US boards ship carrying Iran oil as Trump threatens mine-laying boats

Many talented, intelligent and experienced people did. Unfortunately, they are no longer employed by the US government anymore. Instead you have a racist pedophile, failed business man with late stage demintia with the intelligence and foresight of a toddler calling the shots. Who is well supported by a vast network of enablers, in it for a series of nakedly corrupt reasons, generally with the end goal of turning the United States of America into a series neo feudal corporate fiefdoms ruled by billionaires, for billionaires, so they can exploit the peasants openly like the titled lords of old they consider themselves the descendants they consider themselves. Tis an unfortunate situation we find ourselves in that nobody could have predicted prior to Donald Trump being elected. It's not like they wrote their plan down and labeled it something like Project 2025. Who could have possibly known? And what possibly could have been done? It's a question for the ages that I'm sure will puzzle future historians and spark many very well measured and intelligent academic debates and discussions. Assuming there are historians in the future. The trend line with regards to the US system of government to take decisive action to limit the consequences of climate change by reducing fossil fuel usage, reduce water usage and contamination, reduce the amount of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, and manage forests and wildfires in a manner that has any potential impacts on financial markets or shareholder value, the outlook is not good.

Yeah it's almost like US military experts having been telling US presidents why this was a bad idea for like 40ish years, pretty much every time the Israelis brought it up.

Taco-bell no more please prize

The only way they'll do anything is if someone drops the full unredacted Epstein files. Because then most of them will be on trial and trying to cut deals to save their asses and watch the whole thing collapse like the house of cards it is. The only thing you can trust about these rats is they'll flee a sinking ship and try to save their own asses.

I'm assuming that's when the last pre-war shipment's processing will be done.

If any oil could be used for anything and could be teleported directly from unextracted reserves to where it's needed around the globe, that could be a plan.

Keep dreaming mate. No one is the USA with any real power have the balls to hold him to account here. At best, we can hope he passes away soon, because there isn’t a day of reckoning coming for him. Trump has gotten away with horrible things his whole life, he will die never facing repercussions for any of it. We just need to remember those who failed to act, and ensure they are held accountable once this is all over.

All it takes is a few guys, a toyota and any form of weaponry still laying around that can hit tankers crossing for them to halt it again

Nothing. I'm thinking the IRCG runs a coup before anyone sees him in public.

Risk reward. You can lose 200 million dollars worth of cargo, or you can wait a bit and net gains when perceived threat is less. Obviously can’t wait forever but also obviously no sense going after risks you don’t need to take when the costs are rather high.

Avoided is the point of counter mobility operations. Avoided. You WANT the minefield to make people avoid, redirect, delay, or move more cautiously. That’s what mines do. They don’t prevent ingress. They route you where movement is wanted or route you in a way that is advantageous to the side laying the mines. There is very real benefit to Iran to force further delays (presidential power to unilaterally act can’t go on forever before congress steps in) and force further harm to the perception of US conventional military dominance by making the civilian traffic in the region believe there is to some degree mines present. Iran knows this is not a fight you won directly but you can win on the political and economic damage fronts. Control traffic through the strait, that is the appearance of power, that is to deny your enemy winning. Even if this is 10 mines total, it is an effective mismatch in size of allocated resources needed to oppose the perception of a threat. The US will have to spend orders of magnitude more in cost, time, and political capital to address this perception. It doesn’t have to be real to be perceived threat. While it may be true Hegseth is looking for an excuse to bomb more targets and declare easy wins (the US will always win the “bomb this thing” game), it doesn’t mean the opposing position is any less valuable for Iran. These are not mutually exclusive.

Are you seriously arguing with someone who has actual experience with sea mines?