The USA started an illegal war using negotiations as a subterfuge, murdered a bunch of politicians, civilians and school children, have consistently threatened war crimes as the next step, and completely trashed US law in the process. But all we hear about is the legality of controlling the strait. Something is clinically wrong.
Iran will never relinquish the management of the Strait of Hormuz, ever. This is their ticket to being a power broker on the global stage, thanks to Israel and the US under Trump.
The MOU was DOA from the start, since Israel violated it form day 1, and now the US had joined in.
All Iran needs to do is to close the Strait for 3 months. That will get Trump's attention very quickly!
Hilarious. And how will Iran close the Strait? After Tuesday's strikes by the US, much of the Iranian Small Speedboat Navy is now at the bottom of the Strait with the rest of Iran's navy. Their land based ship tracking system has been oblitereted & blinded. Further strikes will occur Wednesday night to mop up what's left.
This was a chillingly accurate read on the situation. The author predicted exactly why the MOU was doomed. It was a fundamental clash over strategic leverage in the Strait of Hormuz. Following the strikes from both sides over the last day, and the end of the ceasefire, it's clear we've entered the exact scenario the author was trying to warn us about.
It looks as if the US are no longer in very short supply of oil and gas, are no longer suffering from empty strategic réserves, are no longer afraid of an economic crisis….
Easier to understand if you consider a POTUS who literally has a two-week time horizon for closure of all issues large and small... and, of course, a POTUS prone to tantrums in front of banks of cameras. Groundhog Day.
Not only, true questionning : the relatively low level of futures oil price was explained by the release of US reserves - last week, it was computed that less than 10 days of réserves were still available…What is wrong in the analysis, if anything ?
Oh I misread I agree at first I thought you were really saying we are not suffering from
emptying reserves … I just know we are in a very bad situation even when strait is “open” it is still closed due to the amount of traffic that no longer flows . I think we are saying the same thing
Who is advising the President on Middle East policy besides Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies? The recent breakdown of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire proves we were never truly serious about long-term peace; the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was treated as nothing more than a brief operational pause from active war. Pakistan and the Gulf States—who heavily brokered this framework—must intervene immediately to force Washington back to the negotiating table and build on the original text. We must question why the United States is once again allowing the military-industrial complex and Netanyahu to drag the nation into a perpetual Middle Eastern war
No surprise here. Once Trump got some feedback from his warmongering circle of friends, he felt a need to redeem his perceived weakness in signing the MOU, such that he needed to show strength, to feel on top. And of course, there is the reasonable theory that says the MOU was never more than a ruse to allow the US time to rethink/refuel/rearm/reposition. Putting any stock in the idea that the US will negotiate anything in good faith and stick to it is foolish, at best. The US and Israel will continue to do as they please, when they please.
The United States never had the slightest intention to honor the MoU, but to use it to get oil prices under control, reload, regroup, fine tune the algorithms and take another swing.
I suspect that Iran knows this, but Chinese pressure makes them play along.
China tries to make as little trouble as possible, in hopes that they will be allowed to sell things and make money, that the crocodile will eat them last.
One must go way out on a limb to speculate what the world may or may not do… but I will offer up the following. When the US nuked Japan in 1945, the Allied Powers were OK with it BECAUSE of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and because a case could be made that it would save thousands, possibly tens of thousands of American lives. The current conflict is an UNPROVOKED "war of choice", and the world knows this, regardless of the rhetoric used for public consumption. Should the US use nuclear weapons, the whole world, including our "friends and allies" will know that the same could be done to them, at any time, for any reason. At that point, doing jack means that they are now on the menu. That changes things by an order of magnitude.
Right never had anything to do with it, nor does it now.
Hell, Israel is conducting a daylight genocide in Gaza and the world either does nothing, or actively assists. Russia bends over backwards to avoid harming noncombatants and is excoriated, regardless. And that is only one example.
