Is it near the end of the session? All of a sudden the rulings are coming thick and fast.
Yes
[Liberty Nation] In a 6-3 decision on Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that U.S. immigration officials may legally turn back asylum seekers at the Mexican border, greenlighting a now-rescinded immigration policy devised under the Obama administration, later expanded during President Donald Trump’s first term, then ended by the Biden administration in 2021.
The decision clears the way for the Trump administration to resume allowing federal agents to turn back migrants before they physically cross the southern border into the US, preventing them from making an asylum claim until they enter the country.
The case centered on how to interpret immigration laws that state a noncitizen who "arrives in" the US must be allowed to apply for asylum. Justice Samuel Alito, joined by five other conservative justices, wrote, "In ordinary speech, no one would say that a person ’arrives in’ a place — for example, a house, a city, or a country — before the person enters that place." The Court’s three liberal justices dissented.
[IsraelTimes] The United States is reassessing its military posture in the Middle East, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal that cited satellite imagery revealing far more extensive damage at a key naval base in Bahrain than the US has publicly acknowledged.
The report says the US is considering refurnishing the base in Bahrain while shrinking its military footprint in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, instead moving bases and operations westward where they would be further away from Iran’s missiles and drones.
One location where some bases could relocate to is Israel, two of the officials cited in the report tell the Journal. Anonymous officials?
More from the Times of Israel here at 10:35 a.m. EDT.
#2
No status of forces agreement. No defense treaty.
Going to need a lot of action from the Senate to make this happen, if it ever does.
America can NOT have host countries barging into our bases to arrest our soldiers for violating their stupid laws.
Posted by: Jack Guelph2611 ||
06/26/2026 8:26 Comments ||
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#3
^The couldn't protect the Arab countries they were stationed in. They couldn't even protect themselves.
#5
American bases are legally extra-territorial pieces of America, Jack Guelph2611. Besides, Israel is civilized. They’d send a police officer with an arrest warrant to the base HQ, and wait for the miscreant to be handed over for trial. Honestly, you have the oddest ideas.
#6
Doubt it will actually happen. I suspect the story is being floated as a bargaining chip of some sort, possibly to get the Gulf nations to pay for the rebuilding of the bases or some other consideration that benefits the US
#7
Bring them ALL home! FRom Europe also. Y'all can protect yourselves Alfie, fuckers like you never appreciate a damn thing anyway.
Posted by: Chris ||
06/26/2026 13:57 Comments ||
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#8
Ohhh OOhhh Ohhh I gotta Idea!
How about using some of Iran frozen funds to pay for the repairs and reparations, like to any service member injured or killed by said missile strikes as well as to the host countries for the inconvenience and first responder assistance?
[IsraelTimes] ASIO director: Australian in Iran plotted Sydney arson, former resident led Melbourne attack; adds Tehran sees Australia as ‘legitimate target for covertly directed violence’
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps used two agents who once lived in Australia to direct arson attacks against Jewish targets in Sydney and Melbourne, the head of Australia’s domestic spy agency said on Wednesday.
"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... continues to view Australia as a legitimate target for covertly directed acts of violence," Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO), said.
Australia last year blamed Iran for fires that damaged Lewis’ Continental Kitchen, a kosher eatery in Sydney, and Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue two months apart in 2024.
A major diplomatic rift led to Iran’s ambassador being expelled. Tehran denies the allegations.
Burgess, presenting his annual update on national security threats, said that an Australian citizen based in Iran directed the Sydney Molotov cocktailing, while a former Australian resident living in Iraq had directed the Melbourne attack.
He did not name the suspects to protect ongoing investigations and criminal prosecutions.
The Australian citizen was a senior IRGC agent running its networks around the world, Burgess said.
Iran had recruited the man through a "complex web of Iraqi-based militia groups," Burgess said, adding that the IRGC had valued his criminal connections and supported his continuing crimes.
"That changed dramatically after ASIO publicly named Iran’s involvement in the arsons," Burgess said.
"This person’s Iranian backers lost their enthusiasm and after further pressure from Australian and local law enforcement, they threw him in prison," he added.
