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You should go tell the oil and bond traders. In fact, if you're so confident you should go buy bonds and short oil on leverage and see what happens :)
Serious shortages of essential products ranging from diesel and motor oil to fertilizer? Japan desperately dumping treasuries to cover their oil costs? Did you miss the failed Yen bailout followed by the failed bond bailout?
Iran was not going to get a nuclear weapon in the first place so this has all the probative value of Lisa Simpson's anti-tiger rock.
as we've established, Iran has already received protection money from Gulf countries and charged passing ships money to use their new tolled route. That is, they've already tolled the strait.
Does it only count as "tolling the strait" if the victims all assemble under the full moon to sign a blood oath in the personal presence of the Ayatollah? Because it sounds like you just gave a standard that Trump is already losing under.
Is English your third language? I never said it wasn't an "act of war" but last I checked Iran and the UAE didn't sign a peace treaty. When you pay protection money to the mafia it's the mafia who gets to decide what that "protection" entails, not you. If anything the fact that the Emiratis are literally flying cargo planes loaded with cash and gold only to get bombed anyway makes Iran's position look stronger, not weaker.
No it isn't. That's just not true. Both gas and oil were ~25% cheaper before the war began. You're just making things up at this point.
Not to mention that you totally dodged bond yields, potentially an even bigger problem.
No it isn't. He was claiming to be on the verge of reaching a deal just last week and a week before that was threatening to annihilate Iranian civilization.
Now he's impotently doing nothing as Iran freely hits ships at will. At least in the beginning of the war he would respond to Iranian strikes with American strikes, now he doesn't even bother with that.
Which ships got charged? I'm sure you know so feel free to share here. In fact, if you're so confident you should go buy polymarket contracts and see what happens :)
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Iran does not control the straits of Hormuz. When confronted with this you reply that the price of oil has gone up. Make an argument.
The last time I remember discussing this the sourcing was Iranian news mangling a Reuters report that said nothing close to this being claimed.
You are still denying the reality that American ships are escorting oil tankers through the strait.
Iran and the UAE were never at war so there is no need for them to sign a peace treaty, except that Iran has started bombing their ships anyways. Pedantic, smug, and wrong.
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