Dungeon Crawler Carl said:BREAKING: Iran is threatening to bring the Bab al-Mandab Strait, Saudi Aramco, Yanbu Port, and Fujairah Port "into the circle of fire" and has prepared "hours of hell for the enemy," per Tasnim.
— The Hormuz Letter (@HormuzLetter) April 19, 2026
Iran also says US military movements, including an extensive air bridge of C-5 andโฆ
Looks like it's going to get restarted this week.
ErnestEndeavor said:
Iran, at least in my opinion, would have already closed Bab al Mandab if they could. I'm almost convinced, but not really sure, that the Houthis have been bought off by the Saudis.
ErnestEndeavor said:
Iran, at least in my opinion, would have already closed Bab al Mandab if they could. I'm almost convinced, but not really sure, that the Houthis have been bought off by the Saudis.
๐ President Trump just posted this on his Truth Social account. pic.twitter.com/V0Do3kiHeG
— The Iran Watcher ๐ฎ๐ท (@TheIranWatcher) April 19, 2026
GAC06 said:ErnestEndeavor said:
Iran, at least in my opinion, would have already closed Bab al Mandab if they could. I'm almost convinced, but not really sure, that the Houthis have been bought off by the Saudis.
Closing that strait pretty much only impacts Asia/China I would imagine. The Red Sea pipeline can still get supply to Europe but closing mandeb would force a very long transit through the med and around Africa to Asia.
Still somewhat surprised they didn't close it just as further pressure
BlackGold said:GAC06 said:ErnestEndeavor said:
Iran, at least in my opinion, would have already closed Bab al Mandab if they could. I'm almost convinced, but not really sure, that the Houthis have been bought off by the Saudis.
Closing that strait pretty much only impacts Asia/China I would imagine. The Red Sea pipeline can still get supply to Europe but closing mandeb would force a very long transit through the med and around Africa to Asia.
Still somewhat surprised they didn't close it just as further pressure
The straight's closure impacts everyone, including us, thanks globalism. If you're referring to energy, specifically oil, it is traded on the global market and prices are set on the global market, not localized to just the US. Global geopolitical events, like a war with Iran and the closure of the straight increases gas prices here at home, even if we produce enough O&G here. We also have strong allies in Asia - Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, etc. - who this severely negatively impacts.
We're giving more opportunities for our Asian allies to cozy up to China, the longer this drags on. Is Iran a bigger threat than China to the US? No way in hell. Iran is a bigger threat to Israel, yes, but not the US. We're hurting many of our other strategically important allies at the behest of Israel. Not a good trade off.
ErnestEndeavor said:
Iran, at least in my opinion, would have already closed Bab al Mandab if they could. I'm almost convinced, but not really sure, that the Houthis have been bought off by the Saudis.
BlackGold said:GAC06 said:ErnestEndeavor said:
Iran, at least in my opinion, would have already closed Bab al Mandab if they could. I'm almost convinced, but not really sure, that the Houthis have been bought off by the Saudis.
Closing that strait pretty much only impacts Asia/China I would imagine. The Red Sea pipeline can still get supply to Europe but closing mandeb would force a very long transit through the med and around Africa to Asia.
Still somewhat surprised they didn't close it just as further pressure
The straight's closure impacts everyone, including us, thanks globalism. If you're referring to energy, specifically oil, it is traded on the global market and prices are set on the global market, not localized to just the US. Global geopolitical events, like a war with Iran and the closure of the straight increases gas prices here at home, even if we produce enough O&G here. We also have strong allies in Asia - Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, etc. - who this severely negatively impacts.
We're giving more opportunities for our Asian allies to cozy up to China, the longer this drags on. Is Iran a bigger threat than China to the US? No way in hell. Iran is a bigger threat to Israel, yes, but not the US. We're hurting many of our other strategically important allies at the behest of Israel. Not a good trade off.
Quote:
Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Sunday said gas prices may not drop below $3 a gallon until next year, as the U.S. war with Iran continues to wreak havoc on energy markets.
Quote:
Trump says energy secretary 'totally wrong' on gas prices not dropping to $3 until next year
President Trump told The Hill on Monday that he disagreed with Energy Secretary Chris Wright's assessment that gas prices may not drop below $3 per gallon until next year.
