Conflict Events Archive
218,967 documented events · latest Aug 28, 2026 — chronological archive with full summaries and multi-source verification.
Thousands dead and a region in flames: Scale of Trump’s Iran disaster revealed
Thousands dead, economic chaos and a region in flames: Disaster of Trump’s war in Iran laid bare six months on The US president has been sucked into a quagmire of his own making, with both sides refusing to budge on red lines in negotiations. James C. Reynolds looks at the numbers behind a conflict that may prove to be Trump’s greatest miscalculation Barely a week after American bombs reined down across Iran, Donald Trump picked up the phone to a reporter at the New York Post. “I have a plan for everything, OK?” the president snapped, after being asked about turmoil in the energy markets. “You’ll be very happy.” At the time, Iran’s regime was reeling from the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a joint US-Israeli operation on 28 February. Oil prices surged as Tehran moved to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes each day. Six months on, Trump is caught in a quagmire of his own making. Both sides continue to trade strikes, shipping through Hormuz has slowed to a trickle and the war is no closer to a resolution. Oil prices are still 25 per cent higher than in February and the US military continues to record casualties, while Trump’s approval rating has fallen to its lowest level since he took office. Despite his claim to have destroyed Iran’s military, analysts say it is damaged but remains intact. Meanwhile, control of Hormuz has given Tehran a vital piece of leverage, with consumers across the world facing hikes in energy prices. The Independent has examined data that lays bare the astonishing cost of Trump’s war to the global economy, the wider Middle East, the US military and his own domestic popularity. Without a face-saving exit strategy, experts say, the US is at risk of “drifting towards a form of forever war” that could prove to be Trump’s greatest miscalculation. The bitter human cost of the war More than 8,000 people across the Middle East have been killed since 28 February, according to an aggregate of local tallies. While both sides have scaled back strikes in recent months, casualty figures continue to grow. According to the Iranian government, at least 3,468 Iranians had been killed by mid-April. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency put the figure at 3,636, including 1,701 civilians, in May. As of this week, the Pentagon has tallied 14 US service member deaths and 417 injuries directly linked directly to its Operation Epic Fury. A further four have been killed in overseas operations since 7 July, while 341 have been injured, for a total of 18 deaths and 758 wounded. Another 60 injuries were listed just last week. Civilians have been caught up in the conflict. The US military was accused of killing a young family with a 907kg bomb in renewed strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island at the end of July. An interim agreement to stop the fighting, signed in June, was repeatedly flouted by both sides before being scrapped entirely. An Indian sailor was killed and eight others were injured when two oil tankers were struck by cruise missiles in the strait last month. And three sailors were reported to have been killed in US strikes in June. There have been more than 150 deaths recorded across the wider region linked to the conflict. The spiralling economic cost Iran’s grip of the Strait of Hormuz has sent ripples through the global economy by halting shipping and forcing up the cost of oil. Benchmark crude prices are still around $90 per barrel, up 25 per cent from $72 on the eve of the conflict. In the US, gasoline prices have risen by around 30 per cent over the past year. Energy inflation has cost consumers $91.6bn as of 26 August, according to the Watson School of International and Public Affairs. They say the higher cost of gasoline has cost the average US household an additional $381.64 since the start of the war. The Center for American Progress estimates that, as of 20 August, the war has cost the average US household $1,200 in total. The cost has also been felt in the UK, despite efforts to stay out of the conflict. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research assessed this month that the energy shock would take 0.3 per cent of GDP off the economy this year and 0.2 per cent the next. Real GDP will be £12.8bn lower than it was forecast to be prior to the war – equivalent to the budget of the Ministry of Justice. British households are now bracing for higher bills after Ofgem raised the domestic energy price cap by four per cent this week and inflation hit 2.9 per cent. The Resolution Foundation think tank assessed in April that higher energy prices alone would leave the average British household £480 worse off this year than had the war not happened. The damning political cost ahead of the US midterms Trump’s popularity has sunk to a new low among voters as the war takes its toll. Just 33 per cent of Americans said they approved of the president’s performance in the White House so far, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that concluded on Monday. The survey found just 31 per cent of Americans support US military action against Iran, down from 37 per cent in March and driven by a fall in support from Republicans. Even some of Trump’s allies have jumped ship; the former US representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said last week the Republicans “could get smoked” in the November midterms, in part over broken trust around a promise of “no more foreign wars”. Trump will be under pressure to show progress towards resolving the crisis and bringing down energy prices in the lead-up to the midterms, in which all seats in the House of Representatives will be contested, along with a third of the Senate. Following the 18 August primaries, polling showed the Democrats with a six-point lead. Dr Lindsay Newman, associate fellow with Chatham House, told The Independent that Trump had taken lessons from the quick ousting of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro in January and misjudged a conflict with Iran. “Iran was always going to be a much bigger and more complex proposition … Operation Epic Fury represents tactical success but strategic failing,” she said. “Trump wanted a quick operation and instead got a Middle East-sized headache … The US administration finds itself six months along no closer to a conflict resolution, even after toggling between tactics. She added: “As Trump has gone searching for an offramp, the US strategy now is an economic security play to squeeze Iran. This new approach makes sense. It has been clear for months that Trump was not willing to pay the cost to end the war militarily, and there was little domestic appetite to do so.” Andreas Krieg, associate professor in security studies at King's College London, told The Independent: “Trump does have a way out, but it requires redefining victory. He needs a deal that allows him to say the United States restored freedom of navigation, forced Iran to accept restrictions on its behaviour and imposed unprecedented economic costs.” The cost to US influence in the region The war has left the Middle East in turmoil, damaging US relationships with Gulf states and degrading American diplomatic power in the region. The war was meant to remove Iran as a threat to the Middle East, but analysts say it has instead emboldened Tehran. Iranian missile and drone attacks have hit previously safe Gulf Arab states and disrupted air travel, while attacks on shipping have raised insurance and transport costs across the region. Iran is now negotiating for a deal with Oman to control passage through Hormuz, which before the war was an international waterway and free to transit. The US has meanwhile threatened its old ally Oman, all while depleting its stockpiles and reducing readiness for a potential future confrontation. Dr Krieg assessed that the biggest loss for the US is the strategic freedom of manoeuvre as it absorbs military assets, intelligence and political attention “at precisely the moment Washington wants to concentrate resources on Asia”. ”The US has won most of the battles, but it it cannot win the war,” he said. Dr Newman said: “The conflict in Iran has truly been an application of the Trump Doctrine to use all available means at any time to champion core American interests as defined by the US administration. It is an approach of heavy footsteps and pulling many levers. Six months in, the report card is very mixed.” Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesComments
How the Iran war unfolded: every attack and oil price change – visualised
