DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus Iran War... MoU and forward

While I chuckle at the thought that anyone is surprised this happened, I do honestly think this is the preferable outcome vs where the direction our negotiations were heading.

I think most people knew from the very beginning that Netanyahu would never allow the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon to happen. That's from article 1 of the agreement.

U.S. will resume naval blockade against Iran Tuesday, at Trump's direction

The U.S. will continue blocking maritime traffic from entering and exiting Iranian ports at the direction of President Trump, U.S. Central Command announced Monday.

The naval blockade will resume Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET.

The U.S. military will continue to support traffic flow through the area for other permissible vessels, U.S. Central Command said.

The formal announcement comes after Mr. Trump said on Truth Social that the U.S. would resume the blockade, the latest effort to manage an uncompliant Iran.

"We are reinstating the THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran's ships or customers from entering or leaving," the president posted on Truth Social Monday morning. "All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait."

In the same post, the president said the U.S. would "probably run" the Strait of Hormuz and impose a 20% fee on cargo shipments.

https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/us-iran-war-trump-ceasefire-attacks-strait-of-hormuz/

AKA: The Strait of Hormuz tariff.

Oil is up about 10% in the last couple days and Iran just said they hit (2) oil supertankers

I was hopeful this would work out but had serious doubts. Iran can't be trusted and they never had any intention to move forward with peace. Nobody can say we didn't try.

As far as I am concerned we should just pound them in to dust. Not all at once, just day by day. See how far we have to twist their arm. One of the positives in all of this is it looks like the rest of the Arab world is sick and tired of Iran and are joining the fight. They want to sell their oil as well.

Sometimes with a cancer you just need to cut it out before you start therapeutic measures.

Marco Rubio’s Warning ‘No Country’ Can Charge ‘Tolls’ in Hormuz Goes Viral After Trump’s New ‘20%’ Fee Announcement

Secretary of State Marco Rubio's warning in late June that "no country" can charge tolls through the Strait of Hormuz went viral on Monday, hours after President Donald Trump announced the United States would begin collecting a 20% fee on cargo passing through the strategic waterway.

The apparent contradiction emerged after Trump abruptly declared in a Truth Social post that the U.S. would reimpose its naval blockade of Iran and assume what he described as a permanent security role over one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, following another round of military exchanges between Washington and Tehran.

"We are reinstating the THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran's ships or customers from entering or leaving," Trump wrote.

He added: "The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as 'THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,' but as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World."

"The process and formation will begin immediately," Trump said.

But Trump's new policy drew attention to remarks Rubio made just weeks earlier, on June 23, during a visit to the United Arab Emirates, where he slammed the prospect of transit fees in the waterway in a caution to Iran.

"That's the law. It's an international waterway. No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway," Rubio said. "That's existing international law. That's the way it is in international waterways all over the world and that's the way we'll expect it'll be here."

"I think all the countries in this region would agree," he added.

Now that it's Rubio's boss who is implementing the fees, the CBS News clip of the secretary of state's comment was resurfaced and was circulated online, including by the network's own senior White House correspondent Ed O'Keefe, garnering thousands of views.

Dozens of users began to post the video in reply to anyone sharing Trump's new announcement.

The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly one-fifth of the world's oil and natural gas exports, making it one of the globe's most strategically important maritime routes.

The post Marco Rubio's Warning 'No Country' Can Charge 'Tolls' in Hormuz Goes Viral After Trump's New '20%' Fee Announcement first appeared on Mediaite.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/marco-rubio-warning-no-country-160248994.html

So I suppose it's only legal when trump does it.

Does that include civilians and civilian targets?

Trump claims Iranians 'want to hear bombs' because they want to be free

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/t...-hear-bombs-because-they-want-to-be-free

Yet just last month.......................

AP Was There: Millions of mourners attended funeral of Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini

https://apnews.com/article/iran-khomeini-1989-funeral-ap-was-there-f036d130059c4ecfb1d69636246c2a27

Yet trump told the people of Iran.......................

'Help is on its way,' Trump tells Iranians as he urges them to keep protesting

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cj691w2e840t

It seems as though things are a little messier than you make it appear.

And just as quickly as the wind can change directions...................

Trump drops plan to toll ships in Strait of Hormuz ahead of deadline for US blockade

The U.S. military said it will resume its blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to reinstate it. The president, however, reversed his plan to charge a 20% toll on cargo traveling through the strait. Instead, Middle Eastern countries will make investment and trade deals with the U.S., Trump said on social media.

https://apnews.com/live/iran-war-trump-hormuz-updates-07-14-2026

The fact that you and I (and pretty much anyone else with a shred of common sense) could've predicted this outcome should speak to the performance of the folks on our end that negotiated and agreed to the MoU. It speaks to a lack of clear goals as to what we are working towards.

For me, I think we know what the likelihood of success is in terms of prolonged military conflict in the Middle East. The only thing that has me remotely optimistic is the work going into bypassing Hormuz. There are mentions of pipelines and other oil transport methods so that Hormuz isn't as critical as it is today. This whole debacle has also spurred renewed interest in EVs and other alternative energy sources. I don't want to tangent to beating THAT dead horse, but I do think the country moving in a direction that has us less dependent on oil is a positive that few would argue (definitely arguments to be made regarding the how, though).