"No, I think he's wrong on that. Totally wrong," Trump said in a phone interview when asked about his energy chief's comments.
YouBet said:BlackGold said:GAC06 said:ErnestEndeavor said:
Iran, at least in my opinion, would have already closed Bab al Mandab if they could. I'm almost convinced, but not really sure, that the Houthis have been bought off by the Saudis.
Closing that strait pretty much only impacts Asia/China I would imagine. The Red Sea pipeline can still get supply to Europe but closing mandeb would force a very long transit through the med and around Africa to Asia.
Still somewhat surprised they didn't close it just as further pressure
The straight's closure impacts everyone, including us, thanks globalism. If you're referring to energy, specifically oil, it is traded on the global market and prices are set on the global market, not localized to just the US. Global geopolitical events, like a war with Iran and the closure of the straight increases gas prices here at home, even if we produce enough O&G here. We also have strong allies in Asia - Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, etc. - who this severely negatively impacts.
We're giving more opportunities for our Asian allies to cozy up to China, the longer this drags on. Is Iran a bigger threat than China to the US? No way in hell. Iran is a bigger threat to Israel, yes, but not the US. We're hurting many of our other strategically important allies at the behest of Israel. Not a good trade off.
Hot take. You are zigging when everyone else is zagging, I guess?
Asia has no oil. They are dependent on rest of us for it. Must not be a student of the Pacific campaign of WWII.
If anything, this whole ordeal has exposed Asia's Achilles Heel, again.
User name really does not check out, either.
BlackGold said:YouBet said:BlackGold said:GAC06 said:ErnestEndeavor said:
Iran, at least in my opinion, would have already closed Bab al Mandab if they could. I'm almost convinced, but not really sure, that the Houthis have been bought off by the Saudis.
Closing that strait pretty much only impacts Asia/China I would imagine. The Red Sea pipeline can still get supply to Europe but closing mandeb would force a very long transit through the med and around Africa to Asia.
Still somewhat surprised they didn't close it just as further pressure
The straight's closure impacts everyone, including us, thanks globalism. If you're referring to energy, specifically oil, it is traded on the global market and prices are set on the global market, not localized to just the US. Global geopolitical events, like a war with Iran and the closure of the straight increases gas prices here at home, even if we produce enough O&G here. We also have strong allies in Asia - Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, etc. - who this severely negatively impacts.
We're giving more opportunities for our Asian allies to cozy up to China, the longer this drags on. Is Iran a bigger threat than China to the US? No way in hell. Iran is a bigger threat to Israel, yes, but not the US. We're hurting many of our other strategically important allies at the behest of Israel. Not a good trade off.
Hot take. You are zigging when everyone else is zagging, I guess?
Asia has no oil. They are dependent on rest of us for it. Must not be a student of the Pacific campaign of WWII.
If anything, this whole ordeal has exposed Asia's Achilles Heel, again.
User name really does not check out, either.
They can and have been getting more oil from Russia since this all started (Russia has a lot of energy). Again, strengthening alliances between two adversarial countries and hurting our allies in the region in the process.
Quote:
That's nothing new. China, NK, and Russia are frenemies. Known quantity and not much to do about them cozying up even more. They will never trust one another though.
YouBet said:BlackGold said:YouBet said:BlackGold said:GAC06 said:ErnestEndeavor said:
Iran, at least in my opinion, would have already closed Bab al Mandab if they could. I'm almost convinced, but not really sure, that the Houthis have been bought off by the Saudis.
Closing that strait pretty much only impacts Asia/China I would imagine. The Red Sea pipeline can still get supply to Europe but closing mandeb would force a very long transit through the med and around Africa to Asia.
Still somewhat surprised they didn't close it just as further pressure
The straight's closure impacts everyone, including us, thanks globalism. If you're referring to energy, specifically oil, it is traded on the global market and prices are set on the global market, not localized to just the US. Global geopolitical events, like a war with Iran and the closure of the straight increases gas prices here at home, even if we produce enough O&G here. We also have strong allies in Asia - Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, etc. - who this severely negatively impacts.
We're giving more opportunities for our Asian allies to cozy up to China, the longer this drags on. Is Iran a bigger threat than China to the US? No way in hell. Iran is a bigger threat to Israel, yes, but not the US. We're hurting many of our other strategically important allies at the behest of Israel. Not a good trade off.
