Carl D wrote on Jul 9
th, 2026 at 8:58am:
The Trump supporters on this forum seem to have gone very quiet lately.
I wonder why?
Oh, and Leroy - in case you missed
my post yesterday, I'm still curious as to whether or not you have anything to add to
this thread? 
Let's see if you can read this and understand it.
Iran’s attacks on ships betray its concern over losing its grip on Hormuz
Benoit Faucon and Georgi Kantchev
Iran’s renewed attacks on tankers near the Strait of Hormuz are exposing a growing dilemma for Tehran’s hard-line leaders, who are relying on their control of the waterway for leverage in talks with the US but feeling their grip weaken as more ships slip through.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired missiles at two commercial ships near the strait early Tuesday, according to a senior US official. It echoed an attack two weeks ago that was aimed at shutting down traffic in a route that hugged the southern side of the waterway along the Omani coast. Iran has warned shippers to avoid that route and instead use a northern path it controls.
Another tanker came under attack later Tuesday from an unidentified projectile in the strait that caused structural damage, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations, which is affiliated with the Royal Navy.
Despite the threat of strikes, conservatives in Tehran have watched with rising alarm as traffic that was deterred from crossing during the war now ply the US-backed route near Oman. Shipping through the strait has rebounded under President Trump’s preliminary deal with Iran to wind down the war, and oil supplies have recovered, pushing futures prices back near pre-war levels.
Oil producers are also ploughing investment into alternative routes and overseas storage with new urgency to get around the chokepoint.
This isn’t what Tehran was hoping for.
Iran wants vessels seeking to cross the strait to first get its approval, use its waters and eventually pay fees. But as Iranian attacks give Gulf exporters greater incentives to find alternatives, Iran’s ability to force concessions is weakening.
“The attacks are meant to disrupt and deter ships from traversing the strait,” Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at London’s Chatham House think tank. “There are diminishing returns to this strategy and Iran’s authority. They are cutting off the branch they are sitting on.”..
Activity in the southern corridor, approved by the United Nations’ maritime agency and watched over by the US military, has helped transits return to about a third of their pre-war levels. Around three dozen vessels crossed Monday, compared with only a handful each day during the war, according to commodities data company Kpler.
That circumvention of Iran’s control has irked domestic critics of the preliminary peace deal with the US, which primarily aimed to reopen the strait and take pressure off oil prices.
After seeing data about rising oil exports, Ehsan Hosseini, editor in chief of the conservative Iranian economic website Khat-e Energy, blamed the country’s negotiators for tolerating the Omani corridor.
“Your grave mistake is unforgivable,” he said, addressing the Iranian diplomats in a video on his YouTube account. “Someone has tied the hands of the armed forces.”
Iran’s play to control the Strait of Hormuz has become a major sticking point in its internal debate about how to deal with the West. Civilian leaders including President Masoud Pezeshkian hope to free up billions of dollars in frozen funds to bring some relief to the millions of Iranians struggling with the aftershocks of the war and an underlying economic crisis.
The Revolutionary Guard, meanwhile, aims to keep full control of the strait with plans for lucrative service fees and regional sway.
On Friday, chief Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the strait should remain open, because it benefits Iran’s own shipping interests. But that same day, religious leaders across the country called for a hard-line approach to unapproved maritime traffic.
“If any ship passes through this waterway without permission and without observing the laws of the Islamic Republic, it will be sunk in the depths of the Persian Gulf,” said Mohammad-Nabi Mousavifard, the Friday prayer leader for the Iranian city of Ahvaz.
Iran’s attacks early Tuesday targeted a liquefied natural gas tanker from Qatar, whose exports dried up in March and April but have now steadied at high levels. On Saturday, India ended temporary restrictions on the use of imported natural gas due to the resumption of LNG deliveries through Hormuz.
Oil exports from the United Arab Emirates have been quick to rebound using bypass pipelines, alternative routes and dark voyages along Oman’s coast to lift exports from 1.9 million barrels a day in March to 4.3 million in early June, nearly 85% of pre-war levels. Analysts say flows have since approached 5 million barrels a day.
Kuwait’s exports have also risen, while Saudi Arabia is also relying on its Red Sea bypass as tankers resume Gulf exits.
The Wall St Journal
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