Oil determined to have originated in Iran in violation of international sanctions was seized and just began offloading today in the US. Iran trying to capture several tankers to hold as hostage and US and British ships runnign Iranians off. Meanwhile, Iran sends out speed boats and drones to harass US warships. One hothead away from a very bad scene. Wild moment Iranian drones swarm US warship with 4,000 troops at dock (msn.com) New footage has been released revealing dozens of Iranian drones and speedboats swarming several US Navy ships near the Persian Gulf. Footage showed the Iran navy sent small vessels to confront the USS Bataan and the USS Carter Hall in the fraught Strait of Hormuz. Armed soldiers controlled the speed boats from Iran's Islamic revolutionary guard corps and came within inches of the ships, while drones also taunted the boats and managed to snap pictures right above them. The standoff comes just weeks after the US warned vessels to avoid the Persian Gulf following a threat Iran made about seizing oil tankers in the region. The footage, taken from several drones and speed boats, also showed Iranian soldiers speaking a mix of Farsi. A tanker believed to hold sanctioned Iran oil starts offloading near Texas despite Tehran's threats | AP News DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An oil tanker long suspected of carrying sanctioned Iranian crude oil offloaded its cargo near Texas on Sunday, tracking data showed, even as Tehran has threatened to target shipping in the Persian Gulf over it. Ship-tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press showed the Marshall Islands-flagged Suez Rajan began the hourslong ship-to-ship transfer of its oil to another tanker, the MR Euphrates, near Galveston, some 70 kilometers (45 miles) southeast of Houston. The fate of the cargo aboard the Suez Rajan has become mired in the wider tensions between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic, even as Tehran and Washington work toward a trade of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets in South Korea for the release of five Iranian-Americans held in Tehran. Iran has been trying to evade sanctions and continue selling its oil abroad, while the U.S. and its allies have been seizing cargoes since 2019 after the country’s nuclear deal allowing the trade collapsed. VIDEO: Iranian Navy Warship Fires on Oil Tanker in the Strait of Hormuz - USNI News An Iranian warship fired on an oil tanker off the coast of Oman before leaving the scene after U.S. naval forces arrived, U.S. 5th Fleet announced on Wednesday. Early Wednesday morning, Iranian warships attempted to seize two commercial tankers. Iranian personnel fired multiple shots while attempting to take oil tanker Richmond Voyager, according to the Navy release. USS McFaul (DDG-74), as well as surveillance assets, including an MQ-9 Reaper and Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, responded to the two attempted seizures. The Iranian Navy first attempted to take oil tanker TRF Moss, which flew the Marshall Island flag, around 1 a.m. local time. The Iranian Navy vessel left once McFaul arrived, according to 5th Fleet.
More internal opposition as Tehran transfers water from ancient lake to persian farmers A Disappearing Lake Leads to Dangerous Protests in Iran Over the past two decades, Lake Urmia, in northwestern Iran, has shrunk by nearly 95 percent, destroying the once-booming tourism and fishing industries and the habitat of local fauna, including flamingos, terns, and gulls, as well as endemic species such as brine shrimp. If the lake were to dry up, some four million residents from the West and East Azerbaijan provinces would have to be evacuated, with vicious salt storms making their land uninhabitable. They're not going quietly. In the past week, Azerbaijani protesters have taken to the streets throughout the region. A week ago, demonstrators gathered at the provincial office of Iran's Natural Resources and Watershed Management Organization in Tabriz chanting, "Lake Urmia is thirsty!" ...... While Lake Urmia desiccates, the government has spared no efforts in supplying water to Persian regions in need. This has not escaped the attention of the protestors. Two weeks ago, Azerbaijani activists in the Caspian city of Ardabil handed out leaflets attacking the regime for pumping water from the Caspian Sea to the farmers in the Semnan province, who belong to Iran's dominant Persian population and have long mismanaged and wasted water.
