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We Are Entering The Most Dangerous Chapter Of World War III That We Have Experienced So Far As The Agreement With Iran Collapses

June 28, 2026June 28, 2026 by Michael

A lot of people out there still don’t realize that we are literally watching World War III play out right in front of our eyes. The war between Russia and Ukraine is already longer than World War I was, and every single ceasefire in the Middle East that has been agreed to since October 7th, 2023 has ultimately collapsed. Just a couple of weeks ago, the world was celebrating because the U.S. had signed a “Memorandum of Understanding” with Iran and we were being told that we were finally going to have permanent peace in the Middle East. So how did that work out? I feel like a broken record when I keep saying that there isn’t going to be peace in the Middle East, but it is the truth.

At the end of last week, the Iranians attacked a commercial vessel that was traveling through the Strait of Hormuz using a route that they did not authorize, and the U.S. responded by bombing several Iranian military targets. This is something that I covered in an article for my core supporters on Friday.

Then on Saturday, the same cycle repeated again.

Iran attacked another commercial vessel that was attempting to slip through the Strait of Hormuz along an “unauthorized” route, and in response the U.S. conducted an even larger wave of strikes…

U.S. Central Command said its forces had carried out the new strikes after a Panama-flagged tanker was attacked by an Iranian drone on Saturday.

“Iran was given a chance to honor the ceasefire agreement but elected not to,” Central Command said in a statement.

U.S. strikes were “in direct response to continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping” and targeted Iranian military surveillance, communications, air defence, drone storage and mine-laying facilities, it said.

Following that wave of strikes, President Trump warned that there “may come a point” when the U.S. must hit Iran so hard that it “will no longer exist”…

“United States aircraft just struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar sites, for violating the Cease Fire Agreement, AGAIN!” Mr. Trump said in a Truth Social post.

The president issued an aggressive threat in the post, saying it was possible Iran “may never learn.”

“There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started,” the president said. “If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!”

That is very strong language.

Needless to say, conventional weapons would not be able to accomplish that goal.

In response to the latest wave of U.S. strikes, the IRGC launched missiles and drones at U.S. facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain…

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement its navy and air forces had launched missile and drone operations targeting U.S. military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain.

The Guards said U.S. strikes had violated the ceasefire and “will result in the complete halt of all diplomatic processes”, state-run Press TV said. The IRGC navy command said American bases in the region “will experience hell in the coming days”.

Most of the missiles and drones were intercepted, but significant damage was done to a residential building in Bahrain.

This is not what a ceasefire is supposed to look like.

I know that there was so much hope that the negotiations which were initiated once the Memorandum of Understanding was signed would finally resolve the central issues that the U.S. and Iran have been fighting about, but those negotiations have now been put on hold…

Talks to end the U.S. war with Iran are on hold after the U.S. struck Iranian military targets in retaliation for Tehran’s latest strikes on shipping vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

A Pakistani source involved in the negotiations to settle the conflict between the U.S. and Iran told MS NOW that while the talks are now on hold, all sides are maintaining representatives in Switzerland to restart discussions when given the go-ahead.

The source did not make clear to MS NOW which side decided to pause negotiations.

Sadly, the reality of the matter is that these negotiations were doomed anyway.

Iran is never going to make the nuclear concessions that the Trump administration is seeking.

And Iran is never going to agree to allow commercial traffic to flow freely through the Strait of Hormuz the way that it did before the war…

The Iranian parliament’s national security committee spokesperson on Sunday said the Strait of Hormuz would not return to its pre-war state and that other countries would have no choice but to comply with Iran’s orders in the waterway.

“We firmly support the action of the ever-victorious Guards in a crushing confrontation with the American enemy and in asserting Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz,” Ebrahim Rezaei wrote on X. “The Strait of Hormuz will not return to its previous state, and others have no choice but to comply with Iran’s orders in the strait.”

The crisis in the Middle East is not going to have a happy ending.

I believe that we will witness some absolutely shocking escalations in the months ahead, and there are some Iranians that are convinced that now is the time to greatly accelerate their nuclear program…

Iran has “no choice” but to develop a nuclear bomb, a media outlet linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said — the latest threat to the peace deal.

