Footage of Iranian police firing small arms at a pair of USAF HH-60Ws searching for the downed F-15E crew earlier today. Guessing these are the Jolly Green II Rescue Squadron.
https://x.com/Osinttechnical/status/2040145805802106941
History not repeating, but rhyming. The Little Girl of Hanoi (1974, Vietnam).
![[Image: DXWB98HO_o.jpg]](https://images2.imgbox.com/12/c5/DXWB98HO_o.jpg)
https://x.com/AliR_Ahmadi/status/2040065774526550297
Meanwhile, Iran has rejected a U.S. proposal for a 48-hour ceasefire, an unnamed source has told Iran's semi-official Fars news agency.
![[Image: ZwlweNYt_o.jpg]](https://images2.imgbox.com/5e/b4/ZwlweNYt_o.jpg)
As of 31 March Six more A-10 Thunderbolt II's have arrived at RAF Lakenheath in the UK, bringing the total to 18 'Warthogs' now in England. (I guess one less after today)
Due to the angry French and Spaniards and Italians, the US bombers have had to circumvent Europe burning more fuel and longer flight times.
![[Image: jpkvPAij_o.jpg]](https://images2.imgbox.com/b9/a7/jpkvPAij_o.jpg)
Two USAF EA-37B Compass Call aircraft (AXIS 41/43) visited RAF Mildenhall on 31 Mar 2026—marking the type’s first UK appearance and likely first overseas deployment. Arriving from Davis-Monthan AFB Arizona via JB McGuire, both departed on April 2nd.
![[Image: ctwZ2REB_o.jpg]](https://images2.imgbox.com/17/5a/ctwZ2REB_o.jpg)
There are only believed to be 5 of these new jets operational at present, from an order of 10, with L3Harris & BAE Systems taking the Gulfstream G550 business jet and fitting the specialist electronic warfare equipment suite. It incorporates BAE Systems' Small Adaptive Bank of Electronic Resources (SABER) technology.
The role of the Compass Call is to disrupt enemy command and control communications, radars, and navigation systems, significantly hindering adversary coordination as part of the Counter-Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Targeting (Counter-C5ISRT) mission.
Iranian military responds to Trump's threats to blow up Iranian bridges and power plants.
![[Image: SlbrENlK_o.jpg]](https://images2.imgbox.com/5c/52/SlbrENlK_o.jpg)
Meanwhile, Iran continues to target the UAE...
Emirates Global Aluminium says it will take up to 12 months to completely restore aluminum production at its Al Taweelah site, one of the biggest aluminum production complexes in the world, after recent Iranian attacks on the site.
![[Image: Vm5HGeiV_o.jpg]](https://images2.imgbox.com/c7/c9/Vm5HGeiV_o.jpg)
Operations at the Habshan gas facilities, the biggest gas processing site in the United Arab Emirates, were suspended early on Friday following a fire that erupted after an attack, Abu Dhabi Media Office said.
The Gulf states will soon have one of two options. Expel the Americans and close their airspace to them, or join the war fully and risk far bigger destruction.
That said, I doubt the War Dept. will care for things like technically closed airspace.
QatarEnergy, the world’s largest LNG export plant has been offline for a month due to Iranian missile attacks. They produce 20% of the world's LNG. Every week that it is offline, the world loses enough energy to power all of the homes in Sydney Australia...for a year. Qatar's energy minister said it will take 3-5 years to bring it back to full operation. That sounds bad.
Qatar's biggest LNG buyers are China, India, Taiwan, Pakistan, South Korea, Kuwait and Italy. The second largest LNG exporter is the USA but not able to make up for the Qatar loss. So, LNG is probably going to skyrocket in price. Most of the eastern hemisphere could look like North Korea at night. Meh, someone will figure something out or go back to burning coal.
The IRGC is now charging tolls, with rates starting at $1 per barrel of oil, on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, paid in Chinese Yuan or stablecoins, per Bloomberg.
1. To pass, ship operators must first contact an intermediary company linked to the IRGC.
2. They then provide their vessel’s ownership, flag, the cargo manifest, destination, crew list, and transponder information
3. The intermediary then passes the file onto the IRGC Navy’s Hormozgan Provincial Command for background checks to ensure no link to the US or Israel
4. Iran has a ranking system of 1 to 5 for nations, with ships from countries that are seen as friendly more likely to get better terms
Once the toll is paid, the IRGC issues a permit code and route instructions for the ship to pass. Every toll paid accelerates the yuan's role in commodity trade and builds a template for dollar bypass that survives any eventual conflict resolution.
The $2 million flat fee per transit runs roughly $1 per barrel on a fully loaded VLCC, but the cost wedge is the bigger story.
China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iraq, and Malaysia transit at baseline rates. US-linked, Israeli-linked, and EU-flagged vessels face $4 to $6 per barrel all-in cost penalties once war risk insurance premiums running 3.5 to 10% of hull value stack on top.
That spread structurally advantages Asian refiners over European competitors on every single cargo moving through the strait.
![[Image: fdteulEO_o.jpg]](https://images2.imgbox.com/65/21/fdteulEO_o.jpg)
Can't imagine this toll booth racket will last very long.
