The Strait of Hormuz – A Very Strange Tug-of-War
Kit Knightly
Since the US/Israel began their war – sorry, their “targeted, limited, combat operation” – hard facts have been hard to come by.
In a more than usually cloudy combat narrative, we’ve been told that Iran is winning AND losing, depending who you ask. It’s a regime change war, but also it isn’t. Various Iranian officials have been killed, and some came back. Netanyahu was briefly dead, too. There was talk of a tactical nuke.
Nowhere is this fog of war thicker than in the Strait of Hormuz, about which it is seemingly impossible to get a *ahem* strait answer.
The coverage is so fast-paced and contradictory it conjures up images of an elaborate game of “yes, and…” being played by members of an improv group who have totally different goals for the story, and secretly hate each other.
Within hours of the initial bombing raids of “Epic Fury”, Western news sources were reporting that Iran had closed the strait of Hormuz.
Then Iran said they hadn’t, but they were threatening to.
Then Western insurers stepped in, forcing a closure in effect by refusing to cover ships passing through the strait.
Then Donald Trump said the US military would insure the ships, and offered them military escorts as well.
Then we were told that Iran couldn’t close the Strait, even if they wanted to, because their navy had been totally destroyed.
Then the press reported that Iran had mined the Strait with “about a dozen mines”, despite Iranian officials denying this entirely.
More strangely, even US Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, refuted the presence of mines, telling a Press Briefing, “We have no evidence of that.”
Which raises an interesting question: If both the governments involved in this war say there aren’t any mines, who is saying there ARE mines? And why?
Who is overruling both the Pentagon and the Iranian Foreign Ministry? And why are the vast majority of the press accepting their word?
Unfortunately, if there ARE mines, the US Navy is in no position to do anything about them, since they decommissioned their four minesweeper ships in September, and then sailed them out of the area in January.
Given that Iran mining the Strait is a very obvious potential outcome of any conflict, one the US has likely wargamed dozens of times in the last fifty years, this is “incompetence” so incredible it’s virtually self-sabotage.
Some politicians recently suggested they could use mine-sweeping drones to keep the trade line open, but the press shut that down immediately, reporting that “Mine-Sweeping Drones Don’t Eliminate The Risks For Clearing Hormuz”
So the press and politicians are engaged in a debate about the best way to remove mines that are not confirmed to be there, and that both sides officially state do not exist.
Meanwhile, Iran is offering safe passage through the Strait to ships from China, or ships trading in Yuan, or just anyone who asks nicely. Which seems to suggest they are telling the truth about the absence of mines.
Which again raises the question of why the press seem so keen for those mines to be there.
All of these contradictions generate a list of pressing questions:
- Is the Strait of Hormuz open or closed?
- If closed, who closed it and how?
- Why can’t the US Navy keep the Strait open?
- Does Iran have any Naval ships left? Or have they been sunk?
- Are there mines deployed? How many?
- If there are mines deployed, could Iran offer safe passage as it is allegedly doing?
…all of which have either no answers at all, or multiple contradictory answers.
It seems clear that large sections of the establishment want the Strait of Hormuz closed, or at least to make everyone believe it’s closed. The broader strokes of “why” are obvious: Drive up prices, cultivate shortages and panics. Chaos. Even better, expensive chaos. The best kind.
But it also seems like Donald Trump and those close to him don’t want the Strait closed and are trying to insist it is open and can be kept open.
Hence, we can only suppose, the back-and-forth claims –
“it’s closed!”
“No, it’s open”
“Definitely closed actually – and mined!”
“Nope, open, open, open, open”
“Closed, closed, closed closed – mines everywhere…”
Two drivers fighting over a steering wheel, while the car manically veers and swerves back and forth.
This struggle over the direction of the story appears to be ongoing; just yesterday, Trump was pleading with NATO allies to help keep the Strait open. It doesn’t look like they’re going to help.
The press is even planning ahead by positioning for the economic impact of the Hormuz closure to persist past the end of the war.
The Financial Times headlines…
Why Hormuz will haunt us long after this war ends
And goes on to say…
It is not in Trump’s power to reopen this vital sea passage by declaring victory and walking away. Instead his war with Iran — and the particular issue of the Strait of Hormuz — will define the rest of his presidency and may haunt his successors.
That is because the strait’s closure creates both an immediate crisis and a long-term strategic quandary. The current problem is that the longer it is closed, the greater the threat of a global recession. The future dilemma is that Iran now knows that control of the Strait of Hormuz gives it a stranglehold over the world economy. Even if it relaxes its grip in the short term, it can tighten it again in future.
Do you see?
In a move straight out of Wag the Dog, they have insured the narrative against anyone, be it Pezeshkian/Trump/Hegseth/Netanyahu/ or anyone suddenly claiming the war is over and ruining the plan.
They’re telling us even if that happens, even if the sides were to come to terms and end hostilities, we’ll still be “haunted” by Hormuz and “feel the effects of the closure” long after any fighting is finished.
That makes it very clear, doesn’t it?
It is vitally important to the greater narrative that the Strait of Hormuz is closed.
Possibly indefinitely
The question is what comes next.
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Agenda 2030 + You will own nothing and be happy (to die), and we will own everything and decide who lives and who dies.
So, who actually profits from the lack of insurance for tankers wanting to pass through the straits?
A Very Strange bunch of lies based on no photos, no nothing
just words from unreliable sources.
Testing, please ignore.
Another strange “war” like the Russia/Ukraine “special military operation”. At least no fake latex bodies with this one, so are they reverting to doing real killing?
