It appears that our President has ponied up a declaration that indicates that the United States Navy will impose a full blockade on the Strait of Hormuz. That would be interpreted just about anywhere as us putting in place a naval blockade against the shipping of our allies in Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. This is ridiculous on the face of it.
Now we're going to impound ships inside the Gulf and put them where? We are going to intercept ships inbound in the North Arabian Sea and park them where? If they refuse to heave to are we really going to fire on neutral shipping? In case you are unaware, that is not our way. Hell, we didn't interdict any shipping going into North Vietnam ports during the entirety of the war there.
I cannot imagine how the President climbs down from this kind of statement.
Earlier today, Donald Trump warned that US forces will immediately 'begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz', hours after peace talks with Iran held in Pakistan broke down.
The US President added in his Truth Social post announcing the bombshell move: 'I have also instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran.
He later claimed that NATO forces, including the UK, will be sending minesweepers to assist the US' military operation in the waterway - a statement that Britain has since denied.
This is going to be epic.
17 comments:
I'm awaiting comments from those who understand the situation far better than I, because as far as I can see the Donald can just say "Oops! There goes another one - blown up by those nasty people who are now in charge of the military in Iran."
Sigh, can anybody replace his cell phone with a fake?
Bombastic tweets and TACO isn't giving us any credibility in the world.
Let's see how much the Federal Reserve has to buy up tomorrow to keep the "Market" from crashing.
And YEAH, I can see an oopsie mine that Iran didn't lay because they WANT to get Yuan from approved traffic but Trump's trying to horn in on that tollbooth per a recent "Truth Social" tweet so some creative minelaying maybe from a Dolphin Class diesel electric sub to "show the world Iran's blowing up tankers".
SNIP Each submarine is fitted with 6 × 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes, and 4 × 650 mm (26 in) torpedo tubes.[7] The very large 650 mm tubes can be used for laying mines, larger submarine-launched cruise missiles, or swimmer delivery vehicles, and with liners the tubes could be used for standard torpedoes and submarine-launched missiles.
Don't get so excited. Not a single person in the EU, Russia, China, Communist Canada, Cartel Mexico or here in the US cares what we think. Also, take another look at how the world situation is changing with outlandish tweets.
Cuba is ready to collapse.
The Islamic Republic of Iran Army is not as closely tied with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as the news would like us to believe. Iranians are shooting IRCG members and Pahlavi has called for security forces to stand against the IRCG.
Venezuela is again refining oil in the US as they have done for decades and is cooperating with anti-drug forces in South and Central America along with the US.
Trump makes outlandish comments and hits in another direction.
As a note, the Federal Reserve is not keeping the market up for Trump, but for the major banks which were caught with huge market calls in the commodity markets when buyers demanded delivery. Supposedly at least one major bank and several regional banks were unable to deliver and did not have cash to complete the deal.
Get some popcorn and watch what happens with the blockade. There is more to come that isn't apparent right now.
I have to admit I'm enjoying it because I can actually see the whiplash as he saws back and forth on our putative allies and plays the Iranian peace fiddle at the same time. For those who follow the real news it's interesting to see him neatly pluck the low hanging fruit that nobody has messed with since the Wall came down and push the faces of our allies into their dismal failure to actually do anything at all at home or on the world stage since 1969. Every bit of their managed decline is now on view and people can moan about how President Trump is forcing the world to look at it and moan about his crude attacks on our 'allies' but you have to admit, watching them scramble to climb up on one high horse after another and then realize just how ludicrous their position is on every single one of these horns of dilemma is just amusing as all Hell.
Iran says their closing the strait and NATO does nothing
Trump says he's closing the strait and they scramble to declare him a madman.
One after another everyone is seeing that Europe is naked and led by buffoons and poltroons.
Actually Michael, if you look at the world with the blinders and ideology OFF it should be apparent that there are only 2 countries with any credibility in the world right now and that's us and our military ally who both somehow seem to enjoy the favor of the GCC nations and they're the only ones that count.