Hot take. You are zigging when everyone else is zagging, I guess?
Asia has no oil. They are dependent on rest of us for it. Must not be a student of the Pacific campaign of WWII.
If anything, this whole ordeal has exposed Asia's Achilles Heel, again.
User name really does not check out, either.
They can and have been getting more oil from Russia since this all started (Russia has a lot of energy). Again, strengthening alliances between two adversarial countries and hurting our allies in the region in the process.
That's nothing new. China, NK, and Russia are frenemies. Known quantity and not much to do about them cozying up even more. They will never trust one another though.
Quote:
There is ONE gas piepline connecting Russia to China. Zero crude pipelines.
BlackGold said:YouBet said:BlackGold said:YouBet said:BlackGold said:GAC06 said:ErnestEndeavor said:
Iran, at least in my opinion, would have already closed Bab al Mandab if they could. I'm almost convinced, but not really sure, that the Houthis have been bought off by the Saudis.
Closing that strait pretty much only impacts Asia/China I would imagine. The Red Sea pipeline can still get supply to Europe but closing mandeb would force a very long transit through the med and around Africa to Asia.
Still somewhat surprised they didn't close it just as further pressure
The straight's closure impacts everyone, including us, thanks globalism. If you're referring to energy, specifically oil, it is traded on the global market and prices are set on the global market, not localized to just the US. Global geopolitical events, like a war with Iran and the closure of the straight increases gas prices here at home, even if we produce enough O&G here. We also have strong allies in Asia - Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, etc. - who this severely negatively impacts.
We're giving more opportunities for our Asian allies to cozy up to China, the longer this drags on. Is Iran a bigger threat than China to the US? No way in hell. Iran is a bigger threat to Israel, yes, but not the US. We're hurting many of our other strategically important allies at the behest of Israel. Not a good trade off.
Hot take. You are zigging when everyone else is zagging, I guess?
Asia has no oil. They are dependent on rest of us for it. Must not be a student of the Pacific campaign of WWII.
If anything, this whole ordeal has exposed Asia's Achilles Heel, again.
User name really does not check out, either.
They can and have been getting more oil from Russia since this all started (Russia has a lot of energy). Again, strengthening alliances between two adversarial countries and hurting our allies in the region in the process.
That's nothing new. China, NK, and Russia are frenemies. Known quantity and not much to do about them cozying up even more. They will never trust one another though.
Haha ok. You claimed Asia has no oil, but they actually have top 3 in reserves in the world, in Russia. Russia is in Asia - brush up on your geography. I was also not talking about the bonds of Russia and China getting stronger, but the bonds between the US and our allies in the region getting weaker - read my post carefully. Guess Taiwan isn't that important to us anymore. Guess Japan isn't really an ally and first line against China, Russia and NK anymore. I guess the Philippines isn't our ally. We also moved important weapons systems out of their region to support the ongoing war with Iran. Does that make our allies stronger or weaker?
Everything were doing for Israel right now is hurting our other allies in the Asia pacific. If you can't see that, you're blinded.
YouBet said:BlackGold said:YouBet said:BlackGold said:YouBet said:BlackGold said:GAC06 said:ErnestEndeavor said:
Iran, at least in my opinion, would have already closed Bab al Mandab if they could. I'm almost convinced, but not really sure, that the Houthis have been bought off by the Saudis.
Closing that strait pretty much only impacts Asia/China I would imagine. The Red Sea pipeline can still get supply to Europe but closing mandeb would force a very long transit through the med and around Africa to Asia.
Still somewhat surprised they didn't close it just as further pressure
The straight's closure impacts everyone, including us, thanks globalism. If you're referring to energy, specifically oil, it is traded on the global market and prices are set on the global market, not localized to just the US. Global geopolitical events, like a war with Iran and the closure of the straight increases gas prices here at home, even if we produce enough O&G here. We also have strong allies in Asia - Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, etc. - who this severely negatively impacts.
We're giving more opportunities for our Asian allies to cozy up to China, the longer this drags on. Is Iran a bigger threat than China to the US? No way in hell. Iran is a bigger threat to Israel, yes, but not the US. We're hurting many of our other strategically important allies at the behest of Israel. Not a good trade off.
Hot take. You are zigging when everyone else is zagging, I guess?
