Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] The US actions to block the Strait of Hormuz are reminiscent of the villains described in George Orwell's dystopian novel "1984."
An interesting take on the situation…
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev stated this on April 13.
"While many countries want to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, the White House has decided to block it. Blocking = unblocking? Orwell's villains are back with renewed vigor," he wrote on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Medvedev also recalled a slogan from a dystopia: "War is peace." He suggested that it would apply to him, too.
In response to attacks by the US and Israel on February 28, Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz, an international logistics route. On April 11, US-Iranian talks to resolve the conflict were held, but the parties failed to reach an agreement.
On April 12, after repeated demands to open the Strait of Hormuz, US President Donald Trump announced that the US Navy had blocked it and would stop all vessels attempting to transit the route, as well as detain vessels that had paid Tehran. Iran called the blockade piracy and threatened to strike ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
On April 13, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov stated that a quick resolution to the conflict in the Middle East should not be expected. He also described the consequences of the blockade of the Iranian coast as difficult to predict.
#3
Maybe he can give us a side order of Animal Farm references from Moscow.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/14/2026 16:31 Comments ||
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#4
Back before he became all war-like, Medvedev was regarded as a bit of a stooge. Russian joke from back when:
Putin and Medvedev are dining at a fancy restaurant.
The waiter comes to take their order and Putin says, "I will have the steak."
The waiter asks, "And the vegetable?"
Putin says, "He will have the steak also."
Just two hours after the U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz began, a ship-tracking firm reported that 121 empty oil tankers are now headed to the Gulf of America.
Sixty-one of those vessels are super tankers, each capable of carrying up to 2 million barrels of crude.… pic.twitter.com/OEuHA3XfcC
Just two hours after the U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz began, a ship-tracking firm reported that 121 empty oil tankers are now headed to the Gulf of America.
Sixty-one of those vessels are super tankers, each capable of carrying up to 2 million barrels of crude.
Even before the blockade, LNG imports into Asia had already fallen to a six-year low. The US also has access to Venezuelan oil which means Asian economies will become new customers of US controlled energy.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/14/2026 00:00 ||
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[1789 views]
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#1
Not sure how close to capacity, the Gulf Coast already is.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/14/2026 12:00 Comments ||
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#2
I get the feeling that this never occurred to Iran during the 'negotiations'
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Internal police documents analysed by the BBC are said to show how guards have been ordered to recruit migrants by senior officers to push back incoming migrants at the Greece-Turkey land border since 2020.
The investigation also revealed allegations of violence, with witnesses reporting migrants being stripped, robbed, beaten and even sexually assaulted.
The so-called mercenaries, who come from countries such as Pakistan, Syria and Afghanistan, are rewarded with cash and mobile devices looted from other migrants, as well as documents that will eventually allow them passage through Greece, claims suggest.
Forcing migrants and asylum seekers back across international borders without due process is generally considered illegal under international law.
[IsraelTimes] 8 ex-employees of cement implicated, including former CEO Bruno Lafont, who is handed 6-year prison sentence over payments to Islamic State from 2013 to 2014
A Gay Paree court on Monday found cement maker Holcim’s Lafarge unit guilty of charges that its Syrian subsidiary financed terrorism and breached European sanctions to keep a plant operating in northern Syria during the country’s civil war.
The case was the first time a company has been tried in La Belle France for financing terrorism. Sherpa and ECCHR, two organizations that filed the initial lawsuit, in a joint statement called it "a historic decision in the fight against multinational corporations’ impunity."
Eight former Lafarge employees were found guilty, including former CEO Bruno Lafont, who was sentenced to six years in jail. His lawyer told Rooters he would appeal.
A lawyer for Christian Herrault, the former deputy managing director of the Lafarge group who was sentenced to five years in jail, said Herrault would also appeal.
Judges determined that Lafarge paid, in total, 5.59 million euros ($6.54 million) to jihadist groups, including Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... and the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, both designated as hard boyz by the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... , between 2013 and September 2014.
The presiding judge, Isabelle Prevost-Desprez, said the payments made by Lafarge helped to strengthen jihadist groups that carried out deadly attacks in Syria and beyond.
