So the US navy is blockading the Sea of Oman (letting 40 ships pass over the weekend before Iran closed them again according to TASS) as they spent 6 hours trying to get 1 container ship to stop. Even US news outlets were reporting 9 ships passing the US blockade on Saturday alone.
Traditionally what happens is the blockading ship says stop or you will be boarded which would be done by helicopter deployment but there was not one close enough.
So instead the Americans fired cannon into the Iranian ship crippling it and then boarded once the helicopter arrived. The problem now is that they’ve got a crippled ship they must tow into port which will probably take at least a week and one less US ship to form the blockade.
A few more incidents like this and there will be no blockading ships left.
The container ship was heading to China and the Chinese are now talking of providing navy escorts for their ships.
Rumours last night that the US is going to end its blockade which would not surprise. The US have had no strategy since day 3 when the original plan failed. They have since been scrambling around making it up as they go.
Which is why many say it's all been a delaying tactic until all the troops sent for have arrived which should be Wednesday, the same day as the end of the ceasefire.
Landing troops will be a total disaster and will mean either total defeat for the US forcing Trump to run up the white flag, or again escalate and Vietnam 2.0, we shall see.
The US airforce just announced that the A-10 Warthog troop support ground attack jet will have its service extended until 2030 ‘citing its effectiveness in the Iran conflict’. Err, by getting shot down?
PS, the A-10 entered service in 1975, its design obviously heavily influenced by the Vietnam war.
Meanwhile US airlines are asking for emergency tax relief to cope with soaring jet fuel prices.
The inflation tidal wave is about to hit the west and after that comes shortages and rationing, and then comes the inevitable wave of job losses.
Oil is essential in the production and transportation of everything. Trump has been doing a juggling act to try to keep the price rise due to decreased supply down, but he can’t keep that going for long.
We are still not sure if the peace talks scheduled for today will go ahead or not, the deal is obvious (as I’ve pointed out before) but Trump wants an actual win instead of a win with spin and so far has always escalated in an effort to get that win but more rational minds say he already lost.
A big hurdle for Trump is that he’s gained a reputation for weakness, changing his mind and chickening out and he hates it, of course he says it’s all strategy but now feels the need to be extra tough which only hinders his attempts to extricate the US out of a losing situation.
The latest word is that Vance will be in the US negotiating team after all, in which case the Iranians will meet the US team, and so today will be deal or no deal and if no deal then tomorrow will be more war.
The way things are going, how long before Iran achieves regime change in the US?
The Real Reason Trump’s Iran Talks Are Falling Apart | Trita Parsi
The Defense Forces of Ukraine continue to inflict losses on the enemy and reduce its combat potential.
More to come!
Glory to Ukraine! 