back to an endless Republicans war so 30 years in Iran over or under

@thirdperson

 100% spot on as usual!  

uk foreign Minister of war covenes 40 nation 

to open the straight of homuz

partial transcript.

The United Kingdom convened an international meeting today to discuss ways to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. This comes just a day after President Trump again said that the U.S. should not bear the responsibility of opening the strait and called on other countries to do so. The U.S. was not involved in today's meeting. NPR's Fatima Al-Kassab has been monitoring these talks. She joins us from London. Hi.

FATIMA AL-KASSAB, BYLINE: Hi.

SUMMERS: Hi. Start by telling us more about this meeting. What countries were involved?

AL-KASSAB: Yes. So this was a virtual call convened by Britain's foreign secretary from London, and it included counterparts from over 40 countries - representatives from European countries, Canada, but, as you said, not the U.S. Now, Yvette Cooper spoke to her counterparts from a long banquet table in the foreign office in Westminster, and in her opening remarks, she talked about Iran's recklessness, which she said was a direct threat to global prosperity.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

YVETTE COOPER: We have seen Iran hijack an international shipping route to hold the global economy hostage.

AL-KASSAB: Now, this wasn't a conversation about military options. The foreign secretary said these would be discussed next week at another meeting of military planners from these same countries. But the goal of today's meeting was thrashing out economic and diplomatic steps that this coalition can take both now and when the fighting stops to help the flow of shipping in this crucial waterway.

SUMMERS: OK. Interesting. Did anything substantive come out of the meeting?

AL-KASSAB: Yeah. So they discussed a lot of things, including increasing international diplomatic pressure, including through the U.N. on Iran to reopen the strait, exploring economic measures such as sanctions to bear on Iran, they said, if the strait remains closed. And they also discussed things like working with the International Maritime Organization to help what the foreign secretary said were some 20,000 sailors and thousands of ships that are currently stuck in the strait.

But she said it was also about looking ahead to the future, how they can secure the strait when, and only when, the fighting stops. But ultimately, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said this was about showing the strength of what she said was our international determination to reopen the strait. She was keen to stress that 40 countries had taken part and showing - showed that they were coming together and they were united in their condemnation of Iran and in their commitment to solve this through diplomatic means

April 03, 2026 11:36

Hegseth asked U.S. Army chief of staff to step down

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has asked General Randy George to step down as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, an official said on Thursday.

more command shake expected 

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed a report from U.S. broadcaster CBS that said George had been asked to take immediate retirement.

The reason for the request was not immediately known, but CBS quoted a source as saying Mr. Hegseth wanted someone who would implement his and President Donald Trump’s vision for the Army.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell later posted a statement on X that said Mr. George “will be retiring from his position... effective immediately,” without specifying a reason.

Mr. George is the latest senior military officer to be ousted during Mr. Trump’s second term, and his removal as the top Army officer comes with the United States engaged in a war with Iran that the president has indicated could last for several more weeks. 

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has offered Ukraine’s maritime expertise, honed in the Black Sea, to help secure the Strait of Hormuz amid heightened Middle East tensions. Ukrainian officials participated in a multinational meeting with about 40 countries to discuss reopening the vital oil route, currently disrupted by Iranian actions. Kyiv frames the move as both a security contribution and a chance to expand strategic partnerships in the Gulf.

@Barbarossa

 Iranian negotiators proudly admitted they stockpiled enough uranium for 11 nuclear bombs, attainable in weeks.

According to who exactly??  Oh, yes....Steven Witkoff aka Benji Nety's best buddy.  

"How many times do we have to be told" 

Doesn't matter because they never tell you the truth, you have to find it yourself. 

"Vietnam"  lied to you and American public for YEARS. 

"Weapons of mass destruction in Iraq" 

"Must pour billions into Ukraine to stop Russia from taking over Europe"   

"two weeks to stop the spread" 

"Maduro had to go" 

"Iran was gonna nuke us"  

come on.... 

Live look into current Whitehouse discussions on Iran..... 

@kcblitzkrieg

Wisconsin, ISIS, ACA, and nearly everyone else relies on the IAEA to supply them with the intelligence and analysis.  

Grossi has stated this number on many occasions.

The various other concerned countries in the region and larger countries that might have an interest also rely on the IAEA backed up with their own other intelligence.

This is not a number that someone just randomly came up with to push an agenda or run in the media.

The part about them 'proudly' proclaiming it is just inference based on other related statements and activities.

Now, some that have a sincere 'interest' in halting this, or even those with a related interest, have used their numbers for what they see as urgent.

@Raiders22

 How are they going to negotiate with Iran when the IDF keeps airstriking the only people left to negotiate? 

Is part of negotiations that Israel voluntarily destroys their own stockpile or is it just that their enemies cannot have any?

@kcblitzkrieg

 Why bother negotiating?  They were negotiating in bad faith anyway.

Finish the airstrikes and leave there.  

Then the folks can either take over or not.  Or the surrounding countries can parcel it off.

No need to negotiate if they lose the nuclear and missile capability.

@wallstreetcappers

Just Iran.  

@Raiders22

Finish the airstrikes and leave there.  

Then the folks can either take over or not.  Or the surrounding countries can parcel it off.

No need to negotiate if they lose the nuclear and missile capability.

This is best case scenario at this point, yes.  I do not share your optimism that this will be the end result 

@kcblitzkrieg

 I am not optimistic that will be the result either.  
I am just saying that’s what should happen.  
Get rid of the threats and let them sort it out. 

Of course...

Foreign Affair’s Minister Penny Wong joined an extraordinary meeting on Thursday night local time convened by UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper to debate international efforts to reopen the sea passage.

In a statement, Senator Wong accused Iran of “deliberately inflicting economic pain” on communities, including in the Indo-Pacific.

“Australia joined partners in condemning the Iranian regime’s weaponisation of the Strait of Hormuz,” she said.

However, the focus of the meeting was on “diplomatic and civilian initiatives” countries could pursue to make the Strait of Hormuz “accessible and safe

it just begs a prop bet if Armada forms under united Kingdom coalition how many nations would be willing to sacrifice a single vessel for the cause set the parameters at over under 21

@nature1970

 USA, Canada, France, Australia almost certainly. 
Likely: Spain, Norway, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands.  
These would be the likely candidates for escort missions.  
So, I think far less than you feel.  

UK, and maybe France would join a strike force.  Perhaps Australia might.  
So, that would be even far less.  

They all have to consider actual likelihood of casualties, the certainty of political pushback, and potential escalation factoring in.  

So, defensively maybe 10; offensively maybe 5.  

@nature1970

 What might be considered down the road is the large numbers of countries that are happy with what is going on over there but cannot really speak out.  These range from Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait — all the way down to Egypt, Sudan, Somalia and even Nigeria, etc.  

The tricky part is to get some of them to publicly speak out and give support — even if it is publicly stated support.  

Maybe, if one or two larger ones come out in support others might follow.  

But to get military support I don’t see happening.  
I also think Trump and his advisors knew full well they would have to go this alone.  

That is part of the obligation a lot of folks see as being the world’s dominant power and pseudo police.  

@Raiders22

 Or none of them are interested in getting involved because there was never an issue for them in the first place. The issue for most all of your list is Israel not Iran. Many on your list are actually OPEC members along with Iran, I am positive they do not share the view that Netty i mean Trump has on the regional dynamic.

@wallstreetcappers

  Never an issue for who?

Absolutely, they all had issues.  The issues were not all the same. 

But all I listed certainly had them.