Mission Accomplished
By 
Iran is trying to force shippers to comply with a new protocol for transiting the Strait of Hormuz — or risk attack.
Tehran has laid out a set of new rules for vessels seeking to transit the strait, according to a document seen by CNN, pressing ahead with efforts to formalize control over the waterway in defiance of US warnings.
Entitled “Vessel Information Declaration,” the document is an application form issued by Iran’s newly created Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) and must be completed by all transiting vessels to ensure safe passage. It was shared with CNN by Lloyds List and another shipping industry source who wished to remain anonymous.
Before the US and Israeli campaign against Iran began at the end of February, the strait was free for any vessel of any origin to navigate. But since the conflict began, Iran has threatened to strike any ship passing through Hormuz without permission from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy. A number of vessels have come under attack, but the vast majority of ship owners and operators have opted not to take the risk of sending their vessels through in defiance of Iran.
The move to set up an authority for the strait underscores Iran’s determination to cement control over what it sees as a spoil of war, despite repeated US and regional warnings. Dominance of the waterway, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flows, would hand the Islamic Republic immense leverage over its neighbors and the global economy.
A new intelligence assessment by the US IC has concluded that Iran can withstand several more months of blockades and other economic sanctions, before. economic conditions in the country deteriorate seriously from the current status quo. Also, I wonder if. Donne from Queens told MBS that a refusal is not the act of a friend?
A refusal by Saudi Arabia to allow the US to use its bases and airspace to provide a military escort for oil tankers passing through the strait of Hormuz lay behind Donald Trump’s decision to shelve the plan days after it had been launched.
Riyadh told the White House it would not allow its Prince Sultan airbase to be used to mount the operation billed as Project Freedom, which the US presented as the successor to the bombing campaign called Operation Epic Fury.
Saudi Arabia refused to drop its objections despite a personal call between the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and Trump, NBC reported.
I spent $65 filling up my car this morning at Costco, which is the most I’ve ever paid in my life for gas. As annoying as this was, I was filled with genuine happiness at the thought of all the MAGATs spending twice that much to fill up their F-150s or whatever else those morons are driving, and the misery that this traumatic experience is going to produce for the people who voted for this, even though they didn’t know that’s what they were voting for(see morons, supra). I don’t think there’s any way Donnie Deals can hang in there while gas hits five and six and seven dollars per gallon in Jesusland, and I suspect the Iranians think so too.