Mideast tensions are on the rise again.
CENTCOM confirmed overnight clashes with Iranian forces near the Strait of Hormuz, describing U.S. operations as defensive responses to unprovoked Iranian attacks. The statement provided limited details on the sequence of events or casualties.
Iranian sources offer a different – and more detailed – account of what happened. According to that account, the exchange unfolded in several rounds over roughly 24 hours.
It reportedly began when U.S. forces attacked two IRGC naval boats, killing four Iranian military personnel. Iran responded with anti-ship missiles targeting U.S. vessels. Iranian air defense systems then shot down at least one – some reports say three – U.S. drones operating in the area.
The U.S. subsequently struck Iranian anti-ship missile launch sites and air defense systems. Iran responded again, firing multiple anti-ship missiles at U.S. vessels in the Arabian Sea.
Independent verification of these claims – including the casualty figures and the extent of damage on both sides – remains limited. The competing narratives follow the familiar pattern in which each side frames its actions as a response to the other’s aggression.
The more significant point is that the exchange has now moved through multiple rounds of attack and counter-attack within a single 24-hour period. That pattern is harder to contain than a single incident. It also raises the question of how this cycle interacts with the indirect negotiations currently underway…
CENTCOM Statement
“U.S. Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” said Col. Tim Hawkins, spokesman for the command.
Hello Robin Brooks
Nuclear Dust
Top NYT Headlines
No Winning Options
Better Things to Do
Please Don’t Hang Up
In case you missed it, please note As Talks Bog Down, Trump Cites Great Progress that Iran Denies
Talks hang on the same issues, nuclear stockpiles, sanctions, and mistrust.
No Winning Options
As I have commented for months, Trump has no winning options. Iran can wait Trump out.
In the initial week of the war, I made an assessment that Iran’s overriding goal was to inflict as much pain on Trump and the US as it could.
That the US could inflict more military pain on Iran was never in doubt. But winning (if it is possible at all) would still require boots on the ground.
Iran knows Trump does not have that resolve.
Notably, the longer this has gone on, the more demands Iran has made. Trump had a deal on the table from Iran that did involve giving up uranium. Trump turned that down.
Trump demanded surrender.
Now it’s Trump who is fittingly on the verge of surrender.
For discussion, please consider Trump Announces an Iran Deal that Appears to Be a Complete Capitulation
Here we go again, another deal announcement and another denial by Iran. But …
My follow-up was Trump Waves the White Flag of Surrender to Iran. What Can Go Wrong?
The leaked terms of the deal amount to a Trump surrender. Netanyahu is unhappy.
Today we see more warmonger interference by Senators Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, and Senator Roger Wicker.
Amusingly, Wicker warned that the emerging deal “would not be worth the paper it is written on”.
That is exactly how Iran feels about any deal with the world’s biggest liar, Trump. Iran would be stupid to give up its enriched uranium, so it won’t.
BTW, Classic cartoon there MIsh.
I like this Iranian Trump stuck in an electric cart ala Austin Powers meme
https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/iran-mocks-trump-with-ai-video-showing-him-stuck-in-tesla-logo-truck-at-hormuz/ar-AA22Ecyn?apiversion=v2&domshim=1&noservercache=1&noservertelemetry=1&batchservertelemetry=1&renderwebcomponents=1&wcseo=1
One of the great ironies here is President “The Art of a Deal” could scarcely be worse at negotiations! Seriously: “But the timing of the attack could not have been worse, as Iranian officials had arrived in Qatar just hours earlier for talks to end the war.” NYT
Besides ignorance another great strength of “The Fart of a Deal” is just how bad he has planned and negotiated EVERYTHING! Captain Dumbshit!
This is outright w r o n g !
America’s military might consists always and everywhere of bombing.
It cannot fight an enemy that can fight back.
Good
That Cartoon is a keeper, Mish.
I am going to help them re-frame this from bullshit to reality:
“U.S. Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” said Col. Tim Hawkins, spokesman for the command.”
REVISED from TRUTH ANTI-SOCIAL, my new blog:
““U.S. Central BS continues to EXTEND OUR OFFENSIVE ACTIONS with our EXHAUSTED forces while deploying the usual lack of restraint due to our frustrations with those stubborn “I-YI-YI-RAIN-NEONS” during the ongoing attacks that were provoked by our out of control Taco Man,” said Col. Tim “TEENY-WEENY Hawkins, embattled spokes-dick for the lack of command.”