Has anyone read the articles which document how much of the so-called bomb damage in Tel Aviv was in areas either marked for redevelopment or, more worrying, where were living communities who had been stalling eviction and planning permission to build new luxury housing?
Do we believe Tehran obligingly helped its enemy to circumvent tiresome legality? Or was it coincidence, or a third thing?
New Chinese directive: Rare Earths export restricted to non-military uses
–Pepe Escobar
I like how to oligarchs pay close attention to us (the weirdo conspiracy theorists) so when we start asking too many questions they fix the screenplay.
I and many others were asking why Russia would sell precious gas to its enemies – so they started pretending the flow stopped (their own data shows it hasn’t).
Then we were asking why Iran would keep Hormuz open when it’s a powerful (and bloodless) doomsday device against the fascist west. So (after 2-3 weeks) they finally patched that script.
Then a lot of people asked why would “enemy” China would provide US with military grade materialis (US govt admitted that without chinese rare earths US would stop missile production in 3 weeks).
So of course a govt shill (Pepe is CIA just look into him) now announces that China just stopped the export.
A normal person would ask: WHY ALL THESE GOVERNMENTS ONLY DO THE OBVIOUS THING WHEN THE CONSPIRACY THEORISTS ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT IT?
But don’t worry, most people never ask questions.
MAYBE A FALSE FLAG SETUP?
Unidentified high-tech waves of drones over airforce nuclear command. This has happened repeatedly but they’re still unable to identify what “State actor” is sending these drones “which began shortly after the beginning of the Iran war,”
If a false flag occurs it will almost certainly be a pretext for tactical nukes in Iran, IMO.
There’s been an attack on Russia’s nuclear bombers? Probably w participation by MI6 & Mossad?
I can’t completely confirm this; surely it should be reported everywhere, no? Yet it must be true cuz reported by Douglas McGregor, who’s a retired colonel & is quite reliable.
Is this an old story & I missed it? Can somebody please enlighten me.
June 1 2025 – Ukrainian drones secretly transported in trucks deep into Russia and then attacking distant strategic bombers (i.e. planes) and military port facilities. Much discussed at the time; a nifty tactical achievement but producing no strategic impact and zero impact on the course of the current war (or “war” if you prefer).
Thank you, Regret. I COULD not figure out what McGregor was referring to, nor cd I find a story about it. What a weird attack. I sure don’t remember it last summer; must’ve been otherwise occupied. ‘preciate the update. Take care.
Ask most people in Europe and they will tell you that EU does NOT import gas from Russia.
The official data (which is not shown on TV) is that EU DOES import gas from Russia (the numbers are fudged but they admit it).
That is typical of psyops – remember covid when the official death rate was .01% but on TV they said 10%?
I am convinced that Iran “war” is even faker than Ukraine and the strait of Hormuz is open.
The globalist might decide to impose lockdowns and rationing but don’t worry it will be for your own good.
On a related note what do people here think of the latest propagandist Xueqin Jiang?
I appreciate a lot of truth that he shares but it’s all limited hangout – no mention of any of the above.
Let me ask you a contra question. Why do you name Jiang a propagandist?
His links are mostly very well documented and rational, and he is open for corrections if anybody have other ideas.
EU get extra Russian gas through Turkey as middleman.
I recommend listening to Jiang, he shares a LOT of the truth.
But you have to realize he is promoted for a reason. My guess is that US is being phased out and China will become the superpower.
As for EU/Russia, I am sorry, but you refuse to accept the truth.
Imagine your neighbor throws a grenade through your window, killing your child.
Would you continue to do business with him?
Why are most people incapable of asking “what would I do in this situation?”
Seems like there are a few truly psychotic individuals who want the world to feel there is an excuse for pummeling all of Iran and turning it into a wasteland devoid of as many people as possible, like Syria, Lebanon, Libia, Sudan, Gaza, Palestine and anywhere else that they can manage.
Some billionaires, will think they are profiting by the destruction- and clearing the way for new energy and trade routes. Young soldiers will gullibly believe they ate fighting for their country. and they will die. Meanwhile, the broad majority of Americans, Europeans, and Middle Easterners will suffer or die while a few sickos delight in destruction and acquire more piles of money they do not need. And they will blame each other and everyone else for the destruction but will not take a peep of responsibility themselves.
VERY scary stuff. AI’s role in the conflict:
How is AI running the Kill Chain
So many people die so the Zionists can kill just one person.
MonitorX (@MonitorX99800): “https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/17.0.2/svg/1f1ee-1f1f7.svghttps://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/17.0.2/svg/1f1ee-1f1f1.svghttps://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/17.0.2/svg/26a1.svg– Ali Alizadeh on the assassination of Ali Larijani: “Israel is selling these attacks as form of artificially intelligent oriented smart wars. The way they assassinated Ali Larijani, it had nothing to do with smart wars. In order to detect where he is, they come up with six or seven places and they bomb all of them in a blind way. In order to assassinate Ali Larijani, Israeli terrorist regime killed more than 500 people. And that’s what they call a smart wars.” Footage: Danny Haiphong” | nitter.poast.org
Ali Khameni, the former Supreme Leader of Iran, issued a fatwa in the 1990s/2003/2005 against nuclear missiles. Calling them a complete anathema. Un-islamic amidst other derogatories.
The US, by taking him out on day 1 of the conflict, essentially nullified the fatwa. Essentially giving a green light to any future Iranians who might wish to develop nuclear weapons. Counter-productive some might argue in terms of any stated US objectives..