Burgess described the investigation into the Sydney and Melbourne attacks as "one of the most difficult and detailed in recent ASIO history."
He had previously said that the Revolutionary Guard was suspected as being behind other antisemitic crimes in Australia since the start of Israel’s war against Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... in 2023.
Several people are facing charges in connection with the arson attacks. It remains unclear whether they were aware who they were working for.
The Australian government has established a public inquiry to investigate a rise in antisemitism across the country, including the killing of 15 people when two button men opened fire on a Sydney Hanukkah celebration in December at Bondi Beach.
#2
The Saudi doctor is in our archives here. Dr. Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen, 50, a drug-using, German-trained psychotherapist from Hofuf in the Shiite region of Saudi Arabia, treated German patients for eighteen years — since his arrival in 2006 — despite becoming dangerously mentally unstable himself, which was reported to the authorities a number of times, and brushed off each time. Also, they knew security for the Christmas market was weak, but did nothing to change it. So they have no one to blame for his actions but themselves.
[IsraelTimes] US President Donald Trump’s administration has formally notified Congress of its intention to sell more than $700 million of jet engines to Turkey, according to two sources and a copy of the formal notification seen by Reuters.
Reuters was first to report on Wednesday that the Trump administration planned to press ahead with the sale despite objections from some lawmakers over Turkey’s continued possession of Russian defense systems it acquired in 2019.
The move is an important gesture to Ankara ahead of a pivotal NATO summit there next month and to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, whom Trump considers a key ally.
The State Department doesn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/26/2026 2026-06-26 03:25 ||
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[1770 views]
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#1
Make them a deal on the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 or the Pratt & Whitney GTF engines used by the Boeing 787?
😇
[IsraelTimes] Groups boast of gains in reshaping the enclave, but experts say they’ve had almost no impact, and Israelis should be questioning if apparent bid to replace Hamas with gun-toting gangs is a good idea
Late last month, an anti-Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... militia in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... published footage on Facebook showing one of its operatives using a several-meter-long drone, seemingly marking the first known public documentation of one of Gaza’s militias using a military-grade UAV.
"The People’s Army led by Ashraf al-Mansi announces the successful introduction of several drones into service," the statement read.
"Maj. Gen. Ghassan Dehini has already announced the successful execution of several operations using them," the announcement crowed, referring to the leader of another militia who is seen as the unofficial leader of the entire network of gangs.
For the past year, Israel has provided groups like The People’s Army with weapons, air support, intelligence, food, and cigarettes, and has airlifted maimed militia members into Israel for medical care. It has also provided them with light weapons, largely rifles, but the video showed the militias may now be receiving more sophisticated arms as well.
A year after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu first acknowledged that Israel was arming militias in Gaza, much about Jerusalem’s backing for the array of small gangs operating in defiance of Hamas, including criminal gangs, remains vague and opaque, including what strategy, if any, Israel is pursuing.
"Gaza has become the capital of Israeli fantasies. And that includes the operation of these militias," said Michael Milshtein, an expert on Paleostinian affairs and a longtime critic of the idea of backing the gangs.
In the year since Netanyahu’s announcement, the Israeli government has largely avoided publicly addressing the issue, and the IDF has repeatedly declined to answer questions about the militias’ activities.
At the same time, the militias themselves have increasingly publicized their activities on social media, providing a limited window into Israel’s Gazook allies.
Footage and statements released by the groups point to forces numbering at most a few hundred gunnies. Their operations appear sporadic but ongoing, involving festivities with Hamas alongside efforts aimed at boosting their popularity among Gaza residents, such as distributing food ahead of Moslem holidays.
The militias do not appear to have posed any major challenge to Hamas’s continuing rule in populated parts of Gaza, and their broader operational goals remain unclear.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit declined to answer The Times of Israel’s questions about the militias, including whether the drones were supplied by Israel, as is widely suspected. The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to requests for comment on the militias’ ties to Israel. The Defense Ministry referred questions to the IDF.
Milshtein, head of the Paleostinian Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University’s Moshe Dayan Center, told The Times of Israel that giving the groups UAVs was a major mistake and liable to backfire.