We have entered a war that is even more difficult to extract ourselves from than Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan. Why more difficult? In addition to suffering humiliation as we did in those three wars, this time we have Israel determined to undermine any peaceful resolution. With a “spoiler” that has more power over our government than the citizens of the US, there won’t be a peaceful resolution until there is much more blood spilled and treasure spent.
The Media (June 16): "Prices are going to drop pretty dramatically and rather quickly." — Former Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette on Fox Business, assuming a political piece of paper would secure the Strait of Hormuz.
The Trigg Ledger (June 28): We published “Shorting America.” We warned that the truce was an illusion. We warned that the SPR was mathematically drained to a 1983 baseline (331M barrels). We warned that the physical market was about to collide with Wall Street's algorithms.
The Reality (July 7): Iran attacks commercial tankers. The U.S. retaliates with military strikes. The Strait is shut down, and Brent crude is spiking exactly as we mapped out.
If you were trading on Fox Business hopium, you just got crushed. If you were reading the physical ledger, you saw this coming 10 days ago.
This structure uses their own talking heads against them. It positions Trigg Ledger as the only publication looking at the actual math (the 331M barrel SPR floor) while the mainstream media was obsessing over political signatures.
The oil license problem at the end is the structural trap neither side has priced. A sanctions waiver only works as leverage if buyers trust it enough to build supply chains around it. Every grant-and-revoke cycle teaches the market that the waiver is too volatile to anchor a procurement strategy on.
So the second revocation does less damage to Tehran than the first one did. Iran already struggled to find buyers the first time. The ones who didn't buy then certainly won't now. But it also does less for Washington. A license nobody was willing to use isn't much of a concession to withdraw.
The leverage is depreciating on both sides simultaneously. Tehran's Strait threat weakens each time traffic finds alternative routes. Washington's oil concession weakens each time it gets pulled. Both sides are burning through their best cards to win arguments about a 60-day interim arrangement. The permanent framework they're supposed to be negotiating needs those cards to still be worth something when they get there.
IRAN'S RADICAL 12th IMAM FUNDAMENTAL ISLAMIST MAHDISTS BELIEVE IT IS THEIR RELIGIOUS DUTY TO DESTROY WESTERN CIVILIZATION
Iran's 1979 constitution as amended in 1989 requires adherence to the Islamist obligation to create the conditions for a final battle when their 12th Imam or Mahdi will appear & restore Islamic justice to the world.
President Trump needs to forget about making any deals with Iran and end Iran’s radical fundamentalist Islamist regime once & for all. President Trump at a minimum should:
· Seize Kharg Island & all of Iran's oil/energy assets/infrastructure;
· Destroy 100% of Iran’s entire governmental & military command & control capabilities with no exceptions;
· Totally and completely destroy Natanz “Pickaxe” mountain & Mt Kolang Gaz-La nuclear, military, weapons, command & control facilities & 100% of every single asset associated with those locations;
· Destroy all of Iran’s ballistic missiles, drones & 100% of Iran’s manufacturing capabilities of producing more missiles, drones or weapons;
· Destroy or seize every single thing associated with Iran’s nuclear weapons program including centrifuges and all related manufacturing capabilities;
· Seize or destroy all uranium enrichment equipment along with all enriched uranium, plutonium or uranium dust;
· End 100% of Iran’s capabilities for financing terrorist programs & their terrorist proxies in the Middle East & across the globe; and,
· We should then work with Iran's freedom supporting expatriates & like-minded people within Iran to establish and control Iran's government.
War, at some future point between Iran, including Iran’s proxy terrorist organizations that have infiltrated other nations, and western civilization is inevitable unless one of three (3) things occur:
1. Western nations willingly convert to Islam;
2. The radical fundamentalist Islamist Mahdist leaders in Iran & their proxy organizations are overthrown; or,
3. Iran’s leaders voluntarily alter their interpretations of Islamic prophesies committing them to prepare the world by force for the return of their Mahdi or 12th Imam by amending their constitutional requirement to make the world Islamic & commit to peaceful co-existence.