On 28 February 2026, the US and Israel began large-scale strikes on Iran. Tehran responded by attacking Israeli and US allies across the Gulf. Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was killed on the first day of strikes, and the strait of Hormuz – a crucial waterway for transporting oil – was effectively closed soon after. The conflict quickly became a regional war with global economic consequences. Since then, bursts of fighting have repeatedly given way to ceasefires and negotiations. Each diplomatic opening has been followed by fresh threats, disputed agreements and renewed attacks. The strait of Hormuz remains at the centre of the conflict. In normal times, more than 100 vessels passed through the narrow waterway each day, carrying about a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil trade. Any closure or attack on shipping can disrupt global supplies and send prices higher. This timeline traces six months of strikes, public threats and failed diplomacy - and shows how the war has disrupted shipping and driven swings in the oil price. Methodology The Guardian looked at about 4,000 Truth Social posts, 7,700 IRGC Telegram messages and a selection of X posts from 28 February 2026. Some social media posts have been edited for conciseness. All times included in the piece are GMT. Oil price data is sourced from LSEG. Data on the amount of shipping traffic through the strait of Hormuz is sourced from Lloyd’s List Intelligence, and only includes traceable transits of cargo-carrying vessels over 10,000 deadweight tonnage. Dark transits included in figures after 28 Feb. Airstrikes data is sourced from Acled, and includes data on explosions or remote violence events, including air/drone strikes and shelling, artillery and missile attacks, by the Iranian, US and Israel military forces. It excludes interceptions. Image credits: - Donald Trump: EPA/Trump Vance transition team - US CENTCOM: AP - Abbas Araghchi: AP - Esmail Baqaei: Getty/Anadolu - Masoud Pezeshkian: AP - Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf: Getty/NurPhoto - Iran flag: Alamy
Six months into the Iran war: Markets become accustomed to stalemate with no end in sight
Six months into the Iran war: Markets become accustomed to stalemate with no end in sight - Six months after the U.S. and Israel launched major combat operations in Iran, the conflict has settled into a prolonged standoff with no clear end in sight. - The Trump administration has shifted toward economic pressure, including planned secondary sanctions, as it pulls back from further major military escalation. - Experts told CNBC the strategy is unlikely to force Iran to capitulate quickly, while continued attacks around the Strait of Hormuz keep escalation risks high. Friday marks six months since the U.S. and Israel launched "major combat operations" in Iran, prompting retaliatory strikes on targets across the Gulf and sparking a new war in the Middle East. What was initially expected to be a weeks-long conflict has evolved into a standoff that geopolitical analysts say has no end in sight. But the nature of the war has also shifted, with the White House turning its focus to ramping up financial pressure on Iran and its trading partners, a strategy President Donald Trump labeled "economic D-Day." But the conflict's trajectory remains deeply uncertain. Ships attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz continue to come under attack, peace talks have seemingly collapsed, and questions hang over whether the Trump administration is willing to extend its planned secondary sanctions to China — one of Iran's biggest trading partners. A White House official told CNBC that the U.S. is now "entering the endgame" of its war. The Iranian government has also been approached for comment. Markets grow accustomed to war Oil prices remain volatile amid the ongoing uncertainty. Front-month Brent crude oil futures have gained almost 20% since the war began — but the contracts are now trading around a third lower than their April peak of $126.41 a barrel. The oil market remains in backwardation, a phenomenon that occurs where futures contracts with immediate or near-term deliveries sell at a premium over later deliveries, suggesting an expectation that prices will fall over time. Equity markets have also largely shrugged off the potential ramifications of the conflict, with global stocks seeing a broad rally this year as corporate earnings optimism outweighed concerns about the war's implications for the world economy. No breakthrough in sight As the war neared the six-month milestone, Middle East experts told CNBC that while the nature of the conflict appeared to have shifted, a near-term breakthrough to bring the war to an end is unlikely. "The conflict has lapsed into a standoff, with neither side apparently ready to escalate or make concessions," said Gregory Brew, a senior analyst specializing in Iran and energy at Eurasia Group. Brew said the U.S. had backed away from escalating strikes on Iran, seemingly deterred by the risk of significant Iranian retaliation and concerns that another round of heavy fighting would further deplete munitions stockpiles. "Instead, Trump has opted for a pressure campaign, a 'wait and see' approach, hoping that economic pressure compels the Iranians to capitulate," he told CNBC in an email — but he noted that a breakthrough "doesn't look imminent." "It's unlikely to work," he said of Trump's so-called "Economic D-Day." "Iran has been very resilient in the face of U.S. economic pressure, and while it faces the worst economic crisis since the 1980s," Brew added. "Its leadership is more likely to resist and escalate than to give in to U.S. demands." Will Todman, a senior fellow with the CSIS Middle East Program, agreed that it appeared the U.S. had pivoted to a new strategy. "The 'D-Day' announcement of secondary sanctions on Iran was the clearest sign that economic warfare is now the Trump administration's preferred strategy," he said. "However, there is little evidence to suggest that an economic-centric strategy will force the Iranians to capitulate or make more substantial concessions in talks." Iran's economy squeezed Steven A. Cook, Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies, Council on Foreign Relations, said the U.S. would likely respond militarily if any American ships or personnel are attacked, but added that the Iranian leadership is prepared to endure a lot of hardship and inflict a lot of pain on its own population. "That suggests they will not give up or compromise so quickly," he said. "There is no telling how long this will go on. The president thought the war would last four to six weeks. He never expected them to resist effectively. The Iranians have now discovered the power of their geography and seem unwilling to give up on controlling/administering the Strait of Hormuz." Dennis Ross, a former U.S. diplomat who served as the special Middle East coordinator under President Bill Clinton, told CNBC it seems clear for now that Trump does not want to resume all-out military operations. "His new approach is to tighten the economic noose around the Iranians," he said. However, Ross noted that over the years, the Iranian regime has "become good at workarounds and evasion of sanctions." "But the combination of the blockade and what may be tighter enforcement of sanctions will put more pressure on an Iranian economy already in free fall," he said in an email. "That said, this Iranian leadership does not mind imposing hardship on its public and thinks it can outlast the president." If the new approach is successful in squeezing the Iranian economy significantly more, he added, there was a good chance Tehran would escalate militarily or target its neighbors' ability to export. Trump told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that he was prepared to continue the Iran war for as long as necessary. But experts said a lack of clarity on Washington's objectives made it difficult to quantify what would actually constitute mission accomplished for the White House. Measuring success in the Iran war "The Trump administration has still not defined what victory for the United States would look like, although it has articulated wide-reaching goals," CSIS's Todman said. "These range from ending Iran's nuclear program to opening the Strait of Hormuz to regime change. It is therefore impossible to determine if the U.S. can win or not." He added that it was very unlikely Iran would make the concessions the president wants to see. "They feel emboldened by their ability to withstand six months of war with the United States and Israel, despite having far inferior military capabilities." Michael O'Hanlon, director of research in the Brookings Institution's Foreign Policy program, said Trump had "blundered in getting into a war with unrealistic expectations of what it would entail or how long it would last," and had settled on "the least bad option." "Whether we win or lose in a zero-sum sense against Iran, we should worry about three central things and keep our eye on the ball: reducing, limiting [or] ending the violence, reopening Hormuz, and putting a long-term lid on Iran's nuclear program," O'Hanlon, who specializes in U.S. defense strategy, the use of military force, and American national security policy, added. "If that happens, our core strategic objectives will be realized — whether we have bragging rights to have 'won' the war or not."