Unless of course the seemingly mortally injured successor, Mojta Khomeneni, or other healthier successor decides to ratify that earlier anti-nuclear, morally acceptable position that the Iranians took
UK approves US use of British bases to strike Iran missile sites targeting ships
–Reuters
Not smart. Occurred couple hours ago.
—
Alternative land-based supply routes are being opened for Gulf states. A normally-reliable site says Pakistan paid $2million to transit Hormuz. Oman and the Emirate of Dubai said that a “green corridor” had been activated as a temporary measure to facilitate the movement of supplies
—
Nobody’s talking about all the ships that are trapped within the Strait at various anchorages. If memory serves, it’s several thousand. Many running short on food & water.
—
Some Congressional opposition to Trump’s bid for $2B more for the war.
Good point on the sailors trapped in the Strait. The UK is indeed dragging its heels. This time wanting to be on the right side of history post-Iraq 2003.
Think it’s nearer $200B though, in terms of the MIC’s demand. Not to mention any current excessive budget [$800B or so for US world domination?].
A small price to pay of course for regime change around the world and the spreading of democracy’s propping up of suitable dictators to fight one’s enemies
It seems as if this fiasco is being manipulated for a wider agenda (sorta like COVID) other than the destabilization of Iran. Like the writer said the possibility of Iran shutting down the Strait of Hormuz has been war gamed for decades; so how is it Trump is so unprepared?! https://www.reddit.com/r/Military/comments/1rtjd2a/til_that_in_2002_a_usmc_lt_gen_paul_van_riper_won/
Iran’s tactics are causing massive disruption not only in resource supply chains but damaged regional infrastructures which will take years if not decades to replace! What does this mean for oil and LNG? The global financial implications (Too big to fail banks, hedge funds, undercollateralized transactions, speculation, fraud etc.) are staggering, think 2008 on steroids.
I’m just speculating but a worsening scenario in this situation might be justified to facilitate a Great Reset, would it not?
Yeah, Junious that’s what many of us are supposing as the objective for the war– at least for TPTB. Those who are patriots on any side have different objectives of course.
2009 book Which Path to Persia supposedly lays out what we did/are doing. And of course there’s the General Wesley Clark interview for Democracy Now where he indicates a memo that says we’ll defeat 7 MidEast countries in 5 years–Iran being the last of the 7.
We’re mostly being told America’s doing this to repair her lost hegemony, control China’s access to oil, etc. But it’s just as likely that the apparent actors are being manipulated by the Financial/banking/industrial establishment towards the Great Reset/NWO/GlobalSurveillance Slave State or whatever.
The newest crisis meme is “demand destruction”. At the negative end of the capitalist “disrupt” meme cheerleading section, demand destruction is to me essentially being PRICED OUT. This should be commoner’s new meme of understanding our current status on Earth under the tyrant 1% and their rentier, financialized, privatized Hell they have created. This is Koyaanisqatsi, Life Out of Balance.
https://www.ft.com/content/205bf040-cc91-40ac-a0fa-f43cd8fa9f99?syn-25a6b1a6=1
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/16/sri-lanka-four-day-week-oil-and-gas-iran-war
https://www.investopedia.com/demand-destruction-5222107
Things are about to heat up in the Straits of Hormuz.
“In a joint statement, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Japan announces that, “We are ready to contribute to ensuring the passage through the Strait of Hormuz””
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/joint-statement-from-the-leaders-of-the-united-kingdom-france-germany-italy-the-netherlands-and-japan-on-the-strait-of-hormuz-19-march-2026
I should’ve added the below. who knows maybe they’ll send in the terrorist outfit known as the SAS.
“A British military team has been dispatched to Florida to assist in developing plans to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. This deployment aims to explore various options for shipping through the waterway, which has been blockaded by Iran. The team is expected to work with US Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, “
The Western Coalition of the Willing to Freedom (COWTOF).
They have countless terror organisations at their disposal to undermine Dictatorship nations who obstruct our freedom and our human right values;
Gladio, Al Qaida, ISIS, Boko, SAS, Marines, Khmer Rouge, m.m.
Whether Hormuz is open or closed may be uncertain from our distant perspective. But Iran is only doing what the US does to about 1/3 of all nations on earth — that is impose sanctions on their trade and commerce. Iran has been under US sanctions since 1979. Same for nations like Cuba where the US is not blockading all shipments of oil, food, medicine, and other necessities.
So why can’t Iran block oil shipments by US client states in the Persian Gulf? Maybe if the US lifted all sanctions on Iran, the Iran would lift all sanctions on transit through the Hormuz Straits.
Robert.
The below smacks desperation.
Trump via his online platform, has asked Iran not to further bomb, Ras Laffan Industrial Area, the largest gas facility in the world, in Qatar, Israel was so upset by this attack that it bombed Iran’s Pars field – Trump has said on his platform – Truth Social, that he didn’t condone Israel’s bombing of the Pars field, but if Iran bombs Qatar’s gas field again, the US will obliterate Iran’s Pars field.
Robert.
just found out that Israeli officials – said they informed US officials that they were going to bomb the Pars field – prior to doing so.
As we all know – the first casualty in war is the truth.
Remember how all those Western leaders just loved China’s response to covid and wished we could be like them?….
https://dumptheguardian.com/world/2026/mar/20/china-oil-reserves-global-energy-crisis
I remember that very well
What comes next? “Build Back Better”, that comes next. 😁 Well, there are many names for it. “Great Reset”, technocratic transformation of the world’s economy, “Sustainable Development Goals” or maybe it’s “just” to obfuscate a recession that has been coming for a long time anyway. As they did during the p(l)andemic. In any case, I would like to recommend a very good article about the topic by Prof. Fabio Vighi to all readers again:
“The Programmable Crisis: Iran and the Financial Regime Change”
A short quote from the article:
“All of the above turns a likely long war in the Middle East from a purely geopolitical struggle — regime change in Iran — into the catalyst for a historic financial regime change. While the bombs fall on foreign soil, the transformation lands in the code of money itself. A geopolitical conflict, an energy shock, and a financial transition could converge into a single systemic event. The crisis would not merely justify extraordinary intervention; it would determine the form that intervention takes. The digital infrastructure now being assembled may therefore prove to be the monetary architecture through which the next phase of crisis management is conducted.”