The mine threat is real and we are in fact over the Rubicon at this moment and Iran can therefore feel free to crash the SOH with drifting mines any time it can roll them out of their naval mine magazines and put them on dhows, or any remaining work boats on their side of the Gulf. I think we have total surveillance coverage of the entire Iranian coastline and will strike anything that puts out to see now so I don't really see that happening. The subs are long gone and probably would not have worked anyway.
We are in that stage of negotiating which is called, "keeping the unbearable pressure on until something gives." We have plenty of strength remaining and as long as President Trump is in charge I don't see our side wavering.
OTGH, I remember being amazed at what Ariel Sharon did in Gaza all those years ago and wondered what on earth his plan was and then it all came to nothing because the next night he was taken away in an ambulance and never seen alive again. I really don't know what he intended to do whereas I'm pretty sure that Trump is going to carry right on until the mullahs crack and catch a plane to Charles de Gaulle or Orly.
If we were only fighting Iran then we would have a decent chance to succeed before internal infighting and midterms turn Trump into a lame duck.
Oh maybe Trump gets declared Ceasar with what military support? Then congress is irrelevant eh?
But we are fighting Iran as a proxy war with China and Russia.
Destroying our smart weapons, creating infighting and getting the world to dump the Petrodollar.
I think they took notes of Ukraine and have enough smarts to know this war would have Chinas oil Blockade scheduled.
That's why Both China and Russia set up deep oil reserves and China while swimming in cheap Iranian oil built Coal to oil factories.
When this American Blockade starves nations and China can give cheaply oil and gas to say Taiwan, China will absorb Taiwan.
Such a "Victory".Michael the anonymous
Europe is just thankful this isn't happening in the middle of a hard freezing winter. For now, European leadership can sit around in their endless meetings contemplating their belly buttons at least until November. If this drama-festi continues until then, that's probably when the lights go out and the homes and offices get f-ing cold! Ah energy rationing! Every liberal's wet dream come true.
As I read the CENTCOM releases, we will be only blockading Iranian ports--ships proceeding to/from other ports will be free to transit.
As of April 13, 2026, Germany has approved a €1.6 billion fuel tax relief package to combat surging energy costs caused by the conflict in the Middle East. The measures include reducing gasoline and diesel taxes by approximately €0.17 per liter for two months.
Thank you, I just got around to reading what the details of the blockade are and what a fool I was to trust all the media sources. Obviously it is NOT a blockade of the Strait it is a blockade of Iran. That makes perfect sense.
Looking at the map of the area aside from Iran's access to the Caspin Sea and the very tip of Iran next to Pakistan the rest of Iran's coastline seems to BE the Strait.
Please explain the somewhat obscure difference please given the US Navy has been careful to stay well outside assumed Iranian Missile ranges.
Well I wouldn't want to rain on your parade but one of the drums I keep around for the occasional pounding is labeled, "there is no difference between real war and economic war" and the other drum is named "schadenfreude" and it gets a thumping every time a so-called "neutral" arms and advises a belligerent in a war. At that exact moment, you have entered the list and you can be treated as a combatant. Trump and Rubio know this and always have but it is coming as a terrible shock to the EU rulers who think they have a license to attack Russia at will without any fear of retaliation. If I was them now, I'd be afraid.
When I first went there they had the Styx and some other anti-ship missiles. When I was there on the Staff we saw them taking delivery of the Chinese C-802 and then they started making their own. 97 mile range ASM much like our Harpoons.
Iran actually has a large sea front on the North Arabian Sea down to its border with Pakistan. Back then they had submarines based at Jask. The inside the Gulf coastline runs up to the Al Faw Peninsula and the border with Iraq.
The funny thing was that throughout the entire time from Desert Shield on we used to operate Aircraft Carriers in the Persian Gulf routinely in support of Southern Watch and then the War with Iraq. They were well within missile range of the mullahs.