The militias "will eventually turn to terrorism themselves, or Hamas will get its hands on the drones and use them against us," he predicted.
MANY GROUPS, FEW CIVILIANS
According to Milshtein, who studies Gaza closely and remains in contact with residents there, the militias have had little meaningful impact on the situation in the Strip, beyond damaging Israel’s interests.
Michael Barak, a senior researcher at Reichman University’s International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, agreed that the militias had had little tangible impact in Gaza over the past year.
However,
Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried... he argued that the groups provided value to the IDF as an allied force willing to work with it against Hamas.
"It’s good for us as long as there is a Gazook population willing to cooperate with Israel, clear areas of mines or Hamas operatives," he told The Times of Israel.
There appear to be five separate armed militias active in Gaza, based on social media posts. The groups, all of which were established between April and September 2025, are based in areas under Israel Defense Forces control, though they occasionally launch operations, including armed raids, into areas controlled by Hamas.
Some of the groups have previously said they were seeking to set up enclaves where civilians would live under their protection, free from Hamas.
In practice, however, nearly all of Gaza’s approximately 2 million residents live in the 40 percent of the enclave where Hamas continues to exercise governing power.
Last year, a senior member of the al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... militia told The Times of Israel that about 5,000 civilians were living under the group’s protection in an area east of Rafah.
With the IDF barring Gazook civilians from crossing the Yellow Line demarcating the de facto border of the area controlled by Hamas, Paleostinians have no way to reach the militia-controlled zones even if they wanted to.
"The Paleostinian street today does not want Hamas," said Hussam al-Astal, who leads a militia operating east of Khan Younis. "People are exhausted from all of this, they do not want Hamas anymore, people want to live. Thousands are telling us they are waiting for the IDF to tell them they can move into the Yellow Line areas because they want to come."
However,
Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried... Milshtein said that Gazooks he spoke with expressed hostility toward militia members.
Gazooks living in areas of the enclave under Hamas rule have also told The Times of Israel they do not support the groups, though it is impossible to know if their comments are skewed by Hamas repression of public dissent.
Saif Odeh, a resident of Gaza City, told The Times of Israel in May that the groups would not help Israeli authorities build trust with Gaza’s residents.
"The militias in Gaza are something all factions oppose — both Fatah and Hamas," he said, seemingly referencing the idea that the armed gangs were not representative of Paleostinian national interests.
Al-Astal previously told The Times of Israel that the militias hope to become part of a "new Gaza" rebuilt after the Hamas era. Plans for Gaza’s rehabilitation under US President Donald Trump ...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US... ’s 20-point ceasefire proposal, which does not include the militias, are currently stuck due to Hamas’s refusal to disarm.
Much of the militias’ activity on social media appears aimed at conveying the message that Hamas is weak and that Gazooks support the gangs, who are acting on their behalf.
In the days leading up to Eid al-Adha ...a major Moslem holiday, marked by animal sacrifice and ritual rioting... , one of the two major Moslem holidays, several militias published videos showing members distributing sweets to children and preparing aid packages. The videos showed both children and adults praising the militias.
In footage published by al-Mansi’s militia from what it described as a "logistics center" for humanitarian aid, products bearing Hebrew labels from Israeli companies could be seen, including Elite-branded Nescafe and Materna baby formula — suggesting the supplies originated in Israel.
Yet there are also allegations that the groups have been used by Israel to force civilians from their homes in areas being taken over by the IDF, which has been ordered by Netanyahu to expand its control to 70% of Gaza.
According to reports, the al-Shabaab clan, the oldest and largest militia and today headed by Dehini, is used by Israel to secure passage for Gazook civilians entering from Egypt via the Rafah Crossing and transiting through IDF-controlled territory into the part of the enclave controlled by Hamas.
Milshtein said Gazooks who spoke to him after making the journey described harsh treatment by militia members, including sexual harassment, theft and beatings.
Further damaging the Gazook public’s perception of the militias has been an influence campaign by Hamas portraying the groups as ineffective and destined to collapse sooner or later, Barak said.