I am just not that creative. Would someone else try to revise this and make it more enjoyable?
What a great way to build trust during a negotiation. How close to a deal can they be to risk throwing it away by these actions? They are either far apart or they were close to a deal that was no good for Trump and his war monger friends.
Likely the latter.
lol, trust the mullahs. Thanks for the fantasyland thinking.
The trumpettes get more aggressive with sub $100 oil.
Take a moment to think about how great out nation could have been if only we had invested all of the dollars we have spent on Israels wars, on our own infrastructure and development of energy technology.
The education and physical health of our youth has been stunted by having a quest to turn them into debt slaves and fat addicts of the drug companies.
Who does Trump work for?
AIPAC.
The ultimate CEO is demon number 68 – Belial (hebrew לעילב ) – worshipped by those in control.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belial
Once you know what you are up against things get less complicated.Not simpler and not easier but more transparent.
What’s their obsession with the number 911?
Courtesy of brave.ai. Not sure if this is it though -certainly not their NWO. Who knows, perhaps better times are in store for us, parts of us at least, after all.
“In the Kabbalistic context, the sequence is understood as a process of spiritual awakening in which old structures (9) are dissolved in order to create a new divine unity (1) on a higher level of consciousness (11). In the biblical context of the Old Testament, the components represent divine perfection and the one true God, though the combination is sometimes interpreted as a tension between human imperfection and divine order.”
Anyone but American citizens.
Yep, we’d look like current day China. As things stand now we will probably never catch up. I don’t mean 10 years or 20 years I mean NEVER.
We’re the new Russia, starting a millennium long decline into suck.
The world belongs to China now, and the crazy thing is, the world is better off for it.
They’re getting a lot of things right, that’s true and corruption is perhaps not as bad as everywhere else. Perhaps. However, make sure you don’t want to practice Falun Dafa or were born into a Uigur family because your organs will be harvested from you. And the social credit system soon coming to a town near you certainly doesn’t make me feel better off. A wet dream of totalitarian technocrats we’re surrounded by.
… and China is closer than you think
“Facial recognition and the transformation of public lifeMass identity scanning is quickly becoming a background condition of modern life.”
https://www.collapselife.com/p/facial-recognition-and-the-transformation
Oh hell no, I wouldn’t want to live under that regime. I wouldn’t be tolerated.
They do seem to be winning though.
The USA is now a plutocracy headed to a banana republic. The elite have sold out the country to line their pockets, plain and simple, industrialists, bankers, college professors, etc.
if a chatty cathy doll were a commenter, you’d win first prize.
Yesss…. Your butthurt. Unleash your butthurt. Your impotent tears are intoxicating.
Nah, just making fun of the bobble heads. Hit to close to home for you, buddy?
“Iran can wait Trump out.”
Every historical example backs this. But Trump’s overconfidence, overreach and wilful ignorance are of historical magnitude. Finally, he found a worthy test, to expose him for even the most numb-brained holdouts.
Trump’s shifting the goal posts again again to parameters even more unattainable and hubris-befogged, doubles down. Yes, Iran will suffer, but the pressure is vastly insufficient for his demanded total capitulation.
Oh good, another iran expert has provided his insight. Whew. We were running low on takes like this. We thank you for bringing this to our attention.
Trump: Who’s that?
Bibi: It’s Bibi.
Trump: What’s up?
Bibi: Jump!
Trump: How high?
Ben Gvir says Israel will not “allow” Trump to make “a bad deal with Iran.
Allow!
Haven’t bothered to check if it’s authentic or not. Sounds like the real thing though.
“Six major companies control about 90% of the media in the United States. These companies include Comcast, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Skydance, Sony, and News Corp……Seven major families or corporate entities control a significant portion of U.S. news media.”
Kudos to the propagandists who keep the U.S. sheeple distracted from realizing how f*cked they are in every way imaginable.
I’m trying hard to not follow “current events” closely because the direction things are going is just too depressing to contemplate.
The Titanic is sinking but the sheeple are too distracted and numbed to realize they are about to go under.
