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Iran has released a video purportedly showing armed, masked commandos seizing two cargo vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. The propaganda clip was pumped out by state media Wednesday after the regime boasted it had seized the Panama-flagged MSC Francesca and Liberia-flagged Epaminondas vessels, just hours after the cease-fire was extended. The armed soldiers then climbed up the stairs to the ship’s top decks. The IRGC has accused the two vessels of operating without the required permit and tampering with their navigation systems. Personnel on the Epaminondas reported damage to its bridge after Iranian soldiers opened fire and hurled grenades...

Donald Trump is stepping up his push to cut off Iran from using the Strait of Hormuz by demanding the US Navy 'shoot and kill' any Iranian boat laying mines in the Persian Gulf. Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday morning: 'I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be (Their naval ships are ALL, 159 of them, at the bottom of the sea!), that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz.' 'There is to be no hesitation. Additionally, our mine “sweepers” are clearing the...

The Iranian regime folks are not happy campers right now. They're being squeezed by the U.S. blockade that's costing them an estimated $435 million a day. As Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent explained, that's going to cause their Kharg Island operation to be "shut in" soon. That's the money that sustains the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that would then be cut off. Meanwhile, the U.S. is even seizing its ships, like the MV Touska, that tried to run the U.S. blockade with some bad materials aboard that could have helped their missile program. So what are the regime's options? They...

Blockade of Hormuz threatens to choke Iran’s trade lifelines and push a fragile economy toward collapse. Mounting losses, inflation and internal divisions raise doubts over Tehran’s ability to sustain prolonged conflict. The economic viability of Iran’s resistance is facing an unprecedented existential threat due to the US naval blockade of the strait, which accounts for over 90 percent of Iran’s $109.7 billion in annual trade. Beyond immediate revenue loss, the blockade creates a catastrophic “storage clock” for Iran’s energy infrastructure. With only about 20 million barrels of spare onshore storage capacity and a surplus production of 1.5 million barrels per...

WASHINGTON — The US seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship after “blowing a hole” in its engine room when it tried to break past the Navy blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump revealed Sunday. The USS Spruance destroyer intercepted Iran’s Touska cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman, taking custody of the ship after it refused warnings to stop, according to the president. “Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA, nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier, tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them,” Trump...

"UKMTO has received a report of an incident 15NM northeast of Oman," an alert read. "The Master of a Container Ship reported that the vessel was approached by 1 IRGC gun boat, no VHF challenge that then fired upon the vessel which has caused heavy damage to the bridge. No fires or environmental impact reported. All Crew reported safe." Between the start of the war and Sunday, April 20, a total of 33 reports of incidents affecting vessels operating in and around the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz (SOH), and Gulf of Oman were received. .....

Iranian state media reports that Iranian forces have taken custody of two trade vessels in the Strait of Hormuz after opening fire on the ships Wednesday. Reports say the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps have taken custody over the Panama-flagged MSC Francesca and Liberia-flagged Epaminondas and are bringing them to Iran. International ship tracking from Marine Traffic shows both vessels stationary off the coast of Iran in the strait. News of Iran's assault on the vessels first came from the United Kingdom Maritime Operations, which reported an IRGC gunboat had caused significant damage to the bridge of one of the container...

Iran has attacked three cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian reports say, after Donald Trump said he was extending the US-Iran ceasefireThe Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it has seized two of the three ships, and is escorting them to the Iranian coast - here's a round-up of the attacksTrump said last night he was extending the ceasefire, while also maintaining the US blockade of Iranian ports, which is designed to put pressure on Iran before talks with the US in PakistanBut the status of those talks is unclear - US Vice-President JD Vance did not depart...

Donald Trump's naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is unraveling after dozens of Iranian vessels secretly slipped past US surveillance, even as the regime tightened its grip on the critical oil passageway by attacking three tankers. Approximately 34 Iranian oil tankers have slipped through the blockade, with 19 vessels exiting the Persian Gulf past Trump's navy and another 15 ships entering from the Arabian Sea toward Iran, according to the Financial Times. Six of those tankers were smuggling Iranian crude oil totaling 10.7 million barrels, estimated to be worth approximately $910 million in revenue for the regime. The report...

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...