Trump used to say he saw a quick end to his Iran war. Six months later, he claims he's in no hurry
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump arrives at an awkward moment for his presidency on Friday as the U.S.-Israel war against Iran reaches the six-month mark, a notable milestone for a conflict that the Republican leader repeatedly assured Americans would be a “little excursion” lasting a matter of weeks. The war isn't over, though Trump claims that through bombs and blockade, he has already devastated Iran’s leadership, military and economy. And this week his administration said it would turn its focus to increasing economic pressure — rather than military action — to try to finish off Iran. The shifting strategy centers on threats to punish any country or entity that continues to conduct business with Tehran. The turn to using sanctions as the cudgel of choice comes as the administration weighs diminished munitions stockpiles after months of war, sparking concerns that the prolonged conflict could undermine U.S. military readiness in other parts of the globe. As the conflict grinds on, Trump's talk of finding a quick end to the war also appears to be fading. He stressed this week that he's “not in a hurry” to get Iran back to the negotiating table, and he continues making the case that the Islamic Republic's leadership is on the ropes. “They’re not paying their troops. They’re in deep trouble. They have very little capacity,” Trump told reporters Thursday. “We don’t want to speak to them. We’re not looking to meet or anything,” he said. It's unclear how — or if — Trump will address the six-month anniversary of a conflict that has already cost the United States more than $37.5 billion and done damage to his popularity ahead of critical November elections for his party. The president is spending Friday in Houston, where he'll honor the Artemis II NASA crew for their 10-day mission around the moon earlier this year. Trump is declaring ‘mission accomplished' — a phrase that hurt a Republican predecessor On its face, the moment is complicated for the “America First” leader who fiercely criticized his White House predecessors for wasting American taxpayer money and U.S. troops' lives in Middle East conflicts and vowed on the campaign trail to keep the military out of “endless wars.” But Trump has bristled at suggestions that this war — in which no American troops have deployed into Iran — can be compared to the yearslong wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in which more than 7,000 Americans were killed. His Republican predecessor, President George W. Bush, was widely mocked for a 2003 speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln beneath a White House-produced banner that read “Mission Accomplished.” It came to symbolize a premature declaration of victory for the Iraq War, which would go on for nearly nine more years. More than two decades later, there are still U.S. troops stationed in Iraq. Trump’s war has stretched on far longer than he told Americans it would. It didn't stop him from sharing a social media post this week declaring “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED 2026.” The AI-generated image features Trump against a backdrop of U.S. fighter jets, a warship and American flags above smaller images of Bush and former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli strike in the opening salvos of the war. Trump has consistently emphasized that the U.S. and Israel campaign has been devastating for Iran's navy and air force. Iranian officials have said the country has suffered $270 billion in direct and indirect damage. Israeli military strikes in the first weeks of the war wiped out much of the theocratic government's leadership structure, including Khamenei. But Iran has found leverage through its own strikes in the critical Strait of Hormuz, where relatively few vessels carrying oil and liquefied natural gas are risking passage. Trump again declared Thursday that the “Strait of Hormuz is open,” saying 24 vessels passed through a day earlier. That's a fraction of the roughly 130 vessels that passed through the vital waterway daily before the war began. Trump is showing little interest in talks Mediators Qatar and Pakistan continue to press for a diplomatic off-ramp from the two sides. Qatar's prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, was in Tehran on Thursday to discuss a proposed plan between Iran and Oman to boost traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. But in Washington, Trump has shown little interest in getting back to the preliminary deal reached in June that aimed to reopen the strait and launch talks about Iran’s nuclear program. That deal fell apart within weeks after Iran started attacking ships. At the same time, Trump says the U.S. effort to economically choke off Tehran is working, with a U.S. naval blockade preventing Iranian oil from making it to market as the trickle of vessels carrying oil from other Gulf nations pass through. “We have control and we have the blockade,” Trump said. "Iran is not getting anything. Nothing is going through.” Iran is badly battered, but has a history of showing resilience There's no doubt that the strikes combined with decades of international sanctions have battered Iran, said Aarathi Krishnan, a geopolitical risk analyst at RAKSHA Intelligence Future. But as Trump tries to turn to a new chapter in the war, Krishnan argues the Republican may be misguided in concluding that more pressure on Tehran — which has spent decades adapting to international economic sanctions — will produce the political outcome he wants. Indeed, Iran’s economy in the run-up to the start of the war was mired in surging inflation, according to the International Monetary Fund. National income per person had fallen from about $8,000 in 2012 to $5,000 in 2024, according to World Bank data. But Tehran has also shown resilience, selling discounted oil and establishing opaque shipping and financial networks, Krishnan said. “This administration has completely underestimated the Iranian resolve,” Krishnan said. “This is not new to the Iranian regime.” Trump must decide how far he's willing to go with sanctions Richard Goldberg, who served as a senior adviser on Iran at the National Security Council during Trump's first White House term, argues that Iran now finds itself in “uncharted waters” if the administration follows through with a truly biting campaign to pressure Iranian trade partners. “What we should be seeing is an attempt to seal off every escape hatch the regime has left,” said Goldberg, who is now at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a hawkish Washington think tank. “Use the economic power of the United States to layer a naval blockade with an air and land embargo while dropping the hammer on anyone who gives the regime access to hard currency — whether that’s in the Middle East, China or even Europe.” But it remains to be seen how far the administration is willing to go. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this week unveiled a campaign the White House calls “Operation Economic Outcast,” but only issued warnings to nations to cut trade and has yet to announce any secondary sanctions. Bessent told reporters the administration wanted countries to have a chance to shift away from Iran before it was too late — and acknowledged there was economic risk to the U.S., too, in moving ahead. China, which is Iran's biggest trade partner and oil buyer, responded by expressing its opposition to “illegal unilateral sanctions.” Pressed Thursday about why he wasn't already sanctioning Chinese banks, Trump offered a cryptic response. “Who said I’m not? You don’t know if I’m doing it,” Trump said. "I don’t have to announce everything, do I?”
China gains by standing aside in the Iran War - East Asia Forum
Jul 1, 2026 ... In April 2026, China joined Russia in vetoing Bahrain's draft resolution in the UN Security Council, which condemned Iranian attacks and ...
Strait of Hormuz shipping blockade update - Al-Monitor
Here are the latest key facts about impacts from the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping route virtually paralysed by the Middle East war.Around a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) passes through the waterway in peacetime.The war erupted on February 28 when the United States and Israel began bombing Iran, prompting Tehran to retaliate with strikes ...
Hormuz Under Pressure: Iran To Set Reopening Conditions As Trump Claims 24 Ships Passed
- Iran demands US lift blockade, pay compensation, and end regional war to reopen Strait of Hormuz - Iran and Oman are finalizing a shipping corridor arrangement through the Strait of Hormuz - US President Trump claims the strait is open with millions of barrels of oil passing daily Iran has laid out its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, top security official Mohsen Rezaei said on Wednesday, even as US President Donald Trump claimed on Thursday that oil shipments continue to flow through the strategic waterway despite ongoing tensions between Washington and Tehran. Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said Tehran was preparing a list of conditions after mediators asked it to set them out, adding that ending the regional war was among the demands. He made the remarks in an interview with Al Manar TV, the Hezbollah-affiliated broadcaster, according to Reuters. Iran had agreed with Oman on a shipping corridor through the strait, with parts of the route passing through Omani waters and parts through Iranian waters, Rezaei said, adding that ships would use a designated central channel if Washington met Tehran's conditions. A senior told the agency that Iran and Oman were still finalising details of the arrangement, after Iran's Revolutionary Guards said the two countries had agreed on sharing control of the strait and its revenues. Moreover, an IRGC spokesperson reportedly said Iran would not allow the strait to reopen unless the US lifted what Tehran calls a blockade of Iranian ports, paid compensation, and removed sanctions. Meanwhile, Trump, speaking at the White House, disputed any disruption. "The Strait of Hormuz is open. We have control, and we have the blockade," he said, adding, "millions and millions of barrels of oil are coming out of the strait every day." ALSO READ: Pakistan Exempted? Islamabad Says Not Bound By US' Economic D-Day Sanctions On Iran ???????????????? Trump on whether he's spoken to other leaders about cutting ties with Iran:— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) August 27, 2026 “We don't want to speak to them. We're not looking to meet or anything. The Strait is open. We're taking a lot of boats. Millions and millions of barrels of oil are coming out of the Strait every… https://t.co/RIvs5fs7iw He said US forces had cleared the waterway of mines, claiming, "we've totally cleared the strait of mines," and asserted that American forces detect and neutralise any vessel attempting to lay new ones. ALSO READ: Hormuz Tensions: Another Tanker Hit By 'Unknown Projectile' In Strait, Catches Fire Trump also said the US had escorted vessels through overnight, stating, "last night, we took 24 boats through the strait." He maintained that Iran remained unable to move goods through the waterway under the US blockade, saying, "not one ship has gotten" through. Before the war began in February, the strait carried roughly one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, though traffic has largely stopped since. Ceasefire agreements announced by Washington and Tehran in April and June were intended to restore maritime activity but did not hold. Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
Oil Prices On August 28: Brent Crude Slips Below $88 As Hormuz Uncertainty, Russia Risks Weigh
Oil prices slipped on Friday as traders balanced fresh uncertainty over the Strait of Hormuz against escalating risks to Russian energy infrastructure. WTI crude was down 0.29% at $83.29 a barrel, while Brent crude fell 0.19% to $88.35 in early trade on August 28. Brent had rebounded in the previous session, but the broader weekly trend remained weaker as markets assessed whether diplomatic efforts involving Iran could eventually improve crude flows through the key Middle East chokepoint. Iranian officials have indicated that Tehran is preparing conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz after mediators asked it to outline its demands. Iran's Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei said Iran had agreed with Oman on a shipping corridor through the strait, but linked reopening to conditions including an end to the regional conflict. A Guards spokesperson separately said the strait would not reopen unless Washington lifted what Tehran calls a blockade of Iranian ports, paid compensation and removed sanctions. At the same time, the Russia-Ukraine conflict is creating fresh concerns over global refined fuel supplies. Reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin said talks with Ukraine had produced no results and that Moscow was preparing to intensify the war have shifted some market attention towards Eastern Europe. Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries and ports are disrupting energy infrastructure, potentially limiting Russia's ability to export crude and refined products. The disruption comes as diesel markets are already showing signs of tightness. Separately, Venezuela is examining a potential exit from OPEC, according to people familiar with the matter. While its diminished production means an immediate supply impact would likely be limited, a withdrawal could raise fresh questions over OPEC's cohesion and its ability to influence global crude prices. ALSO READ: Stock Market Today: All You Need To Know Going Into Trade On August 28 Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
US informs Israel of plans to intensify attacks on Iran in coming days
18 hours ago ... The United States has informed Israel that it plans to intensify its military campaign against Iran over the coming days, the Israeli public ...