Have you considered that you are one of the many suckers being trolled by Iran? Would you accept that possibility?
Have you considered living under a different bridge? Or maybe jumping off the bridge you’re currently under?
The fact that Iran is doing so is hardly remarkable like you seen to think. What’s remarkable is that our government brought us to a place where we are exposed to such trolling. Trump earned it. He is indeed a pathetic and ridiculous character, and we have indeed behaved stupidly and badly.
If you don’t like being humiliated, stop acting like a fool.
I don’t feel any humiliation whatsoever. Just vindication on how accurate my posts are!
Your AM radio education is showing.
Why not present your argument instead of regurgitating someone else’s?
My arguments are a distillation based on what I have read and assimilated. I have no direct knowledge, the same as virtually everyone here.
Perhaps if you read actual articles, instead of just blog posts and comments, you would experience an IQ boost.
Oh boo hoo. The people we bombed and whose children we killed are saying mean things!
pathetic.
Yeah, that pesky First Amendment keeps getting in the way.
“Have you considered that you are one of the many suckers being trolled by Iran?”
I’m not being suckered by anyone if I can help it. I read as many alternative news sources as I can get my hands on in order to understand current events as best I can.
First of all, you have to read from a diverse menu. Clearly, you don’t do that.
Second, you clearly lack the capability of understanding what you might read with comphehension.
Therefore, yes, you have been and are being trolled.
You Iranian Regime fanboys need to step out of the Trump hating, US hating echo chambers you live in. You need to take the bull by the tail and look the situation directly in the eye. Here’s some REAL analysis and commentary to help you along:
“ now confronts total conventional military defeat.” And that is the crux of your analysis. Even if true, why would the Iranians care they lost the conventional part when they have Trump by the balls in the Strait of Hormuz and with threats to critical infrastructure?
It’s meaningless to define defeat in a way that might suit Trumps needs but that ignores the strength of the opponent.
Trump atttacked without a plan and is now stuck. Its pathetic.
How can you say that that team Trump went in without a plan? They obviously moved a huge amount of military hardware into the area beforehand and coordinated on the attack with Israel. Doesn’t that constitute planning?
And please stop referring to “the Iranians”. That is inaccurate phrasing. The only Iranians on the side of the Regime are the IRGC members, those employed to build weapons for the Regime and of course, their families, who want to see their paychecks restored. The vast majority of Iranians do not support the Regime or the IRGC thugs and would be happy to see them defeated.
Correct usage should be “The Iranian Regime. Show some rigor in your writing.
Thank you for your attention to this matter!
Sure, being precise in writing has not hurt before and it is good practice so I’ll take your point on that; the Iranian Regime.
But moving hardware is not a plan. I disagree there. Having a plan means having thought of at least one path to achieve your goals, which Trump clearly did not have. He hoped that all his advisors would be wrong about Iran retaliating by closing Hormuz, and he hoped that Bibi was right in the idea that the Iranian People would overthrow their government.
Hope + hope, especially when it ignores much better founded theories, do not equal a plan. They do equal hubris and a complete disregard of the damage done to millions of real people (I am including those that will be affected by poor harvests due to lack in fertilizer).
You and others continue, as certified armchair generals, to claim to have better vision and knowledge than the Pentagon and Israel intelligence. I suppose this arrogance is a function of the 24 hour news cycle and reality TV
Seriously, if only the Pentagon had dialed you up in advance and asked for your advice! 🤣🤣🤣
You, Mish and everyone else can disagree with what you see all you want but you DO NOT have better knowledge than the experts and you DO NOT know what plans the military and the politicians have.
Now, go back and read the WHOLE article that I posted. That article was written by someone who actually knows what they are talking about.
I don’t agree with that. We can see what trump laid out as goals for the war and how that keeps changing, to fit the picture of someone that is not attaining those goals. We also know the pentagon anticipated the strait closure. Trump and hegseth just didnt listen. None of Trumps observable actions imply a plan was in place.
Noone here denies btw that Israel had a plan: they seemed to have one which was to convince the US to attack Iran. And they succeeded.
Who here “claim to have better vision and knowledge than the Pentagon and Israel intelligence” Jojo? Name names.