’COMMERCIAL PARTNERSHIP’ WITH ISLAMIC STATE
"It is clear to the court that the sole purpose of the funding of a terrorist organization was to keep the Syrian plant running for economic reasons. Payments to terrorist entities enabled Lafarge to continue its operations," Prevost-Desprez said.
"These payments took the form of a genuine commercial partnership with the Islamic State," she added.
The cement maker was ordered to pay a 1.125 million euro ($1.32 million) fine, the maximum penalty available for a company, as prosecutors had requested.
"Lafarge SA acknowledges the court’s finding, which concerns a legacy matter involving conduct that occurred more than a decade ago and was in flagrant violation of Lafarge’s Code of Conduct," the company said in a statement.
"The decision is an important milestone in Lafarge SA’s actions to address this legacy matter responsibly, and the company is reviewing the court’s reasoning."
Holcim did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It was not immediately clear whether the other former employees found guilty would also appeal. They were handed sentences ranging from one to seven years, as well as fines.
The Jalabiya plant, located in northern Syria and bought by Lafarge in 2008 for $680 million, began operating in 2010, months before the beginning of the Syrian uprising in early 2011. Employees were housed in the nearby town of Manbij and needed to cross the Euphrates River to access the plant. Among the payments, the court found more than 800,000 euros ($93,792) were paid to secure safe passage.
Another 1.6 million euros ($1.876 million) were used to purchase source materials from quarries that were under Islamic State control, the court said.
Lafarge became part of Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... -listed Holcim in 2015.
In a separate case in the United States, Lafarge admitted in 2022 that its Syrian subsidiary paid $6 million to Islamic State and the Nusra Front to allow employees, customers, and suppliers to pass through checkpoints after civil conflict broke out in Syria.
The group paid $778 million in forfeiture and fines as part of its US plea agreement.
Lafarge is also under investigation in La Belle France for complicity in crimes against humanity over how the company kept its factory running in Syria.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/14/2026 2026-04-14 02:27 ||
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[1775 views]
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[IsraelTimes] Roopal Patel, who stopped efforts to deport Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk, and Nina Froes, who halted removal of Columbia student Mohsen Mahdawi, both dismissed in crackdown
The Trump administration has dismissed over 100 immigration judges and hired more than 140 permanent and temporary judges seen as more aligned with the president’s immigration agenda.
The Trump administration on Friday fired two judges who blocked the deportations of international students involved in pro-Paleostinian activism.
One of the judges, Roopal Patel, a Boston immigration court judge, oversaw the Trump administration’s immigration case against Rumeysa Özturk, a Tufts University doctoral student from The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... member, but not the most reliable... who was detained by ICE agents on the street in Somerville last March.
In February, Patel found there were no grounds to deport her, following a months-long legal battle with the Trump administration and opposition to her arrest from Jewish students and groups.
The other judge fired on Friday, Nina Froes of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, blocked the deportation of Mohsen Mahdawi, a pro-Paleostinian student activist at Columbia University and green card holder from the West Bank, in February.
Froes told the New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... that she had "fully expected" her firing and said she was unsure if ruling against Mahdawi could have changed the outcome.
"I don’t know what’s in the minds of other people," Froes said. "But I can’t imagine it was helpful."
The firings of the judges come as the Trump administration has dismissed over 100 immigration judges and hired more than 140 permanent and temporary judges seen as more aligned with the president’s immigration agenda, according to The New York Times.
Yet another important thing nobody noticed running in the background.
The detentions of Mahdawi and Özturk last year were part of a broader immigration crackdown by the Trump administration on non-citizens who had participated in campus pro-Paleostinian protests that drew allegations of antisemitism.
Many of those detained as part of the crackdown were later shielded from immediate removal after judges blocked the federal government’s attempts to deport them, including Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia graduate and protest leader.
On Friday, the Board of Immigration Appeals denied Khalil’s bid to dismiss his deportation case, which remains ongoing. (Khalil called the board "biased and politically motivated," following the ruling.)
Last month, the last person still detained in the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Paleostinian campus protests, Leqaa Kordia, was released from ICE custody.
