[Yoshua]

Iran is a terrorist nation, jihad is their religion.

War it is.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Yoshua', 'I')ran .... terror attacks, which has led to rising insurance costs for tankers loading in the Gulf.

[evilgenius]

Wasn't one of those drone pipeline attacks against the Saudi's pipeline going to their export port on the Red Sea? It looks like a strategic play at bottling up oil into the gulf, then a hampering of that. It looks directed at Saudi Arabia. Is there any reason at all for the Saudis to participate in something like that? The attacks have been limited enough that they suggest asking about friendly fire. I have to ask that question. Obviously, there are lots of reason for Iran to. I'm not suggesting overlooking the obvious.

[Ibon]

Skepticism about the major narrative unfolding is wise.

We no longer trust governments even our own. We no longer trust corporations especially those Eisenhower warned us about.

And of course the oil companies would love constarints caused by geopolitical conflict as this would increase the price of oil.

We no longer live in a world where a sense of trust and faith and goodness rules.

We live in a world of nefarious manipulations.

Nothing would surprise me.

I would never allow a young man of my blood be a pawn of scheisters.

We no longer live in a world of noble leaders

[waterpowerman1]

It looks like SOMEONE has some high tech drones capable of long range and significant payload. They didn't buy them at Walmart. I don't give the Iranians or their minions in Somalia that much credit. The other guys though......

[asg70]

This is a failure of diplomacy on both sides. I hate baiting Plant but Obama made serious inroads with Iran before losing office and Trump squandered it. When dealing with regimes on both ends that lack diplomatic skills and will never budge an inch, it's only a matter of time before the situation starts escalating.

The thing about Trump though, is he is mostly talk and little action. Most of his foreign-policy platform has been isolationist. He has yet to fully flex US military muscle and I'm not sure he really wants to.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('waterpowerman1', 'I')t looks like SOMEONE has some high tech drones capable of long range and significant payload. They didn't buy them at Walmart. I don't give the Iranians or their minions in Somalia that much credit. The other guys though......

[dissident]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Yoshua', 'I')ran is a terrorist nation, jihad is their religion.

War it is.

[EdwinSm]

I know the source is not to everyone's taste, but it is hard to check all the data. Most shipping sites have the owner's data locked behind a pay wall, but the Front Altair seems be be owned by "Front Altair Inc" which uses the address c/o Frontline Management AS, Bryggegata 3, 0250 Oslo, Norway https://world-ships.com/company/0951fdff16e87110fa619101cc811388#.XQT9yo9S_IU

According to Bloomberg John Frederiksen is Chairman/Presidenthttps://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/7536444Z:NO

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')nd BBG's Javier Blas pointed out that should Iran be found responsible, it would be a strange turn of events since the Front Altair is owned by John Frederiksen, the owner of the Frontline Tanker company, who moved oil for Iran during the "tanker war" with Iraq.

[rockdoc123]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')hi'ites have no real terrorist organization to their name, unless you swallow the BS about Hezbollah.

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ibon', 'S')kepticism about the major narrative unfolding is wise.

We no longer trust governments even our own. We no longer trust corporations especially those Eisenhower warned us about.

And of course the oil companies would love constraints caused by geopolitical conflict as this would increase the price of oil.

We no longer live in a world where a sense of trust and faith and goodness rules.

We live in a world of nefarious manipulations.

Nothing would surprise me.

I would never allow a young man of my blood be a pawn of scheisters.

We no longer live in a world of noble leaders

[Plantagenet]

I was watching the German World News program on PBS last night, and they were discussing the Gulf Attacks. They showed the US Navy video of Iranians in an Iranian boat disconnecting a mine from the oil tanker and then racing away. Then they brought in an "expert" to debunk the US claim that the Iranians had attacked the tankers.

The "expert" proceeded to criticize the US video. He said the people in the boat looked like Iranians, and the boat was exactly the kind of boat that the Iranian revolutionary guard uses, and it looked like they were removing a mine. But then he went on to say that the world shouldn't accept the American claims without evidence. He finished by saying that if only the Americans had some video evidence to back up their case then it might be believable.

You can't get much better evidence then a video showing Iranians in a boat with a mine at the tanker. Asking for another video to prove up the first video doesn't make much sense, IMHO.

-------------------------------------

IMHO Trump should've taken military action after the first two tankers were attacked. Now two more have been attacked. And, if Trump does nothing, we'll see more attacks in the future.

