It’s beyond coincidental at this point that Trump keeps releasing these Friday [market manipulation statements](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cge0grppe3po). It’s the grift that keeps on giving.
55
Viva_La_Revolucion-16 hr ago
+22
And wallstreet just keeps that bubble blowing
22
T_Shurt17 hr ago
+20
From the article:
Contrary to statements from Trump’s White House claiming that Iran wants direct talks with the U.S., Esmaeil Baqaei, spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry says, “No meeting is planned to take place between Iran and the U.S. Iran’s observations would be conveyed to Pakistan.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be in Pakistan to engage in “direct talks” with Iran.
Tasnim News Agency, which is associated with Iran’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, also disputed the notion of direct talks on Friday. They reported Iranian officials had not agreed to meet directly with the U.S. during this trip.
20
Plane-Breakfast-881716 hr ago
+37
I’ve spent time in Iran. Sending Kushner just shows they don’t understand who they’re dealing with.
The cultural gap is huge. You don’t just fly in and “do talks.” You sit down, have chai, talk properly, build trust first — that’s the process.
Iran is literally saying they don’t even have a meeting planned and are passing messages through Pakistan. So what is this supposed to be?
And the reality is Iran has leverage here. ~20% of global oil moves through the Strait of Hormuz, and the disruption tools they rely on — fast boats, mines, mobile launchers — are c**** and easily replaced. You don’t need dominance, you just need to make transit risky.
Trump completely underestimated this and fired anyone who disagreed with him.
37
[deleted]15 hr ago
+1
[deleted]
1
deviled-tux15 hr ago
+15
No amount of bunker busters can open the strait so this is moot really
15
[deleted]15 hr ago
-8
[deleted]
-8
UsedToHaveThisName14 hr ago
+10
Cause Iran to launch missiles at all the Gulf countries, destroy desalination plants, and destabilize the region and world economy for a decade? Yeah, sounds great.
10
this_dudeagain14 hr ago
-3
And finally force all the gulf countries to join the war against Iran?
-3
SetPhasersToFuckUp15 hr ago
+1
How much does each bunker buster cost?
1
xerthighus14 hr ago
The first had Iran launching sustained attacks and the US hitting bridges and chemical factories over launch and storage infrastructure because we lacked the capability to actually make military progress beyond the first two days.
0
bejammin0756 hr ago
+1
Maybe Trump is accomplishing his true goals for Daddy Putin just fine:
- Weaken America: blow most of US missile stock in a stupid counter-productive war.
- Weaken America: strain all of our NATO alliances.
- Get America bogged down so that we can't assist Ukraine.
- Jack up oil prices that benefit Russia.
1
LateralEntry7 hr ago
+1
Wow, you visited Iran so that clearly gives you insight into world leader level war talks
1
KopOut17 hr ago
+13
It is very hard to know who is lying and who isn’t because both sides are just epic liars, but it does kind of make sense that Iran would not waste their time in direct talks with just Witkoff and Kushner. I say this for two reasons. First, their status is not that high officially which is insulting. And second, they appear to want to speak to Vance because they know he at least pretends to not want to go to war with them so they probably feel he will be easier to extract things from.
Whatever the real story is, it does not seem like something that will be wrapped up anytime soon.
13
T_Shurt16 hr ago
+7
Good points. It’s so painfully brutal to listen to Trump’s sycophants giving press conferences. Pete Hegseth’s absurd comments like “the war is decisively won due to a powerful and determined president that is doing the world a favor with his bravery to tackle the Iranian regime,” is enough to make anyone sick. I agree with your assessment of Iran being more trustworthy at this point, which is something I’d never predict saying or thinking in previous administrations.