Very useful for the 20,000 elected judgeships in the country (2/3 of all judges) where voters today really don't know what they're voting on. https://t.co/ZKZ3OZZWu0
🚨 REPORT: US BURNED THROUGH MAJOR SHARE OF LONG-RANGE MISSILES IN IRAN WAR
According to defense reporting, the U.S. used a significant portion of its Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) and ATACMS inventory early in the war with Iran — with estimates suggesting nearly half the… pic.twitter.com/H5xlGfzWUO
🚨 REPORT: US BURNED THROUGH MAJOR SHARE OF LONG-RANGE MISSILES IN IRAN WAR
According to defense reporting, the U.S. used a significant portion of its Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) and ATACMS inventory early in the war with Iran — with estimates suggesting nearly half the stockpile was expended in the first phase alone.
The PrSM, one of America’s newest long-range strike weapons, was used in combat for the first time during this conflict.
Now comes the next phase: replenishment.
The Pentagon is already moving to ramp up production and refill inventories after the high burn rate exposed how quickly modern warfare drains even advanced arsenals.
Following the operation in Iran, the US Department of War will increase spending on the purchase of Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) short-range ballistic missiles. This is stated in Pentagon budget documents.
According to RIA Novosti, the United States intends to spend $1.92 billion on the procurement of PrSM missiles in fiscal year 2027, compared to only $546 million allocated for this purpose in the current fiscal year. Therefore, if the Pentagon's new request is met, funding will increase 3.5-fold.
PrSM missiles were developed to replace the aging ATACMS systems. The munitions offer increased range and accuracy. In March, US forces used PrSM for the first time during an operation against Iran.
The Pentagon plans to significantly increase defense procurement spending in fiscal year 2027. The Department of War's request for defense has grown to $413 billion, up from $223.8 billion in 2025. General defense spending has increased from $15 billion to $101 billion. Ground forces are expected to receive $60.5 billion, almost double last year's figure. Missile spending will increase by 360% to $36.6 billion. The Navy and Marine Corps are expected to receive a 45% increase (or $150 billion) in 2027. Shipbuilding funding will increase by 46%, and aircraft procurement will nearly double. The Air Force and Space Force expect to receive $101 billion. Space Force spending has increased by 344% to $19 billion.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/14/2026 00:00 ||
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[1786 views]
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Posted by: ed in texas ||
04/14/2026 8:37 Comments ||
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#3
I work in manufacturing. I can’t imagine anything in these manufacturing processes where production couldn’t be ramped up by a factor of 4 to 10 times in six months.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/14/2026 12:04 Comments ||
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"مقاتلة المهام الصعبة" في #السعودية.. مقاتلة باكستانية JF 17 (الرعد) العمود الفقري لقوات الجو في #باكستان⚡️ 🇵🇰
- خطيرة تحمل صواريخ صينية - باكستانية متقدمة - تحمل صاروخ جو-جو (خارج نطاق الرؤية) الأفضل بالعالم - تحمل صاروخ قاتل حاملات الطائرات - سيتم توطين تقنيتها في الرياض 🇸🇦 pic.twitter.com/MRc1bfvfpx
The Hard Mission Fighter" in #SaudiArabia.. Pakistani JF 17 Fighter (Thunder) The Backbone of Air Forces in #Pakistan⚡️ 🇵🇰
- Dangerous, carries advanced Chinese-Pakistani missiles
- Carries the world's best beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile
- Carries an aircraft carrier-killer missile
- Its technology will be localized in Riyadh 🇸🇦
Posted by: badanov ||
04/14/2026 00:00 ||
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[1807 views]
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[NationalContext] The war’s first full month wiped out most of Iraq’s seaborne export capacity. The patchwork of fallback routes Baghdad assembled kept some revenue flowing, but March’s earnings covered less than a third of the country’s monthly salary bill. Thank Iran and their PMFs
Iraq exported roughly 18 million barrels of oil in March and earned about $2 billion, according to remarks by Ali Nizar al-Shatari, director general of the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), published on April 2. That figure, which covers combined exports from Basra, the Kurdistan Region and Kirkuk, represents an 82% collapse from February, when Iraq exported 99,872,220 barrels and earned $6.814 billion. Revenue fell by roughly 71%. A Reuters survey of OPEC output found Iraq suffered the biggest production drop in the cartel, averaging just 1.4 million barrels per day in March compared with 4.15 million bpd in February.