Ceasefire agreements to negotiate peace with Iran only allow Iran to create tactical & strategic delays as they realign, recalibrate & recalculate how to ultimately achieve their overall goals & objectives of fulfilling their interpretation of their Islamist prophesies. Peace would require the fundamentalist Islamist Mahdist radicals that have survived as the now current ruling regime to amend Iran’s constitution and give up attempting to fulfill their interpretations of their religious requirements to prepare the world through global war & chaos in a final battle, concluding with the appearance of their 12th Imam – their Mahdi, & the imposition is their version of Islam globally.
Islamic prophesies are interpreted as a religious duty by fundamental Islamists. Lying to kafir (those not believing in Islam), is not only permissible but an actual duty for fundamentalist Islamists. It’s called “Taqlyya”, “Tuqyah” &/or “Kitman”. There are numerous references to Taqlyya in the Quran. https://www.brightworkresearch.com/the-islamic-requirement-to-perform-taqiyya-and-lie-to-non-muslims/
“Islamic law allows for a truce between a Muslim force and a non-Muslim one only under two circumstances: if the non-Muslim force is about to convert to Islam, which is obviously not in play here, and if the Muslim force is losing the war, and needs time to gather strength to fight again more effectively.
There is no scenario in Islamic law in which a Muslim force and a non-Muslim one sign a treaty for a lasting peace, lay down their arms, and coexist. The assumption among Western policymakers that the fundamentalist Islamist Mahdist leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran would do such a thing under any circumstances is based on those policymakers’ willful ignorance regarding Islamic law, and fond assumption that everyone in the world thinks just the way they do.
Iran's current regime which consists of younger elements of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s previous regime, due to its cultist religious radical fanaticism, is not like dealing with other Muslim national leaders. It’s absolutely essential that others understand this regime's intentions, as written in their constitution, to violently and forcibly impose their version of & their interpretation of Islamic Mahdism to prepare the world for their return of the 12th Imam. This article explains the Islamist Mahdism mindset in detail. https://meforum.org/mahdism-the-apocalyptic-ideology-behind-iran
Making the world Islamic in accordance with Iran’s interpretation of Islamic prophesies is even written into Iran’s constitution. This goal is rooted in its preamble and Article 11, which calls for unity of the Islamic world and the formation of a universal, united Islamic community (Ummah).
Key details regarding this constitutional mandate include:
Theocratic Foundation: The Preamble and Article 11 declare that the government must prepare the basis for continuing the revolution domestically and abroad, aimed at forming a unified global Islamic society.
Koranic Basis: This goal is based on the Koran verse 21:92: "This your community is a single community, and I am your Lord, so worship Me".
International Relations: The Constitution directs foreign policy to unite with other Muslim peoples and popular movements to work towards this unity.
This commitment serves as a guiding principle for Iran's foreign policy and international relations.
Article 11
In accordance with the sacred verse of the Qur'an ("This your community is a single community, and I am your Lord, so worship Me" [21:92]), all Muslims form a single nation, and the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has the duty of formulating its general policies with a view to cultivating the friendship and unity of all Muslim peoples, and it must constantly strive to bring about the political, economic, and cultural unity of the Islamic world.
When Iran chants "Death to America", does anyone think they're kidding? Believe what they say! Their actions match their words. Instead of investing money within Iran to improve the lives of their people, Iran invests in terrorist proxies that occupy other nations; buys & builds weapons & weapons systems, & develops long range ballistic missiles. When Iran enriches uranium far beyond what is needed for a nuclear energy or medical program, their intentions are clear. There is only one reason on planet earth to enrich uranium beyond 3% to 5% and that is to make dirty bombs or nuclear weapons. Iran enriched uranium beyond 60% when there is only one reason on planet earth to do so? Anyone ignoring or rationalizing those facts does so at their own peril.
