BREAKING: Israel Reportedly Believes Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei Has Been Killed

[TBoneTX 49,621]

This is simply too good.

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Bessent Delivers Another Powerful Blow to Iran - Reveals What May Be Their 'Fatal Mistake'

 

[...] Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had another shoe to drop on them.  Bessent announced that, in addition to what they had already done with their "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran since last year, the Trump administration was also launching "Operation Economic Fury," and making use of what might prove to be a "fatal mistake" by the regime to bomb their Gulf neighbors.  [...]

 

https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2026/04/15/bessent-delivers-another-powerful-blow-to-iran-n2201332

[Ban Hammer 15,166]

45 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

This is simply too good.

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Bessent Delivers Another Powerful Blow to Iran - Reveals What May Be Their 'Fatal Mistake'

 

[...] Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had another shoe to drop on them.  Bessent announced that, in addition to what they had already done with their "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran since last year, the Trump administration was also launching "Operation Economic Fury," and making use of what might prove to be a "fatal mistake" by the regime to bomb their Gulf neighbors.  [...]

 

https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2026/04/15/bessent-delivers-another-powerful-blow-to-iran-n2201332

they've been getting away with so much for so long, they are like the karen of the middle east and they just got voted off the HOA board.

[TBoneTX 49,621]

 

Trump Officially Renames Strait Of Hormuz The 'Donald J. Trump Strait Of America'

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As part of ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Iran to bring the weeks-long conflict to a close, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the Strait of Hormuz had been officially renamed as the "Donald J. Trump Straight of America."

The strait remained under military blockade as tense negotiations continued, with Trump publicly declaring that the U.S. had taken control of the waterway and christened it with a new title named after his two favorite things — himself and America.

"It is now the greatest strait of all time," Trump said in a post to Truth Social.  [...]

 

https://babylonbee.com/news/trump-officially-renames-strait-of-hormuz-the-strait-of-america

[TBoneTX 49,621]

Interesting.  Comments?

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Trump's Blockade Is Breaking Iran... And European Elites Are Angry

 

In March I published an article titled "Global Energy Crisis Or Iranian Surrender In Five Weeks?" in which I outlined the "worst case" and "best case" scenarios for the war in Iran.  In my best case scenario I argued in favor of a specific plan to end the conflict quickly: A US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, flipping the tables on Iran by blocking or seizing any oil tankers or gas tankers which exit Iranian ports.

Two weeks later, the Trump Administration has implemented this exact strategy.

The effectiveness of the blockade is already apparent; the propaganda bots on social media are scrambling to find a narrative to counter it, but they are failing.  Why?  Because Iran already tried to lock down the strait (which is an international waterway), and any government cheering (or secretly cheering) for Iran's actions is now unable to make a rational argument against the US doing the same thing to Iran.  As I noted in March:

"We constantly hear about international exposure to the Hormuz shutdown, but the media rarely mentions that Iran is the MOST exposed economy of all.  For now, Iranian oil ships continue to pass through the strait and these vessels are Iran's economic lifeline.  Strategic estimates suggest that without the steady passage of these oil tankers, the Iranian economy would completely collapse within five weeks…"

I then summarized what I believed was the simplest solution to end the war:  [...]

 

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trumps-blockade-breaking-iran-and-european-elites-are-angry

[TBoneTX 49,621]

With all this might we have at our disposal, we can't finish them off.  Not a very convincing use of force after the stellar first four weeks of this expedition.  The leaders, such as they are, show signs of cooperation, then change their minds.  They don't seem to be desperate enough yet.

 

Perhaps we need to:
1. Eliminate every member of the IRGC, wherever they lurk.
2. Destroy all coastline around the Strait to half a mile inland.
3. Blow up all speedboats the instant they're seen.
4. Kill all remaining leaders, whether we're negotiating with them or not.
5. Selectively bomb all Shi'ite mosques with their mullahs in them.
6. Kill everyone who attends pro-regime rallies.  Let Allah sort them out.

A dead terrorist can rarely cause future problems.

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Iran's New Supreme Leader Surfaces (Sort of) With a Chilling Message

 

Mojtaba Khamenei, the new supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, still hasn't been seen in public since he was named to his exalted new position.  Reuters reported that "three people close to his inner circle" said that the world's most prominent nepo baby was severely injured in the airstrike that killed his father, suffering disfigurement to his face and reportedly also losing a leg.  Nevertheless, in a new message on Telegram Saturday, the younger Khamenei was full of threats and bravado, and ready to give the Great Satan and Little Satan a whipping they won't soon forget.  [...]

 

https://pjmedia.com/robert-spencer/2026/04/18/irans-new-supreme-leader-surfaces-sort-of-with-a-chilling-message-for-the-us-and-israel-n4951945

[TBoneTX 49,621]

Agreed that two "governments" are fighting for control.

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IRGC Closes Strait Again, Calls Iran's Foreign Minister an 'Idiot,' Fires on Oil Tankers

 

The Iranian government is at war with itself as much as it is at war with America, Israel, and the Gulf states.

 

As I have been writing for days now, there is not one Iranian government in charge, but two, battling it out over who controls the entire country.

 

The IRGC appears to be winning at the moment, which is utterly unsurprising.

 

It's pretty clear that the civilian Iranian government was well on its way to a deal with Trump, and even announced that the Strait of Hormuz was open for business again.  They had announced it to the world on X, and the Iranians had given ships actual clearance to transit the Strait.

 

Then, all of a sudden, the IRGC didn't just close the Strait, but sent boats out to fire on ships that were in the midst of transiting.  [...]

 

https://hotair.com/david-strom/2026/04/18/irgc-closes-strait-again-calls-irans-foreign-minister-an-idiot-n3814049

[Dashinka 26,679]

On 4/19/2026 at 12:04 AM, TBoneTX said:

Agreed that two "governments" are fighting for control.

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IRGC Closes Strait Again, Calls Iran's Foreign Minister an 'Idiot,' Fires on Oil Tankers

 

The Iranian government is at war with itself as much as it is at war with America, Israel, and the Gulf states.

 

As I have been writing for days now, there is not one Iranian government in charge, but two, battling it out over who controls the entire country.

 

The IRGC appears to be winning at the moment, which is utterly unsurprising.

 

It's pretty clear that the civilian Iranian government was well on its way to a deal with Trump, and even announced that the Strait of Hormuz was open for business again.  They had announced it to the world on X, and the Iranians had given ships actual clearance to transit the Strait.

 

Then, all of a sudden, the IRGC didn't just close the Strait, but sent boats out to fire on ships that were in the midst of transiting.  [...]

 

https://hotair.com/david-strom/2026/04/18/irgc-closes-strait-again-calls-irans-foreign-minister-an-idiot-n3814049

Those that control the weapons...