How Deal With U.S. Could Reconnect Iran to the Global Economy
Jun 20, 2026 ... The Trump administration agreed to allow Iran to start exporting oil, a crucial source of revenue. That means the country will no longer have to ...
Iran, Qatar hold Hormuz talks as US blockade goes on
Iran's top diplomat met his Qatari counterpart on Thursday in Tehran for talks on the strategic Strait of Hormuz, as a US naval blockade squeezes oil supplies to Iran amid a domestic shortfall. The visit by Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani follows a week of intense diplomacy in Iran involving separate meetings with Oman's top diplomat and senior Pakistani officials seeking ways to end the Middle East war and reopen Hormuz. It also comes as Washington threatens wider secondary sanctions against countries, banks and companies that continue doing business with Iran, part of a broader campaign it has called "economic asphyxiation." Iranian state television said Al Thani, who is also Qatar's prime minister, had met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, without providing details. In a statement after the talks, Al Thani said they focused on efforts to de-escalate tensions and boost security in the region. "Qatar believes that dialogue and diplomacy remain the best way to overcome crises," he wrote on X. Qatar's foreign ministry said they discussed the proposed framework for Hormuz between Iran and Oman. "Talks stressed the importance of respecting freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz in accordance with international law," Al Thani added. Alongside mediator Pakistan, Qatar had played a key role in securing an April ceasefire and June deal between Iran and the United States, but those deals have since collapsed. Since war with the United States broke out on February 28, Iran has maintained tight control over Hormuz, a vital global energy conduit, with Washington imposing a naval counter-blockade on Iranian ports. On Wednesday, Iran's Vice President Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah said the blockade had prevented his country from importing enough petrol to cover a shortfall in domestic production. "Petrol production is insufficient, and because of the US naval blockade, we cannot import it," he was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying. In recent days, many Iranians have been seen queueing outside petrol stations. Presidential chief of staff Mohsen Haji-Mirzaei said petrol quotas would be reviewed, without elaborating. Iran, a major oil producer with some of the world's cheapest fuel, has for years heavily subsidised petrol, making changes to pricing politically sensitive. As the US seeks to strangle Iran's economy, Iranian officials have dismissed the measures as "failed policies" that will not force Tehran to change course. "The country is in an all-out economic war," said Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in a statement carried by local media. "We will see that the government... will defeat the enemy on this ground as well," he added. Even before the war, Iran's economy was battered by decades of international sanctions, and has long suffered from chronic inflation and a weakening currency. Iran has for weeks been in talks with Oman, which also overlooks the Hormuz strait, over a framework agreement that would establish a "temporary corridor" for shipping and provide for clearing mines Tehran says were laid during the war. Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Wednesday said the two countries had agreed on each country's share of the waters and any revenues collected from managing the waterway. Tehran has nonetheless insisted that the strait will not be reopened unless Washington meets its demands, including lifting its naval blockade, unfreezing Iranian assets abroad and removing oil sanctions. Since the war broke out, Iranian forces have required vessels to obtain permission to transit the waterway and struck ships that failed to comply. Tehran has also sought to impose service fees on ships using the strait – a move strongly opposed by Washington and regional countries. On Thursday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said an "unknown projectile" had struck a tanker in Hormuz this week, causing a fire that was later extinguished. (AFP) Edited by Robert Kemp
Expert: Ukraine conflict experience requires reassessment
News of the story "On Point" MINSK, 27 August (BelTA) – The experience of the Ukraine conflict cannot be incorporated into combat regulations, Andrei Bogodel, Candidate of Military Sciences, said in a recent episode of BelTA’s V Teme [On Point] project. “We talk about the experience of the special military operation, the experience of Iran, the experience of other wars. But look at this: neither the Russian Federation, nor the Republic of Belarus, nor Lithuania, Poland or other countries, including the United States of America, have rewritten their combat and field manuals to reflect these armed conflicts,” the military expert noted. Andrei Bogodel referred to recent reports that the United States is winding down and disbanding an experimental drone strike battalion in Europe established within the 173rd Airborne Brigade. In other words, the United States has concluded that the Ukrainian experience does not suit it. “These conclusions were made immediately after an exercise with the Ukrainians, where we were all told that some Ukrainian drone-equipped unit had completely decimated the U.S. forces. But the Americans are not fools; they understand and realize everything perfectly well. They said that a drone is primarily about artificial intelligence. A drone is only a tool for a soldier, just like a rifle or a grenade. And under no circumstances should we lose the soldier who is capable of operating as a soldier in these complex conditions. Therefore, anyone who applies this experience and takes it as the basis will most likely suffer a crushing defeat in the next war. That is why there has been no wholesale rewriting of combat manuals,” the expert explained. He agreed that control of the low-altitude airspace is becoming one of the key tasks for military units, while infrastructure warfare is also introducing new factors. “The issues of gaining air superiority, achieving fire superiority and using large formations, these are the new elements into which everything needs to be integrated, and we need to take a real look at the role and place of artillery, the role and place of aviation, and the role and place of large tank formations that will drive wedges into the enemy's defenses. That is what we really need to reconsider today. After all, no country, neither European countries nor the Americans, has abandoned tank production,” Andrei Bogodel stressed. He is convinced that artillery, despite the active use of unmanned aerial systems, remains the “god of war.” Moreover, an artillery shell has considerably greater destructive power than an explosive-laden drone. “People talk about 10, 20, 30, 50 or 100 drones per kilometer of the front. But everyone seems to have forgotten that at one point there was such a figure as 100-150 guns per kilometer of the front. Now imagine what artillery can do when it can deliver repeated strikes on the same area, essentially turning everything in front of you into a lunar landscape. Then add aviation dropping FABs and other bombs, and whoever survives will have no idea where they are or what is happening,” the expert said. “We talk about the experience of the special military operation, the experience of Iran, the experience of other wars. But look at this: neither the Russian Federation, nor the Republic of Belarus, nor Lithuania, Poland or other countries, including the United States of America, have rewritten their combat and field manuals to reflect these armed conflicts,” the military expert noted. Andrei Bogodel referred to recent reports that the United States is winding down and disbanding an experimental drone strike battalion in Europe established within the 173rd Airborne Brigade. In other words, the United States has concluded that the Ukrainian experience does not suit it. “These conclusions were made immediately after an exercise with the Ukrainians, where we were all told that some Ukrainian drone-equipped unit had completely decimated the U.S. forces. But the Americans are not fools; they understand and realize everything perfectly well. They said that a drone is primarily about artificial intelligence. A drone is only a tool for a soldier, just like a rifle or a grenade. And under no circumstances should we lose the soldier who is capable of operating as a soldier in these complex conditions. Therefore, anyone who applies this experience and takes it as the basis will most likely suffer a crushing defeat in the next war. That is why there has been no wholesale rewriting of combat manuals,” the expert explained. He agreed that control of the low-altitude airspace is becoming one of the key tasks for military units, while infrastructure warfare is also introducing new factors. “The issues of gaining air superiority, achieving fire superiority and using large formations, these are the new elements into which everything needs to be integrated, and we need to take a real look at the role and place of artillery, the role and place of aviation, and the role and place of large tank formations that will drive wedges into the enemy's defenses. That is what we really need to reconsider today. After all, no country, neither European countries nor the Americans, has abandoned tank production,” Andrei Bogodel stressed. He is convinced that artillery, despite the active use of unmanned aerial systems, remains the “god of war.” Moreover, an artillery shell has considerably greater destructive power than an explosive-laden drone. “People talk about 10, 20, 30, 50 or 100 drones per kilometer of the front. But everyone seems to have forgotten that at one point there was such a figure as 100-150 guns per kilometer of the front. Now imagine what artillery can do when it can deliver repeated strikes on the same area, essentially turning everything in front of you into a lunar landscape. Then add aviation dropping FABs and other bombs, and whoever survives will have no idea where they are or what is happening,” the expert said.
Quinn: They Know What's Coming, Because They Planned It...
