Dungeon Crawler Carl said:

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Sound like you are a IRGC supporter. He said nothing that is not correct. The IRGC has executed thousandth this year alone, has no interest in negotiating, its irrational, they are killing the Iranian economy and have been for years, launching attacks on its neighbors....

What BS sources are you reading ? You have to be a bot or a cyber clown trying to defend the indefensible.

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You got me there.....IRGC supporter! Oh noes.


You should check out the real history of the region. The West (specifically UK and US) have been meddling in the region for centuries. (hint : oil and uranium).

This is whole thing is about truth for me. The last 70 years short version: Our CIA overthrew their govt back in the day and installed a 'friendly dictator', Iranians rebelled, they installed mullahs because that was the best way to keep their civilization together, the CIA then used Iraq as a proxy to start a border war with Iran (see Don Rumsfeld), millions died on both sides (thousands from chemical weapons the US provided), fast forward to today, we have a President that is lying to us on a daily basis and manipulating markets with tweets and BS. He claimed it would be over in 4-5 days, their military is gone, the people would welcome us as liberators, he initially claim 30K dead protesters now he claims its over 50K within a matter of months, here we are 6 months later and nothing has been resolved.......

Oh by the way, have you noticed how many times he said that the Iranians bombed the USS Cole? Thats new to me, from everything I witnessed since that happened 26 years ago it was Al-qaeda and the Sunnis


Here's the official version from the FBI. Not a single mention about Iran....

https://www.fbi.gov/history/cases-and-criminals/uss-cole-bombing


Long story short, Trump is lying to your face and you are sucking it up like a good little sheep.......

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Khamenei instructed (Brigadier General Ahmad) Vahidi who took command of the IRGC in March and was officially confirmed to the post on Monday to strengthen deterrence and readiness for "powerful offensive operations", projecting a more assertive military posture.
Top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Vahidi had led the IRGC during the recent war and said the force should continue its path "by drawing on the guidance of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei," according to a statement reported by state media.
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Ali Vaez, deputy program director for Middle East and North Africa at the International Crisis Group think tank, said the appointments "are as much about consolidating Mojtaba [Khamenei]'s authority as correcting the vulnerabilities exposed by two wars."

Sina Toossi, a senior non-resident fellow at the US-based Center for International Policy, said the language surrounding Vahidi's appointment was "particularly striking."
"Khamenei calls for 'maximum deterrence' but also explicitly instructs the IRGC to maintain readiness for 'powerful offensive operations against the enemy,' Toossi wrote on X. "Iranian commentary is already highlighting this as an unusually explicit articulation of offensive operations as part of the IRGC's mission."

New Iranian Armed Forces Appointments

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Dungeon Crawler Carl said:

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Sound like you are a IRGC supporter. He said nothing that is not correct. The IRGC has executed thousandth this year alone, has no interest in negotiating, its irrational, they are killing the Iranian economy and have been for years, launching attacks on its neighbors....

What BS sources are you reading ? You have to be a bot or a cyber clown trying to defend the indefensible.

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You got me there.....IRGC supporter! Oh noes.


You should check out the real history of the region. The West (specifically UK and US) have been meddling in the region for centuries. (hint : oil and uranium).

This is whole thing is about truth for me. The last 70 years short version: Our CIA overthrew their govt back in the day and installed a 'friendly dictator', Iranians rebelled, they installed mullahs because that was the best way to keep their civilization together, the CIA then used Iraq as a proxy to start a border war with Iran (see Don Rumsfeld), millions died on both sides (thousands from chemical weapons the US provided), fast forward to today, we have a President that is lying to us on a daily basis and manipulating markets with tweets and BS. He claimed it would be over in 4-5 days, their military is gone, the people would welcome us as liberators, he initially claim 30K dead protesters now he claims its over 50K within a matter of months, here we are 6 months later and nothing has been resolved.......

Oh by the way, have you noticed how many times he said that the Iranians bombed the USS Cole? Thats new to me, from everything I witnessed since that happened 26 years ago it was Al-qaeda and the Sunnis


Here's the official version from the FBI. Not a single mention about Iran....

https://www.fbi.gov/history/cases-and-criminals/uss-cole-bombing


Long story short, Trump is lying to your face and you are sucking it up like a good little sheep.......