Trump sees everything in purely transactional terms. He has no skill or inclination as a peacemaker. He has no strategic focus or understanding, and neither does his Secretary of "War." These characteristics, unrestrained by a cowardly Congress, are a classic example of how a stronger power is defeated by a weaker one. Just classic. His "escalation dominance" approach is insipid. If it is used, it should be rare and carefully calculated to achieve maximum success.
The Iranian actions confuse me a bit, since I can't see how firing on ships—even after giving warnings—serves their interests. While they shouldn't ignore the Administration's rhetoric, they understand the underlying geopolitical dynamics and that they have much to lose with an abandonment of the MOU. By "much to lose," I mean benefits to their country in trade, Israeli restraint and isolation, and control of the Strait. Tit for tat serves no one's interests.
If Iran believes they have humiliated the US, then rubbing it in is not to their advantage. Trump should be their object lesson in how not to behave. A weaker power using what it perceives as escalation dominance is a recipe for total disaster.
The USA started an illegal war using negotiations as a subterfuge, murdered a bunch of politicians, civilians and school children, have consistently threatened war crimes as the next step, and completely trashed US law in the process. But all we hear about is the legality of controlling the strait. Something is clinically wrong.
Iran will never relinquish the management of the Strait of Hormuz, ever. This is their ticket to being a power broker on the global stage, thanks to Israel and the US under Trump.
The MOU was DOA from the start, since Israel violated it form day 1, and now the US had joined in.
All Iran needs to do is to close the Strait for 3 months. That will get Trump's attention very quickly!
Hilarious. And how will Iran close the Strait? After Tuesday's strikes by the US, much of the Iranian Small Speedboat Navy is now at the bottom of the Strait with the rest of Iran's navy. Their land based ship tracking system has been oblitereted & blinded. Further strikes will occur Wednesday night to mop up what's left.
You must have gotten a call from Pete Hegseth, and he brought you up to speed on the situation.
Easier said than done. What if 2 or 3 ships are sunk in the Straits.
Tell Petey I said hi 👋🏼
They have thousands of boats and kids with binoculars can spot ships. They control the strait.
Just heard Rutte.The world is now threatened by warmongering comparable to that before Europe's world wars 1 and 2.Unbelievably stupid!
The sole priority of the europan political class is The War On Russia.
European strategy since 1917 has been to get Americans to do their fighting for them.
Some not all of Europe. Check out Operation Gladio, a book by Williams. It outlines the instigators, players and purpose of this process since WWII.
Operation Gladio never came to pass, so we don't know how it would have fared.
The book goes much deeper than its title😉
This was a chillingly accurate read on the situation. The author predicted exactly why the MOU was doomed. It was a fundamental clash over strategic leverage in the Strait of Hormuz. Following the strikes from both sides over the last day, and the end of the ceasefire, it's clear we've entered the exact scenario the author was trying to warn us about.
It looks as if the US are no longer in very short supply of oil and gas, are no longer suffering from empty strategic réserves, are no longer afraid of an economic crisis….
Difficult to understand to say the least
Easier to understand if you consider a POTUS who literally has a two-week time horizon for closure of all issues large and small... and, of course, a POTUS prone to tantrums in front of banks of cameras. Groundhog Day.
Sarcasm right ?
Not only, true questionning : the relatively low level of futures oil price was explained by the release of US reserves - last week, it was computed that less than 10 days of réserves were still available…What is wrong in the analysis, if anything ?