The article, titled “No choice but to build the atomic bomb,” claims that Iran must negotiate with its enemies from a position of strength, and was published by Iranian state news outlet Fars on Sunday.

“To achieve the peace and calm that Iran needs, it must absolutely reach nuclear deterrence to ensure that the rest of the issues can be resolved through negotiation,” thunders the piece, before comparing Iran’s situation with the US to that of China in the 1970s.

Of course the Iranians are also furious about the fighting that has been going on in Lebanon.

The latest ceasefire with Hezbollah has already collapsed, and the IDF conducted even more strikes in Lebanon on Sunday…

Israel renewed its strikes on Lebanon on Sunday, Lebanese state media reported, two days after an agreement was signed by the two countries, which a Hezbollah lawmaker warned would lead to “internal conflict”.

The strikes come a day after one person was killed in an Israeli strike on the south, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, with the Israeli military saying it targeted Hezbollah members near its self-proclaimed “security zone”, which reaches 10 kilometres (6 miles) into Lebanon.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported several strikes on Sunday.

There will never be permanent peace between Israel and Hezbollah.

Anyone that believes otherwise is just being delusional.

Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine just continues to intensify.

In recent days, the Ukrainians have been conducting a series of stunning long-range attacks deep inside Russian territory…

Ukraine kept up its heavy drone assault on Russia, setting fire to a major oil refinery in the south and killing at least two people, Russian authorities said Sunday, as President Vladimir Putin acknowledged his country is going through a “difficult period.”

Ukraine has markedly stepped up its long-range attacks on Russian military industries and energy facilities in recent months, aiming to cut Moscow’s revenue for its invasion — now in its fifth year — and make Russians feel the consequences.

Russian leaders are running out of patience, and it would not surprise me at all if they decide to use tactical nukes at some point.

But for now, they continue to absolutely pummel Ukrainian cities with conventional weapons…

President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on Saturday, June 27, that Russian forces deployed approximately 1,400 attack drones, 1,500 guided aerial bombs, and 19 missiles of various types, including ballistic missiles, against Ukraine over the past week.

In a statement published on Telegram, Zelensky noted that 15 Ukrainian regions were subjected to Russian attacks during the seven-day period. He highlighted that the cities of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, and Sumy faced near-daily bombardment.

No matter how much the politicians have talked about peace, nothing has been able to stop the war in Ukraine.

And no matter how much the politicians have talked about peace, nothing has been able to stop the war in the Middle East.

We really are living at a time of “wars and rumors of wars”, and the truth is that this is just the beginning.

We are going to witness death and destruction on a scale that most people cannot imagine, and the world is simply not prepared for what is coming next.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing. You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter. Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

Traffic Through The Strait Of Hormuz Is Not Going To Return To Normal, And That Has Enormous Implications For The Whole World

June 25, 2026 by Michael

The Iranians have never wavered from their position that they intend to control traffic through the Strait of Hormuz permanently. They just underscored this point by launching an attack on a cargo vessel near the coast of Oman. During the 60 day negotiation window with the United States, Iran is not charging commercial vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, but they are insisting that coordination with the Iranian military is mandatory. Any travel that does not go through “designated corridors” is strictly prohibited…

The IRGC Navy said that only the shipping routes designated by Iran are permitted for passage, and that coordination with Iranian forces via the designated communication channel is mandatory, according to Iranian local media.

“Navigation outside these routes is highly dangerous and prohibited, and we warn all vessels to strictly avoid any movement outside the designated corridors,” the IRGC Navy said, according to the report.

The warning came after a key naval information group had proposed alternative shipping corridors on Saturday, asking shipowners to consider transiting the strait along the southern route with their transponder signals on. “The southern transit route, along Omani [territorial waters], has been confirmed clear of mines and is the recommended route,” the notice said.

It is true that there are certain areas of the Strait of Hormuz that are highly unsafe because they still have mines in them.

But the routes that have been designated by Iran are not the only safe routes.

Some ships have been getting through the Strait of Hormuz by sailing close to the coast of Oman, and one such vessel was just attacked…

A cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz was struck by an “unknown projectile” on Thursday evening near the Oman coast, according to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations.