Quinn: They Know What's Coming, Because They Planned It... Authored by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog, “There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency involved.” – Ludwig von Mises “The financial history of the last century shows a steady increase in the amount of public indebtedness. Nobody believes that the states will eternally drag the burden of these interest payments. It is obvious that sooner or later all these debts will be liquidated in some way or other, but certainly not by payment of interest and principal according to the terms of the contract.” – Ludwig von Mises Anyone living in the real world of commuting to a job, buying groceries, paying rent, filling up their gas tank, paying utility bills, paying property taxes, and generally trying to live an honest hard working life with a couple weeks of vacation per year, knows they are being fed a load of bullshit by the Trumps, Bessents and Warshs of the world. They are spinning false narratives, faking the economic statistics, lying to you about how dire our economic situation is, and above all, spending and printing fiat at hypersonic speed in a desperate attempt to give the appearance of normalcy, when in reality we are living through the most abnormal, corrupt, degenerate, dangerous period in history. This normalcy bias is employed by the vast majority of dumbed down, I-gadget addicted, debt enslaved, mRNA jabbed, zombie-like consumers, as they shuffle through their daily existence believing the propaganda shoveled at them 24/7 on the boob tube and their social media accounts, by billionaire oligarchs, corrupt politicians, captured media talking heads, and the invisible government pulling the strings to manipulate their thoughts, decisions, and false beliefs. As a born cynical skeptic, I no longer believe anyone or anything. I’m real fun at parties. As our national debt surpassed $40 trillion last week and has been accelerating at a rate of $13.4 billion per day (annualized rate of $4.9 trillion) since July 1, the only analogy I can make is the final scene of Thelma & Louise when they purposely drive off a cliff into the Grand Canyon, rather than face the consequences of their actions. But, in my daily existence, the people at the gym, drugstore, and grocery store seem happily oblivious to the extreme danger we currently face as citizens of a dying empire, intent on going out with a bang. We are accelerating towards an economic meltdown, inflationary financial collapse, and possibly global war, and no one seems to care or acknowledge reality. It’s almost as if the 270 million sheep, who allowed themselves to be injected with a Big Pharma toxic gene altering poison, with little critical thinking skills to begin with, have been rendered deaf, dumb and blind to the machinations of their overlords as we spiral towards collapse. It seems only 5% to 10% of the population have the proper critical thinking skills, distrust of the government, ability to do math, comprehension to understand history, and courage to tell the truth and act rationally, in an irrational, perverted, debased world, built on debt, delusions, and denial. It makes me sick to my stomach observing the cowardice, corruption, and degradation of the pedophile elites who wield the power in our society, leading the sheep to slaughter and the world towards catastrophic ruin. The government continues to propagandize the masses with their massaged, manipulated and made up statistics showing a steadily growing economy, relatively low inflation, and historically low unemployment. Trump and his lying minions consistently point to the stock market at all-time highs as proof everything is great. It is great for Trump’s family of insider trading grifters, his billionaire banking buddies, the congressional scum sucking snakes becoming multi-millionaires on a $175,000 salary, and all the toadies in the media pretending this everything bubble isn’t due to printing $3 trillion per year as the only crutch for this Potemkin village of debt, created by our Deep State overlords and their highly paid apparatchiks. Even though the propaganda outlets: CNBC, CNN, Fox, MSNBC, among others, are compensated gloriously by Big Pharma, Big Banks, the Military Industrial Complex, and Big Corps, to lie, obfuscate and mislead the masses, one only needs the most basic of math skills and understanding to see what is really happening in this country. Is it a sign of a strong vibrant economy when credit card delinquencies are at a 15 year high, student loan delinquencies are at a 6 year high, and auto loan delinquencies are at an all-time high? And this is before the real pain of a recession takes hold. This chart reveals immense pressure on average Americans who don’t have the benefit of insider trading tips from Trump. Hysterically, mouthpiece for the Wall Street cabal, Bloomberg declares the all-time low in the savings rate is because the masses are making a killing in the stock market, so they no longer need to save. In reality, the average American household, making $83,000 per year, is only saving 2.7% per year because their government is spending over $7 trillion per year, while the Federal Reserve is printing trillions and conducting stealth QE, creating a massive inflationary headwind.The cumulative inflation over the last 10 years, even using the massively massaged CPI, is 39%. In reality, it is up well over 60%. Average worker pay has risen by only 45%. Only in a warped, debt saturated, consuming society would this be seen as normal. In a normal, healthy economy which produces more than it consumes, the savings rate would be 10%, like it was from the 1950s into the 1990s. People are not saving because there is nothing left to save. When credit card debt sits near an all-time high of $1.26 trillion and the average person has a $6,600 revolving balance accruing at 22% interest, the savings rate makes sense. The average American is deeply in debt and barely surviving. Among the vast plethora of phony government statistics, the unemployment rate is one of the most manipulated fake data points in history. It has no relation to the real 25% unemployment during the Great Depression. The current reported unemployment rate of 4.1% is a bad joke, completely falsified through the manipulation of the labor force figure by government drones at the BLS. Only a triple jabbed, BLM supporting, Fauci fan believes the labor participation rate is currently at the same level as it was in 1974, before the overlords initiated the destruction of traditional families by forcing women into the workforce in mass through inflation, feminist falsehoods, and non-stop propaganda about girl power. They have purposely under-reported the actual civilian labor force to drive down the unemployment rate. The labor participation rate is far above the reported 61.4%. At the turn of the century the labor participation rate was 67.5%. It drifted slowly down to 66% before the Federal Reserve/Wall Street cabal created great financial crisis. This is where faking it until making it went into high gear. The Boomer retirement false narrative was used as the participation rate plunged to 62.5%, far greater than the Boomer retirement pace. Millions simultaneously became disabled and began collecting Social Security. The labor participation rate actually increased to 63.3% just before the Covid scamdemic was rolled out in early 2020. If you analyze the actual numbers, the ridiculousness of their manipulation model reveals the falseness of their numbers to mislead the masses about the strength of our economy. In January 2000, the working age population was 209 million, with 141 million in the work force. Today, the working age population is 275 million, with only 169 million supposedly in the work force. The population is up 66 million (+32%), while the workforce increased by a minuscule 18 million (+20%). There are now 106 million working age Americans supposedly willingly not working. This is untrue. Millions would be working if there were decent paying jobs to be had. There are 1 million less people employed today than one year ago, but amazingly the BLS drones want you to believe the unemployment rate dropped from 4.3% to 4.1%. Meanwhile, 2.8 million people must have made millions on AI stocks, laying bets on Draft Kings, or getting insider tips from the White House. They did not leave the labor force. They are unemployed. The BLS fantasy statisticians actually pretend you are not in the labor force if you give up looking due to not being able to land a job. We are to believe that with 275 million able bodied adults, 162 million are employed, with 28 million working part-time, 9 million working multiple jobs, 16 million “self-employed” and 22 million pretending to work in government offices and funded by taxpayers. The labor participation rate, at a minimum, should be 63%, with a more realistic level of 65%. This would put the actual unemployment rate at between 6.7% and 9.9%. Anyone who isn’t brain fogged from the jab knows the unemployment rate is closer to 10% than 4%. Does default rates near highs and the savings rate at lows jive with a 10% unemployment rate or a 4% unemployment rate? The Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity created a realistic measure of true unemployment which includes not only people who are unemployed and looking for a job, but also those who are involuntarily working part-time and who are earning poverty-level wages, or less than $26,000 annually before taxes. This “functional unemployment rate” is currently 24.9%, which jives nicely with the Great Depression level of 25%. The 4% unemployment rate is as believable as the 3.4% CPI reported by the BLS drones, when everyone knows inflation is raging at 8% to 10%. Proof of the government faking these numbers is so blatant when they try to convince you health insurance costs have dropped by 33% in the last four years. Meanwhile, the median 2026 premium increase across all “Affordable” Care Act health insurance plans was 20%, and insurance companies have requested a median premium increase of 14% for 2027. The world is cyclical in nature and human beings have a tendency to make the same mistakes over and over. Warsh and his central banker co-conspirators can talk tough about inflation, but it has been above their 2% target for the last 65 months, and they are doing the opposite of what would be needed to drive inflation to the 2% level. In fact, with the fiscal mismanagement of the country’s finances, waging wars across the globe, and nothing but $2 trillion to $3 trillion annual deficits for eternity, the bond market is ignoring the lies of Warsh and Bessent and dictating the path of long-term interest rates. It is very likely we will experience a replay of the late 1970s and early 1980s, except our debt is $40 trillion today versus $900 billion in 1980. Warsh is no Volker, and doesn’t have the balls to do what would be required. The facade is crumbling and the bond market is going to hold the profligate politicians and the Wall Street owned central bankers accountable for what they have done. Their job has been to enrich the oligarchs and impoverish the peasants, and they accomplished their mission, pushing the country into an abyss with no hope of recovery. The 30 year Treasury just reached the 2007 peak at 5.27%, but in 2007 rates were headed lower and the national debt was less than $9 trillion. Today, rates are headed higher and the debt is $40 trillion and headed much higher. It’s a recipe for disaster. The falsehoods and fabrications are running hot and heavy as we accelerate on the road to perdition towards a catastrophic denouement. Trump, Bessent, the Wall Street cabal, and their mouthpiece media (Axios, Fox, CNBC, etc.) are desperate to make you believe the Strait of Hormuz is open, oil is flowing freely, the impact on prices is minimal, and Iran is on the brink of collapse. Grand announcements about more sanctions, after we have had non-stop sanctions for 47 years against Iran, is comical. Bessent, the sodomite, thinks his bloviating bullshit and threats can move the markets in the direction he chooses. Look at the results, so far. Barak Ravid, the CIA/Mossad Israeli plant at Axios, and Trump’s chief propaganda mouthpiece, dutifully reported the lies about 40 tankers exiting the Strait of Hormuz Friday night, with his source as unnamed “U.S. Officials”. This was then followed up with fake headlines declaring a 400% increase in traffic through the Strait, designed to drive the price of oil lower. All lies. Neutral sources, using satellite imagery, show very little traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Does this look like “traffic exploding by 400%”. They keep talking and the oil tanks keep emptying. When the reality overwhelms the false narratives, the price of oil will explode. It seems both Biden and Trump do not understand the definition of STRATEGIC. They have both drained the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve totaling 327 million barrels during their terms for the sole reason of winning elections by artificially lowering the price of oil. The reserve is now at the same level as it was in 1982, when U.S. oil consumption was 15.3 million barrels per day, versus 20.6 million barrels per day now. Even worse, Trump isn’t using the reserve in the U.S. He is selling it to foreign countries. That doesn’t sound too strategic to me, but this is the same guy who is going to import toxic Argentinian beef to undercut U.S. ranchers in order to win the 2026 mid-term elections. The SPR, stored in salt caves, is reaching levels where it can’t be effectively pumped. We have just over a month before the true bottom. As Bessent ramps up his lying campaign to keep bond yields from reflecting the reality of our current and future economic quagmire, Kevin Warsh, the self proclaimed inflation fighting hawk, continues to flap his gums, while actually contributing to the inflationary fiasco. If a Federal Reserve chairman really wanted to squash inflation he would be raising short-term rates, reducing the Fed’s balance sheet, and using his influence with Wall Street banks to make it more difficult to lend money to consumers and the AI bubble corporations. Warsh is trapped because if he does what he should do, the AI/Data Center financing circle jerk will implode and crash the stock market, making his Wall Street owners and Trump very angry. So instead he is actually exercising QE by expanding his balance sheet by $224 billion, while not raising short-term rates, and funding the $3 trillion deficit, the Iran/Ukraine war, and the AI bubble. Fed chairmen will always choose printing to pulling away the punch-bowl while the party is roaring. The rich get richer and the middle class is buried under a tsunami of relentless never ending inflation. Kurt Altrichter explains just how easy the Fed and their owners are acting when it comes to credit, as we enter the crash zone. Everyone is going to keep dancing until the music stops, just as they were doing in 2007. “Bloomberg’s index of how easy it is to raise money across stocks, credit, and rates just closed at the easiest level in its 35-year history, looser than 2021 and looser than the dot-com peak. This is the liquidity holding stocks, gold, and credit near records all at once. Conditions this loose have never lasted. When they tighten, the most leveraged trades, AI and credit, unwind first.” The easiest financial conditions in history always leads to bubbles. We are in the midst of so many bubbles simultaneously, it is just a matter of time before the needle comes along and pops them quicker than an athlete collapsing from myocarditis after a Pfizer death jab. The stock market is now more overvalued than it was at the 1929 top and the 2000 dot-com top. Jim Cramer and his fellow boobs and bimbos on CNBC will never warn their non-thinking day trader audience about the imminent collapse of this debt driven bubble. There is a reason Berkshire Hathaway was sitting on $400 billion of cash in the first quarter. The market is 50% more overvalued than it was in 2008 before the last Fed induced financial crash. Winter is coming. One year ago there was very little talk of data centers or AI, as the climate change and DEI narratives were still being regurgitated by the legacy media and the woke social media arms of our beloved overlord Epstein class. Suddenly, in 2026 the “need” for thousands of ginormous power sucking, aquafer draining surveillance centers (aka data centers) was essential to the future of our country, even though we seem to be functioning fine without these nature destroying monstrosities. One moment Bill Gates and his ilk are telling us cow farts are destroying the planet, the next moment these surveillance centers using more electricity and water than exists in some states are perfectly fine and essential. And the dumbed down masses don’t even question the demands of these globalist billionaire totalitarians who have already killed millions with their covid jab genocide. These data centers do not benefit the average person in any way. The narratives are false. The electricity to power them doesn’t exist. The water to cool them does not exist. The entire AI scam bubble is exactly like the internet dot-com bubble. The bloated defense budget of nearly $1 trillion is about to be surpassed by the capital spending (all financed with debt) of just four companies: Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta. It’s a race to win the AI war. But it will result in another financial debacle, with the Magnificent 7 and those financing this bubble begging for a bailout. And they will be bailed out at your expense. With Nvidia, OpenAI, Anthropic, Palantir, Flock, among many others loaning each other money to buy each other’s products and recording it as revenue, you should be getting an Enron/Worldcom vibe. The IPOs are coming hot and heavy, enriching the hucksters at the top, but once the financing fraud unravels, the stocks will collapse, bankruptcies will follow, and billions of square feet of rotting data center skeletons will be left in communities across the land. It’s always a good idea to see what the corporate executives of the biggest corporations are doing, versus the narratives they are spinning on CNBC. With corporate profits at all-time highs and the stock market marching relentlessly higher, for some reason the corporate executives who know the truth about their companies sold $77 billion of their stock, a 20 year high (excluding covid). That is surely a sign of good times ahead. Right? Previous peaks in insider selling proceeded market tops and the crashes that followed. It’s good to be the kings. These corporate insiders didn’t get into the top 1% by being dumb. The top 1% wealthiest households surpassed the wealth of the entire middle class in 2023 and have continued their acceleration upward, as they own most of the stocks and real estate in the U.S., which has appreciated rapidly since 2023. It’s funny how the middle class started losing the battle after the great financial crisis and their free-fall has not abated. When the Fed, Wall Street, Epstein class and the DC swamp all conspire against the middle class to enrich themselves through monetary and fiscal corruption, the ground work for revolution has been laid. Once this debt saturated shitshow implodes and the middle class is left holding the bag again, fireworks should commence. You know you’ve crossed the Rubicon economically when interest on the national debt has surpassed our humongous war budget, and you need to issue more debt to pay the interest. With annual interest already exceeding $1.24 trillion and headed towards $1.4 trillion next year, you can understand Bessent’s spasmodic gyrations in keeping rates from exploding higher, as they should. If the 10 year Treasury was 6% and 30 year Treasury was 8%, where they would be in a free non-manipulated market, interest on the debt would be closer to $2 trillion per year and it would be game over for this declining empire of debt. I’ve painted a dark picture, but it is a true picture based on unequivocal facts, not some nonsense narrative spun by liars, thieves, and pedophiles. When you see the Chinese central bank add 60 tons of gold in the 1st six months of the year, bringing their three year accumulation to 14 million troy ounces, along with central banks across the globe increasing their gold holdings, you can discern there is trouble brewing and countries are positioning themselves to survive whatever conflagration the American empire ignites during its ongoing death throes. Bessent’s economic warfare against China, Russia, and dozens of other countries across the globe will only add gasoline to the fire consuming this crumbling empire. When you step back and observe the insanity consuming our world, you have to ask yourself whether this is really due to mind numbing stupidity and incompetence on the part of our leaders or due to a master plan by the new world order satanist pedophiles to purposely destroy western civilization and its financial underpinnings, which had allowed a vast proportion of the planet to rise out of poverty into the middle class. I do believe the globalist oligarchs are evil, arrogant, narcissistic, and diabolically power hungry, but I don’t believe they stupid and incompetent. Therefore, I must conclude every seemingly preposterous act by our hand picked puppet politicians, their bureaucrat apparatchiks (Cabinet, FBI, CIA, DOD, DOJ), Wall Street financiers, central bankers, activist judges, and global organizations like the WHO, WEF, NATO, UN, and thousands of NGOs controlled by billionaires and surveillance state organizations, are part of the plan to depopulate the planet, impoverish the survivors, create a totalitarian electronic surveillance state, and control the peasants through CBDCs, mandated digital IDs, and social credit scores, which will restrict your opinions, movement, and ability to make a living and feed yourself. When you grasp the almost incomprehensible malevolence of their end game, you begin to understand the seemingly insane choices being made on our behalf by those pulling the strings of our political, financial, and social institutions. The developed nations of the world have cumulatively added $100 trillion of debt since 2020, even as the demographics of their countries are incapable of servicing that debt. To exacerbate this recklessness, they all simultaneously flooded their countries with third world savages in order to overwhelm their social welfare systems and tear apart the social fabric of their societies. The planned and coordinated covid plandemic, which successfully forced 70% of the global population to be injected with a toxic, gene altering, cancer and myocaditis causing death potion, has accomplished more than our overlords could ever imagine. It proved Huxley’s supposition that the slaves would