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Dungeon Crawler Carl said:

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Go ahead and answer that USS Cole thing before your start questioning our patriotism

Did he lie or not?

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Court Rulings and Legal Findings

• 2015 District Court Ruling: U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras found Iran and Sudan complicit in the USS Cole attack, ruling that Iran helped establish al-Qaeda's network in Yemen and supplied training, logistics, and safe passage for operatives. not respond to civil lawsuits filed by families of the victims, federal judges ordered billions of dollars in default compensatory and punitive damages against Iran. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/judge-orders-sudan-iran-to-pay-75-million-to-family-of-uss-cole-victim/2015/03/31/a2105dd8-d7b8-11e4-ba28-f2a685dc7f89_story.html
• Subsequent Demands: Political figures, including President Donald Trump, have repeatedly cited these judicial findings and alleged Iranian proxy backing to demand formal financial compensation from Tehran for the victims' families.

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Haleyscomet50 said:

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Exactly they are in way better position every day the longer this last the better it gets for Iran. These are not dumb people living in a cave in Afghanistan they fell into a great position they don't want to mess it up. This has been the best thing that could have happened to Iran they are now a global power will shortly be 300 billion richer and no sanctions and they get to keep weapon programs. They are the Victor and at this point are taking a victory lap.

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Phatbob said:

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Haleyscomet50 said:

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Exactly they are in way better position every day the longer this last the better it gets for Iran. These are not dumb people living in a cave in Afghanistan they fell into a great position they don't want to mess it up. This has been the best thing that could have happened to Iran they are now a global power will shortly be 300 billion richer and no sanctions and they get to keep weapon programs. They are the Victor and at this point are taking a victory lap.

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You are assuming that they are in a static situation, and they aren't. It's not like they are sitting on infinite reserves and can just do this forever. Iran is degrading their own internal situation more the longer this goes. It's a gamble on their part, but my guess is the administration is ok with the status quo because 1 month of the current state probably sets Iran back 6 months in recovery even if no regime change happens, which would be why Trump doesn't seem to be in a big hurry to wrap things up decisively. There's no way to tell if the Iranian gamble will pay off by allowing the IRGC to keep existing or not in the future, but to say Iran is winning anything at this point is pretty laughable.

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Dungeon Crawler Carl said:

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I am going to call this one dubious at best. Sure the judge may have seen evidence of Iranian involvement but if there was real hard core intelligence evidence it would have come out before Trump highlighted it on Feb 28.

For example, if there was a connection do you really think Cheney, Bush, Bolton, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, Obama, Trump in his first term when he killed Solomani, etc would just ignore it? HIGHLY unlikely.

It doesn't pass the smell test for me. Call me cynical....

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Haleyscomet50 said:

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No Spin Ag said:

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Haleyscomet50 said:

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Does anyone know if the blockade has been lifted? I saw a post that Iran had driven all US ships out of the Persian Gulf. I checked Maritime map and the waters and saw alot of Iranian flagged fishing vessels.

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Link, because I can't imagine Iran driving us out of the gulf. At best we left, but I'd imagine Trump or Hegseth or someone would've mentioned that very big piece of our situation.

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I can't believe that either it was a post on x from some Iranian government figure. But I know for a fact Iranian fishing boats were everywhere in the gulf yesterday and last night. Not sure how they know vetted to be fishing boats and not laying mines.

They are for sure lying about blockade because Iranian flagged vessels are everywhere in the gulf so maybe we aren't in Persian gulf anymore maybe the blockade it's at the entry way into the gulf. But if that's the case that means they have control over the strait.

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bobbranco said:

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Phatbob said:

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Haleyscomet50 said:

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Exactly they are in way better position every day the longer this last the better it gets for Iran. These are not dumb people living in a cave in Afghanistan they fell into a great position they don't want to mess it up. This has been the best thing that could have happened to Iran they are now a global power will shortly be 300 billion richer and no sanctions and they get to keep weapon programs. They are the Victor and at this point are taking a victory lap.

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You are assuming that they are in a static situation, and they aren't. It's not like they are sitting on infinite reserves and can just do this forever. Iran is degrading their own internal situation more the longer this goes. It's a gamble on their part, but my guess is the administration is ok with the status quo because 1 month of the current state probably sets Iran back 6 months in recovery even if no regime change happens, which would be why Trump doesn't seem to be in a big hurry to wrap things up decisively. There's no way to tell if the Iranian gamble will pay off by allowing the IRGC to keep existing or not in the future, but to say Iran is winning anything at this point is pretty laughable.