February was Iraq’s last near-normal export month. Of the 99.87 million barrels shipped, 93.35 million came from central and southern fields, 5.55 million from the Kurdistan Region via Ceyhan, and 971,130 from Qayyarah. The average daily rate was about 3.567 million bpd. One month later, the daily average had fallen to roughly 580,000 bpd.
March was not a month of smooth rerouting. It was a month of structural breakdown in which Iraq’s core seaborne outlet through the Strait of Hormuz was effectively destroyed and a much smaller flow of oil was kept alive through a patchwork of emergency channels. The Associated Press reported on April 2 that Basra province output had dropped from 3.1 million bpd to about 900,000, and that southern exports were completely halted by that point. The head of the state-run Basra Oil Company, Bassem Abdul Karim, told AP that no alternative loading areas in the south were yet fully operational.
More at the link
Posted by: badanov ||
04/14/2026 00:00 ||
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[1763 views]
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An unusually large number of crude oil tankers on the open seas has the American Gulf coast as a destination as the ships are redirected to load cargoes bound for markets around the world already experiencing shortages.
Second-term Republican President Donald Trump said Saturday on social media that "massive numbers" of "completely empty" oil tankers are en route to the United States to purchase American energy.
“Foreign buyers are voting with their ships: American energy means stability, strength, and freedom from Middle East blackmail,” the president posted on Monday.
Shipping data posted by maritime intelligence company Windward shows 171 crude tankers are bound for the U.S. Gulf to load crude oil cargoes, which compares with about 110 in a typical month.
[IsraelTimes] Some 80% of Israeli Jews think army should carry on campaign amid US-Iran ceasefire, even if it means friction with Washington, according to poll conducted since truce
[TWZ] A new and not immediately recognizable launcher has emerged on the U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Carl M. Levin.
Last year, launchers for Coyote counter-drone interceptors appeared in the same general location on two other Burkes, the USS Bainbridge and the USS Winston S. Churchill.
The Navy is currently known to be exploring several other options for integrating lower-cost anti-drone interceptors on various warships to bolster their defenses against this ever-growing threat. The new launcher could also be for deploying other kinds of munitions, drones, and/or decoys.
4 potential options - a variation on Rayethon Coyote Block 2, Zone 5's White Spike, a Lockheed Martin navalized JAGM and less likely a Roadrunner M. Wait a week and the skinny will be revealed as loose lips do their thing.
#2
I assume Fred, Skidmark, badanov, and Besoeker know where the lines are, given that Rantburg is entirely open source and not Secret rated in any way, despite all the secret things they keep in their heads. Whatever they talk about among themselves, I am not — as is appropriate, since I am not cleared for anything — privy to any of it.
[IsraelTimes] Authorities say tracks rebuilt in key areas; IDF said it hit specific rail sections as part of effort to prevent Revolutionary Guards from moving weapon systems
Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... has resumed rail services on key routes after repairing sections of track damaged during the war with Israel and the United States, state media said on Monday.
The Israel Defense Forces said the Israeli Air Force bombed key rail sections and bridges in Iran as part of efforts to prevent the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from moving weapon systems. Ahead of the strikes, the Israel Defense Forces warned Iranians to stay away from trains.
Iranian authorities have in recent days begun reconstruction work on bridges, railway lines and other infrastructure hit during nearly 40 days of fighting.
A fragile ceasefire has been in place since Wednesday.
In Iran’s northwestern Azerbaijan region, the director general of the railways said trains had resumed from the city of Tabriz, bound for the capital Tehran and Mashhad in the northeast.
"These trains have resumed service after an interruption of four to five days," said Alireza Soleimani, according to Iran’s official IRNA news agency. "The Tehran—Tabriz—Van train also left Tehran for Van, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... member, but not the most reliable... , last night, using rebuilt tracks."
A railway bridge near the city of Qom, south of Tehran, also reopened on Saturday after reconstruction work which lasted "less than 40 hours," said Khosrow Samari, deputy governor in Qom province, according to the Tasnim news agency.
On Friday, Tasnim published video showing a train crossing the Yahya Abad bridge in the city of Kashan, in Iran’s central Isfahan province.