Remember: “Never let a good crisis go to waste”. If not to say, never let an artificially prolonged crisis that you can use as an excuse to reach global goals go to waste …
Well, we’ll see … 😆
Its NOT funny. As I see it.
All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.
—
Five Countries Join US to Reopen Strait of Hormuz
Langley Outdoors Academy
Mar 19, 2026
Is Trump draining the trait of Hormuz?
Iranian forces strike an US F-35 fifth generation fighter jet, the first time one has ever been struck, the military jet was badly damaged but managed to land – once word got out of the strike the Lockheed Martin Corporation share price dropped.
They use infrared detection. Every object in the sky emits and reflects infrared differently to the general background (i.e. space). There are presumably ways to minimise it, but it’s not entirely avoidable. Anyway, Lockhead will no doubt bring out a new, improved version with added stealthiness!
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/f-35a-lands-after-taking-fire-over-iran-pilot-stable
Iran has developed air defense systems that can use passive infrared sensors rather than radar to target aircraft, a solution that previously proved effective in Yemen when employed by Iranian-supported Houthi rebels. The stealthy F-35 evades radar, but infrared sensors are passive and home in on heat.
“..Lockhead will no doubt bring out a new, improved version..”
Following confirmation that the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps conducted a successful strike against a U.S. Armed Forces F-35 fifth generation fighter flying over central Iran, multiple sources have reported that the Majid short-range air defence system, also known as the AD-08, was responsible.
The shootdown has significant implications for the immediate air campaign, and will potentially reduce U.S. and Israeli efforts to use stealth aircraft to launch penetration strikes deep inside Iran…
..The short range system was designed for point defence rather than area defence, and is limited to a 700 kilometre engagement range and 6 kilometre altitude.
Although its use of infrared rather than radar guidance limits its range, it also allows the Majid to operate without a radar signature, which considerably increases its survivability…
…A further benefit of using infrared guidance is that systems like the Majid do not trigger targets’ radar warning receivers, while their electronic jamming will have little effect…
..Iranian infrared-guided air defence systems have been responsible for destroying multiple U.S. and Israeli high value unmanned aircraft, most notably MQ-9 and Heron drones.. .
..A major shortcoming of the F-35 remains that delays to the completion of Block 4 software upgrades has left them unable to launch air-to-surface missiles, which requires them to fly close to their targets to engage them, leaving them more vulnerable to strikes by short range air defence systems..
Iran Used New Majid Heat-Seeking Missile System to Take Out U.S. F-35
I sold out all my Lockheed shares the moment I heard it.
“..Five Countries Join US to Reopen Strait of Hormuz
Langley Outdoors Academy
Mar 19, 2026..”
These Seven Allies Concocted A ‘Hormuz Coalition’ Statement To Placate Trump, Which Failed
We reported earlier that President Trump has again expressed his extreme frustration at lack of direct NATO participation in a plan to open up the Strait of Hormuz.
He declared the US has “militarily WON” – and lambasted lack of allied interest in a “simple military maneuver” to open the Strait of Hormuz, calling NATO a “Paper Tiger” without the US.
And so clearly Trump himself is unconvinced after on Thursday seven allied nations signed a statement expressing a readiness to contribute to efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The statement included no pledge to commit warships or any kind of military or even logistical help, and so is somewhat of a facade and pure PR spectacle.
These Seven Allies Concocted A ‘Hormuz Coalition’ Statement To Placate Trump, Which Failed | ZeroHedge
US is using MORE in military expenses for itself than the whole rest of the world.
Idiots!
Idea that everyone’s suddenly willing to join Trump’s plan to open the Strait is a big fib,
That’s what I said: “All warfare is based on deception.” It’s a hall of mirrors – deceptions within deceptions. The countries are not going to help the US to open the Strait and Trump wasn’t expecting them to. Instead, Trump now wants (a) these countries to suffer for not offering help and (b) a free hand to walk away from any old alliances and agreements.
The important point about the above video is the divergent pricing for oil and gas; i.e. the US is paying substantially less than most other countries. It used to be that the US producers would sell to a global market. However, with so much of the tanker fleet tied up in the Persian Gulf area, this probably won’t be possible for some time.
I know YOU’RE aware. I’m just expressing my disgust about the degree to which they’re lying to us.
I fear a nuclear attack on Iran is nearly imminent.
I notice the “legacy” (controlled) media has begun to admit that Ukraine can’t win, is done for. Must be the public is being prepared to accept the loss of Ukraine.
THE link of our times and ref to the article too.
Off course the wars and the whole shit is about AI, Data Centres and Digital society, off course: https://geopolitiq.substack.com/p/a-planned-crisis-iran-debt-the-digital/comments
http://www.realrld.com/homeix-fair.html
Test from Sweden, I just released my pamphlet lauching FAIR-Index
It provides the receipts as to why more on more people are not able to afford a home.
It is of course an obvious state of afairs, the pamphlet brings receipts for the root systemic causes including Basle 3 macro prudential policy.
