Tag: Strait of Hormuz

Conflict End Run?

Donny has been playing grab ass with Iran for months now….it is an on again off again then back on conflict….lots of chest thumping like a sex crazed primate and lots of international chaos….not to mention my grocery bill going through the roof.

In the center of this war, excluding the magical hold the Israel has on Donny, is the Strait of Hormuz….where a lot of oil must travel to get to market.

In the silence of the night two players in this conflict pull an end run on Donny….

Oil prices fell and stocks climbed into record territory on Tuesday after US Treasury chief Scott Bessent said a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was expected “today or tomorrow,” reports the Wall Street Journal. Not much is confirmed about the deal, though the New York Times reports that Iran and Oman are close to hammering out an agreement that would route incoming ships through an Iran-controlled channel and outgoing vessels near Oman. The nations would share a “service fee”—not a toll, but that may be a matter of semantics— from traveling ships to cover security and environmental costs.

The Times notes that getting oil and cargo moving again would ease market pressure and deliver a badly needed political win for Trump, with a catch: The deal still being worked out appears to give Tehran more leverage over the international waterway than it had before the war began. As analyst Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group puts it, Trump now faces a choice between “an unwinnable war and an unpalatable peace.”

Those “service fees” or tolls for ships transiting the Strait. Muscat and Tehran will split the funds. Additionally, Tehran will have full control over inbound traffic while Iran and Oman will have joint control over outbound shipping.

What Donny will not get his cut?

This should not fly well at the next cabinet meeting.

But believe it or not Donny has something to say….

U.S. President Donald Trump said a deal on the Strait of Hormuz could come as early as Wednesday or Thursday, while Iran and Oman inched toward an agreement to reopen the critical waterway and potentially help bring an end to the war.

Trump was asked by reporters traveling with him in California about a report on the Axios news site that an announcement on the Strait of Hormuz could be made on Wednesday.

“It could happen. Tomorrow or the next day,” he said, speaking on Tuesday evening California time, which was already Wednesday morning in the Middle East. “A lot of progress has been made.”

(apnews.com)

Positive right?

But if Donny holds true to form he will screw this up as well.

Is the lack of long range missiles fueling his acceptance?

Will Israel have something to say?

Stay tuned I am sure there will be more to this story.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Threaten Another Ally

Our Little Donny is good at only one thing….threatening allies to get his way.  With the Iran thing not going as well as he lied about he now has something to say to Oman…..the nation on the other side of the Strait of Hormuz.

President Trump on Wednesday said the US would “blow up” the country of Oman if it doesn’t “behave,” a threat made when asked if he would accept a short-term deal that involved Iran and Oman jointly controlling the Strait of Hormuz.

“No, the strait’s got to be opened to everybody, it’s international waters. Nobody’s going to control it. We’ll watch over it, but nobody’s going to control it. That’s part of the negotiation,” Trump told reporters while hosting a cabinet meeting at the White House.

“Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we’ll have to blow them up. They understand that they’ll be fine,” the president added.

Iranian media reported last month that Iran’s initial proposal to end the war with the US involved charging a fee for ships transiting the strait, with the revenue split between Iran and Oman, which both have coasts along the waterway, and Iranian officials have held talks with their Omani counterparts on the issue.

Initially described as a “toll,” the issue is now being framed in different terms. “There is no toll. We need to pay attention to the words we use. We’re not after money. Iran and Oman need to create protocols for the safe passage of ships, and this will be based on international laws,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said this week.

“It’s only natural that the services we provide, like navigation and the preservation of the ecosystem of the Strait, the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman will have costs. These should not be considered tolls. Iran and Oman are being responsible in our efforts and I hope we will reach a conclusion soon,” Baghaei added.

Iran is unlikely to back down on the issues in its negotiations with the US as it seeks the funds to pay for reconstruction after the US-Israeli bombing campaign.

(antiwar.com)

The bully has spoken.

Will Oman acquiesce or will they show the middle finger to the loud mouth?

This is fun watching an idiot make a bigger idiot of himself.

I Read,  I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

This Is Who Controls The WH?

I for one do not think that Donny is smart enough to make his own decisions and stupid enough not to take advice from those in the know.

But a story I read tells me all I need to know about who tells Dumb Donny what to do in the Middle East….

NBC News reported on Wednesday that President Trump quickly ended the US military operation to “guide” commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz due to backlash from the US’s Gulf Arab allies.

The report said that the abrupt reversal came after Saudi Arabia was caught off guard by Trump’s announcement of what he dubbed “Project Freedom,” and Riyadh informed the US that it would not allow the US military to fly aircraft from Prince Sultan Airbase or fly through Saudi airspace to support the effort.

Israel’s i24 reported on Thursday, citing Gulf sources, that Saudi Arabia would restrict US military access until the US “provides proper protection” from Iranian attacks. During the short-lived Project Freedom, the UAE came under missile and drone attacks, and the US downplayed the attacks and didn’t respond.

