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U.S. Forces sank six Iranian small boats near the Strait of Hormuz amid President Donald Trump's "Project Freedom" on Monday. U.S. Central Command announced the engagement in a press call with reporters, saying Iran's military capability has been "dramatically degraded." CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper said on the call that Iran historically has deployed "between 20 and 40 small boats" when harassing vessels in the strait. "Today, we saw just six, and eliminated them quickly," Cooper said. "We have an enormous amount of capability and firepower concentrated in and around the Strait, including 864 Apache and MH 60 Seahawk helicopters...

There's been a lot of bluffing by Iran over the last few weeks during the tenuous "ceasefire," and it looks like the United States has finally called it. As RedState reported, the U.S. Navy successfully escorted multiple American-flagged vessels through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. Now, CENTCOM is confirming that hostilities have already resumed. According to Kassy Akiva, who attended a press briefing with Admiral Brad Cooper, six Iranian boats were destroyed. What's left of the regime also tried to launch missiles at U.S. Naval ships, but they were successfully intercepted. He says 6 Iranian small boats were eliminated...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. military said Monday that two American-flagged merchant ships had successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz after it launched a new plan to restore traffic. Iran has effectively closed the critical waterway since the U.S. and Israel launched the war in late February.U.S. President Donald Trump's new initiative to break Iran's chokehold has escalated the standoff. The U.S. military denied Iran's claims that it had struck an American Navy vessel. The United Arab Emirates meanwhile issued its first missile alert since a ceasefire reached in early April and accused Iran of targeting an...

A new poll shows that 74 percent of people think America is winning the war with Iran. That’s according to a new Harvard CAPS/ Harris Poll taken on April 23-26, 2026. Poll: Majority in U.S. Think America Winning in War With Iran (Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll) April 23-26, 202674% think the U.S. is winning in the war with Iran, including 60% of Democrats, 91% of Republicans, and 70% of Independents. pic.twitter.com/6jHng5NCnO— Mark Dubowitz (@mdubowitz) May 3, 2026Remarkable numbers—especially given a mainstream media narrative that insists America is losing and the Islamic Republic of Iran is winning. https://t.co/FgVWL6oBUo— Mark Dubowitz (@mdubowitz) May...

I begin by singing the same song I have been crooning since President Trump announced the ceasefire and naval blockade in mid-April. The war is over. If this were a novel, we’d be in epilogue territory where we tie up some loose threads in the plot and learn about the fates of various characters.

Countries from all over the World, almost all of which are not involved in the Middle Eastern dispute going on so visibly, and violently, for all to see, have asked the United States if we could help free up their Ships, which are locked up in the Strait of Hormuz, on something which they have absolutely nothing to do with — They are merely neutral and innocent bystanders! For the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States, we have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they...

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday announced a new initiative aimed at safely escorting foreign vessels stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East. In a statement posted online, Trump said multiple countries had requested U.S. assistance to help free their ships, describing them as “neutral and innocent bystanders” caught in a conflict they are not involved in. The U.S. president revealed that Washington would begin guiding these vessels out of restricted waters under a plan dubbed “Project Freedom,” scheduled to start Monday morning, Middle East time. Trump emphasized that the operation...

British Imperial Expert: The Force Behind King Charles, Iran & Every War Since 1900 | PBD #788 Susan Kokinda of Prometheian Action joins Patrick Bet-David to expose what nobody is saying - Trump's war with Iran is actually a 200-year war against the British Empire. In this interview she breaks down how the City of London has been charging Americans a hidden terror tax on every gallon of gas, why Trump's Iran blockade is really about destroying Britain's 300-year oil monopoly, how British Intelligence engineered the MAGA civil war through Tucker Carlson and Qatar's billions, why Mueller prosecuted LaRouche for...

US Oil & Gas Association@US_OGA·7hWe see where the Regime has trolled the SecDef. Admirable. But let's show them how it's done...."If you have to export 1.5 million barrels oil in 5-gallon buckets instead of tankers, because a US Naval blockade has choked off your export capacity, that's 12.6 million Home Depot buckets per day.To assist you in your efforts, here is the link to Home Depot where you can find those buckets for $3.98. There are 17,644 currently available.P.S. For the mullahs: 1 barrel = 42 gallons."ransomnote: The post above is in response to the following post.

For decades, Iran survived by staying just below the threshold of direct confrontation. It relied on shadow oil shipments, asymmetric attacks, and strategic disruption. That formula worked against sanctions. It is now colliding with something it was never built to handle: a sustained, enforced blockade.And markets are only beginning to understand what that means.How a Shipping War Turned Into Economic ContainmentThe escalation did not begin with the blockade. It began with Iran attempting to weaponize uncertainty.Early in the conflict, Tehran targeted commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, effectively freezing traffic through one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints....