The vessel suffered damage to its bridge, but said no one was injured, according to the UKMTO, which receives reports of suspicious activity from all vessels in the Gulf region.

The strike took place at 5:40 p.m. local time (10:10 a.m. ET).

There is no use in pretending.

Everyone knows that it was the Iranians that did this.

They are making it clear that they intend to control all traffic through the Strait of Hormuz from this point forward.

And once the 60 day negotiating window with the United States is over, they intend to impose “hefty fees” on all vessels that pass through the Strait…

Despite Rubio’s warning while meeting with GCC allies in Bahrain, Iran is planning to move forward on charging hefty fees for vessels wishing to transit the Strait of Hormuz under its protocol, which is to be enforced by the IRGC. What’s more is that it’s seeking Beijing’s approval and help.

Iran’s chief negotiator and Parliament Speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, asserted during a prior visit to Oman this week: “Everyone needs to know that management of the strait will never return to the way it was before.”

When the Iranians say “never”, they actually mean never.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Iranians plan to make about 40 billion dollars a year by holding the global economy hostage…

Iran is pushing to make billions of dollars from the Strait of Hormuz as the regime positions itself to manage the global oil artery it severed at the start of the war.

The Islamic Republic estimates that charging for security, safety and environmental services in the strait would bring in $40 billion a year in revenue for states involved, according to officials familiar with the matter. The idea, if implemented, would give Tehran cash flow and control that it didn’t command before the war.

Those that pay up will be able to go through.

Those that do not pay up will not.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is insisting that what the Iranians intend to do cannot ever be allowed…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Thursday that allowing Iranian tolls on ships passing the Strait of Hormuz would create a precedent to other waterways, risking “total chaos.”

“International waterways do not belong to any nation state. This is a foundational principle in the world today, without which the world would be in total chaos,” he told a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Bahrain.

“If in fact we accepted that you can charge money to use an international waterway because it happens to be near your territorial space, well then this will spread throughout the world like a contagion.”

He is right.

But it would take war to stop the Iranians from imposing tolls.

And if war erupts again, it would completely close the Strait of Hormuz until the war was finally resolved one way or the other.

Of course it is inevitable that more fighting will erupt between Israel and Iran.

It is just a matter of time.

Meanwhile, global supplies of oil just keep getting tighter and tighter…

Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz cut off around 13 million barrels of oil per day, roughly a fifth of the world’s supply. All told, the global economy will lose 1.6 billion barrels of oil supply between February and August, according to JPMorgan.

The good news is that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has increased this week, but it is still way below pre-war levels…

70 ships transited the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, a 105% increase of traffic day on day, according to maritime business intelligence firm Kpler.

In a social media statement, the firm said ships were increasingly using a southern route through the strait that hugs Oman’s coastline, as opposed to one that brings them close to Iran’s coast in the north of the waterway.

Even if Iran fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz permanently with no restrictions and no tolls, the amount of oil and natural gas coming through the Strait of Hormuz would not return to normal for a very long time because it is going to take years to fully repair and rebuild all of the oil and natural gas infrastructure that was damaged or destroyed during the war.

And that is a major problem, because oil stockpiles all over the planet continue to drop even lower.

In Cushing, Oklahoma, the storage tanks are now “dangerously close to empty”…

The amount of crude oil inventory at the Cushing Hub in Oklahoma fell to a 12-year low in the past week, according to the latest report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and in the opinion of some experts, puts the hub at nearly empty. Dangerously close to empty.

The inventories at the northern Oklahoma storage site, known as the “Pipeline Crossroads of the World,” fell by 6 million barrels. Considered the delivery hub for West Texas Intermediate futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Cushing’s new total as of this week was just 19 million barrels. Cushing is where dozens of pipelines intersect, carrying oil from the Permian, Bakken, SCOOP/STACK, Rockies and Western Canada.

The new level means the Cushing Hub is dangerously close to “empty” according to some experts. The 19 million barrels reflects about 25% of the 76-million barrel working capacity at the hub. It also results in an operational stress level which is the point where tanks struggle to supply customers with usable oil due to pipeline residue and structural minimums.

Those that are convinced that the global energy crisis is behind us need to explain where we are going to get enough oil and natural gas to keep inventories from continuing to decline throughout the world.