"After rapid reconstruction, the first train passed over the Yahya Abad Bridge today," the news agency said, claiming the bridge had been targeted in a US-Israeli attack last week, prior to the ceasefire.
In the capital Tehran, residents have reported that authorities have moved quickly to clear debris from sites hit.
Where buildings have been too heavily damaged, they have sometimes been covered or cordoned off, including with Iranian flags.
Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said on Sunday that reconstruction of damaged buildings would take between three months and two years.
She added that more than 125,000 buildings had been damaged since the war began, the majority of them residential but also schools, hospitals and other civilian facilities. The claim could not be independently verified.
The Israeli Air Force conducted hundreds of waves of strikes in Iran, dropping over 18,000 bombs on Iranian regime and military sites, including air defense systems, ballistic missile launchers, weapon production sites, nuclear facilities, and various command centers.
Some 650 ballistic missiles were launched from Iran at Israel during the forty days of conflict.
In all, at least 16 missiles carrying conventional warheads with hundreds of kilograms of explosives struck populated areas in Israel, causing extensive damage. There were also more than 50 incidents of missiles carrying cluster bomb warheads hitting populated areas, with hundreds of separate impact sites.
Iran also targeted the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... and Oman with missile and drone attacks.
[IsraelTimes] US president says Iran can’t ‘extort the world,’ Iranian ships that try to cross will be ‘ELIMINATED’; ships will be allowed to traverse strait if not engaging with Iranian ports
The American military’s naval blockade of Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... took effect Monday evening, after the deadline set by US President Donald Trump ...The man who was so stupid he beat fourteen professional politicians, a former tech CEO, and a brain surgeon for the Republican nomination in 2016, then beat The Smartest Woman in the World in the general election. Then he beat Kamala while dodging bullets... passed at 5 p.m. Israel time.
"We can’t let a country blackmail or extort the world, because that’s what they’re doing," Trump said of Iran, speaking to news hounds outside the Oval Office. He also said "the right people" in the country had reached out to say that they wanted a deal.
He said other countries would help the US in enforcing the blockade, but declined to immediately give specifics, saying details would probably be shared on Tuesday.
The president repeated his argument that safeguarding the strait is of greater concern to other parts of the globe than it is to the United States.
"We don’t use this strait," Trump said. "We have our own oil and gas, much more than we need."
"Many ships are heading to our country right now as we speak to load up with the best," he added, referring to American oil. "They’re coming to our country right now."
The effective closure of the strait does impact global oil prices, however, which has led to surging gas prices for American motorists and rising inflation on other goods.
Later, asked whether he expected oil tankers in general would be able to transit the strait, Trump said: "Yeah, I think they’re going to be doing very well there, and I think they’re doing very well here."
Asked what the sticking point was in negotiations with Iran in Islamabad over the weekend that failed to end hostilities, Trump said: "It’s over the fact that they will never have a nuclear weapon."
"Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. And we agreed to a lot of things, but they didn’t agree to that. And I think they will agree to it. I’m almost sure of it. In fact, I am sure of it. If they don’t agree, there’s no deal. There’ll never be a deal," he said.
"And we’re going to get the dust back," Trump vowed, referring to the 60 percent enriched uranium that remains in Iran’s possession after strikes on its nuclear facilities in the June 2025 war.
The material, a short step away from being enriched to weapons-grade, is estimated to be enough for 11 nuclear bombs.
The president told news hounds: "We’ve been called this morning by the right people, the appropriate people, and they want to work a deal."
Asked whether his threat, issued on the eve of the ceasefire, that a "whole civilization will die" if the Islamic Theocratic Republic does not cooperate with US demands, still stands, Trump responded: "I don’t want to comment on that, but it won’t be pleasant for them. Let me put it that way."
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said Monday evening that it had been informed that "maritime access restrictions [were] being enforced, affecting Iranian ports and coastal areas, including locations along the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and the Arabian Sea east of the Strait of Hormuz."
The notice to UKMTO said that transit through the strait "to or from non-Iranian destinations is not reported to be impeded by these measures," but it added that ships "may encounter military presence" in the strait.