Iran may be on the verge of a Soviet-style economic collapse. It turns out that the revolutionaries had no clue how to run an economy. The Shah of Iran was working on developing an industrial base to diversify the economy beyond oil sales. The revolution drove away companies that might have helped develop Iran's economy, and a highly corrupt system of government moved in. Since people are not willing to pay their taxes, the government occasionally raids banks to get money (and the banks respond by threatening to close shop). Iran may go bankrupt within two years. Iran has oil and gas deposits it can't get out of the ground, and is the rare middle eastern country that has enough water, but it cannot get the water to where it is needed. MSN Iran's economic problems may explain why they are cozying up to Saudi Arabia, which is traditionally an enemy. It also may explain why they are selling drones to Russia.
Iran is still on a course for regime change form within, according to the Brits. Everyone from high school kids to senior citizens wants the theocracy removed from power. The Iranian regime is primed for total collapse
Disappointed that Biden released $6B in Iranian oil money that was frozen in S Korean banks to Iran in order to accomplish a prisoner swap. That cash will help prop up the regime and fund extremists
US citizens shouldn't go to Iran, N Korea, Russia etc. There is a.reason why we don’t negotiate with terrorists. Pay them for their crimes and you only encourage more of it. Travel to those areas at your own risk.
While I wish this were true, there is nothing in that article to make me believe that’s going to happen. As long as the military / Republican guard support the regime I don’t see anything happening. Hopefully I’m wrong.
Just on C-Span is Ambassador Michael Herzogg from Israel.He gave some good interesting, comments. An ongoing problem for Israel is making sure they can remain safe from Israel. He also had a high response for former President Truman, who lead the US into good relations with Israel at the time some in the U.S. and elsewhere were not in favor of a new Israeli State.
Agreed. They are their own worst enemy. They are at the tipping point of becoming a theocratic/fascist state. Nutty Yahoo is almost as corrupt as tRump but he’s still in power. That in spite of a majority of the population who don’t want it to go that way (parallels to the US). It was a terrible mistake. I get that we needed to do something for them after the war but a nation state was not one of those things. We could have carved out space in south Florida or perhaps South Dakota.
how could it not be a theocratic/fascist state....it was designed by BIG WORLD GOV to be that way. as you know, the wheels had been in motion long before the war to create a Zionist state. Central planning doesn't work. A little bit of it is a drag. A lot is fatal. B. Bonner
Proceeds from a false assumption. We didn’t give Jewish people the State of Israel. They took it and defended it against overwhelming odds (approximately 12:1, depending on how one correlates the manpower disparity) in 1948 with virtually no support from the U.S. government and official resistance from the UK. U.S. military aid, which has become the norm today, did not start until later, after the Jewish state was already an established fact.
Had to look it up...not a history buff. But, the US did vote in favor of resolution 181 which carved out Israel. The UK abstained. God knows they'd done enough damage in the region.
I don’t consider our UN vote or even our recognition of their state much in the way of support in context. The Jewish people of the Palestine Mandate faced war not only against the Arab people already living there but also the militaries of Lebanon, Syria, Transjordan, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia et al. They needed military aid and lots of it. From our government (not speaking to private donations), they got none. Given the contrast between that and the billions worth of military aid they receive from us now annually, going back to the 60s, I would say my main point is still valid: we did not give them their state.
Of course, I never said we(US) gave them their state, soho did maybe (don't know what he meant by the word "we"). I don't think I am nearly as military minded or conquest minded as you, so I use a diff lense. Big world gov supported the creation of Israel & damn sure didn't intervene to stop the creation of Israel. That's my only pt. Well, that & it was an epic blunder.
This kind of comes from our typical American centric arrogance that we are responsible for everything. Israel was created due to a complicated set of historical events. It is at least understandable why it was created from the vantage point of Israelis. After a certain point world events are what they are, and then we pick our alignments. To an extent most counties are a result of some series of historical conquests. We are just talking about time frames. The US has meddled in numerous country’s affairs, sometimes for good, many times not. The fact that we chose to support them years after the state was created isn’t necessarily illogical.
They would still have won their war of independence even with our NYET. And we would still be right here.