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Iran is winning the PR battle for a very small minority of misguided American hearts and minds.

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bobbranco said:

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I don't understand how US citizens can ignore or defend Iran's death cult.

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EIA is finally acknowledging the Iran war is a production crisis, not just a Hormuz traffic problem.

5.5 mb/d of Middle East output was still shut in during July, and some won’t return even by end-2027.

The weak link remains EIA’s assumption that Hormuz starts improving in…

— Art Berman (@aeberman12) August 12, 2026

The administration appears to be describing gross barrels passing from the Persian Gulf—including episodic surges, bypasses & possibly dark traffic

Commercial trackers are measuring observable, sustainable Hormuz transit.

Those are not the same thing https://t.co/L8O2YjZqsb

— Art Berman (@aeberman12) August 12, 2026

The story of Trump secretly switching airplanes is actually a great example of how we got into the war with Iran…

“Israeli-derived, not U.S.-generated, and viewed as low confidence” by our own intelligence agencies. pic.twitter.com/zWKkWxYBat

— Joe Kent (@joekent16jan19) August 13, 2026

javajaws said:

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The fallacy of most leftists is they think that Trump is so bad, that everyone he opposes must be good. Hell, there are even non-Trump Republicans that think that.

I'm not a big 2nd term Trump fan...but use your brain people, not just your dislike of Trump!

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Phatbob said:

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You are spot on, but also, they don't care if their version of "America First" in all practicality means unemployment of 50%. They haven't thought any further than "If it doesn't happen within our borders, it just doesn't matter".

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policywonk98 said:

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Queso1 said:

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bobbranco said:

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I don't understand how US citizens can ignore or defend Iran's death cult.

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Regarding ignoring, they probably don't care about Israel. If not for the forever war in the Middle East, Israel wouldn't even cross my mind.

Second, Iran's government isn't defensible. But that doesn't mean we need to bomb them. China isn't defensible. North Korea isn't. The UK isn't. Plenty of indefensible nations.

We were told America First, but we were lied to.

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Macroeconomics and U.S. Hegemony don't really care about your feelings for Israel, Zionism, or Jews.

The Eastern Hemisphere is roughly 85% of the world population. Making our hemisphere 15% of the world population.

If the U.S. stopped doing any business outside of the U.S., our economy would shrink between 30-50%.

Let's just say for the sake of argument, that number was made up by someone that wants to "control" you and us as a country. Even a 10% reduction in our economy would be devastating.

I've developed a big enough posting record around here that I'm firmly established in the 1) Govt is too big 2) We can't fight forever wars 3) Military Industrial Complex needs to be reigned in 4)I'm not a neocon by the real definition of the word and not the recently made up definitions

Having said that, at this point, because of the mismanagement and excess of the democrats and republicans since the launching of the New Deal and Great Society policies of the 1935-1965 era and all subsequent failures to rein in the U.S. federal government. There is only one option for the U.S. the prevent complete collapse. That is to maintain world hegemony.

American first should not mean (inside american borders only). Americans make a lot of money from the world
Economy. Including the eastern hemisphere. Including the Middle East. Approx 1 million Americans work in the Middle East. And that is not just military or military contractors. The majority of that number is corporate economy activity.

There are alot of white collar and blue collar Americans working in the Middle East for companies making a lot of money for Americans stateside. Many of those company make a lot of money for share holders. Not just hedge fund managers. They make money for millions of Americans 401Ks and retirement investments.

Thousands of US companies are invested to the tune of a trillion dollars and more in economies around the world.

If you want to see what happened to American Energy companies kicked out of communist dictator countries of South America, that is what will happen in the Middle East.

China and Russia have been working overtime in the last 40 year to gain control over the entire ME. China making the push over the last 15. The axis they have created in Iran, Iraq, and Syria. The only thing keeping Turkey somewhat in check is their membership in NATO.

If these economic and defensive alliances are further solidified and they break the will of the other ME countries to stop being close business and military partners with the U.S. The US economy will be in a world of hurt.

