments: lots of press releases, zero real action. No military support, no boots on the ground, not even a hint of logistical help. Just finger-wagging about “restraint” and “sovereignty.”

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Russia, of course, is busy bleeding resources in Ukraine. That war has chewed up so much of its military bandwidth that even if it wanted to help Iran out, it couldn’t offer much more than strongly worded tweets. Iran’s been hoping for something like Russia’s S-400 air defense systems. What they’ve gotten instead is radio silence.

China’s approach is all business—literally. They’re happy to buy Iranian oil and talk about trade deals, but when it comes to defense or military cooperation, they vanish into the smog. Beijing doesn’t want to get sucked into another Middle Eastern mess, and it’s crystal clear they see Iran more as a business partner than a strategic ally.

Then there’s the elephant in the war room—no mutual defense agreements. Despite all the photo ops and “strategic partnerships,” neither Russia nor China has promised to defend Iran if things go sideways. That tells you everything. These aren’t alliances built for wartime; they’re relationships built for headlines.

Even their diplomacy is hollow. The March 2025 meeting in Beijing was all smiles and anti-sanctions rhetoric, but when the dust settles, those statements are as flimsy as wet tissue. No weapons. No action. Just more “dialogue” and “multilateral engagement”—the kind of words that sound good in UN speeches and nowhere else.

At the end of the day, China and Russia are playing their own game. They don’t want a nuclear-armed Iran throwing off the balance of power in the Middle East. That kind of instability messes with their energy interests, investment plans, and the kind of soft-power influence they’ve been quietly cultivating for years.

So, while they may talk like Tehran’s best friends, their actions tell a different story. They’re not willing to go down with the ship—and they’re certainly not signing up to fight Iran’s battles.

 

A $400 Million Crypto Crackdown

Over the past ten years, the U.S. Secret Service has quietly become one of the biggest crypto enforcers on the planet, snagging nearly $400 million in digital assets from scammers, fraudsters, and online hustlers. At the heart of this operation is the agency’s Global Investigative Operations Center—GIOC for short—a cybercrime-fighting unit that knows its way around a blockchain like a bloodhound on a scent.

The GIOC is doing more than poking around in the dark. These guys are using advanced blockchain analysis tools, open-source sleuthing, and old-school detective work to follow dirty money as it bounces through digital wallets and laundering networks like a pinball on steroids. Whether it’s a romance scam that tugs at heartstrings or an “investment opportunity” too good to be true, if there’s crypto involved, the Secret Service is on it.

What really sets this operation apart is how global it is. The agency has teamed up with law enforcement in more than 60 countries and struck deals with crypto giants like Coinbase and Tether to freeze stolen funds before they vanish into the ether. In one jaw-dropping case, they clawed back $225 million in USDT—yep, all from a tangled web of scams that ran through hundreds of thousands of transactions before the crooks tried to stash it in a few wallets. Bad move.

But this isn’t just about chalking up wins for the government. A big part of the mission is getting stolen money back into the hands of the victims. The scammers love to bait people with flashy websites, fake promises, and emotional manipulation. The Secret Service is making sure they pay for it—and making sure some of that stolen cash finds its way home.

Bottom line: the Secret Service has turned itself into a serious player in the war on crypto crime. With $400 million in seized assets tucked away in cold wallets under government control, they’ve built one of the largest digital treasure chests in the world—and they’re just getting started.

 

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