Oh I misread I agree at first I thought you were really saying we are not suffering from
emptying reserves … I just know we are in a very bad situation even when strait is “open” it is still closed due to the amount of traffic that no longer flows . I think we are saying the same thing
Who is advising the President on Middle East policy besides Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies? The recent breakdown of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire proves we were never truly serious about long-term peace; the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was treated as nothing more than a brief operational pause from active war. Pakistan and the Gulf States—who heavily brokered this framework—must intervene immediately to force Washington back to the negotiating table and build on the original text. We must question why the United States is once again allowing the military-industrial complex and Netanyahu to drag the nation into a perpetual Middle Eastern war
No surprise here. Once Trump got some feedback from his warmongering circle of friends, he felt a need to redeem his perceived weakness in signing the MOU, such that he needed to show strength, to feel on top. And of course, there is the reasonable theory that says the MOU was never more than a ruse to allow the US time to rethink/refuel/rearm/reposition. Putting any stock in the idea that the US will negotiate anything in good faith and stick to it is foolish, at best. The US and Israel will continue to do as they please, when they please.
The United States never had the slightest intention to honor the MoU, but to use it to get oil prices under control, reload, regroup, fine tune the algorithms and take another swing.
I suspect that Iran knows this, but Chinese pressure makes them play along.
Yes; the China Card remains obscure for the moment.
China tries to make as little trouble as possible, in hopes that they will be allowed to sell things and make money, that the crocodile will eat them last.
Nah! The crocodile that wants to dine on China has Ukraine and Iran (soon to be joined by some of the GCC states) stuck in its gullet.
At least as far as Iran goes, the US and Israel will not hesitate to go nuclear if they must.
No, the world will not do jack about it.
One must go way out on a limb to speculate what the world may or may not do… but I will offer up the following. When the US nuked Japan in 1945, the Allied Powers were OK with it BECAUSE of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and because a case could be made that it would save thousands, possibly tens of thousands of American lives. The current conflict is an UNPROVOKED "war of choice", and the world knows this, regardless of the rhetoric used for public consumption. Should the US use nuclear weapons, the whole world, including our "friends and allies" will know that the same could be done to them, at any time, for any reason. At that point, doing jack means that they are now on the menu. That changes things by an order of magnitude.
Right never had anything to do with it, nor does it now.
Hell, Israel is conducting a daylight genocide in Gaza and the world either does nothing, or actively assists. Russia bends over backwards to avoid harming noncombatants and is excoriated, regardless. And that is only one example.
This is a question of power. Nothing more.
We have entered a war that is even more difficult to extract ourselves from than Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan. Why more difficult? In addition to suffering humiliation as we did in those three wars, this time we have Israel determined to undermine any peaceful resolution. With a “spoiler” that has more power over our government than the citizens of the US, there won’t be a peaceful resolution until there is much more blood spilled and treasure spent.
Well said James.
Me thinks there is also a China wild card to be dealt, and if so it will likely add a shitload of complexity to the mix.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPtOdEhQBtU
The Media (June 16): "Prices are going to drop pretty dramatically and rather quickly." — Former Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette on Fox Business, assuming a political piece of paper would secure the Strait of Hormuz.
The Trigg Ledger (June 28): We published “Shorting America.” We warned that the truce was an illusion. We warned that the SPR was mathematically drained to a 1983 baseline (331M barrels). We warned that the physical market was about to collide with Wall Street's algorithms.
The Reality (July 7): Iran attacks commercial tankers. The U.S. retaliates with military strikes. The Strait is shut down, and Brent crude is spiking exactly as we mapped out.
If you were trading on Fox Business hopium, you just got crushed. If you were reading the physical ledger, you saw this coming 10 days ago.
Read the June 28th breakdown here before the next shoe drops: (https://triggledger.substack.com/p/shorting-america-how-trump-sold-our?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=8gc1qf)
This structure uses their own talking heads against them. It positions Trigg Ledger as the only publication looking at the actual math (the 331M barrel SPR floor) while the mainstream media was obsessing over political signatures.
The oil license problem at the end is the structural trap neither side has priced. A sanctions waiver only works as leverage if buyers trust it enough to build supply chains around it. Every grant-and-revoke cycle teaches the market that the waiver is too volatile to anchor a procurement strategy on.
So the second revocation does less damage to Tehran than the first one did. Iran already struggled to find buyers the first time. The ones who didn't buy then certainly won't now. But it also does less for Washington. A license nobody was willing to use isn't much of a concession to withdraw.