Even in a best case scenario, things are going to be very tough for many months to come.

Of course if a worst case scenario materializes and all-out war between Israel and Iran erupts, we really will have a major energy disaster on our hands.

The global economy cannot operate normally without sufficient quantities of oil and natural gas from the Middle East.

The Strait of Hormuz must be reopened permanently without any restrictions or tolls, but the Iranians are absolutely refusing to compromise.

California Just Got Another Major Warning That “The Big One” Is Coming

June 24, 2026June 24, 2026 by Michael

The magnitude 5.6 earthquake that just shook portions of three different states should be a huge wake up call for everyone that lives in California. The San Andreas Fault system is locked and loaded, and it is just a matter of time before an absolutely cataclysmic earthquake permanently alters the geography of the state. A day is coming when large portions of Southern California will no longer be above water. I have written about this over and over again, and I have warned about this more times than I can possibly count. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the people that live in the region do not believe that such a disaster will ever happen.

Just hours ago, a magnitude 5.6 earthquake violently rattled the Bay Area…

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake rattled northern California the morning of Wednesday, June 24, triggering alerts across the Bay Area, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The quake was recorded just over 6 miles from Redwood Valley at 8:10 a.m. PT and felt by people across the region, the USGS said.

This was no ordinary earthquake.

In fact, it was so powerful that it was felt in parts of Oregon, parts of Nevada and all over Northern California…

While the strongest shaking was reported right at the quake’s epicenter near Redwood Valley, the tremors traveled more than 600 miles up and down the West Coast, reaching Coos Bay, Oregon in the north and Salinas, California in the south.

That range includes the entire San Francisco Bay Area, home to more than seven million people, and affecting multiple cities including San Jose, Sacramento, Concord, Oakland, Stockton and Modesto.

A lot of people were really freaked out by how strong this quake was.

One woman that lives in Mendocino County is claiming that it was “the biggest earthquake I have felt in my life”…

Moneca Vargas at Saint Mary’s Catholic School in Ukiah told KTVU: ‘That was the biggest earthquake I have felt in my life, and I’ve lived in Ukiah for most of my 54 years. My whole house shook.’

Other residents close to the source in Northern California compared the shockwaves to a ‘freight train’ rolling through their homes, causing items to fall from shelves and officials to sound the official earthquake alert system for quakes stronger than magnitude 4.5.

The epicenter of this event was located very close to the Maacama Fault zone.

And it turns out that the Maacama Fault zone “is part of the larger San Andreas Fault system”…

The epicenter of Wednesday’s earthquake was recorded within seven miles of the Maacama Fault zone.

The Maacama is an major active strike-slip fault capable of causing strong shaking and damage in areas like Mendocino and Sonoma counties, where it runs through rural communities and wine country.

Making the fault even more of a concern to locals is the fact that it is part of the larger San Andreas Fault system, the infamous 800-mile-long fault running through much of California.

Shaking along one portion of the San Andreas Fault system can affect other portions of the San Andreas Fault system.

A number of years ago, this was vividly portrayed in a film entitled “San Andreas” that received a lot of attention at the time.

Unfortunately, the San Andreas Fault system is perfectly primed for a major event.

Last Friday, I shared an article with my core supporters that warned that the San Andreas and San Jacinto fault systems “have reached the highest stress levels seen in the past 1,000 years”.

Scientists have told us that someday the San Andreas Fault system could potentially rip wide open all at once.

In my most recent book, I described what that could look like…

If the San Andreas fault does rupture all at once, scientists have warned us that it could produce an earthquake that would be powerful enough to cause the ground on the western side of the San Andreas fault to suddenly drop several feet. Since most of southern California is just barely above sea level, that would allow water from the Pacific Ocean to come pouring in.

Can you imagine the kind of death and destruction that such a disaster would cause?

It would look like much of the southern California coast had just gone into the Pacific Ocean, but actually the Pacific Ocean would suddenly be covering vast stretches of the coast that have now dropped several feet lower than they were previously.

Researchers tell us that similar catastrophes have actually happened along the west coast in the past, and it is just a matter of time before it happens again.

