Soaring Exposure.

And a sweeping report.

“It’s the first thing I read every morning.” — David Barboza, founder of WireScreen and former Shanghai Bureau Chief for The New York Times.

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1. The US and Iran are considering a two-week ceasefire extension to allow more time to negotiate a peace deal, according to a person familiar with the matter, reducing the risk of renewed fighting despite an intensifying standoff over the Strait of Hormuz. With the initial truce due to expire next week, mediators are seeking technical talks to overcome the most contentious issues preventing a longer-term agreement, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive matters. Those include reopening Hormuz and the future of Iran’s nuclear program. (Source: bloomberg.com)

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2. The Wall Street Journal:

Iranian leaders have portrayed the current cease-fire as a victory against an overwhelming U.S. and Israeli onslaught. But they now face a towering postwar reconstruction challenge that is putting pressure on them to negotiate for sanctions relief.

The U.S. and Israel hit at least 17,000 targets over five weeks of war, including factories; rail, road and port infrastructure; government buildings; and military facilities. Iranian state media put the cost to rebuild at $270 billion, though analysts said it was too early for an estimate as the impact of the damage filters through the economy.

Rebuilding will be complicated by the interlocking nature of the damage done by attacks aimed at dragging out the country’s road to recovery. The air campaign not only hit infrastructure but the facilities producing material such as steel that is needed to repair it and operations such as petrochemicals that bring in the foreign currency to pay for the work.

The physical damage adds to an economic crisis that was already so severe it sparked mass protests that shook the country around the new year. While Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz and ability to hit targets across the Gulf have given it leverage in talks with the U.S., the scale of the necessary rebuilding limits its room to maneuver. (Source: wsj.com)

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3. The U.S. Navy blockade of Iranian ports appeared to be working on Wednesday, with no Iran-linked ships visibly able to leave the region since the blockade took effect 48 hours earlier, according to U.S. authorities and vessel-tracking firms. Several vessels appear to have stopped or slowed after exiting the Strait of Hormuz into the Gulf of Oman, “which may reflect the deterrent effect of the blockade,” Kpler, a maritime data company, noted in a report on Wednesday. Still, the data is likely incomplete because of how difficult it is track the location of ships in waters in and around the strait. While most commercial vessels are required to travel with transponders that transmit a ship’s name, location and other identifying information, many vessels in the Persian Gulf are hiding their location or falsifying other information, making real-time ship tracking difficult, according to experts. Adm. Brad Cooper, the U.S. Central Command leader, said late Tuesday that the blockade had been “fully implemented” and had “completely stopped” commercial traffic to and from Iranian ports. (Sources: nytimes.com, centcom.mil)