The Bank of England held intrrest rates today who influences Bailey? Well its more the BIS then the remembrencer more than “Government”.
The FAIR-Index — Forward Affordability Indicator by Regime — models UK housing affordability not as a price problem but as a regime problem. The ground state of the money system sets the attractor. You can build 1.5 million homes and barely move the needle if the macroprudential starting assumptions remain unchanged.
Bishler and nitzen Blood on the orient is well worth reading as is Myths lies and oil wars by William Engdahl.
The Iranians, so they have a central bank under the Bank of International settlements I wonder?
Does Syria and Libya have one now and Iraq?
The narrative arc is long and somewhat dog eared through re ise. At least the Event 201 blocking of Suez was a plot twist.
Ode against the Tower of Basle
https://open.substack.com/pub/grubstreetinexile/p/the-philippic-ode-against-the-tower-086?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=l1oox
Of course you had ddos attacks and other problems. WWIII is about fomenting chaos. Half of comments here are now hasbara bots, but you allow them because you are free-speech believers.
Kit doesn’t understand situation at all…he is totally in this mines-thing. Mines are irrelevant when you have drones and missiles. Of course insurers withdraw insurance or made it exorbitantly expensive, they don’t want to go bankrupt, risks for shipowners are too high to sail…. is this so hard to comprehend. Mf war is real!!!
American navy isn’t suicidal to go and escort tankers. Iranians have Chinese and Russian intelligence and shit load of drones, therefore Hormuz is closed, unless you pay in yuan or perhaps in rubles.
While to many people are theorizing all kinds of bs, damn shit just got worse. The world’s biggest LNG plant in Qatar with approximately 20% of total world capacity is gone, destroyed yesterday. Close to half of world’s LNG tanker fleet is currently locked in the Persian gulf. Also, take into account that there was not an excess LNG capacity available before. Maybe some people really need a cold home to get to the senses.
Too many analysts think this war is poorly conceived. They don’t take into account that this war is Israhell’s brainchild and motherfuckers are capable of anything.
Netanyahu’s news conference mentioning ‘Pahlavi’ as a potential successor for Iran, post regime-change “Too early to say” though. At least publicly.
The US it seems endeavoring to restore the Shah. If it worked in the 20th century then it should surely still work now, Though perhaps it was the CIA’s obsessive anti-commie-ness, despite enemies changing, which created conditions for the Islamic Revolution in the first place
https://www.ibtimes.com/reza-pahlavi-meets-trump-envoy-steve-witkoff-amid-escalating-iran-unrest-3795197
One of your questions is easy: who closed it. The answer is, of course, the bankers. When Lloyd’s of London and similar insurers of the insurers refused to continue underwriting coverage for western-flagged oil/gas/LNG tankers passing through the straits, it became a fool’s mission for such vessels to attempt it.
The superficial answer for why they did it is “because it’s unsafe now”; but when you dig deeper, the real motivations always revolve around control and eugenics/population reduction.
Why can’t the US keep it open? The US military was already overstretched, overcommitted and too far from their supply lines before the hostilities kicked off, and now it’s become apparent that both carrier groups and isolated forward air bases are next to useless against modern drone warfare. Continuing to fire multimillion dollar defensive missiles that take months to manufacture in a futile attempt to stop inexpensive and practically undetectable drones that can be endlessly replicated in no time flat on a shoestring budget is simply not sustainable.
The initial strategy was to strike quickly with overwhelming force in order to provoke an anti-government uprising within Iran, and now it looks like there never really was a plan B. Maybe the empire hasn’t crumbled yet, but let’s just say that some serious cracks in its foundation are now plainly visible.
Silver, gold, and BTC are down, and everyone is now shorting oil / gas /petrol.
I’ve read online that Trump is thinking about removing sanctions from the sale of Iranian oil, also the mysterious new US unmanned drone the RQ-180, which is very seldom seen, one has malfunctioned and has had to land at a Greek facility.
Its RQ designation, suggests its unarmed – that its a unmanned reconnaissance drone.
U.S. can’t keep it open cuz Iranians have a 270-degree field of fire upon it.
Welcome to our first post-modern war! Hope you enjoy …
Brought to you by our sponsor “Drones’R’US”
Isn’t this why AI is not only a waste of time, but extremely dangerous to humankind?
When you have wars, with decisions being taken to destroy infrastructure, half the global economy and far, far to many human beings, it’s usually a good idea to take decisions carefully, with proper information to hand. In the world of AI, instant judgements get created online which creates a pile of incoherent dross and the potential for schizophrenia for anyone who takes almost any of it seriously.
Given that the effect of closing the Strait of Hormuz is an ‘oil shock’ which will spike the cost of energy enormously for all those that import oil to stimulate their economies, it’s probably worth asking: ‘Who on earth (individuals, corporations, not nations) benefits from sky high oil prices?’
Those are the people who will have been gagging for this war and this outcome.
People might like to think what they would like to do about them?
To your first question. Yes, AI is useless to anything but creating chaos. In your mind, in your daily life, in your body, in your society.
One should remember that Internet and the whole shit around it was invented and licenced by the Military!
What do military do, Salvation Army?? No! Military is an invention to kill, wound, disable, and undermine an potential enemy.
And if there is no enemy we have to invent one in order to develop the most effective tool to subdue a future fantasy enemy.
Where the UK gets its oil:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/381963/crude-oil-and-natural-gas-import-origin-countries-to-united-kingdom-uk/
Have Trump’s scriptwriters got him threatening Norway yet?