That was one of the many reasons we kept 2 of our own MCM ships there starting in 1996 just in case the mullahs decided to see what life would be like if they trapped a couple of carriers inside the Gulf by laying mines in the SOH.
There is nothing certain in war. You have to constantly refine your assumptions and your expectations and your posture every single day. As I understand it we have a pair of DDG inside the Gulf again operating against Iran. I have no inight into how that is going.
I will reiterate that I think that our refusal to act in the grand re-opening of the SOH is a matter of deliberate Policy and that the US will not make any effort to furnish the world police to make the world 'fair' for the freeeloaders.
Oh, and the C-802s were "coastal artillery" and could be launched off a truck much like our Harpoons could be and you could launch them on pretty much the same toolkit. Bearing Only, Radar Homing, the standard seeker kits.
Going to be a sad day when a deniable sea drone trio with man pads and antiship missiles accidently protects a tanker of who cares flag.
Maybe they'll allow search and rescue of the boarding parties. The Third one might have loitering anti-air drones like the ones that got that Fighter and A-10?
They are disposable and have self-destruct planned.
Pirate submarines goes both ways. Who done it?
Zelensky led the way you know that Genie is out of the bottle.
It's going to be bad because I have family on some of those navy ships.
Or even worse when I was sailing around the Gulf of America, I used to navigate using the many refineries as nav points.
Would be ugly if the Zelensky treatment occurred thusly. Again, who did it.
But unlike Zelensky who's hits get repaired in a few days as Russian oil export and internal fuel costs indicate how little it mattered in the bigger screen, they also got the repair and valve supply.
As Germany's offline due to Nord stream and China's having Middle Eastern oil "issues" who's going to supply repair parts after the fires are resolved?
Operation Praying Mantis part dux and Sherman's march to the sea part dux.
Maybe that would get our Navy home ASAP to cover our own coastline?
I'm pretty sure other folks have already built such new age navy units.
Pandora should have left that box alone.
Hi, Captain Mongo!
Michael, I think I saw a reference years ago to a sea drone using some sort of AAW weapon shooting down a helicopter that was scoping it out. Pandora's box opened long ago and the goal has always been to get ahead of the plagues and troubles and not hope like Hell that they won't come for you. For too long we've been dreaming that it won't be our turn to face the onslaught. I'm curious what turns are opening up in Air Base Defense. On that note, I wouldn't want to work at Indian Island or Yorktown these days.....
Sea Drones are a poor countries "Pirate" attack subs.
Disposable, deniable although we'd just blame whoever we want anyway.
"Helmsman, make sure we maintain a safe distance from Iran's missiles", "Where the hades did that anti-shipping drone salvo come from, there's like a dozen incoming"
"Launch fighters get those sea drones"
"Where did those loitering anti-aircraft drones come from"
"More missiles incoming, Sir"
Even simply surviving with battle damage, a lot of expensive missile interceptors used up and all that for the "Glory" of blasting a couple of one-use drones.
Bad part could be a lot of bad actors that could do this. Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan with a grudge about something, Turkey the same. Hells bells after PUBLICILY Insulting the Saudi Leadership, something about MBS Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud can "kiss my ass (in so many words) if doesn't like this" could seek to humble us a bit. WHO WOULD KNOW?
I heard MDS wasn't amused that Trump posted Himself as Jesus the Healer to piss off the Pope. Seems Jesus is a major prophet in Islam.
Even Ukraine if they thought America was abandoning them to the Russians could do their version of the Sampson Option.
Enough money and Mexican Narcos Cartels who already are getting adept in drone use could set afire a lot of very flammable targets and Qui Bono would have to be asked. The Cartel might have no clue who wanted it done. Russians might like being the BIG DOG in Oil and we'd be thinking angry Venezuelan military did the dirty.
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