come to love their servitude. Even as turbo cancers, heart attacks, and other issues created by the spike protein damaging their bodies, the vaxxed refuse to believe they were poisoned by their own government and medical establishment. The vaxxers still worship Fauci, even though his own texts and emails prove him to be a mass murderer. This phase of the depopulation agenda is underway and will ultimately eliminate hundreds of millions from the gene pool. When Russia and Ukraine were about to conclude a peace agreement in March 2022, Boris Johnson was sent to Zelensky by his globalist controllers in order to insure the war would continue and expand. Four and a half years later, the US/NATO continue to wage their proxy war against Russia in an effort to weaken Putin, drive the price of oil and natural gas higher, exacerbate the global food crisis, and goad Putin into starting WW3. The U.S. sneak attack of Iran, under the false pretenses of an imminent development of nuclear bomb by Iran, on behalf of Israel (because they have incriminating info on Trump from the Epstein files), has accomplished the feat of creating a global economic catastrophe, with soaring oil prices, and shortages of fertilizer, natural gas, diesel, and rare earth minerals necessary to produce the technology needed to run our world. When you see Trump and his minions sanctioning the world, while threatening tariffs, kidnapping presidents, manipulating the oil, stock, and bond markets, you come to the realization Trump has been installed to initiate the global collapse, which they believe will usher in the final solution for the pesky peasants consuming too much of the world’s resources. Once the economic and financial collapse wipes out the remaining wealth of the middle class, the masses will be clamoring to be saved by their overlords, who will “generously” provide their CBDC “solution” to the collapse they purposely created. The collapse is baked into this cake made of debt and there is no avoiding the disastrous outcome. They will solidify their stranglehold on the global wealth, increase their control over resources, and force the masses into their techno-gulag. If you don’t sense the extreme acceleration towards this dark dystopian future, then you aren’t paying attention, are trapped in your cognitive dissonance, or are one of the highly paid henchmen promoting the new world order headed our way. The almost desperate roll-out of thousands of data surveillance centers is because their techno-gulag world will require almost unthinkable data processing power to track every person on the planet; record our movements, spending, social media interactions, and conversations; and dole out punishment (disabling your auto, disabling your credit cards, freezing your bank accounts) to the dissidents (formerly known as conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers). The rapid roll-out of flock cameras across the country is a key component of their techno-gulag plan. They want to have the technology in place before the financial collapse. It’s a race to the finish. Knowing we are in the final phase of this Fourth Turning should have given me an idea of how bad it would get, but the realization of how malicious, immoral, and satanic the Epstein pedophile class is proving to be, is stunning to behold. We are in the midst of an existential battle against diabolical evil for the future of humanity. Losing will mean an end to the freedoms and way of life we have experienced for 250 years. Sixty years ago Carroll Quigley revealed the invisible hands controlling the system, and now they are pulling out all the stops in implementing their plan to make sure we own nothing and they own it all. We are experiencing the tragedy. Hope won’t be enough to win against such a determined enemy. “The powers of financial capitalism had another far-reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalistic fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent meetings and conferences. The apex of the systems was to be the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, a private bank owned and controlled by the worlds central banks which were themselves private corporations. Each central bank…sought to dominate its government by its ability to control Treasury loans, to manipulate foreign exchanges, to influence the level of economic activity in the country, and to influence co-operative politicians by subsequent economic rewards in the business world.” ― Carroll Quigley, Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time, 1966 If you want a future for you children and grandchildren, you will need to step up now and do whatever you can to throw a monkey wrench into the gears of their data centers. Good luck and Godspeed. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of ZeroHedge. Tyler Durden Thu, 08/27/2026 - 16:20
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Jun 30, 2026 ... President Donald Trump is sending his son-in-law Jared Kushner and his envoy Steve Witkoff to lead the negotiating team.
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4 days ago ... ... blockade on Iran-related shipping ... shipping route for oil and gas, driving up global energy prices. The ...
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An American service member was killed in Iraq on Saturday, the US military said a day after announcing two troops died in an Iranian attack in Jordan.
Trump’s war on Iran is rapidly draining US navy budget, documents and interviews reveal
Donald Trump’s war on Iran has driven the US military into a severe financial crisis, with the US navy forced to transfer money from its payroll and other sources to cover the costs of combat, according to documents obtained by the Guardian, and interviews with navy officials, contractors and defense analysts. The US-Israeli operation, which has depleted US munitions stockpiles and prompted retaliatory Iranian strikes that have wrecked strategic bases across the Middle East, is piling pressure on budgets across the military. One Pentagon memo about navy funding seen by the Guardian warns that there are “shortfalls in payroll” accounts due to the department “raiding” them to fund combat operations. Experts and former officials say the accounts are running dry. “The piggy bank is broken,” said Harlan Ullman, a retired naval officer. Ullman is a member of the National Commission for the Future of the Navy but he said he is not speaking on the commission’s behalf. One official and one navy contractor said non-emergency maintenance on shore-based facilities has been deferred because of the cash crunch. When Trump started the war on 28 February, it quickly strained the military’s existing budgets – particularly that of the navy, which not only helped launch the initial wave of attacks but was later responsible for an extensive naval blockade. The White House eventually asked Congress for emergency funding to pay for the war efforts, but prospects that the request will be approved are dim amid the unpopularity of the war. A navy official who was briefed on how the service is planning to address the shortfalls said money is shifted around in imaginative ways. “The money for payroll,” he said, “was robbed to pay for overseas contingencies and is being backfilled by money that hasn’t been spent. They are backfilling payroll so we get enough money in our paycheck.” The navy’s budget for 2026, almost $300bn, has different batches of money allocated by Congress for various requirements: personnel, shipbuilding, procuring specific weapons systems and “operations and maintenance”, the day-to-day running of the fleet and its bases. The law limits how money can be rejiggered throughout all those batches of money. The issue has occasionally surfaced in some hearings on Capitol Hill. Susan Collins, in a 21 July hearing of the Senate appropriations committee, said: “I’m told some military services face near-term solvency challenges.” A staffer said the navy was one of the services Collins was referring to. In a statement, a navy spokesperson said maintenance and operations funds have not been depleted. “The Department of the Navy,” the statement said, “is actively managing its resources to meet current pay obligations on time. We continue to work closely with Congress to address ongoing operational demands and sustain our personnel and readiness throughout the fiscal year.” Inside the service, the cash shortage is no secret. “They’re just not speaking publicly about it,” said Todd Harrison, a defense analyst at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. “And I suspect that is a deliberate decision of the civilian leaders in the Pentagon, starting at secretary, that this is for political reasons, that they don’t want to look like they’re damaging future military readiness over a war that is becoming increasingly a political liability.” ‘We face critical shortfalls’ The military knew the crisis was coming. In mid-May, Adm Daryl Caudle, chief of naval operations, cautioned Congress that the crunch would hit in July. “The FY ’26 budget didn’t bake in Epic Fury,” he said. “I do fear that I’ll have to start making decisions in the July timeframe on how I do force generation. That could make differences between how I do exercises, how I do routine operations in order to make sure that I … have the funds necessary to continue the war effort for Epic Fury.” Pete Hegseth has pushed Congress for emergency funding, without which, he said in July, “we face critical shortfalls”. The defense secretary testified that the Iran war cost $35.7bn, but it’s unclear if that is a full accounting of the war’s costs. When the Trump administration asked Congress for $67bn in emergency funds for the defense department, it didn’t break down how much would be for the navy. The House passed a $1.15tn defense bill in July and a separate budget authorization that would provide $73bn for the war in Iran, but it’s unlikely either will become law. Ullman noted that during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, funding was more forthcoming from Congress because those conflicts were authorized by a resolution. “There is no authorization to use force in this case. Is Congress obliged to pay for a conflict it did not authorize?” he said. ‘They ran out of their money’ The fact that the navy is broke – or at least out of money for now – may be something of a slap in the face for Trump. The president has often evoked what he sees as his affinity with Theodore Roosevelt, who was president from 1901 to 1909 and presided over the expansion of the US navy, deploying the so-called “Great White Fleet” that steamed around the world. Instead of a Great White Fleet, Trump’s administration has embraced the term “Golden Fleet”. Among his naval ambitions: plans for mammoth “Trump class” ships – the largest battleships in US history. Trump’s micromanagement has included directing the navy to redesign an aircraft carrier so it launches jets with a steam and hydraulic catapult system rather than by an electromagnetic system. As the Guardian reported, every year since 2017 he has opined about his preferences in carrier launch catapults. At this point, however, funding a war with no clear endgame is the main challenge. A former military officer now working for a navy contracting company, who has been briefed on the shortfalls, said: “They’re fucked. They shot all their weapons; they trashed all their ships; they ran out of their money.”