As there is no reply Elvira – Admin4 to your comment at 7.02 pm yesterday, I would mention that other alternative sites are, or have been, experiencing similar problems. Wikispooks, one of the best sources of information not found elsewhere has been experiencing attacks for months now. Sadly, I suspect, such attacks are unlikely to get less frequent.
What have you expected? So you think you can live peacefully talking up against the wind.
The USA in microcosm?….
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/uss-gerald-r-ford-warship-fire-crete-b2941151.html
Not sunk from the outside but collapsed from the inside by low morale, failing infrastructure and mysterious fires (i.e. outbreaks of Luciferianism). Failed toilets and loss of sleeping facilities kinda looks like what someone might do if they wanted to create a pressure cooker where there might be a mutiny (how’s the food?). Coincidence that Ford was the last admittedly masonic President?
Satanic Panic through Epstein –> people flock back to churches –> controlled/idiot pastors evangelise a pseudo-crusade –> new crusaders get to the Middle East and find their cause is literally and metaphorically awash in shit –> in their despair they’re at best (from the cabal’s viewpoint) ripe for conversion into the Gnostic-Luciferian mindset or at worst demoralised into giving up.
Arent they a bit updated today? Too expensive, too slow, too crowded. Up against cheap quick drones and hypersonic long distance missiles.
I know they are America’s proud and if one or three went down it would a national humiliation of the century.
A believable narrative for the Strait of Hormuz being deemed “closed” was always a major motive for this war. Like “covid”, it’s a simple one-stop excuse for everything the world-govt/neo-feudalism lunatics want to roll out. It’s “lockdown 2”.
With “lockdown 1” the story was “virus, mass deaths, disrupt supply chains, shortages.” But that was only partially successful and began falling apart once too many people became wise to the questionable reality and deadliness of the alleged virus.
They have done their customer-research and understand that war is a much easier sell than “deadly virus”. It’s big advantage being it puts the world population in rival camps, preoccupies them with hating each other rather than examining the narrative.
That was “covid’s” big weakness, it put all of humanity in the same boat. This was supposed to help with the “one-world” narrative, but ended up simply exposing the fact our only real enemy was “them”, the governments of the world who were united in imprisoning and poisoning us,
Luckily, just as people were waking up to this fact Russia invaded Ukraine, and this allowed “lockdown 1” and its globalist agenda to fizzle out of public awareness for a while.
But while we may all have forgotten about the Great Reset, the architects of it had not. They took the timeout provided by the war and other distractions to formulate a new and foolproof way of achieving their ends – and here it is!
The “wag the dog” nature is blatant as Kit eloquently points out. The media are determined the Strait of Hormuz is CLOSED, even when both protagonists say it’s not, because it absolutely has to be SAID to be closed in order for the rest of the “disrupted supply chains, shortages” narrative to work.
They’re even building up a backstop story that the Strait will effectively be “closed” even if the war ends! Because they don’t want another failure. This one needs to work, even in the face of un-cooperation from some key elements.
I agree with Kit it does look like some insiders are opposing this plan, hence the refusal of the War Sec to go along with the story the Strait is “mined”. And yes, Iran is not too keen on that story either, so there are cracks already in “lockdown 2”.
Let’s hope they widen and the edifice starts to crumble as with “lockdown 1”.
Maybe some of the other gutless, sycophantic ‘leaders’ could take a leaf out of the Spanish President’s playbook:
https://consortiumnews.com/2026/03/18/patrick-lawrence-pedro-sanchezs-no-a-la-guerra/
One thing comes to mind when reading the link. “Ireland goes along with Spain” that Ireland is still a bunch of slaves to the Brits.
Ireland is still not free and when and if they will become a fee nation one day is a big question.
Marianne Faithful – Ireland Ireland, when will you be free: https://youtu.be/-Qek61PI5FQ
They’re trying to shut you down, you must be over the target.
It appears the the land down under will be going into covid style emergencies due to fuel shortages , So please explain why a modern western nation has only two refineries .Yes economics. What ever. According two actual facts on Australia fuel reserves . The end of march will trigger FUEL SECURITY ACT 2021. Australia has fuel shortages. Guess where? Rural Australia. Food. How much diesel is required for mining and exploration. Yes everything is a coincidence.Food security energy security would surely be on most western governments minds. IE: Liberty gardens. They have been passing city urban laws that ban backyard gardens.
Cause we’re just a colonial backwater of His Highness and the Empire of War Greed and Hypocrisy.
Its all Iran’s fault, not our fault!
Brilliant.
It’s similar by way of tactics to covid…
It’s deadly and it’s not but for some yes it is, dying with, is, and is not, the same as dying from it etc etc.
Jon Hoffman, an objective observer from the CATO Institute has this to say:
Two years ago this week, I published this piece on how Israel is a strategic liability for the United States.
This has been the case for decades, but the past two years have proven Israel is arguably the greatest strategic liability the United States currently shoulders abroad.
The US-Israel special relationship is not sustainable. The pathologies of the special relationship with Israel have hindered Washington’s strategic maneuverability in the Middle East and inhibited US leaders’ ability to think clearly about the region. Lobbying on behalf of Israel has steered Washington’s regional policies in directions contrary to US interests.
Israel’s foreign policy is inherently aggressive and expansionist both in the Occupied Territories and the wider Middle East. And it is getting worse. The special relationship binds Washington to this agenda, subsidizing it while entangling the United States in a host of protracted crises that would otherwise be avoidable. At every turn, it pulls the United States deeper into the Middle East.
The special relationship emboldens Israel and incites widespread regional hostility toward the United States. The unparalleled levels of American political, economic, and military support for Israel allow it to avoid the policy trade-offs that typically constrain other states. The result is perpetual conflict subsidized by the United States to its own disadvantage.