"Hamas has Telegram channels where it claims to have infiltrated the militias with agents and showcases militia members who supposedly repented and abandoned the groups," Barak told The Times of Israel.
None of the militia leaders currently operating in Gaza were previously well-known or widely respected figures in Paleostinian society. Yasser Abu Shabaab, who led the eponymous militia before being killed in an internal dispute, was previously accused of criminal activity, including smuggling and looting, and allegedly had past ties to the 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.... group.
"It is completely clear that we took the bottom tier of Paleostinian society," Milshtein alleged. "People who are criminals, dubious figures, involved in terrorism against Israel — under the belief that they could become an alternative to Hamas."
MILITIAS FROM NORTH TO SOUTH
Al-Astal, whose militia operates east of Khan Younis, told The Times of Israel that each group has its own home territory, but they work together and regularly communicate with each other.
"Relations between us are good and there is ongoing contact," he said by phone from Gaza. "There is coordination on all needs, including with regard to the media."
A review of Facebook pages maintained by the militias and their commanders indeed shows that the groups frequently amplify each other’s statements and activities.
The militias have never publicly declared a clear long-term objective, though they are all focused on fighting Hamas and seeking to end its rule over Gaza.
When asked by The Times of Israel about the militias’ goals and the progress of the fight against Hamas, al-Astal largely avoided the question, saying only that Hamas had weakened and was now composed of "small groups operating on the ground."
On May 21, al-Mansi posted on Facebook that "we will neither eat nor rest until Gaza is liberated, area by area" from Hamas.
On May 25, his group, which operates mainly in northern Gaza, published footage on Facebook showing several dozen masked button men gathered at Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... ia Beach in northwestern Gaza, declaring, "There are no Hamas members here."
Sudania Beach lies on the Hamas-controlled side of the Yellow Line, though the video appeared to be taken in an area near the Israeli line of control.
Other videos show al-Mansi, about whom little is known, driving a jeep alongside gunnies through areas filled with heavily destroyed buildings and relatively empty streets. The commander "pledged continued efforts to consolidate security, stability, protect citizens and strengthen the rule of law," the group wrote in one video showing him touring an area seemingly devoid of citizens.
Another militia operating in northern Gaza is led by Rami Khalas, a member of a large, well-known family who is reportedly affiliated with Hamas rival Fatah.
According to reports, members of the Khalas clan were among several dozen people executed by Hamas in Gaza City shortly after the ceasefire with Israel took effect in October.
The group has become less active on social media in recent months, though on May 5, Khalas called on residents of Gaza City to come to humanitarian aid distribution points run by the militia, suggesting the group is still operational.
The heads of some of the groups have also been linked to the Paleostinian Authority, the Fatah-dominated body ousted from Gaza by Hamas in a bloody 2007 coup.
According to reports, Shawqi Abu Nuseira, who runs the Free Homeland Forces militia in the central Gaza Strip, was an officer in the PA’s security forces before Hamas seized control.
The group’s social media posts suggest it operates between the Deir al-Balah area in the central Strip and Khan Younis in the south of the enclave.
Al-Astal has said that he served in the PA security forces in Gaza, and was imprisoned and sentenced to death after Hamas took over because of his support for the PA.
He previously told The Times of Israel that the militia, consisting of several dozen gunnies, was based in the village of Qizan al-Najjar, south of Khan Younis, an area currently situated near the Yellow Line and likely under IDF control.
The most organized group, al-Shabaab which was led by al-Shabaab before he was killed, according to Israel, in a December clan feud, is now led by his deputy Dehini.
The militia, known as the Counter-Terrorism Apparatus or the Popular Forces, is also thought to be the largest of the groups, with reports estimating the group’s size at anywhere from several dozen to a few hundred button men. In videos, Dehini is often seen alongside dozens of armed fighters, who at times wear uniforms bearing the Paleostinian flag.
The group operates east of Rafah and near the Rafah crossing.
On May 26, Dehini published a video on his Facebook page showing several dozen gunnies patrolling in jeeps with a border fence visible in the background. Weeks earlier, Dehini published footage showing himself and several militia members in civilian clothes, tagging the location as the Rafah Crossing. The post confirmed earlier Israeli reports that Dehini’s group was participating in security arrangements on the Gaza side of the crossing.
