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I wonder when the Qatari’s are going to repossess the jet they gave Trump. That gift hasn’t worked out too well for them now his excursion into Iran has resulted in missiles and drones heading in their direction.

Trump bombed all the military installations on Kharg Island today which Iran uses to export 90% of its oil, nearly all to China. He has also threatened to bomb the oil infrastructure on the island if Iran continues to block the Strait of Hormuz. I think the Iranians will call his bluff. They can’t stop him, but it would just give them more incentive to hit back and keep the blockade up if he does go ahead. The regime will fight to the bitter end because they have nothing to lose. Trump is also supposed to meet with Xi Jin Ping at the end of the month. Xi won’t be happy if Trump has demolished his main source of oil.

He’s just sent 5000 marines into the area but it will take them two weeks to get there so this conflict is going to go on

Nobody would like to see Iran’s regime destroyed more than the Iranians themselves, but Trump went into this with no idea of what it would take to eliminate the regime and no thought of the consequences if he got it wrong. The outcome was entirely predictable had he taken the time to think it through. His military advisors, the real ones - not that idiot Hegseth, could have told him (probably did) because they have war gamed this scenario for years.

Good article. Let’s hope the US and Israel don’t start hitting Iran’s water supplies and hospitals. I don’t think the US would go that far because Trump couldn’t afford the political consequences, but I wouldn’t put it past Israel.

I think this will go on for weeks and months if not longer. Trump has lost control of the war and despite all the destruction in Iran, the regime is now in the driving seat. The US knows roughly how much enriched uranium Iran has but not where it is, so that’s a big problem. Khamenei had issued two fatwahs in the past stating that having a nuclear weapon was not compatible with their religious beliefs, so it’s a moot point as to whether Iran would ever have developed a bomb. Iran achieved its goal with the threat alone, which was enough to get the West’s attention. Now however, with a new leader all bets are off. They apparently have enough uranium for between 11 and 16 Hiroshima type weapons, although not the long range delivery systems. That doesn’t really matter because they just have to set off one or two underground to prove the point. Trump could likely have got a deal had he continued negotiating instead of going to war. Contrary to their ambitions the US and Israel have not wiped out all Iran’s drones and rockets, and they can make more. They don’t have to import them. They have a couple of thousand sea mines and a fleet of fishing boats and midget submarines that can lay them. They have already attacked the neighbouring countries aiming to get them to pressure the Americans to abandon their bases, which may happen as it’s now clear the bases are putting them at risk rather than being a deterrent. The US and Israel are also at risk of running short of expensive missiles themselves pretty soon too. In the meantime Russia has stepped in to help the Iranians giving Putin a bargaining chip to use on Trump - “We’ll stop helping Iran if you stop helping Ukraine”. Iran has successfully bottled up the Strait with severe consequences for world energy supplies and other products such as fertiliser. The US and Israeli attacks on infrastructure and historically important sites is turning the population against the US and Trump in particular. Trump and Hegseth have got most of the US population offside as well. Trump has no off-ramp here and it’s his nature to just make a bad situation worse by never wanting to be seen to be a loser, but he’s already lost this war. All that remains is to go through the process of losing.

Scomo and Abbot were a lot worse.

The Washington Post and other sources have reported that two ships owned by an Iranian company that the US has accused of supplying material to Iran's missile program left a Chinese chemical-storage port during the week and appeared to be headed towards Iran, according to a Washington Post analysis of ship-tracking data, satellite imagery and Treasury Department records. They are known to have transported perchlorate in the past to make rocket fuel. I wonder how far they'll get.

The ceremony would have been a lot more respectful if he hadn't shown up at all.

She obviously doesn't like him much.

An even bigger irony is that the US manufactures it’s own version of a Shahed 136 drone called LUCAS. They reverse engineered a Shahed.

So it wasn't invented by Biggles then?

I wonder if he factored in the cost of the jerrycans. He may not be saving much.

There were three Australians in the submarine crew who basically stayed in their bunks so we could say that Australia took no part in the attack.

It’s been reported that the Russians are supplying Iran with targeting information for their missiles. Donald might have to give his friend Vladimir a call.