"But while governments scramble to find a way around the strait, a pipeline sits half-finished in the Baluchistan desert that could have solved the problem decades ago. So why wasn’t it completed?
This current oil crisis is not a bolt from the blue - the possibility has been debated time and time again for decades. So why has the world not figured out an alternative already? And why, with all these warnings in place, did Donald Trump decide to go ahead with military intervention?"
Some important lessons from history. "We were warned about the Strait of Hormuz" by Australian Broadcasting Corporation's 'If You're Listening'
https://x.com/Osinttechnical/status/2040145805802106941
History not repeating, but rhyming. The Little Girl of Hanoi (1974, Vietnam).
https://x.com/AliR_Ahmadi/status/2040065774526550297
Meanwhile, Iran has rejected a U.S. proposal for a 48-hour ceasefire, an unnamed source has told Iran's semi-official Fars news agency.
As of 31 March Six more A-10 Thunderbolt II's have arrived at RAF Lakenheath in the UK, bringing the total to 18 'Warthogs' now in England. (I guess one less after today)
Due to the angry French and Spaniards and Italians, the US bombers have had to circumvent Europe burning more fuel and longer flight times.
Two USAF EA-37B Compass Call aircraft (AXIS 41/43) visited RAF Mildenhall on 31 Mar 2026—marking the type’s first UK appearance and likely first overseas deployment. Arriving from Davis-Monthan AFB Arizona via JB McGuire, both departed on April 2nd.
There are only believed to be 5 of these new jets operational at present, from an order of 10, with L3Harris & BAE Systems taking the Gulfstream G550 business jet and fitting the specialist electronic warfare equipment suite. It incorporates BAE Systems' Small Adaptive Bank of Electronic Resources (SABER) technology.
The role of the Compass Call is to disrupt enemy command and control communications, radars, and navigation systems, significantly hindering adversary coordination as part of the Counter-Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Targeting (Counter-C5ISRT) mission.
Iranian military responds to Trump's threats to blow up Iranian bridges and power plants.
Meanwhile, Iran continues to target the UAE...
Emirates Global Aluminium says it will take up to 12 months to completely restore aluminum production at its Al Taweelah site, one of the biggest aluminum production complexes in the world, after recent Iranian attacks on the site.
Operations at the Habshan gas facilities, the biggest gas processing site in the United Arab Emirates, were suspended early on Friday following a fire that erupted after an attack, Abu Dhabi Media Office said.
The Gulf states will soon have one of two options. Expel the Americans and close their airspace to them, or join the war fully and risk far bigger destruction.
That said, I doubt the War Dept. will care for things like technically closed airspace.
QatarEnergy, the world’s largest LNG export plant has been offline for a month due to Iranian missile attacks. They produce 20% of the world's LNG. Every week that it is offline, the world loses enough energy to power all of the homes in Sydney Australia...for a year. Qatar's energy minister said it will take 3-5 years to bring it back to full operation. That sounds bad.
Qatar's biggest LNG buyers are China, India, Taiwan, Pakistan, South Korea, Kuwait and Italy. The second largest LNG exporter is the USA but not able to make up for the Qatar loss. So, LNG is probably going to skyrocket in price. Most of the eastern hemisphere could look like North Korea at night. Meh, someone will figure something out or go back to burning coal.
The IRGC is now charging tolls, with rates starting at $1 per barrel of oil, on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, paid in Chinese Yuan or stablecoins, per Bloomberg.
1. To pass, ship operators must first contact an intermediary company linked to the IRGC.
2. They then provide their vessel’s ownership, flag, the cargo manifest, destination, crew list, and transponder information
3. The intermediary then passes the file onto the IRGC Navy’s Hormozgan Provincial Command for background checks to ensure no link to the US or Israel
4. Iran has a ranking system of 1 to 5 for nations, with ships from countries that are seen as friendly more likely to get better terms
Once the toll is paid, the IRGC issues a permit code and route instructions for the ship to pass. Every toll paid accelerates the yuan's role in commodity trade and builds a template for dollar bypass that survives any eventual conflict resolution.
The $2 million flat fee per transit runs roughly $1 per barrel on a fully loaded VLCC, but the cost wedge is the bigger story.
China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iraq, and Malaysia transit at baseline rates. US-linked, Israeli-linked, and EU-flagged vessels face $4 to $6 per barrel all-in cost penalties once war risk insurance premiums running 3.5 to 10% of hull value stack on top.
That spread structurally advantages Asian refiners over European competitors on every single cargo moving through the strait.
Can't imagine this toll booth racket will last very long.
"But while governments scramble to find a way around the strait, a pipeline sits half-finished in the Baluchistan desert that could have solved the problem decades ago. So why wasn’t it completed?
This current oil crisis is not a bolt from the blue - the possibility has been debated time and time again for decades. So why has the world not figured out an alternative already? And why, with all these warnings in place, did Donald Trump decide to go ahead with military intervention?"
Some important lessons from history. "We were warned about the Strait of Hormuz" by Australian Broadcasting Corporation's 'If You're Listening'
"It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong." – Thomas Sowell