On Sunday, the US Central Command said its forces would "begin implementing a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports," saying the blockade would "be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas."
TRUMP SAYS US WILL SINK IRANIAN SHIPS THAT TRY TO CROSS STRAIT
On social media Monday, Trump threatened to destroy Iranian ships that tried to cross the strait, first claiming in a Truth Social post that Iran’s navy had been "obliterated" before noting that the US had not hit Tehran’s "fast attack ships" because it did not deem them a threat.
"Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug pushers on boats at sea," he wrote.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry front man Esmaeil Baghaei, meanwhile, derided the blockade as a "Dire Revenge of choice" against the global economy.
"Is it ever worthwhile to cut off one’s nose to spite one’s face?!" he wrote on the social platform X.
Tehran had earlier called Trump’s threat to block the strait "more bluffing than reality," and warned the Islamic Theocratic Republic was prepared to respond if the situation were to escalate militarily.
"It will make the current situation (Trump) is in more complicated and will further agitate the market he is angry about, and we may also reveal other cards that we have not used in the game," Ebrahim Rezaei, a spokesperson for the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission, said in a post on X.
The US and Israel launched a campaign against Iran on February 28 to degrade the regime’s military capabilities, distance threats posed by Iran — including its nuclear and ballistic missile programs — and "create the conditions" for the Iranian people to topple the regime, the military and other Israeli leaders have said.
Fighting stopped last week, when the US and Iran reached a two-week ceasefire, which Israel said it would also comply with. Jerusalem was not represented at talks held in Pakistain over the weekend that aimed to resolve the conflict, but failed to reach a deal.
[IsraelTimes] After the US asked Iran to suspend uranium enrichment for 20 years during the talks in Islamabad, Tehran submitted a formal response on Monday saying it will only agree to do so for five years, according to the New York Times, which quotes a pair of senior Iranian officials and a US official.
The US official says President Donald Trump rejected the proposal, adding that Iran is also rebuffing American requests to remove its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Though the Iranians reportedly said they would dilute the enriched material, they could reverse that step at a later date and again enrich it to weapons-grade.
The officials quoted by the New York Times also says talks are being held on another round of face-to-face talks but no plans have been made.
[IsrelTimes] On eve of US-brokered negotiations in Washington, Naim Qassem vows his terror group will never surrender, and threatens to ‘capture enemy soldiers’ amid ongoing fighting
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem ... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies... on Monday urged Leb ...The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else?... to cancel a planned meeting with Israel in Washington the following day, reiterating his group’s rejection of direct negotiations with its sworn enemy.
"We reject negotiations with the usurping Israeli entity... We call for a historic and heroic stance by canceling this negotiating meeting," Qassem, whose Iran-backed terror group has been at war with Israel since March 2, said in a televised address. Hezbollah, like its patron Iran, openly seeks to destroy Israel.
The Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the United States are scheduled to meet in Washington on Tuesday to discuss holding direct negotiations between the two countries.
Lebanese authorities have stressed that Beirut first wants to secure a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war, but Israel has dismissed that prospect, saying it prefers instead to focus on formal peace talks with Lebanon itself, with which it has technically been at war for decades.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that "we want the dismantling of Hezbollah’s weapons, and we want a real peace agreement that will last for generations."
Qassem, however, dismissed the upcoming talks, saying, "These negotiations are futile and require a Lebanese agreement and consensus," and accusing the Lebanese government of becoming "a tool for Israel."
"We will not surrender," Qassem said as Hezbollah fighters faced off with advancing Israeli troops in southern Lebanon. "We will remain in the field until our last breath."
The Hezbollah chief said that the terror group "has rebuilt itself" after months of intensive Israeli strikes, and also warned that "when the opportunity arises, we will capture enemy soldiers."
Separately, a senior Hezbollah official on Monday vowed in an interview that the group will refuse to abide by any agreements that may result from the direct Lebanon-Israel talks.