Exclusive: US Patriot missile stocks in Europe are 'beyond critical' due to Iran war, officials say
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military is experiencing a “beyond critical” shortage of advanced missile interceptors in Europe largely driven by President Donald Trump’s war with Iran, a U.S. defense official in Europe and a NATO official told The Associated Press, raising concerns about vulnerabilities in NATO countries to a potential Russian attack. The U.S. defense official said the most concerning shortfall involves Patriot missile interceptors, which can shoot down Russia’s high-speed ballistic missiles. The NATO official confirmed the low inventories of Patriots among American and NATO forces in Europe. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters. In the event of a Russian ballistic missile assault on, for example, a military headquarters or power plant, NATO could be in a similar position to Patriot-starved Ukraine and be forced “to take punch after punch in the mouth,” the U.S. defense official said. In Europe, the American military “definitely” does not have enough Patriots to stop any possible sustained ballistic missile attack and would have “very limited” capability to defend against a single ballistic missile strike or a stray Russian missile that goes off course, the U.S. official said. It illustrates the cascading fallout from Trump’s decision to launch a war against Iran, a conflict that reaches the six-month mark on Friday. U.S. missile stocks in Europe have been moved to the Middle East, where U.S. and Gulf allies have fired off significant numbers of interceptors, including Patriots, to thwart Iran’s drones and missiles. Some of those attacks have killed and wounded American troops. Though a Russian ballistic missile attack against NATO countries is not imminently expected, CIA Director John Ratcliffe went to Moscow this week to warn Russia not to attack, The Wall Street Journal reported. Trump played down the significance of the rare and secretive trip, saying it was “sort of semi-routine.” European and NATO officials say Russia could be in a position to attack countries in the alliance by 2030. Patriot stockpiles are projected to rebound by then. In the meantime, Russia’s war in Ukraine could hinder its ability to carry out any missile attack on Europe as it would be a challenge for Moscow to fight an air war on two fronts. US Patriot transfers to Ukraine played a role in the drawdown, but the Iran war wasn't expected The Patriot missile shortage is most acutely felt in Ukraine, where officials are begging for more air defense support and where previous U.S. transfers also have drawn down some supply. Kyiv says only U.S.-made Patriots can stop Russia’s advanced ballistic missiles, which increasingly are getting through Ukrainian defenses, including as part of a barrage overnight into Thursday. The U.S. supplied hundreds of Patriot missiles to Ukraine over the course of the 4 1/2-year-long conflict, but the Iran war was the tipping point for shrinking inventories, said Ed Arnold, senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a military think tank in London. The supply to Ukraine was planned for and reasonably measured, he said, whereas stocks in the Middle East have been unexpectedly and quickly drained, exposing supply chain constraints. The U.S. military in Europe also is grappling with critical shortages of the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, a medium-range ballistic missile designed to strike behind enemy lines, the two officials said. But the overall munitions picture in Europe is less dire than on air defenses alone because some European militaries have their own offensive missiles, such as the Taurus and Storm Shadow, which are both long-range air-launched bunker-busting missiles. U.S. Army Col. Martin O’Donnell, a senior NATO military spokesperson, said it is “simply not the case” that the number of Patriot missiles in Europe is beyond critical. NATO, he said, is able to “block punches” and has enough air defense munitions available to defend itself as well as to donate to Ukraine. Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement Thursday that claims of U.S. munition shortages “are false.” “We have everything required to strike at the time and place of the President’s choosing," Parnell said. "Across multiple combatant commands, we have already executed successful operations while maintaining a deep, ready arsenal to defend our people and our interests.” Europe has few alternatives while stocks are low The dearth of Patriot interceptors in Europe would leave few alternatives for shooting down Russia’s more advanced ballistic missiles, which can be combined with swarms of inexpensive drones to overwhelm defenses, experts say. Ukraine and some allies already use systems that can destroy slower-moving drones without expensive missiles. But ballistic missiles are a challenge because they dive steeply toward targets at more than five times the speed of sound, leaving little time to stop them. The Patriot system tracks the missile, predicts its path and launches within minutes, all while carrying out complex calculations to ensure the interceptor finds its target. One Patriot battery can only cover a limited area: for example, a small military base but not a whole city. One alternative could be France and Italy’s SAMP/T NG air defense system. France has promised to speed up the delivery of the system — the upgraded version of the current SAMP/T — to Ukraine, which the manufacturer says is better able to counter ballistics. The new iteration, however, has not yet been battle tested and the current version of the SAMP/T has a smaller range than the Patriot. While U.S. and European militaries have warships that can serve as mobile air defense, they may be too far from a target to protect it and could risk getting sunk. Patriot stocks have plunged during the Iran war Ukraine has received Patriots from American and European stockpiles since Russia's 2022 invasion, with the U.S. providing about 600 of the interceptors during the Biden administration, said Mark Cancian, a retired Marine colonel who is now senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. But the greatest expenditure has been during the Iran conflict, which has used up 65% of U.S. Patriots, amounting to roughly 1,500 of the nation's 2,330 interceptors, CSIS says. About 600 missiles, including those destined for Europe, should be made this year, with a production goal of 2,000 Patriot missiles a year set for 2030, Cancian said. NATO says Europe’s first Patriot missile production facility is expected to open in Germany in September, with deliveries possibly beginning early next year. The first deliveries should go to countries that have already placed orders, including Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Spain, the U.S. defense official said. But for now, that means some countries, such as Germany, have bought expensive Patriot systems but are in the “ridiculous” position of not having any ammunition to fire from them, said Arnold of the London think tank. Germany's defense ministry said it does not comment on stockpiles. Russia also has limitations Moscow likely cannot carry out a sustained air assault on a NATO target while it launches almost nightly attacks on Ukraine, Arnold said. Ukraine's recent strikes into Russia also have exposed weaknesses in Russia's air defenses, which could prompt Putin to think twice about provoking a retaliatory attack. “The uncomfortable truth is possibly the best air defense that we have is Russian constraints,” Arnold said. ___ Burrows reported from London. Associated Press writer Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.