On the ground, the militias occasionally engage in festivities with Hamas operatives. The confrontations publicized so far have taken place in areas on the Hamas-controlled side of the line and, according to the militias, were mostly initiated by Hamas.
On April 20, al-Astal told The Times of Israel that while members of his militia were distributing food to residents in Khan Younis, Hamas operatives attacked them and killed one of the group’s members.
He described a similar incident on May 6, saying Hamas operatives attacked the militia in Musa Square in Khan Younis while they were assisting civilians. In a video filmed afterward, al-Astal claimed the militia members were unharmed and had shot two Hamas operatives dead and seized their weapons.
At the same time, Hamas-affiliated media outlets claimed the incident was a planned ambush carried out by Hamas against the militia, during which "three Israeli agents" were killed — apparently referring to militia members cooperating with Israel.
At least some of the militias are built around the network of powerful extended families that continue to wield authority on a local level in parts of Gaza. Hamas, which coordinates with many of the enclave’s clans, including those linked to some of the militias working with Israel, has attempted to use these ties to pressure militia members to disband, Barak said.
Among them, he noted, is that of al-Astal.
COLLABORATION QUESTIONS
Al-Astal acknowledged that the militias operate in coordination with the IDF, but declined to elaborate further.
During a media tour organized by the military last year, IDF combat officers operating in the Rafah area were unable to comment on the anti-Hamas militias in their area, saying they were only aware of their presence and location. Coordination between the militias and Israel is reportedly handled by the Shin Bet security agency.
The IDF and Shin Bet declined to comment on the matter.
Hamas-affiliated media reports on May 14 suggested that the militias were helping the IDF deal with civilians as the army expanded its zone of control inside Gaza, taking over areas where Paleostinian civilians had been living under Hamas rule.
One unusual activity documented recently has been the militias’ involvement in evacuating civilians, reportedly under IDF instructions.
According to the reports, militias cooperating with Israel had forced residents to evacuate areas near Deir al-Balah, close to the Yellow Line, for unclear reasons.
On the same day, a video published by Abu Nuseira’s militia showed him briefing gunnies, alongside text blaming civilians’ suffering on Hamas’s refusal to cede the enclave to transitional authorities as laid out in the Trump plan.
"We do not want to expel them, we are with them," Abu Nuseira tells the gunnies in the video, referring to Gazook civilians. "This is a message we are conveying from the Israeli side, that people should evacuate the area."
One of the button men responds that residents understand this, while the gunnies chant: "Death to Hamas."
Israel has not officially commented on the evacuations, and the IDF declined to address the issue in response to questions from The Times of Israel.
Milshtein criticized the strategy of taking over more territory, noting that it was pushing civilians to crowd into Hamas’s shrinking area of control, rather than bringing more Gazooks into the expanding territory where the IDF and the militias hold sway.
According to Milshtein, Israel has pursued a strategy of working with anti-Hamas groups in Gaza since early 2024, but the effort has been marked by repeated failures.
Initial attempts appear to have involved establishing contact with the Durmush clan in an effort to explore whether it could serve as a governing alternative to Hamas. Several senior members of the clan were later executed, a development that only became public months afterward through Arab media reports.
In March 2024, the Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported that efforts to enlist Gaza clans as an alternative governing force had largely failed. According to the report, many clans rejected proposals to take responsibility for securing specific geographic areas of the Strip out of concern that doing so would bring them into conflict with Hamas forces that remained active.
In June 2024, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to disclose the project, telling Channel 14 that Israel had tried several months earlier to empower clans that would replace Hamas rule, but that Hamas had killed the clan members involved.
Milshtein said the lack of transparency over the project had precluded any official accounting of the use of militias in Gaza, and stymied meaningful public debate over the strategy.
"No one stops and asks where all this nonsense is heading," he said. "Is it helping? Is it harmful? Should it be changed or canceled? For two years there has been no review of this entire affair — not by the Shin Bet, not by the IDF. There is no review, and when there is no review, mistakes get repeated again and again and again."