Everyone who over the course of the war keeps contending that they know better than the people in the thick of things, who claim that there is/was no planning, who like to hear themselves continually post nonsense, all out of a case of TDS.
And yet those same generals led us to this. Iran still controls the Straits.
It is “Strait”, not “Straits”. There is only one of them.
And no, they do not control the Strait. Try reading as opposed to posting from your hip.
You’re SCREAMING a fallacy ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_authority ) like it’s convincing, but there’s nothing less convincing than a sycophant parroting the party line in the face of copious evidence to the contrary.
Seems like arguing from authority is especially weak these days, after Trump gutted our government and military of anyone who had any kind of skill with independent thinking. Now they’re all sycophants like you. It’s morons all the way down.
I agree with Jojo on this one.
Trump indeed had a plan.
PLAN:
Did I miss anything?
maximize chaos and economic downturn in support of NWO / digital enslavement program of his buddies / masters
Robert Reich in Today’s Guardian convincingly argues that today’s US administration meets the criteria of a ‘Regime’ – so one could say that the current US regime is likewise waging a war ( of choice, not defence ) without the support of a majority of its population.
That dwarf is still around?
You seem to think outright control of the SOH is not worth more than zero
Verified any of those numbers?
Obviously these experts misgauged the numbers and the consequences from the outset.
The Iranian conventional Navy was never a threat.
All the other “destruction” is pure PR, no evidence.
So Iran lost, but why then not capitulate?
No assets, how is it keeping the American Navy and shipping in the Strait out?
How would you know how many missiles they have and produce under those 500m granite mountains?
Pursuing this course of action guarantees a decade of world-widerecession and energy shortages. It does not in any way guarantee Iranian capitulation.
Even Trump gets that.
The only party that is out of assets (interceptors and stand-off weapons) is the US.
This is another stupid statement. Do you believe that that our weapon factories haven’t been working 24 x 7 to rebuild our stocks? That there aren’t daily flights with these replacement inventories flown to the ME daily?
Meanwhile, the vast majority of Iranian Regime weapon factories have been decimated. They also cannot get materials into the country, except by rail or the Black Sea that could be used to rebuild the factories, which would be necessary before they could rebuild their own weapon stocks.
Are you really as dumb as your posts indicate?
4 years best case to replenish Patriots, SM-3 and THAAD assuming the US stops its warmongering that whole time. Even Switzerland wised up and cancelled its Patriot order that never arrived. Please do your research.
Keep bombing!
We almost all agree Epstein is Mossad Agent.
He had been running in US for about 30 years.
US perfectly knew he is running paedophile ring.
Can somebody explain what is the role of FBI/CIA?
I strongly believe FBI/CIA deeply involve in this mess.
CIA/FBI let Mossad blackmails their government, let them steal the country’s secrets,
economic and scientific secrets.
Israel successfully infiltrates and fuses and controls US government and CIA/FBI?
Let the whole country puppet of Israel?
Many are aware of Epstein’s Mossad backround but no one willing to connect the dots to the individuals that funneled millions to him for his endeavors to trap high individuals in every government other than Israel’s.
Joun
FBI great job. Over $100K a year, safe; less than 20 killed in line of duty in last 50 years, easy almost do nothing job. I worked with the FBI when I was in the Army, every MP that I knew thought they were clowns. I know many MP’s that went on to become cops, one even Chief of Police, not one that I know went into the FBI.
Things are so great in America made great again that I have begun growing my own food. Sarcasm intended.
If only Hegseth had changed his title back to Secretary of Defense moments before…
then maybe, just maybe, I could have believed the strikes were defensive as well.
Hegsdeath thinks barking out his bullshit make him look tough. I’m waiting for “I CAN DO MORE PUSHUPS THAN THE SUPREME LEADER!”
The guy can’t even do a real push-up. He’s a terrified pussy with a gun.
Tomorrow is Taco Tuesday.
Doesn’t he know it’s 4-day week?
Couldn’t wait until Wednesday so we can get out inside trading set up?
Given the current news situation, oil markets and treasury yields don’t make much sense. Heck Japan market reaching all time highs. Whole thing is fishy as world runs out of oil.
Could time to buy back calls though if low oil holds.