If you live in southern California, it critical for you to understand that it is just a matter of time before “the Big One” strikes.

I have been attempting to sound the alarm about what is going to happen for years, but of course most of those living in the region are not interested in such warnings.

Of course I am not the only one that has been issuing such ominous warnings. Scientists have repeatedly told us that the San Andreas fault appears to be “locked and loaded” and that it could potentially “unzip all at once”.

Cal State Fullerton professor Matt Kirby was the lead author on a study that discovered that land on the western side of the San Andreas fault can instantly sink by up to 3 feet when a major earthquake strikes. He says that it has happened before and that it will happen again.

According to Kirby, a seismic event of this nature is something “that would happen relatively instantaneously”, and he has said that if such a disaster occurred today “you would see seawater rushing in”.

Coastal areas such as Santa Monica are barely above sea level.

A large enough seismic event could leave those areas completely covered by water.

But most people that live in Southern California will not take the warnings seriously until disaster finally strikes.

Meanwhile, there has been more unusual activity at the Yellowstone Supervolcano.

Earlier this month, an unexpected hydrothermal explosion suddenly created a new pool of super-heated water…

Another hydrothermal explosion has occurred at Yellowstone National Park, highlighting the unstable nature of the reserve’s extensive volcanic network, the U.S. Geological Survey says.

On June 13, a small hydrothermal explosion occurred at Yellowstone’s Biscuit Basin — a popular thermal area located less than 2 miles northwest of Old Faithful, according to the USGS.

The explosion occurred at 5:09 a.m. local time and did not cause any injuries, according to the USGS. A new pool formed as a result of activity.

We have been witnessing so much unusual activity all over the globe in recent months.

But I am convinced that what we have experienced so far is nothing compared to what is coming.

The giant space rock that we all exist on as we hurtle through space is exhibiting increasing signs of instability.

One of these days time will run out for those that are living along the San Andreas Fault, and for many of them there will be no escape.

Generational Crisis! Nearly A Third Of U.S. Adults Under The Age Of 35 Are Still Living With Their Parents

June 23, 2026June 23, 2026 by Michael

Americans that are over the age of 55 control approximately 73 percent of all wealth in the United States. Americans that are age 55 or younger control just 27 percent of all wealth in the United States. Never before in history has there been a generational divide of this magnitude. One of the reasons why there is such a generational divide is because housing has become so insanely unaffordable. If you purchased a home 20 or 30 years ago, it has appreciated in value a great deal and you are sitting pretty. But many young adults today look at current housing prices and wonder how they will ever be able to buy a home.

During the pandemic, we witnessed a surge of young adults moving back in with their parents.

But once the pandemic was over, things were supposed to go back to normal.

Unfortunately, that never happened.

In fact, the percentage of young adults that are living with their parents is now higher than it was at any point during the pandemic…

A record 25.2 million adults under 35 lived with their parents in 2025, according to new research from Realtor.com®. That’s nearly 1 in 3 young adults and higher than even the pandemic-era count—but the more surprising finding is just how many of them were working.

“Roughly 70% of 25- to 34-year-olds living with parents are employed,” says Hannah Jones, senior economist at Realtor.com and author of the report. “That share held steady even as the overall co-residence rate has climbed—meaning the growth is coming from working adults, not people waiting to find jobs.”

The finding challenges one of the most persistent narratives about adults living at home today: that they’re simply languishing in a tepid job market and failing to launch.

We have tens of millions of young adults that cannot form their own households.

That is a major national crisis.

A lot of those young adults would love to move out and live on their own, but home prices are simply way too high…

The report said that the median prices for new and existing homes are both over $400,000 and that existing home prices have risen 54% since 2020 and are about 5-times the median income – a level well above the ratio of 3-times that prevailed in the 1990s.

Mortgage rates are over 6%, which makes the payment on a median-priced home $3,100 in the fourth quarter of 2025, up from $1,700 in early 2020. That has pushed the income needed to afford that payment to more than $120,000 – a significant increase from $66,000 in 2020.

In 1975, the median home price in the United States was under $40,000.

But now it is over $400,000.

That is how much the purchasing power of our money has declined.