LEBANON TRANSFERS SECOND BATCH OF SYRIAN PRISONERS
Lebanon has transferred 128 convicted Syrian prisoners—many serving sentences for offenses such as drug trafficking, theft, assault, and other non-political crimes—to Syria under a February agreement with Damascus. The deal… pic.twitter.com/ZL2u1f08qY
LEBANON TRANSFERS SECOND BATCH OF SYRIAN PRISONERS
Lebanon has transferred 128 convicted Syrian prisoners—many serving sentences for offenses such as drug trafficking, theft, assault, and other non-political crimes—to Syria under a February agreement with Damascus. The deal covers about 300 inmates, who must serve the remainder of their sentences in Syria—not be released.
The move aims to ease overcrowding in Lebanon’s prisons, where roughly 2,000–2,200 Syrians are currently held.
Posted by: badanov ||
06/26/2026 00:00 ||
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[1812 views]
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Oil prices have returned to prewar levels as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz rebounds, with the US reporting oil flows are nearing normal after disruptions caused by the Iran conflict.
Oil prices have returned to prewar levels as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz rebounds, with the US reporting oil flows are nearing normal after disruptions caused by the Iran conflict.
Despite the recovery, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned vessels to follow shipping routes designated by Tehran, rejecting newly announced routes coordinated by Oman and the UN.
Oil dips below prewar price of under $73 a barrel, but number of vessels passing through strait is still below prewar figures; oil tankers use new route through channel despite Iran threats
Oil prices fell to pre-war levels on Thursday as the United States said flows through the Strait of Hormuz were nearing normal, even as 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... insisted it would keep control of the strait under any deal with the US.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said shipments through the strait were approaching levels seen before the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, with at least 20 million barrels exiting the strait in the previous 24 hours.
During the conflict, Iran took effective control of the vital chokepoint, disrupting oil flows and rattling global energy markets and the wider economy.
Despite the recovery in traffic, Iran signaled it would continue to assert control. Its Revolutionary Guards on Thursday warned vessels to stick to routes through the strait designated by Tehran, rejecting newly announced shipping routes not coordinated with Iran as unacceptable and dangerous.
The warning came after Oman announced temporary shipping lanes through the strait in coordination with the United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... ’ shipping agency.
Data from the UN’s International Maritime Organization showed that 57 ships carrying about 1,100 seafarers have transited the strait since June 23 under the evacuation plan.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration... sought to reassure Gulf allies wary of Washington’s preliminary accord with Tehran.
After meeting with Gulf Arab foreign ministers in Bahrain — home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet — he told news hounds that Gulf allies shared some serious concerns and that they wanted to be informed of every step of the peace accord, which includes provisions on the Strait of Hormuz.
If Iran threatens or blocks ships in the strait, "then we’re going to have a problem," Rubio said, having earlier told ministers that "no country on Earth has the right to charge for the use of international waterways" and that fees for shipping would never be part of any deal.
Badr bin Hamad Al Busaid, the foreign minister of Oman, which lies across the strait from Iran, told the meeting that future shipping arrangements should not involve tolls.
OIL TANKERS USE NEW ROUTE THROUGH STRAIT OF HORMUZ DESPITE IRANIAN THREATS
Several tankers made their way out of the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday using a new route promoted by a UN maritime agency. Iran has threatened vessels using the path, which runs along the coast of Oman.
The opening of an alternative passage through the vital waterway would relieve pressure on the world economy and remove Iran’s main source of leverage in ongoing peace talks with the United States. Rubio, during his visit to the Gulf, said Washington was committed to the new route.
Traffic through the strait has increased but is still well below prewar levels. Oil on Thursday briefly dipped below its last prewar price of just under $73 per barrel, a sign that the market believes the situation is improving.
The two sides are still debating the terms of an interim peace deal — from getting ships through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf to the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
Under the memorandum of understanding signed last week, the US and Iran agreed to a 60-day period to iron out the details. As talks are held behind closed doors, US President Donald Trump ...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party... and Iranian leaders have seemed to negotiate in public, trading threats and claiming concessions the other side denies.