On Mar. 6th, President Donald J. Trump issued, “effective immediately”, a directive ordering the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (“DFC”) to act as a federal “sovereign backstop” for qualified private insurance companies providing Hull & Machinery and Cargo coverage to shipping companies operating in the Persian Gulf. The backstop will take the form of a $20 billion reinsurance facility (“Reinsurance Facility”) available to qualified private insurance companies, as well as shipping lines. While the official list of qualified insurers has not yet been issued, Chubb, AIG, Liberty Mutual, and, significantly, Lloyd’s of London acknowledged active participation in negotiations with the...

ATHENS – Fraudulent messages promising safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for cryptocurrency have been sent to some shipping firms with vessels stranded west of the waterway, said Greek maritime risk management firm Marisks. The US has maintained its blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran has lifted and then reimposed its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passed before war broke out in the Middle East. Amid ceasefire talks, Tehran, which controls the choke point, has proposed tolls on vessels to safely transit. Marisks on...

President Donald Trump pushed back Monday on his own energy secretary's claim that a return to $3-a-gallon gas will not come through the end of the year. "No, I think he’s wrong on that, totally wrong," Trump told The Hill on Monday, when asked about Energy Secretary's Christopher Wright's interview with CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday. Trump remains steadfast in his conviction that gas prices in America are going to drop precipitously "as soon as this ends," referring to the oil blockade in the Strait of Hormuz... "The blockade is very powerful, very strong," Trump added to The...

The U.S. blockade of Iranian ports will continue, and the ceasefire with Iran will be extended, President Donald Trump said Tuesday, citing "serious fractures” within the Iranian regime. “Based on the fact that the government of Iran is seriously fractured, not unexpectedly so, and, upon the request of Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan, we have been asked to hold our attack on the country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal,” Trump said in a post shared on Truth Social. “I have therefore directed...

Okay. It's Friday. Let's end on an absolutely hilarious note. Emmanuel Macron. This twee, tiny tyrant has spent the better part of two days LARPing as if he were someone from a country that meant something a long, long time ago, royally entertaining an equally ineffectual non-entity as himself, all while playing Age of Empires for the cameras at his fancy office. With hugs, kisses, and much clasping of hands, the two main co-conspirators got together to try to take over the world, much as Pinky and the Brain used to do every Saturday. Considering they would have as much...

President Donald Trump announced Sunday afternoon that the United States Navy had captured and taken custody of an Iranian-flagged merchant vessel that had attempted to run the blockade established at the Strait of Hormuz.BREAKING: President Trump just announced the US military has SEIZED an Iranian cargo ship which attempted to GET PASSED America’s Naval blockadePresident Trump wasn’t bluffing.“It did not go well for them.The U.S. Navy Guided Missile Destroyer USS SPRUANCE intercepted the TOUSKA in the Gulf of Oman, and gave them fair warning to stop. The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in...

An Iranian-flagged cargo ship was intercepted in the Gulf of Oman after it tried to get past the naval blockade imposed by the US near the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump said on Monday. A tanker sits anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Qeshm Island, Iran. (AP/Representative image) A tanker sits anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Qeshm Island, Iran. (AP/Representative image) The President said that that USS Spruance, a guided missile destroyer gave the vessel a “fair warning” to stop but when the Iranian crew didn't listen, the ship stopped...

President Donald Trump once again threatened to strike core Iranian infrastructure, including power plants and bridges, in a lengthy Truth Social post on Sunday morning. The post comes after the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) reneged on a previous agreement to open the Strait of Hormuz and fired on multiple civilian vessels over the weekend. “Iran decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz — A Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement! Many of them were aimed at a French Ship, and a Freighter from the United Kingdom. That wasn’t nice, was it?” the president wrote. Trump once...

Accounts on social media have managed to find audio from the Indian oil tanker that was targeted by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps while crossing the Strait of Hormuz.Audio of the Indian oil tanker Sanmar Herald pleading with Iranian forces to stop shooting at it in the Strait of Hormuz this morning. pic.twitter.com/7Y5n7Jb7o0— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) April 18, 2026The captain of the Indian vessel pleaded with the Iranians to stop firing upon their ship, and attempted to remind them that they were the ones who granted clearance to the vessel in the first place. The attack on the Indian vessel led...

President Trump convened an extraordinary Saturday morning meeting in the White House situation room to discuss next steps as the situation in Iran teeters between a peace deal and a resumption of war. The specific subjects under discussion were the status of the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian responses to some U.S. proposals. Quite honestly, I imagine one key subject of discussion was "who the hell is calling the shots in Iran?" Because from an outsider's point of view, it looks like the 95 IQ types in the government think they are in charge, but actions on the ground indicate...