The Trump administration is arguing that the war in Iran has already ended because of the ceasefire that began in early April, an interpretation that would allow the White House to avoid the need to seek congressional approval… While the ceasefire has since been extended, Iran maintains its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, and the U.S. Navy is maintaining a blockade to prevent Iran’s oil tankers from getting out to sea... Under the War Powers Resolution, the law that sought to constrain a president’s military powers, President Donald Trump had until Friday to seek congressional authorization or cease fighting....

President Trump has reportedly told his aides to prepare for a prolonged US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical waterway for global energy flows. On Wednesday, the president told Axios he is maintaining the blockade until Iran agrees to a deal over its nuclear program. The pressure campaign carries mounting costs beyond Iran. While the near-total cessation of flows through the key waterway is cutting off hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for Tehran, it’s also choking key corners of the global market. By extending the blockade, Trump is wagering that Iran’s export-dependent economy will...

RT 39 m 27 s In this episode of What's Going on With Shipping?, Sal Mercogliano dives into the eighth week of the intensifying maritime conflict between the United States and Iran. As both sides enforce competing blockades across the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman, and the Arabian Sea, the "choke points" are truly being choked, with significant implications for global trade and oil prices. 00:00 – Intro: Staged Takeover Analysis 01:25 – JMIC Update: Somali Piracy Surge 01:58 – "PEG LEG" & The Pirate Action Groups 03:05 – Regional Threat Overview: The Mine Question 05:41 – The...

The U.S. conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding of MT Tifani (IMO: 9273337) late Monday, according to a Pentagon post on X. Tifani sails a Botswana flag, while Majestic X sails a false Guyanan flag. The International Maritime Organization considers both ships to be stateless.On Tuesday, following the Monday interdiction of Tifani, Iran said it fired upon and seized two ships – MV Epaminondas (IMO: 9153862) and MV MSC Francesca (IMO: 9401116). MV Euphoria (IMO: 9235828) was also damaged on Wednesday near Iran, although it is unclear whether Iran also targeted the ship for seizure.The U.S. has right-to-visit stateless...

SNIP Summary: Trump has instructed aides to prepare for an extended blockade of Iran following a Monday Situation Room meeting, rejecting both a resumption of bombing and acceptance of Iran's current proposal The blockade is aimed at forcing Tehran to dismantle its entire nuclear programme, with Trump demanding at minimum a 20-year suspension of enrichment Iran's three-step proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz while deferring nuclear talks was rejected as evidence of bad faith The Strait of Hormuz is seeing its lowest transit levels since the conflict began, driving up energy costs and weighing on Trump's poll numbers ahead...

Brent crude over $119 as Trump sticks with blockade A late update: Oil is now approaching its highest level since the Iran war began. Brent crude has risen over $119 a barrel, up 7% today, after president Donald Trump told Axios he will not lift a naval blockade of Iran’s ports until he secures a deal with Tehran to address the country’s nuclear program. ...

President Trump says Iran is “in a State of Collapse” and wants the Strait of Hormuz opened “as soon as possible” while talks continue. That is the pressure point right now: Tehran wants relief, global energy markets want the waterway open, and the U.S. blockade is still being used as leverage. Fox News highlighted Trump’s latest comments Tuesday afternoon: NEW: President Trump says Iran tells him it is in a "State of Collapse" and wants the U.S. to open the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible. pic.twitter.com/C95ebyxa70— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 28, 2026Axios put Trump’s Tuesday claim in the...

Barring regime change in Iran or a durable diplomatic resolution to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the West is now facing its most fundamental challenge to its energy security since the Arab-Israeli wars of the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. To escape the Hormuz trap—a crisis in oil, gas, and petrochemicals transit that will slowly degrade the global economy over the months and years to come—the West must revisit a familiar pattern. For nearly three decades during those wars, Arab states seeking to pressure Israel and its Western backers repeatedly weaponized Middle Eastern oil transit chokepoints by blocking canals...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran fired on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz and seized two of them on Wednesday, intensifying its assault on shipping in the key waterway a day after U.S. President Donald Trump extended a ceasefire while maintaining an American blockade of Iranian ports.Iranian media said the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard was bringing the two ships to Iran after seizing them in the strait, through which 20% of the world's oil passes in peacetime. The standoff over Iran's closure of the strait and the U.S. blockade raised doubts about when or if talks would resume...

It's hard to say whether or not Trump is prepared to restart kinetic action against Iran, or continue his indefinite cease-fire...indefinitely. No doubt Trump likes it that way. While I hate that every time a security studies guy or gal talks about military action, they always quote Clausewitz or Sun Tzu, I have to say that Trump is the most Clausewitzian and Sun Tzu-style military leader we have had in a long while. By that I mean that Trump understands that war is an extension of politics, and that military success relies as much on deception as good tactics. I...