The last two years have marked the apex of the US-Israel relationship, characterized by total Israeli impunity guaranteed by the United States. they have epitomized the dysfunctions of the special relationship for the United States—blind support for Israeli policy and disregard for American interests.
Nothing the United States receives from Israel justifies the profound negative consequences of the special relationship. It is unidirectional, yielding virtually no benefit for the United States while actively undermining US interests.
This is particularly the case when it comes to Iran. The US-Iran rivalry is primarily a byproduct of the special relationship, which policymakers in Washington and Israel invoke to strengthen their partnership, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of conflict and greater American regional involvement.
This cannot continue. The United States needs to fundamentally reorient its approach to Israel. The special relationship needs to end.
I and Trump have already been thinking this over, and we both agree that Saudi would be a much more beneficial partner in ME for US than the only Democracy.
The problem is only how do we get around the 40 multi-billionaires in US that Netanyahu brags about do support the Zionist cause. In London there are 40 Zion multi-billionaires too.
This is a huge problem as one cant just get rid of big money.
An insightful commentary Kit. Your observations and links to sources are very well appreciated. Thank you.
An addum: Path to persia Path to Russia to papers written by the Brookings institute in 2008. It lays out point blank and it is being played out just like the 2 aforementioned papers. Still think it is all a coincidence. I suggest people start reading all the white papers written in tha last fifty years from the likes of Brookings and Chattam house and bang come and tell me I am wrong cause these institutes are the nuggets of real power and where they are steering humanity in the modern age . Similar fact the the likes of Manchem Begun and Eisenhower on old political spectrum would be considered Left in the old Political spectrum when left meant common man and right was considered conservative
All the O2 is being expended on the latest “GLOBAL CRISIS”. Again doing deep dive analysis and having some level of intellectual honesty one can come to similar conclusion. PUNTO UNO: Every western economy and the so called BRIC’s aligned economies a moving forward with digital currencies.Track and Trace
PUNTO DUE:All western economies are introducing age verification laws to safeguard our children. using that excuse more ways to TRACK and TRACE
PUNTO TRE: Climate change thew environment fossil fuels bad green and clean . This is all the messaging we get in the west. Then why is are western economies so dependent on mass consumption and consumer obsolescence.Further more AI centers are requiring more energy and water to run denying we the plebes water and energy to thrive but Climate change global warming environment.
PUNTO QUATRO: Largest extraction of wealth upwards far exceeding the Gilded age . western purchasing power parody at historical lows
PUNTO CINQUE: Why is Israel in the news stream in a negative way for the very first time in my lifetime when anglon -zionist control the whole media blogosphere. In my youth the only way I could get any negative Israel coverage was in the various pan arabic news sites. Now its being shown in total public view of the carnage the Isarelis are doing in west asia.
POST SCRIPTUM; Nothing is a coincidence COVID psy-op should have awakened more people but obviously not .
DOCIUS IN FONDO;WE the plebs sit back and argue amongst our selves problem reaction solution straight out of Hegel. We the plebs always get played while the bankers get their intended outcome Universal basic income we will own nothing and forced to be happy hive mind and apreti cielo the New World Order of the 15 minute city and the Panopticon that is awaiting our children/s future.
Excellent comment. Unable to vote for it, as apparently the comment is my own 🙂
Before the war on Iran, before the Gaza genocide, before the Ukraine war, before the $camdemic, before tRump, (Did I miss any?), we had the Occupy Movement.
Remember those days? When a small, but passionate group of people were awake to the MASSIVE exploitation of the masses by the $uiturd$.
Lots of protests, banners, sit ins, yelling, police violence and vandalism against the Corparasites.
Do you ever get the feeling we’ve been under their heavy Iron Heel since then?
Mustn’t let the plebs do that again.
Feed em fear and stomp on any uprisings.
Mission accomplished.
And back in the States across the pond, controlled by the Israeli State across the pond, we are finally beginning to see cracks in the fallacy of MAGA….
https://1yfgk.substack.com/p/mds
O Ye of Little Faith !! Cant you see, all is going according to The Plan;
you not knowing who to believe or what to believe is part of The Plan…
…….
What a weird site Off G is ! I press to down-vote a comment and i’m told
i cant vote for myself ! Why would i downvote myself, explain that !!
Because you have different ID’s. Schizophrenic persons have that and they dont know it themselves.
Have you considered asking a shrink about it, because I cant answer these kind of questions, and I dont know whether this forum have these professional kind of people here.
Here on the commenter pages are a lot of pedagogies. I am not sure they are into the in these times ID confusion problem,
Unfortunately, if there ARE mines, the US Navy is in no position to do anything about them, since they decommissioned their four minesweeper ships in September, and then sailed them out of the area in January.
They’ve upgraded the technology. It might be somewhat untested, but the US definitely has some minesweeping capacity.
https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2026/03/16/the-us-has-several-options-to-counter-iranian-mines-these-are-some-key-assets
The US has several options to counter Iranian mines. These are some key assets.
Mar 16, 2026
The fact is that Iran is blackmailing the whole world, if we dont bend over and dont do as they are saying. This is the facts!
Last time the Moslems kicked out two white teeth of America’s mouth when they did the 9/11 thing.
Today the Moslems think they can do whatever they want, and we Americans will just bend over. But this kind thinking is far from the real truth.
The truth is that we have been playing nice guys for too long, and now is the time to show the world that you cant just kick an American down the road as you can with a tin can.
As Hilarious Clinton said: Why did we invested in all these nukes in a depot if we are not using them? Why???