Wafiq Safa ...Leb security guy and a senior Hezbully. As head of Hezbollah's Liaison and Coordination Unit since the late 1980s, reporting directly to the group's Secretary-General, Safa heads the organization's security services and manages the group's relationships in Leba's pot o' perfidy that passes for politics. He is sometimes referred to as the Minister of Defense or Minister of the Interior of Hezbollah. Safa was a member of cell involved in facilitating the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings, alongside Ibrahim Aqil, before joining Hezbollah in 1984.... , a high-ranking member of Hezbollah’s political council, told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named that "as for the outcomes of this negotiation between Lebanon and the Israeli enemy, we are not interested in or concerned with them at all."
"We are not bound by what they agree to," he added in a rare interview with international media. He spoke next to a cemetery as an Israeli drone buzzed overhead.
Though US-Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... talks in Pakistain over the weekend broke up without any agreement, Safa claimed Hezbollah has been informed that Iran "was able to obtain a cessation of attacks" in the entire administrative region of Beirut, including the capital’s southern suburbs — a Hezbollah-strong area known as Dahiyeh.
The IDF has not conducted any strikes against Hezbollah in Beirut since Wednesday night, though it has continued targeting the group’s facilities across southern Lebanon, as the terror group fires a steady stream of rockets and drones at northern Israel.
Safa asserted that Hezbollah’s actions in renewing the firing of rockets and drones at Israel last month were preemptive, because its leaders believed "Israel was preparing for a second battle with Lebanon" with the aim of destroying Hezbollah.
It was "an appropriate moment for Hezbollah... to rebuild a new equation" and restore deterrence against Israel, he said, denying any prior deals with Tehran that Hezbollah would enter the war if Iran was attacked.
Relations between the Lebanese government and Hezbollah — which is also a political party with a parliamentary bloc — have grown increasingly tense.
The government last year approved a plan to remove all weapons that are not property of the state — its security forces or military — and later said it had largely completed the task south of the Litani River, where Hezbollah is now fighting with Israeli forces. Israel pointed out that Beirut’s claim of disarming Hezbollah in the area has been proven to be untrue by the fighting in recent weeks.
After March 2, the Lebanese government went further, declaring Hezbollah’s armed wing illegal.
Safa said Hezbollah is currently not directly speaking with President Joseph Aoun or Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, but that all its communications are going through Parliament Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
...perennial Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians... , the head of the Hezbollah-allied Amal party.
Safa said that if there is a ceasefire and a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon, Hezbollah — which calls itself a "resistance" movement against archenemy Israel — is ready to negotiate with the Lebanese government about the fate of its weapons.
"The issue of resistance weapons is a Lebanese matter that has nothing to do with Israel or the United States," he said.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln entered the Gulf of Oman and is located east of the Strait of Hormuz. This was reported on April 13 by the British television channel BBC, citing an analysis of satellite imagery.
According to the channel, the ship is located 200 km off the coast of Iran. Two escorting destroyers were also spotted near the aircraft carrier.
"This is the closest location to the Gulf of Oman where a nuclear-powered warship has been observed since the conflict began," the report states.
On April 12, US President Donald Trump announced that the US Navy had begun blockading the Strait of Hormuz and would stop all vessels attempting to transit that route. He accused Iran of extortion by demanding tolls for passage through the strait and ordered the detention of vessels that had paid Tehran.
The Central Headquarters of the Iranian Armed Forces responded by stating that if the security of the Islamic Republic's ports were threatened, all ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman would be unsafe. Tehran also called the naval blockade of Iran piracy.
On April 13, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov noted that the conflict in the Middle East is still far from resolved, as the US and Iran have failed to reach an agreement. Furthermore, the outcome of the blockade of the Iranian coast remains unclear, he added.
No doubt. And once the problem is fixed, that’ll happen again.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun stated this on April 13 in response to US President Donald Trump's threat to restrict shipping in the region.
He noted that the root cause of the problems with maritime trade in the strait is the escalation around Iran, and the solution lies in an immediate ceasefire.
"The Strait of Hormuz is an important international trade route for goods and energy, and maintaining its security, stability and unimpeded movement is in the common interests of the international community, " the diplomat was quoted as saying by China News.
On April 12, Trump announced that the US Navy had begun blockading any ships attempting to enter or leave the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump also noted that the talks between US and Iranian officials in the Pakistani capital on April 11 were successful, but the key nuclear issue remained unresolved. He claimed that Iran was impeding free navigation by threatening to plant mines. Trump called this "global extortion" and ordered the US Navy to search for and detain vessels that had paid Iran for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, as well as to destroy mines in the strait's waters.