And we are being warned that housing affordability is “unlikely to return to more favorable levels of the past”…

The affordability of the U.S. housing market may not improve significantly over time for would-be homebuyers, with a new report suggesting that they shouldn’t wait in the hopes of affordability measures returning to their pre-2022 levels.

Sarah Wolfe, a senior economist and strategist at Morgan Stanley, said in a report that while housing affordability could improve modestly over time, it is “unlikely to return to more favorable levels of the past, as the market adjusts to a higher-cost, tighter-supply environment.”

That is quite sobering.

I guess our young adults are just out of lock.

At this stage, it is being projected that the median home price in this country will hit a million dollars by 2050…

According to new projections from National Association of Realtors (NAR) chief economist Lawrence Yun, the national median home price is on track to hit $1 million by 2050 — just as millennials reach the traditional retirement age.

“Essentially, in about 25 years the national median home price will be a million dollars,” Yun said at a conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. “It may be hard to envision that, but back in 1990, the national median price was $90,000.”

Many of those that are on the outside looking in may remain in that position permanently.

Meanwhile, the middle class continues to shrink as large employers eliminate good paying jobs all over the nation.

Today, we learned that U.S. factories are laying off workers at a frightening pace…

Job cuts at U.S. factories ran near their highest levels since the end of the global financial crisis in 2009 and the Covid-19 pandemic as worries grew over global demand and rising costs, S&P Global reported Tuesday.

Though the firm’s manufacturing index ran better than expected for June, it came largely from an inventory rebuild and despite sharp job cuts that were the most since 2009 — excluding the massive labor reductions at the onset of the Covid crisis in 2020.

And our most prominent tech companies continue to mercilessly slash payrolls.

For example, it is being reported that Oracle has given the axe to 21,000 highly paid workers over the past year…

Oracle shed 21,000 jobs, almost 13% of its workforce, in the past year, as tech giants carry out sweeping layoffs as a result of AI.

The company’s total workforce stands at 141,000 full-time employees as of May 2026, it said in its annual regulatory filing on Monday. That’s down from 162,000 employees at the same time the previous year. This represents an almost 13% cut in its total workforce.

Almost every big tech company that you can name has laid off workers within the past 12 months.

Once upon a time Electronic Arts was doing really well, but now they are conducting yet another round of job cuts…

Electronic Arts has undergone yet another round of layoffs, seemingly impacting its recruitment, customer support, trust and safety, and IT teams.

Kotaku has learned about these layoffs both from sources aware of the situation as well as 12 separate public postings from individuals impacted by the layoffs. The total number of impacted employees is unknown, but Kotaku has found online postings both from people formerly in several remote roles in the U.S. as well as a number of laid-off individuals from EA’s office in Hyderabad, India. Multiple individuals laid off from the Hyderabad office had been with the company for more than ten years.

We are witnessing a tsunami of tech layoffs that seems to have no end.

Those were supposed to be the “jobs of the future” for our young people.

But now many of our young people are being ruthlessly replaced by AI.

An entire generation of Americans is deeply struggling, and that isn’t going to change any time soon.

This “Super El Niño” Has The Potential To Be The Strongest Ever, And Absolutely Crazy Weather Events Are Already Happening All Over The Globe

June 22, 2026 by Michael

Global food supply chains are under threat like never before. The war with Iran has created a worldwide fertilizer crisis, diesel prices have risen to very painful levels, and farmers in the U.S. have been dealing with an epic multi-year drought. Now a “Super El Niño” is here, and Fox News is telling us that it has the potential to be the “strongest Super El Niño ever”. In fact, we have being warned that as it is influenced by a gigantic “9,000-mile marine heatwave” that has developed in the northern Pacific, it could actually become a “Godzilla El Niño”. I am convinced that over the next 12 months we will see things happen on this planet that most people never even imagined were possible. In fact, absolutely crazy weather events are already happening all over the world.

Let me start with the basics.

Earlier this month, the NOAA announced that an El Niño had begun, and now NASA has officially confirmed this…

The Super El Niño is ‘underway’, NASA has confirmed, following satellite observations of sea surface height across the Pacific.

Measurements taken by the Sentinel–6 Michael Freilich satellite show that sea levels across parts of the equatorial Pacific are elevated.