The Iranians tried this same crap back when Reagan was President. Reagan responded by destroying the Iranian Navy and two offshore oil rigs. The Iranian attacks on oil tankers stopped after Reagan destroyed their Navy.

Reagan-us-strikes-2-iranian-oil-rigs-hits-6-warships-battles-over-mining-sea-lanes-gulf

Trump is talking about sending the video to the UN and having an international investigation and nonsense like that. But we've been in this exact same situation before and President Reagan showed how to stop Iranian attacks. The Iranian attacks on oil tankers stopped after Reagan destroyed their Navy and two oil rigs..... Trump needs to emulate Reagan and solve this problem quickly.

Cheers!

[Ibon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tanada', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ibon', 'S')kepticism about the major narrative unfolding is wise.

We no longer trust governments even our own. We no longer trust corporations especially those Eisenhower warned us about.

And of course the oil companies would love constraints caused by geopolitical conflict as this would increase the price of oil.

We no longer live in a world where a sense of trust and faith and goodness rules.

We live in a world of nefarious manipulations.

Nothing would surprise me.

I would never allow a young man of my blood be a pawn of scheisters.

We no longer live in a world of noble leaders

[EnergyUnlimited]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ibon', 'W')ith this still so fresh on all our minds I find it astonishing how quickly folks jump on to the bandwagon based on a fuzzy video clip that this was the act of Iran. How about a little consistency regarding healthy skepticism?

[StarvingLion]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cog', 'W')ell the US Navy can put every Iranian naval asset on the bottom of the Persian Gulf, so I'd say that would be something.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergyUnlimited', '
')Trump is .... Jesus, so he must be right.

[Shaved Monkey]

Operator of tanker says sailors saw 'flying objects' just before attack

TOKYO

The Japanese operator ship operator of one of two oil tankers attacked near the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday said that sailors on board its vessel, the Kokuka Courageous, saw "flying objects" just before the attack, suggesting the tanker wasn't damaged by mines.

That account contradicts what the U.S. military has said as it released a video it says shows Iranian forces removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the two ships in the suspected attack.

Speaking at a news conference in Tokyo, Yutaka Katada, president of Kokuka Sangyo Co, said he believes the flying objects seen by the sailors could be bullets, and denied possibility of mines or torpedoes because the damages were above the ship's waterline.
He called reports of mine attack "false."

https://japantoday.com/category/nationa ... ore-attack

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Shaved Monkey', '
')Operator of tanker says sailors saw 'flying objects' just before attack

TOKYO

The Japanese operator ship operator of one of two oil tankers attacked near the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday said that sailors on board its vessel, the Kokuka Courageous, saw "flying objects" just before the attack, suggesting the tanker wasn't damaged by mines.

[Yoshua]

Obama imposed sanctions on Iran for their support to Al Qaeda. Iran's revolutionary guard corps trained Al Qaeda in Bosnia during the Balkan wars.

Al Qaeda is a Sunni terrorist organisation, but it doesn't mean that Shia Iran can't use them as a tool for their own goals. It doesn't mean that Iran controls Al Qaeda.

In Yemen the Houthis, who are supported by Iran, are fighting Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda in Yemen is supported by Saudi Arabia and the U.S...since they are fighting the Houthis and in extension Iran.

Things are complicated...not black and white.

[Newfie]

As one would expect gCaptain is carting a lot of news on this subject looking at various angles. I’ve linked a few, many more there. These seem to be the most fresh.

Please note there have been SIX tankers attacked. If you look back far enough you can find more images of the previous damage. One was sufficient to cause some minor flooding. Also in the archives you will find that a Norwegian insurance company did forensic work and concluded it was an Iranian backed effort.

As to trust that Ibon and Tanada are discussing....I believe that the world financial economy now more than ever relies upon trust to function. Trust and shipping to move the trade that props up the economy. One need not physically start a WWIII to do great harm to the fiscal systems that global trade depends upon.

This tanker war is of somewhat limited scope and ironically comes at a time when Iran has less of a stranglehold on oil supply. None the less IMHO this string of events is unsetteling and should be view with caution with regard to investments.

https://gcaptain.com/war-risk-premiums- ... r-attacks/

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')ar risk premiums that owners pay each time they go to the Persian Gulf have now surged to at least $185,000 for supertankers, according to people with knowledge of the market. They rose to $50,000 after the attacks a month ago.