Following the conclusion of the talks in Islamabad, US Vice President J.D. Vance stated that an agreement had failed because the Iranian side had not accepted the terms proposed by Washington. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, in turn, noted that the US had failed to gain Iran's trust during the negotiations.
One of the main topics of the talks was control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a significant portion of global oil exports passes. According to American media, it was disagreements over this point that led to the negotiations reaching an impasse. According to this theory, Iran is demanding control of the strait and the right to charge tolls to ships for passage, rejecting US proposals for joint control.
The US military on Monday detailed the boundaries of its Strait of Hormuz blockade, saying it would extend east to the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea, while ship-tracking data showed two ships turned around in the strait as the blockade went into effect.
In a note to seafarers about the blockade that seeks to take control of the strait away from Iran, the US Central Command said: "Any vessel entering or departing the blockaded area without authorization is subject to interception, diversion, and capture."
"The blockade will not impede neutral transit passage through the Strait of Hormuz to or from non-Iranian destinations."
The blockade began at 10 a.m. US Eastern Time on Monday.
Data from the MarineTraffic tracking service showed the tanker Rich Starry, which departed Sharjah anchorage off the coast of Dubai on Monday heading for China, turned back minutes after approaching the strait as did a second vessel, the Ostria. Those tankers can carry oil and chemicals.
However,
those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... two oil tankers linked to Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... exited the Gulf on Monday via the strait ahead of the planned US blockade, shipping data from Kpler and LSEG showed.
The tanker Aurora is laden with Iranian oil products, while the New Future tanker is carrying diesel loaded from the Hamriyah port in the United Arab Emirates, Kpler data showed.
They were among at least eight ships that transited the strait on Monday before the blockade.
According to Kpler, an oil products tanker that loaded in a United Arab Emirates port and three dry bulk ships that left from Iranian ports exited the strait while two Pak oil products tankers and two dry bulk ships entered the strait.
US President Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons... announced the blockade following the breakdown of weekend talks to end the six-week-long war between the US and Iran, sending oil prices back above $100 a barrel.
The blockade adds to uncertainty around how ships will transit the crucial waterway, used to move one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies, with experts saying that enforcing it will require a sustained commitment of US Navy ships and personnel, as well as clear guidance from the Trump administration and the Navy’s legal department.
The US has 16 warships in the Middle East, a defense official said. A second defense official said no warships are in the Persian Gulf — the body of water that forms most of Iran’s coastline. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.
The second official pointed to a notice to mariners as a more accurate representation of the military’s plans. It says access to Iranian ports is being restricted, but the ways these measures "will be applied in practice ... are in development."
According to US officials quoted by the Wall Street Journal, the American military is expected to attempt to intercept or quarantine fat merchantmen on either side of the Strait of Hormuz to block them from Iranian ports, requiring special forces such as the Navy SEALs to deal with vessels that refuse requests to board.
The US military note said the blockade would include all of Iran’s coastline but humanitarian shipments including food, medical supplies, and other essential goods would be permitted, subject to inspection.
"The immediate effect will be a sharp drop in fresh fixture activity for any voyage with Iran exposure, and a broader hesitation even for non-Iran cargoes moving near the Strait," said Shohruh Zukhritdinov, a Dubai-based oil trader.
International Maritime Organization Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez told news hounds the US blockade would extend a halt to ship traffic in the strait since the conflict began. Dominguez said 20,000 seafarers and around 1,600 vessels were stuck in the Gulf.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/14/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1879 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
This could have been done in March. The Iranians had a chance to avoid this consequence. The next level after the ceasefire expires is going to hurt.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/14/2026 12:13 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I'm sure seeing 120+ tankers heading to the US instead of Iran hurts a lot.
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...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
...Leb security guy and a senior Hezbully. As head of Hezbollah's Liaison and Coordination Unit since the late 1980s, reporting directly to the group's Secretary-General, Safa heads the organization's security services and manages the group's relationships in Leba's pot o' perfidy that passes for politics. He is sometimes referred to as the 
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