The flare-up of fighting in Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel... between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah fighters has meanwhile threatened the wider truce. Israel’s first Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... on Lebanon since a ceasefire took effect over the weekend killed two people on Wednesday, according to Lebanon’s state-run news agency ...and if you can't trust the state-run news agency who can you believe?... Israel is not party to the agreement between the US and Iran and bitterly opposes many of its aspects.
MORE SHIPS ARE PASSING THROUGH THE STRAIT, BUT FAR FEWER THAN BEFORE THE WAR
The oil tankers, led by the Stoic Warrior vessel, sailed along the coast of the United Arab Emirates and then Oman early Thursday, passing by Oman’s Musandam Peninsula fairly close to the shore. The route was laid out by Oman and the International Maritime Organization, a UN agency.
North of the route is the Traffic Separation Scheme corridor, in the center of the strait, where ships had moved through freely before the war, transporting about a fifth of all the world’s oil and natural gas.
Iran said it mined that passage after the US and Israel attacked it on Feb. 28, and at least one mine has been sighted there.
Though some ships had been getting out of the strait, with US military support, the UN agency’s effort is the latest to free trapped vessels. The shipping company Maersk said its container ship, the Maersk Baltimore, and another chartered vessel had also made it out of the strait on Thursday.
Last week, 125 vessels crossed the strait, up from 33 the week before, according to marine data and analysis firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
According to S&P Global, Wednesday saw 78 transits, the most since the war began. Among the vessels were 10 crude oil tankers, including five outbound large carriers that can carry up to 2 million barrels of oil.
Still, that daily total is below the average of 130 or more from before the war.
"Opportunistic operators — and there are many of them — emboldened by the lower transit risk, or at least the perceived lower transit risk, have begun chasing the backlog of trapped cargoes that built up during the conflict," said Richard Meade, editor-in-chief at Lloyd’s List.
IRAN SAYS THE NEW SHIPPING ROUTE IS ’UNACCEPTABLE’
The naval arm of the Revolutionary Guard, apparently reacting to the new shipping route and increased traffic, issued a warning Thursday, carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
It said the new route was established "without notice or coordination with the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran," calling it "unacceptable and completely dangerous."
"The only authorized route for passing through the Strait of Hormuz is the one declared by the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran," the Iranian force said. "Vessel traffic outside these routes is extremely dangerous and prohibited."
"Violators will be dealt with," it added, without elaborating.
There were no immediate reports of any incidents in the strait. On Wednesday, however, the Guard threatened one tanker over the radio, with a soldier warning, "you are in range of my missiles and maybe (I) fire on you," according to the private security firm Ambrey.
RUBIO SAYS THE US WILL ENSURE THERE ARE NO TOLLS ON SHIPS
Rubio met with foreign ministers from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council to assure them that their interests would be protected in any agreement with Iran.
Those countries, including major energy producers reliant on the Strait of Hormuz for exports, came under attack by Iran after the start of the war.
"There is no part in this deal that’s undertaken that in any way undermines the security, the stability or the prosperity of any of our partners in the Gulf region," Rubio said at the meeting in Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.
He later told journalists the US and Gulf allies would ensure there would be no fees charged on ships moving through the strait.
He also criticized Iran’s hard-liners for going "on their official media and making all kinds of pronouncements" that he described as not true.
He said the US wanted to make sure the Oman route continued for ships to transit the strait. "If that stops, then we’re going to have a problem," Rubio said.
The GCC countries have expressed reservations about the limitation of the US-Iran deal signed last week, including conflicting claims over the strait and the fact that the memorandum of understanding does not specifically cover Iran’s nuclear or ballistic missile programs.
Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani thanked the US for its support, saying that because of the agreement, "today we see a glimmer of hope for our region," but stressed that it was "critically important that Iran adheres to its obligations."
#3
Great! Oil comes down, and now we'll wait weeks or months for the gas prices to return to pre-war levels.
Unlike, how we were screwed over with instant GAS price increases on day one of the war. Which was 12 to 16 days before the 1st drop of that $112 p/barrel oil reached the USA.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel...