The market sees right through this. December oil futures are trading at ~$85/bbl.
Well things are heating up, been monitoring the pizza index for past couple of hours.
https://www.pizzint.watch/
Gotta be ready for market open tomorrow, could be some good profitgasms this week. July Brent up $2 in past couple of hours.
You realize even idiot Hegseth has noted he’s aware of this “index” and randomly orders pizzas just to mess with it, right? Also, the pentagon has its own restaurants including a pizza joint, none of which are on Google maps.
Oh government food, must taste awesome and I’m sure every patriot loves government cafeteria food.
The irony is that there were strikes happening as the index went up so I’ll leave it up to readers to make their own assessment.
Also, it’s one slice (pun intended) of a comprehensive framework of market monitoring tools.
And, tonight, Netanyahu ordered the Israeli military to intensify the attacks in Lebanon
Truly, “peace in our time”
Hezbollah is trying to torpedo any peace agreement between the Iranian Regime and the US, which might result in the Iranian Regime being forced to cut off support for this terrorist proxy. So they continue to attack northern Israel, forcing Israel to strike back at them. D’oh.
Israel is torpedoing it. They can’t go a day without killing. They’re like vampires.
Interesting that Iran is now targeting US assets only and no longer targeting GCC assets
If Iran sent 8000 cheap “dummy” drones at ships every day, the USA would quickly run out of ammunition. China makes drones that have flight performance like a viable threat for less than $500 a pop. The things only have to fly about 20 miles at high speed and “look real”. They don’t have to be able to fly back. This is a losing proposition for the USA. Trump is a moron.
The US has laser cannons.
I don’t believe they have any deployed, still deep in testing
You are wrong.
Goggle says:
These lasers provide a massive cost advantage over traditional multimillion-dollar missiles. Because they only require electricity, each “shot” costs as little as \(\$5\) to execute.
How effective are they? Probably classified info.
Why haven’t those lasers stopped everything Iran shot at Israel and the GCC countries? The lasers are antisemitic!
The laser story has been circulating for years.
If they were truly a game-changer, the Ukraine front would be full of them and videos to show. The lasers are a little like the rail gun.
China is working on using microwave “masers” to fry drones. These may be potentially more of a game-changer, but until demonstrated, skepticism remains valid.
Yeah, they do. And the laser takes 2 seconds of focus to destroy each drone. So in 10 minutes, 300 drones, since there is only one laser deployed on each ship. Whoop-de-do. And then the laser overheats and has to be repaired. Great strategy. It’s as dumb as the electromagnetic aircraft lifts that can’t be repaired at sea if hit.
Former Naval Aviator here. You have no idea what you are talking about.
👆🏻 Former mercenary of the Epstein class in the Beltway and in Wall St.
Ok. How do you shoot down 8000 drones coming at you from all directions without expending resources, like fuel, ammo, or maintenance failures of equipment? I’m all ears. And don’t assume they are all clumped together, because only a moron would make a tactical assault that way.
Says yet another internet armchair general! 🤣
They’re on the other side of the planet! Defensive my ass. I guess Trump is going to see how much violence he can do to placate the Zionists without pushing Iran to light up the surrounding countries.
Well Trump has elevated from Clowncon 3 to Clowncon 2 on Memorial Day.
Readiness condition – Exercise Term : Description
Clowncon 1 – Full TACO LOCO : Massive lies imminent or have already been told
Clowncon 2 – Lost Face : TACO humiliated by invalidated claims by Iran or other enemies, launches attack
Clowncon 3 – Dumb House : Clown advisors at White House increase lies and/or stupid strategies
Clowncon 4 – Double Fake : Increased deception from American “allies” goading US into more action
Clowncon 5 – Fake Out : Lowest state of competency
I doubt that Iran can “light up” any neighboring countries. The US is just allowing them to set up what is left of their military hardware and then blowing it to smithereens.
Soon Irans oil revenue will be flowing to Israel & Trumps minions and that’s that…
Probably just in time for the elections? Who da thunk!
Irans allies are not coming to its aid in any meaningful way. It’s the price of being “in the middle”. Just like the game of Risk.
Might makes right and the victors get to write the history books.
Who Does Trump Work For?
Take another hit of that MAGA coke,it’s good for ya.