Asia has no oil. They are dependent on rest of us for it. Must not be a student of the Pacific campaign of WWII.
If anything, this whole ordeal has exposed Asia's Achilles Heel, again.
User name really does not check out, either.
They can and have been getting more oil from Russia since this all started (Russia has a lot of energy). Again, strengthening alliances between two adversarial countries and hurting our allies in the region in the process.
That's nothing new. China, NK, and Russia are frenemies. Known quantity and not much to do about them cozying up even more. They will never trust one another though.
Haha ok. You claimed Asia has no oil, but they actually have top 3 in reserves in the world, in Russia. Russia is in Asia - brush up on your geography. I was also not talking about the bonds of Russia and China getting stronger, but the bonds between the US and our allies in the region getting weaker - read my post carefully. Guess Taiwan isn't that important to us anymore. Guess Japan isn't really an ally and first line against China, Russia and NK anymore. I guess the Philippines isn't our ally. We also moved important weapons systems out of their region to support the ongoing war with Iran. Does that make our allies stronger or weaker?
Everything were doing for Israel right now is hurting our other allies in the Asia pacific. If you can't see that, you're blinded.
Dumb and obtuse. Of course Russia is in Asia but we all know when we say "Asian" we aren't talking about Russians. We are talking about mongoloid Asians. You are hiding behind a geographical technicality.
And I didn't mention our Asian allies because it would be absurd to claim Japan and Taiwan (as examples) are going to suddenly shift allegiance to China and away from us...over us attacking Iran?
Is that what you are saying?
BlackGold said:YouBet said:BlackGold said:YouBet said:BlackGold said:YouBet said:BlackGold said:GAC06 said:ErnestEndeavor said:
Iran, at least in my opinion, would have already closed Bab al Mandab if they could. I'm almost convinced, but not really sure, that the Houthis have been bought off by the Saudis.
Closing that strait pretty much only impacts Asia/China I would imagine. The Red Sea pipeline can still get supply to Europe but closing mandeb would force a very long transit through the med and around Africa to Asia.
Still somewhat surprised they didn't close it just as further pressure
The straight's closure impacts everyone, including us, thanks globalism. If you're referring to energy, specifically oil, it is traded on the global market and prices are set on the global market, not localized to just the US. Global geopolitical events, like a war with Iran and the closure of the straight increases gas prices here at home, even if we produce enough O&G here. We also have strong allies in Asia - Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, etc. - who this severely negatively impacts.
We're giving more opportunities for our Asian allies to cozy up to China, the longer this drags on. Is Iran a bigger threat than China to the US? No way in hell. Iran is a bigger threat to Israel, yes, but not the US. We're hurting many of our other strategically important allies at the behest of Israel. Not a good trade off.
Hot take. You are zigging when everyone else is zagging, I guess?
Asia has no oil. They are dependent on rest of us for it. Must not be a student of the Pacific campaign of WWII.
If anything, this whole ordeal has exposed Asia's Achilles Heel, again.
User name really does not check out, either.
They can and have been getting more oil from Russia since this all started (Russia has a lot of energy). Again, strengthening alliances between two adversarial countries and hurting our allies in the region in the process.
That's nothing new. China, NK, and Russia are frenemies. Known quantity and not much to do about them cozying up even more. They will never trust one another though.
Haha ok. You claimed Asia has no oil, but they actually have top 3 in reserves in the world, in Russia. Russia is in Asia - brush up on your geography. I was also not talking about the bonds of Russia and China getting stronger, but the bonds between the US and our allies in the region getting weaker - read my post carefully. Guess Taiwan isn't that important to us anymore. Guess Japan isn't really an ally and first line against China, Russia and NK anymore. I guess the Philippines isn't our ally. We also moved important weapons systems out of their region to support the ongoing war with Iran. Does that make our allies stronger or weaker?
Everything were doing for Israel right now is hurting our other allies in the Asia pacific. If you can't see that, you're blinded.
Dumb and obtuse. Of course Russia is in Asia but we all know when we say "Asian" we aren't talking about Russians. We are talking about mongoloid Asians. You are hiding behind a geographical technicality.
And I didn't mention our Asian allies because it would be absurd to claim Japan and Taiwan (as examples) are going to suddenly shift allegiance to China and away from us...over us attacking Iran?
