Iran Challenges Trump Over Control of Strait of Hormuz

The MeidasTouch Podcast

The episode examines the escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, focusing on Iran's challenge to Donald Trump regarding control of

Key takeaways

• Iran's IRGC has challenged Donald Trump to a physical inspection of the Strait of Hormuz to verify control.
• The Strategic Petroleum Reserve has seen its 27th consecutive weekly decline, reaching levels not seen since 1982.

Main topics

• Strait of Hormuz security
• Strategic Petroleum Reserve depletion

Notable quotes

The math just ain't mathing.

Conclusion

The episode highlights a deep distrust of US and Israeli diplomatic ma

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) Iran just called Donald Trump's bluff and Trump just revealed what a weak and pathetic hand he has. An IRGC spokesperson just held a press conference addressing Iran and the world press and said, here's what we should do. We invite Donald Trump and his regime to the Strait of Hormuz. We will allow them to see the reality for themselves. Iran will cover their costs and expenses, and we will videotape their trip to the Strait of Hormuz, and they can see and the world can see who really controls it, right? So if the Trump regime really controls the Strait of Hormuz, and if it's true what the Trump regime says, that more oil is getting out of the Strait of Hormuz now than before the war started, which makes very little sense. Why is it that on Monday and Tuesday, the Trump regime announced that it will be offering up to 40 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which could drive total inventories below 250 million barrels? Currently, there's only about 283.8 million barrels left in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. That's the lowest level since 1982. And this marks the 27th consecutive weekly decline, putting inventories down more than 132 million barrels from their high. So why is that happening if more oil is getting out from the Strait of Hormuz than from before the war? Also, why is the 30-year Treasury note yield? rising above 5.6 % for the first time since June 2002. The bond market doesn't seem to be buying what the Trump regime is selling. All bluff, all bark, no bite, all fraud. That's the Trump regime. That's another 36 basis points on the 30-year note yield this month alone. Folks, 8 % mortgages. will likely be arriving next week, maybe the end of this week. Now, going back to that IRGC spokesperson's press conference, he also addressed the claims from the Trump regime and the Netanyahu regime that Iran is about to reconstitute its nuclear weapons program. Netanyahu has been meeting with MBZ, the president of the United Arab Emirates. and also top Saudi officials over the past week or so. Netanyahu saying, Iran is developing nuclear weapons at Pickaxe Mountain. Iran is about to strike Israel. We need to do a peremptory strike against Iran. Immediately, and multiple people who have been at these meetings between Netanyahu, between the leaders of UAE and Saudi Arabia are saying, this is what Netanyahu is telling the Trump regime and other leaders in the region. We need to strike Iran immediately. And the IRGC spokesperson is saying. How is it that Netanyahu and other American leaders have been saying essentially that we were going to be developing nuclear weapons imminently for the past multiple decades, yet we don't have the nuclear weapons? Does that make any sense at all? Also, top Iranian officials like Moshe Razai, who's the top advisor to Mojtaba. Khomeini, the Ayatollah, and other top Iranian leaders are saying they see no chance of ever doing a deal with Donald Trump, not just before the midterm elections, not just this year, but ever. They say that Donald Trump is someone who you are just incapable of doing a deal with. He lies. He commits fraud. He's a maniac. He's all over the place. He can't be trusted at all. And Iran told Qatari mediators, look, We're happy to go back to the memorandum of understanding that was previously signed between Iran and the United States. Donald Trump signed it. Iran's President Pazeshkin signed it. We'll do the MOU, but we're not going to move away from those terms. We're not going to make concessions. Yeah, the United States media may be propagandizing the people in the United States who no longer buy it anymore. And there's a lot of worldwide propaganda saying the U.S. controls the Strait of Iran. moves, but the actual data reveals the contrary. And, you know, we just. I feel confident in our position is essentially what Iran is saying at this point. I mean, here's what we're learning about these Netanyahu meetings. Netanyahu is sharing purported Israeli intelligence with MBZ, the leader of UAE, showing that Iran is resuming nuclear progress, including new construction at Pickaxe Mountain, 140 miles south of Tehran. He also told this meeting, which included Saudi security officials, that He was going to be also dealing with issues regarding the Houthis, regarding Bab el-Mandab, regarding the Strait of Hormuz. And so Netanyahu is at it again right there. And as this one account says, I have a question for all the geniuses out there. Look, if oil is flowing through the Strait of Hormuz and the Saudi East-West pipeline is... operational, then why is Donald Trump releasing another 40 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve? The math just ain't mathing. Can somebody help me understand this? And I also want to point out this story. It's getting more and more weird. The event that took place at the Royal Air Force Base in the UK at Fairford. Apparently, this purported plot was foiled when one of the alleged suspects phoned the police on himself. And so a farmer driving home in the early hours of Sunday morning saw the van surrounded by these men, alerted police at 1.36 a.m. However, the Times understands the authorities were already on the scene by then because the suspect had called nearly one hour earlier. It's why I said I want to monitor very carefully what's happening there because we heard a lot of international media and media here in the United States also trying to link this to Iran. It's very close, right, to the Air Force base that's used by. the U.S. to strike Iran. And so I said, I want to get more data here, given all of the developments that are happening. Now, as I noted before, apparently Netanyahu was speaking to MBZ of UAE and Saudi officials about Ansarallah, the Houthis. And I want to see what's going on there right now. I mean, last we learned, the Ansarallah, the Houthis were moving east after pretty much taking all over. Western Yemen and controlling the Bab el-Mandab Strait over there. We heard that certain schools in Riyadh have been canceled. There's been a lot of information that seems to be all over the place, let's just say, from officials saying, well, the East-West pipeline is working in Saudi Arabia. But when you actually look at the satellite footage, It looks like the pumping stations are still very seriously damaged. And it's always like sources close are saying. And so is this a massive effort for market manipulation? I want to bring in Hussein al-Bukhati. Hussein al-Bukhati is a pro-Houthi journalist reporting from Sanaa. His brother also, Muhammad al-Bukhati. is a top official in