The leverage is depreciating on both sides simultaneously. Tehran's Strait threat weakens each time traffic finds alternative routes. Washington's oil concession weakens each time it gets pulled. Both sides are burning through their best cards to win arguments about a 60-day interim arrangement. The permanent framework they're supposed to be negotiating needs those cards to still be worth something when they get there.
Exactly correct!
With fuel crisis hitting the US in coming weeks, hard to fathom why they are doing this
Simple; there is no Plan B.
Because Israel demandsn and Israel has The Files (and Lord knows what else).
It's really simple.
Iran owns it with Oman.
Trump agreed, by signature, to Iran controlling passage.
US tried to open clandestine exit route in breach of MoU.
Iran warned the ships breaching passage conditions before launching non- lethal strikes.
IRAN'S RADICAL 12th IMAM FUNDAMENTAL ISLAMIST MAHDISTS BELIEVE IT IS THEIR RELIGIOUS DUTY TO DESTROY WESTERN CIVILIZATION
Iran's 1979 constitution as amended in 1989 requires adherence to the Islamist obligation to create the conditions for a final battle when their 12th Imam or Mahdi will appear & restore Islamic justice to the world.
President Trump needs to forget about making any deals with Iran and end Iran’s radical fundamentalist Islamist regime once & for all. President Trump at a minimum should:
· Seize Kharg Island & all of Iran's oil/energy assets/infrastructure;
· Destroy 100% of Iran’s entire governmental & military command & control capabilities with no exceptions;
· Totally and completely destroy Natanz “Pickaxe” mountain & Mt Kolang Gaz-La nuclear, military, weapons, command & control facilities & 100% of every single asset associated with those locations;
· Destroy all of Iran’s ballistic missiles, drones & 100% of Iran’s manufacturing capabilities of producing more missiles, drones or weapons;
· Destroy or seize every single thing associated with Iran’s nuclear weapons program including centrifuges and all related manufacturing capabilities;
· Seize or destroy all uranium enrichment equipment along with all enriched uranium, plutonium or uranium dust;
· End 100% of Iran’s capabilities for financing terrorist programs & their terrorist proxies in the Middle East & across the globe; and,
· We should then work with Iran's freedom supporting expatriates & like-minded people within Iran to establish and control Iran's government.
War, at some future point between Iran, including Iran’s proxy terrorist organizations that have infiltrated other nations, and western civilization is inevitable unless one of three (3) things occur:
1. Western nations willingly convert to Islam;
2. The radical fundamentalist Islamist Mahdist leaders in Iran & their proxy organizations are overthrown; or,
3. Iran’s leaders voluntarily alter their interpretations of Islamic prophesies committing them to prepare the world by force for the return of their Mahdi or 12th Imam by amending their constitutional requirement to make the world Islamic & commit to peaceful co-existence.
Ceasefire agreements to negotiate peace with Iran only allow Iran to create tactical & strategic delays as they realign, recalibrate & recalculate how to ultimately achieve their overall goals & objectives of fulfilling their interpretation of their Islamist prophesies. Peace would require the fundamentalist Islamist Mahdist radicals that have survived as the now current ruling regime to amend Iran’s constitution and give up attempting to fulfill their interpretations of their religious requirements to prepare the world through global war & chaos in a final battle, concluding with the appearance of their 12th Imam – their Mahdi, & the imposition is their version of Islam globally.
Islamic prophesies are interpreted as a religious duty by fundamental Islamists. Lying to kafir (those not believing in Islam), is not only permissible but an actual duty for fundamentalist Islamists. It’s called “Taqlyya”, “Tuqyah” &/or “Kitman”. There are numerous references to Taqlyya in the Quran. https://www.brightworkresearch.com/the-islamic-requirement-to-perform-taqiyya-and-lie-to-non-muslims/
“Islamic law allows for a truce between a Muslim force and a non-Muslim one only under two circumstances: if the non-Muslim force is about to convert to Islam, which is obviously not in play here, and if the Muslim force is losing the war, and needs time to gather strength to fight again more effectively.