Is that what you are saying?
How am I dumb for knowing Russia is in Asia? Again, you're just making stuff up. I never said suddenly shift. I said "start to cozy up".
Windy City Ag said:Quote:
There is ONE gas piepline connecting Russia to China. Zero crude pipelines.
This is not true. The ESPO pipeline completed a branch in 2010 that terminates in China and the other branch hugs the Chinese border.
Quote:
"Hugs the Chinese border" does not mean it is delivering gas to China. The branch remains in Russia and is oart of the same pipeline. See that Big downward arrow?
And again, its natural gas, not crude.
Quote:
"Hugs the Chinese border" does not mean it is delivering gas to China. The branch remains in Russia and is oart of the same pipeline. See that Big downward arrow?
And again, its natural gas, not crude.
Quote:
Deliveries of Russian oil via the ESPO oil pipeline to mainland China started in 2011. Crude oil is injected into the 942-km mainland China branch of the ESPO oil pipeline and further into the Northeastern oil pipeline network. The mainland China branch pipeline was built and is currently operated by the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) with an initial annual transportation capacity of 15 million metric tons (MMt) per year
To further strengthen its oil connection with Russia, mainland China built a parallel line in 2018 to receive an additional 15 MMt from Russia each year. The two lines currently have a combined annual capacity of 35 MMt per year (MMt/y), approximately 700,000 b/d.
Quote:
Crude Oil: Russian crude oil supplies to China have grown more gradually, though trade in refined petroleum products surged after 2022 due to sanctions from the European Union. While Russia was China's largest single country supplier of crude oil in 2023 (17.9% of total imports), the primary artery remains the Eastern SiberiaPacific Ocean (ESPO) oil pipeline spur, with a capacity of 700,000 b/d, supplemented by tanker shipments from Russia's Pacific port of Kozmino and some via Kazakhstan
Quote:
Well crap, I take it back. I thought it was NG only.
I see, my search turned up the Power of Sibera line that is NG. I totally missed the other one.
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) (.gov) +3FWTXAg said:
We need a dollar figure counter keeping track of expenses in this not a war. Another weeks worth of expenses and we could probably eliminate homestead property taxes for 30 years and sales tax.
Foreign policy and in particular war is just another excuse for the federal government to steal or mortgage middle class Americans hard earned money and their children's future.
AGHouston11 said:FWTXAg said:
We need a dollar figure counter keeping track of expenses in this not a war. Another weeks worth of expenses and we could probably eliminate homestead property taxes for 30 years and sales tax.
Foreign policy and in particular war is just another excuse for the federal government to steal or mortgage middle class Americans hard earned money and their children's future.
The president ran on not spending billions bombing other countries. He spends billions bombing. He ran on draining the swamp. Meanwhile he resides over 40 trillion national debt and likely to hit 50 trillion before he leaves. He let republicans trash the doge and get away with spending at record paces.
Definitely not promises made promises kept. Trump 2.0 wouid not win if he ran again.
No nobody thinks 50 year mortgages are the answer!
The guy who ran against the high gas prices now says the high prices are nothing consequential and we should be fine with it.
Yes a counter would be appropriate but it should also include the billions consumers have to pay extra for his current war.
Phatbob said:Keyno said:Dungeon Crawler Carl said:
I'm not advocating for it. I don't think it's a good option AT ALL but it's about the only way to knock out those missile complexes without landing ground forces onto of them. He and Bibi are in a corner and aren't the types to say they were wrong.....
Believe me, I think Trump completely screwed the pooch on this. Unfortunately we are all going to suffer the consequences of his reckless actions and incompetence.
Had he spent the 1st year of this term arresting and hanging the people who committed treason in the Obama and Biden regimes, I might have given him a little more leeway. But here we are 16 months in and more F35s have been shot down over Iran than criminals arrested in DC...... **** him. He made his choices.
I agree with everything you said in the bolded text.
As far as the rest (trying to blame Obama and Democrats) I am going to have to push back. Obama had this solved in 2015 with the JCPOA. Trump ripped it up in 2018. This entire situation is a result of that.
This made me laugh, but then I realized you were serious, and that made me sad.
A reminder of what I exclusively reported in 2020. You later admitted my reporting was correct. pic.twitter.com/XMqGfBTFnA
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) April 21, 2026