…

For its part, Iran’s military denied responsibility for the attacks in the UAE, which hit oil infrastructure, but sources told Iranian media that they were retaliation for the US launching the new military operation.

The NBC report said that a phone call between President Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did not resolve the issue of Riyadh’s restrictions on US military access. It also said that the US spoke with Qatar and Oman only after Trump announced the military operation.

“The problem with that premise is that things are happening quickly in real time,” a Saudi source told NBC when asked if the announcement of Project Freedom took Riyadh by surprise. A White House official appeared to deny the report, insisting that “regional allies were notified in advance.”

(antiwar.com)

So the prince gets butt hurt and tells Donny to do what he is told…..and Donny bows and takes it.

This whole scenario in the Middle East these days is disgusting and non-essential to the security of the region.  The only problems are that of Saudi Arabia and Israel…..when those two problems are eliminated the safer the region will become.

We now know who makes Donny’s Middle East policies.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Iran: Minute By Minute Brain Farts

Just about two days ago Donny and Lil Marco turned again and is ending the so-called blockade….

President Trump says that he has paused the US effort to guide stranded vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz to finalize an Iran deal. Trump announced the decision in a Truth Social post on Tuesday evening, saying he was pausing the effort for a short period to give space for US efforts to finalize a settlement with Iran to end the war, the AP reports.

  • “Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed,” Trump wrote.
  • The announcement came after military leaders and Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted on Tuesday that a ceasefire in the Middle East was still holding and that—while the conflict is not resolved—the initial major US military operation against Iran has concluded. Rubio told reporters at the White House that “Operation Epic Fury,” the attack the US and Israel mounted on Iran on Feb. 28, “is concluded” because its objectives were met, the AP reports. Rubio said recent clashes with Iran related to US efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz were “defensive in nature.”

Which is good news but then less than a day later Donny makes this announcement….

President Trump on Wednesday suggested that a deal to end the Iran war is indeed in the works—but he also warned Iran of new strikes should it balk. If Iran “agrees to give what has been agreed to,” the war will wrap up, wrote Trump on Truth Social, without providing specifics. But if they renege, bombing will resume “at a much higher level,” he added. His comments followed reports in Axios and Reuters that a peace deal between US and Iranian negotiators was imminent.

We will close this very soon,” a source in Pakistan tells Reuters. The news sent oil prices down, with Brent crude falling 10% to below $100 a barrel before leveling off after Trump’s warning, per the Wall Street Journal. It was back at $103 more recently. Earlier Wednesday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard suggested it would soon allow commercial traffic to resume in the Strait of Hormuz if the US “threats” were over, notes Reuters. But nothing is certain: The New York Times reports that a spokesman for Iran’s parliamentary national security downplayed the Axios report about a one-page peace memorandum, describing it as “more a list of American wishes than a reality.”

What are these yahoos doing?

TACO will find a way to end this…..it is costing $72 billion in 60 days…..Donny needs top look like he is in charge (a wishful fallacy)….so he will cave and tell us how smart and clever he was to end this stupidity.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

WTF? Confusion And More Confusion

Donny made a big deal out of the US escorting ships trapped  by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz….that was just a couple of days ago…..and now that operation will be paused…..

President Trump said in a Tuesday night post on Truth Social that the US military operation to “guide” commercial ships out of the Strait of Hormuz, which he has dubbed “Project Freedom,” has been paused.

“Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed,” the president wrote.

In response to Trump’s announcement, an Iranian official told Drop Site News reporter Jeremy Scahill that the post was “riddled with falsehoods” and that Trump’s operation to “liberate” the Strait of Hormuz “failed completley.” The official also reaffirmed Tehran’s position that direct talks won’t happen until the US blockade is lifted.

“We will not participate in direct negotiations until the United States formally announces the end of the blockade,” the official told Scahill.

Pakistan has passed messages between the US and Iran, and late last week, Tehran had presented a new proposal to the US that, according to Iranian media, was focused on bringing a permanent end to the conflict and other hostilities in the region, including the Israeli war in Lebanon. Iran said on Sunday that it was reviewing a US response to the proposal, but then Trump announced “Project Freedom.”

Scahill said that the US did send a message to Iran through Pakistan, “indicating the US does not intend to carry out direct military action in the Persian Gulf and is seeking direct talks with Iran.” He also noted that the US and Israel had attacked Iran twice before while the US was claiming it was negotiating.

Trump’s announcement came after Iran made clear it would respond to US attempts to “guide” commercial ships out of the Strait of Hormuz and the two sides exchanged fire on Monday.

(antiwar.com)

Typical Donny policy…..keep farting around until something breaks.

This is pathetic policies….but then most of Donny’s policies are either pathetic or disgusting or both.

I Read, I Write, You KNow

“lego ergo scribo”