There is no scenario in Islamic law in which a Muslim force and a non-Muslim one sign a treaty for a lasting peace, lay down their arms, and coexist. The assumption among Western policymakers that the fundamentalist Islamist Mahdist leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran would do such a thing under any circumstances is based on those policymakers’ willful ignorance regarding Islamic law, and fond assumption that everyone in the world thinks just the way they do.
https://www.islamicfiqh.net/en/newmuslims/11/73/articles/102/truce-agreements
Iran's current regime which consists of younger elements of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s previous regime, due to its cultist religious radical fanaticism, is not like dealing with other Muslim national leaders. It’s absolutely essential that others understand this regime's intentions, as written in their constitution, to violently and forcibly impose their version of & their interpretation of Islamic Mahdism to prepare the world for their return of the 12th Imam. This article explains the Islamist Mahdism mindset in detail. https://meforum.org/mahdism-the-apocalyptic-ideology-behind-iran
Making the world Islamic in accordance with Iran’s interpretation of Islamic prophesies is even written into Iran’s constitution. This goal is rooted in its preamble and Article 11, which calls for unity of the Islamic world and the formation of a universal, united Islamic community (Ummah).
Key details regarding this constitutional mandate include:
Theocratic Foundation: The Preamble and Article 11 declare that the government must prepare the basis for continuing the revolution domestically and abroad, aimed at forming a unified global Islamic society.
Koranic Basis: This goal is based on the Koran verse 21:92: "This your community is a single community, and I am your Lord, so worship Me".
International Relations: The Constitution directs foreign policy to unite with other Muslim peoples and popular movements to work towards this unity.
This commitment serves as a guiding principle for Iran's foreign policy and international relations.
Article 11
In accordance with the sacred verse of the Qur'an ("This your community is a single community, and I am your Lord, so worship Me" [21:92]), all Muslims form a single nation, and the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has the duty of formulating its general policies with a view to cultivating the friendship and unity of all Muslim peoples, and it must constantly strive to bring about the political, economic, and cultural unity of the Islamic world.
https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Iran_1989
When Iran chants "Death to America", does anyone think they're kidding? Believe what they say! Their actions match their words. Instead of investing money within Iran to improve the lives of their people, Iran invests in terrorist proxies that occupy other nations; buys & builds weapons & weapons systems, & develops long range ballistic missiles. When Iran enriches uranium far beyond what is needed for a nuclear energy or medical program, their intentions are clear. There is only one reason on planet earth to enrich uranium beyond 3% to 5% and that is to make dirty bombs or nuclear weapons. Iran enriched uranium beyond 60% when there is only one reason on planet earth to do so? Anyone ignoring or rationalizing those facts does so at their own peril.
Trump sees everything in purely transactional terms. He has no skill or inclination as a peacemaker. He has no strategic focus or understanding, and neither does his Secretary of "War." These characteristics, unrestrained by a cowardly Congress, are a classic example of how a stronger power is defeated by a weaker one. Just classic. His "escalation dominance" approach is insipid. If it is used, it should be rare and carefully calculated to achieve maximum success.
The Iranian actions confuse me a bit, since I can't see how firing on ships—even after giving warnings—serves their interests. While they shouldn't ignore the Administration's rhetoric, they understand the underlying geopolitical dynamics and that they have much to lose with an abandonment of the MOU. By "much to lose," I mean benefits to their country in trade, Israeli restraint and isolation, and control of the Strait. Tit for tat serves no one's interests.
If Iran believes they have humiliated the US, then rubbing it in is not to their advantage. Trump should be their object lesson in how not to behave. A weaker power using what it perceives as escalation dominance is a recipe for total disaster.
With US withdrawal while pulling the leash of their israeli dog.