7
smitteh12 hr ago
+2
His bravery? Is he out there, uh , loitering? *hand waves in a circle*
2
alien2sick16 hr ago
+6
No it's clear to see who is lying, and if you can't see it open your eyes
6
Kendertas7 hr ago
+2
Also they've twice now been in the middle of negotiations with Witkoff and Kushner and had suprise bombs dropped on their heads. Its clear to Iran its pointless to talk to them because even if you negotiate in good faith, your still likely to get attacked because you aren't just completely rolling over like their orange boss wants. In peace time it took 2 years to get a deal done.
2
EdiblePeasant12 hr ago
+1
How would my life be complete without Vance? I should meet him and see how it goes.
1
MAVERICK91016 hr ago
+13
The Iranians don't need to negotiate. They know the longer the strait is closed the worse it will get for Trump.
They are going to drag this out as long as possible.
Trump's ego won't allow him to even consider walking away as it would be a defeat.
We are possibly 2/3 weeks away from an global economic castrophe because of one idiots ego.
13
[deleted]16 hr ago
-5
[deleted]
-5
MAVERICK91016 hr ago
+6
Because Trump et al bought themselves about 6 weeks of time by getting major powers to tap into their strategic oil reserves. Most only have about 12 weeks worth. I think Japan had only 8.
The last ship that left the strait would have arrived at its destination this week. The real actual drop in oil is going to start now. The real pain is coming.
Inflation is about to jump massively.
Trump is searching for an off ramp that's not a loss. But no such off ramp exists.
6
this_dudeagain14 hr ago
+2
There are pipelines that go around the straight it's just not enough to feed demand or at least without raising the price of oil. Iran has used the straight as leverage since the revolution it's just never been this bad.
2
[deleted]16 hr ago
-5
[deleted]
-5
G00b3rb0y15 hr ago
+3
There won’t be another pipeline. Iran will literally seek it out and annihilate it before it gets off the ground
3
beginner7514 hr ago
-1
Pipelines are easy to repair bro. The downtime is like 12 hours. They could also be subterranean or covered in sand.
-1
MAVERICK91015 hr ago
+3
That is completely untrue. It takes on average between 20 to 45 days for transits, not two weeks!
Look I tup.
And it's not just oil, it's LNG, it's Urea and a host of shit.
2 weeks to lay a pipeline across 1,000 miles of desert?! Lol
You will start to notice all this beyond gas prices soon. Groceries will be the first to start increasing.
Do you honestly think shutting off 20% of the world's oil will have minimal affect?
In the oil crisis in 1973, production stopped for 6 weeks and at the time Gulf oil only accounted for 7% of the world's oil supply. That crisis caused the recession that lasted much of the 70s! Massive inflation too.
Trump could end this bullshit tomorrow by just walking away. But he won't because he's a weak ego driven narcissist.
3
beginner7514 hr ago
+1
It’s 20 days from Qatar to Yokohama. I just used a month to put in some time for refueling and 3 days r&r for the crew at ports of call. 45 days is a stretch. The last ships arrived 2 weeks ago is a conservative estimate. Sure there will be some grey ships that take a longer time as they will be transferring the fuel at sea to another ship but even that won’t take more than 35 days.
1
smitteh12 hr ago
+1
Cause I fill my gas tank and my stomach with stock market
1
snoopingforpooping16 hr ago
+3
Treating the U.S. like a bunch of jabronis
3
this_dudeagain14 hr ago
+2
They not have zoom in Iran?
2
Easik6 hr ago
+1
Why would they even bother to negotiate? Trump can't do anything except kill 70 million people or walk away. This blockade and the release of sanctioned funds are at odds with each other for a quick resolution. It would probably take 6 month blockade for this regime to consider real negotiations and the US Navy cannot sustain that long without significant cost and sea mines being deployed on the coast of Iran. On top of that, if China starts escorting vessels or accidentally hits a sea mine, then it's WW3 time.
1
itspronouncedbolonya17 hr ago
+4
As long as Pakistan is the mediator, war is going to continue, you need a neutral mediator if you want to get anywhere, and pakistan doesn't recognise nor agree to talk to one of the parties
34 Comments