Showing posts with label Iran. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iran. Show all posts

Thursday, September 17, 2026

The U.S. House is in recess until after the November elections and will have worked just 15 days in over four months

The U.S. Senate remains at work in September. 

A cryptocurrency regulation bill, the Farm Bill, and a reconciliation measure including additional Iran War funding and election security all await Senate action. 

 House races for exit, avoiding vote on Hegseth impeachment 

... Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus who lost the South Carolina GOP gubernatorial and special Senate primaries, wrote on X that canceling another day of votes is “unacceptable.”

“The House has now canceled at least 63 scheduled voting days this Congress, including nine days this month alone, and now we’re leaving Washington until after the election. The Founders did not envision taking this much time off and still getting paid,” he wrote.

“If Members of Congress want to go home and campaign instead of doing the job taxpayers sent us here to do, then their campaigns ought to be paying them, NOT the American taxpayer,” he added. “We still have work to do.”

With the House now gone, much of that work will be kicked to the lame duck, which is scheduled to begin on Nov. 9. ...

 

 



 

 

Tuesday, September 15, 2026

Add another $1.8 billion minimum for blockade costs to date, not to mention all the knock-on costs in the tens of billions to economies and consumers globally

 Iranian foreign minister will head to China for talks, as Pentagon reveals financial cost of war 

... The Iran war cost an estimated $33.4 billion as of June 29, according to the U.S. Department of Defense, which released a lead inspector general report to Congress on the Iran war Monday tracking the conflict up to the end of June. That includes $184 million in physical damage to U.S. diplomatic facilities in four countries — Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — from Iranian strikes, it said. ... 

Wednesday, August 12, 2026

Saudis ramp up oil exports using Sumed pipeline to the Mediterranean, Sidi Kerir Egypt now exporting 2.3 mbpd in August, more than double the July level

Most of this oil is now going to Europe and the U.S. instead of Asia because of the extra time and shipping cost for going around Africa.

The UAE is now in the catbird seat for shipping oil to Asia, at least until Iran decides to attack Fujairah.

 

Saudi Arabia ramps up oil exports through Mediterranean pipeline to avoid attacks in Red Sea  

 ... Oil exports from Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir have more than doubled to about 2.3 million barrels per day in August compared to around 1 million bpd last month, according to data provided by the trade intelligence firm Kpler. The majority of those exports are Saudi crude, said Matt Smith, director of commodity research at Kpler. ...

Saudi exports from Yanbu through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait were down nearly 90% to 1.3 million barrels during the week of Aug. 3, compared with 11 million barrels for the week of July 20 when the Houthis declared the embargo, according to Kpler data. ...

 


 

Thursday, August 6, 2026

These were dogwhistles from Abdul El-Sayed to his base which thinks Jews and their money drive war with Iran, genocide in Gaza, and apartheid in Israel

 It's all so Michigan, amirite?

The U.S. Senate seat from Michigan is beside the point. It's merely a stepping stone.

He's running for president, on the Obama model, but with a higher purpose in mind.

It's a Jihad to remove America as Israel's protector. 

 


Friday, July 24, 2026

Trump's Pentagon plays games with Iran War deaths, apparently didn't get the memo that hostilities formally resumed on July 7th

Or is the reasoning, which clearly isn't Trump's, that the four new deaths belong to Iran War II, not Iran War I? 

 Pentagon lowers official Iran war death toll, omitting four killed this month

... Three military officials told the Times that the four service members killed this past weekend — three in Jordan and one in northern Iraq — were struck from the list because their deaths came after President Donald Trump declared a ceasefire in April. All of the deaths listed on Thursday U.S. time on the website, which said it was updated as of Wednesday, occurred in March. ... Trump himself has used the higher figure for the death toll. At an event on Thursday, he said, “I had a very sad day yesterday. I went to Dover, four great American patriots killed. That’s 18 … and one is too many, but it’s 18.”

Trump sends Congress formal notice that Iran conflict has resumed

WASHINGTON, July 13 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has sent Congress formal notification that hostilities against Iran resumed on July 7, a letter his administration sees as opening a new 60-day ​window to use the military in the region without congressional approval. ...


Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Middle East tanker transits July 14-20, 2026: Strait of Hormuz 3.4/day, Bab-el-Mandeb Strait 17.3/day

 From JMIC Update 074:

... According to regional reporting, Iran has instructed the Houthis to stand ready to close the Red Sea oil route should the United States strike Iranian power infrastructure. Sources close to the group stated that the Houthis have completed preparations to attack shipping, including the deployment of missiles and drones positioned near Bab el-Mandeb. ...


Mad King Ludwig: To stop Iran from getting The Bomb we have to let Saudi Arabia get The Bomb

 Saudis Reach Deal With U.S. That Could Let Them Enrich Nuclear Fuel

... Prince Mohammed has vowed he would build nuclear weapons if Iran does so, even insisting in one interview he would do so “without a doubt.”

... Mr. Trump’s concessions to the Saudis on the terms of the nuclear deal are significant. When the United States entered into a similar agreement with the United Arab Emirates, which went into force in 2009, there were far more restrictive conditions. The U.A.E. agreed to the stringent inspections, signing what is called an “additional protocol” with the International Atomic Energy Agency. And it agreed to forgo the right to produce its own fuel, cutting off the possibility that it would have the infrastructure to produce a weapon.

That agreement became known as the “gold standard” for nuclear nonproliferation. And while the administration plans to argue that it will have other restrictions in place — including joint partnerships with the Saudis that will allow Washington to keep a close eye on the kingdom’s program — the fact remains that Mr. Trump has retreated from the restrictions negotiated by the Bush and Obama administrations.

While the bulk of the negotiations with the U.A.E. took place while President George W. Bush was in office, it was finished by President Barack Obama and went into effect in 2009. ...

Tuesday, July 14, 2026

The whole world is laughing at Trump's stupid Strait of Hormuz toll proposal, especially Iran



A 20% charge on a fully loaded VLCC is $30 million. Iran is widely believed to be charging less than 2%.

Trump is a buffoon.

 

Global shipping industry sounds the alarm over Trump’s Hormuz toll plan 

... Shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd has said it is “fundamentally wrong” to charge tolls for passage through international waters, regardless of the country in charge. 

“Tolls for infrastructure such as the Suez Canal or Panama Canal are different, because they reflect major infrastructure investments,” the firm said in a statement. “That is not the case in the Strait of Hormuz.” ...

Monday, July 13, 2026

So Trump isn't really worried about a global recession triggered by high energy prices after all

 Brent oil jumps more than 9%, biggest daily gain since 2020, after Trump reinstates Iran blockade

... Brent crude futures advanced 9.6% to close at $83.30 per barrel. It was the international benchmark’s best daily performance since May 2020. West Texas Intermediate futures gained 9.4% to settle at $78.14. ...  


 

Trump's protection racket in the Strait of Hormuz effectively blockades the good guys, violates international law same as Iran

 UN maritime agency opposes Hormuz transit fees after Trump demands protection money

The International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency, said Monday that it opposes transit fees in the Strait of Hormuz after President Donald Trump demanded that ships pay protection money.

“We have always been consistent on our stance on fees – IMO stands firmly against charging fees for passage through straits used for international navigation,” a spokesperson said.

“There is no legal basis through which to introduce mandatory tolls simply to transit through a strait,” the spokesperson said.

... Tolls to transit Hormuz are against international law, said James Kraska, an expert on international maritime law at the U.S. Naval War College. The world has an unimpeded right to transit Hormuz, Kraska said. ...  

Incompetent organized crime boss imposes protection fees on Strait of Hormuz cargo which he will also blockade


 

 The tyrant is the real slave. He is mastered by a whole host of conflicting desires, none of which he is therefore able to in any way satisfy.  

Trump proposes 20% toll on cargo through Strait of Hormuz; restarts Iran blockade

President Donald Trump on Monday said the U.S. will impose fees in the Strait of Hormuz “at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped,” after declaring America’s role as the “guardian” of the major oil-shipping route. ...  Trump’s post asserts that commercial vessels attempting the transit must now pay protection money to the U.S. ... 

“The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as ‘THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,’” he claimed. “But as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World.”

“The process and formation will begin immediately,” he added. ... 

 

 

Wednesday, July 1, 2026

What was the blockade for then, kicks?

 They haven't got a clue what they are doing.