Anyone that is truly America First and American first. You do not want to cheer for the fall of the U.S. as the world hegemony. Our economic future will look similar to Britain's current state if this happens. It would likely take longer than 100 years but it would most certainly go in that direction.

Our way of life and current economic prosperity, which is very very high from top to bottom by every single measure by historical standards. Could it and should it be better than it is? Absolutely! Have American politicians sold out American workers and farmers and producers? Absolutely! Do we need to reshore an even bigger manufacturing base? Absolutely!

But doing all of that should be for the purpose of offering our own goods and services globally. We will absolutely get shut down by China if they are the gatekeepers of economies outside the one in their borders. We know this because they already do it inside their borders. They will do it in every country they control. You can count on it.

Iran is a major piece on Chinas board. We can't allow them complete control of that country or its neighbors.

Trump and his team have done a terrible job executing this action on Iran. There is much to be critical of and there is now a higher risk that the U.S. loses hegemony in the region because of the last 6 months. Americans should not be cheering on further failure but a turn around of the situation.

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I’m getting a sense of déjà vu. It feels as though we are back where we were after the June 2026 war.

Rather than being repeatedly surprised by Iran’s military reconstitution, we should internalize a more uncomfortable reality: there is no durable kinetic solution to Iran’s… https://t.co/xAnZvOcG6E

— Danny (Dennis) Citrinowicz ,داني سيترينوفيتش (@citrinowicz) August 13, 2026

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Iran produces many of its missiles domestically and has spent years building a dispersed, hardened, and increasingly resilient defense-industrial base. As long as Tehran retains both the motivation and the underlying capacity to rebuild, it will inevitably attempt to restore, and adapt, its capabilities after every round of strikes.

Military action can destroy launchers, production facilities, stockpiles, and infrastructure. It can impose costs and buy time. But degrading a capability is not the same as preventing its reconstitution.

That distinction matters strategically. A recurring campaign of strikes faces diminishing returns: each successive round can become more costly as Iran learns, disperses, hardens, conceals, and rebuilds. What Israel often calls "mowing the grass" is therefore a particularly poor framework for Iran. The "grass" does not simply grow back; it learns how it was cut.

The conclusion should not be that military power has no value. It is that we should stop expecting military power to achieve an objective it is poorly suited to deliver.

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INTERESTING: A UAE government VIP jet—a Boeing 737-700 BBJ operated by Royal Jet—made short visits to Iran on two consecutive days.

On Aug 11, it flew from Abu Dhabi to the Tehran area and stayed roughly one hour.

On Aug 12, the same aircraft returned, this time landing at… pic.twitter.com/cMCNxzyCNq

— Clash Report (@clashreport) August 12, 2026

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According to a source of mine in Iran, the Emirati government has released several billion dollars more of Iran's frozen assets held in Emirati banks, including at least 1.5 tonnes of gold worth approximately $212 million.

The assets were flown to Iran aboard Boeing 737-7KK BBJ A6-RJA, operated by UAE-based RoyalJet, from Abu Dhabi to Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport and Payam Airport in Karaj on August 11 and 12, 2026.

This is the third time the UAE government has released and transferred Iran's frozen assets back to Iran.

According to my source, this is also one of the key reasons the Islamic regime of Iran spared the UAE during the renewed conflict and escalation of hostilities between Iran and the United States in July.

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In addition to former Saudia Boeing 777-268ERs transferred to Iran by UAE-based ECT Aviation Support, three Boeing 737-300/500s and two former Condor Airbus A320-212s have been sold to Iranian airlines by the Emirati companies Aerovision FZ and Skysource FZ, respectively. The two A320s have already been flown to Iran.

While its propagandists on social media are trying to portray the Emirati Government as taking a tough stance against the Islamic regime of Iran, in reality, weak and frightened Emirati government officials have continued bribing the Ayatollahs and IRGC generals in an effort to have their country spared during the renewed hostilities between Iran and the United States in July.

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@grok how is this even possible if Iran has stricken, by some accounts, 34% of ADNOC’s fleet? https://t.co/u3r9MqmVVt

— Kid Abo (@kidabobr) August 13, 2026

Last night, the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned the targeting of two vessels belonging to the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, confirming that no injuries were reported.

It has not been officially… https://t.co/gDBbLoTLbx pic.twitter.com/3gKh82xKFg

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) August 14, 2026

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That means in the middle East Israel should be at the bottom of the list.

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