We didnt build nukes for nothing, but to defend America against our enemies and to defend our Constitution!
America is suffocating slowly, our culture is going down, and Iran is laughing their arseholes off all the way to the bank. Gasoline is now up 50% from $70 to $100-110 😰 .
I am outraged that nobody are doing anything but talking about IT problems! https://oilprice.com/oil-price-charts/#Brent-Crude
Good for them. More power to them.
I guess the Strait of Hormuz is open in the way the Atlantic was ‘open’ during WWII – bring your own lifejacket. Also, there are definitely some other actors involved in Iran conflict, so even if Iran said the Strait wasn’t mined, other forces might have done so – a lot of those drone attacks on Dubai look like false flags, possibly as provocation or for economic reasons by rivals.
I say, give the contract to transport/smuggle oil through the Strait of Hormuz to the Somali pirates… I’m sure they’d appreciate the work.
As I understand the U.S mafia and Israeli pirates have been siphoning Syrian oil since Assad was driven into exile.
Miri on the latest deadly bug franchise: The Meningitis Monster, which followed the now familiar pattern of a drill that just so happened to coincide with something “real” that came along later:
https://miri.substack.com/p/meningitis-b-movie
The hook with this latest is that it inverts covid which was primed to slay the elderly. The new one slaughters the kids. Scary stuff!
And it’s reassuring to see such familiar tactics as the symptom which could so easily happen in mass formation for trivial reasons:
Think the message is do not go to nightclubs or you will die.
Then we have no more to live for. What else is there to live for if we men cant see a strip-tease show once in a while?
Your fucking weird.
From dusk to dawn: https://yandex.ru/video/preview/17769837582061693090
And queues of young people waiting for jabs that are probably no more effective than taking an aspirin against meningitis, which isn’t meaningfully contagious in the first place.
Ebola, Zika, Covid, Meningitis, The Flue, whatever. The sheeple never gets tired of taking the jabs.
REPORT from Physicians in the Crop-Sprayed Villages regarding Dengue-Zika, microcephaly, and mass-spraying with chemical poisons
Main points:
1-Dengue epidemic in Brazil persists endemically (on an ongoing basis) due to the marginalisation and misery of millions of people, especially in Northeast Brazil. On top of that, Zika virus, a similar disease although more benign, is now spreading.
2. A dramatic increase of congenital malformations, especially microcephaly in newborns, was detected and quickly linked to the Zika virus by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. However, they fail to recognise that in the area where most sick persons live, a chemical larvicide producing malformations in mosquitoes has been applied for 18 months, and that this poison (pyroproxyfen) is applied by the State on drinking water used by the affected population.
3. Previous Zika epidemics did not cause birth defects in newborns, despite infecting 75% of the population in those countries. Also, in other countries such as Colombia there are no records of microcephaly; however, there are plenty of Zika cases.
3. The pyroproxyfen being used (as recommended by WHO) is manufactured by Sumimoto Chemical, a Japanese subsidiary of Monsanto.
4. Brazilian doctors (Abrasco) are claiming that the strategy of chemical control is contaminating the environment as well as people, that it is not decreasing the amount of mosquitoes, and that this strategy is in fact a commercial manoeuvre from the chemical poisons industry, deeply integrated into Latin American ministries of health as well as WHO and PAHO.
5. Massive spreading using planes, as the governments of Mercosur are considering, is criminal, useless, and a political manoeuvre to simulate that actions are taken. The basis of the progress of the disease lies in inequality and poverty, and the best defence are community-based actions.
6. The last strategy deployed in Brazil, and which might be replicated in all our countries, is the use of GM mosquitoes —a total failure, except for the company supplying mosquitoes.
ZIKA not to blame for microcephalus.pdf (http://www.reduas.com.ar)
I agree. The reason for these deceases are poverty and bad sanitary conditions.
In the hot humidity conditions in the tropes, micro parasites develop quickly if people are not observing tight personal hygiene and sanitary awareness all the time where they live.
I also agree that all the chemical shit they produce have a tendency to make the case even worse. Probably so they can sell even more. A cured patient is a lost customer 😉 .
https://dailysceptic.org/2026/03/18/how-unprecedented-is-the-kent-meningitis-outbreak/
The Australian PM has put the country in a pickle. Australia can expect
US help defend itself when attacked by invoking The ANZAS Treaty…
The PM has refused to send some of our tiny navy to help Trump kick
the ‘ranians out of The Dire Strait of Hormuz. If the Chicoms noticed and
decide they’ve a good chance of taking over Australia, then the US might
reciprocate by not providing warships to help Australia…
We should leave the 5 Eyes alliance, the UN & the WHO; kick the CIA and Mossad out of our country; start making friends with all our SE Asian neighbours incl China, then we won’t be manoeuvered into any more wars and there will not be a need for the battle ships of the world’s biggest war mongerers.
It is pure Wag the Dog
If both the governments involved in this war say there aren’t any mines, who is saying there ARE mines? And why?
Who is overruling both the Pentagon and the Iranian Foreign Ministry? And why are the vast majority of the press accepting their word?
Meanwhile, Iran is offering safe passage through the Strait to selected ships….
I have a sneaking suspicion that the Why of this is to justify making fuel and therefore shipping food across the world more expensive (food shortages coming up? Famine in poorer regions of the world?). Also, to lead us back into partial lockdowns or restrictive travel mode. To save fuel.
However, if everyone only knew that only about 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) passes through the Strait of Hormuz, then this would mean that 80% of fuel and other essentials are moved using alternative routes.
So, no need to panic, surely. But, as they say in politics, never let a good crisis go to waste, even if it’s all made up!