‘When ocean water warms, it expands in volume and causes the sea surface to rise—making the water’s height a reliable indicator of ocean temperatures,’ NASA explained.

‘Warmer–than–normal temperatures, hence higher sea surface heights, in parts of the equatorial Pacific Ocean are associated with El Niño.’

Every El Niño throughout human history has brought warmer temperatures.

But things will get especially hot during this “Super El Niño”.

In Europe, we are already witnessing a truly insane heat wave. Records are falling all over the continent and today heat alerts were issued in 26 different countries…

Europe is sweltering under its second heat dome in two months, with temperatures spiking above 104 degrees Fahrenheit, bringing dangerous conditions across swaths of the planet’s fastest-warming continent. France banned public alcohol consumption, Spain closed a World Cup fan zone and the UK is bracing for an annihilation of its all-time June temperature record.

Heat alerts were posted Monday by 26 countries, from Ireland to Greece, as soaring temperatures deliver one of Western Europe’s worst June heat waves on record.

The punishing temperatures are the result of a heat dome parked over the continent for the second time in two months. Heat domes are persistent high-pressure systems which act like a lid on a pot, trapping hot air and pushing it downward.

Conditions are particularly bad in France.

If you can believe it, the high temperature in Bordeaux was expected to reach 107 degrees on Monday…

⁠⁠Three people died in France from health issues caused by extreme heat and almost 2,700 of the country’s schools were set to close or modify timetables as authorities across Europe issued heatwave warnings for Monday.

Temperatures in Bordeaux in southwestern France were forecast to exceed 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 degrees Fahrenheit) Monday and weather agency Meteo France said 49 regional administrative areas will be under a red heat wave warning.

“We’re heading for, at the very least, ⁠several days of very, very hot weather. We don’t know when temperatures will ⁠start falling,” French Health Minister Stephanie Rist said on TV channel TF1.

This isn’t Phoenix, Arizona that we are talking about.

This is France.

The mercury isn’t supposed to ever hit 107 degrees in Bordeaux, but it just did.

When it gets this hot, epic lightning storms can be easily produced, and that is exactly what just occurred in the Netherlands…

A storm system that developed after the recent heat produced more than 188,000 lightning discharges across the Netherlands, a level the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) described as exceptional in its records. The storms have resulted in one death, as well as multiple fires.

The KNMI said its lightning archive shows only a few recent storms have exceeded 100,000 discharges. A spokesperson told NOS, “The energy in the air was exceptionally high.”

That is just shocking.

Of course things are getting quite wild here in the United States as well.

During the first part of this week, it was being projected that large portions of the country would be dealing with “extreme heat and potent thunderstorms”…

The first few days of summer, which officially began on June 21, will feature extreme heat and potent thunderstorms across large swaths of the country, forecasters said.

This includes a potential severe weather outbreak for June 22 from the Northeast to the High Plains, NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center (WPC) said in an online forecast.

I hope that you are ready for a long, hot summer.

And we are going to experience some absolutely epic storms.

In Oklahoma City, a storm that just swept through was so powerful that it knocked over shipping containers that weigh thousands of pounds each…

Severe storms with strong and damaging winds moved through central Oklahoma early Monday, leaving behind some damage in a well-known park in OKC.

Aside from downed power lines and tree debris being thrown about OKC, crews were picking up the pieces at Wheeler Park.

The large shipping containers that are used to help block the wind on normal days for people enjoying the park were knocked over during the storms early Monday. The stacked containers weigh thousands of pounds, showing just how strong the storm was.

Yes, we always see high temperatures and thunderstorms during the summer.

But this year is just different.

As I noted in a previous article, fish were “literally being cooked to death in lakes and rivers all over the country” even before we reached the official beginning of summer…

At the same time, fish are literally being cooked to death in lakes and rivers all over the country…

A team of contractors spent their weekend hauling thousands of dead fish carcasses from the waters of Minnesota’s Como Lake, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported on Tuesday. Located in a suburban park in St. Paul, the lake is now down about 1,000 bluegill and crappies, which died en masse as a result of low oxygen — a side effect of a rapid influx of heat.

Down south in Arizona, state wildlife officials closed public access to San Carlos Lake indefinitely after drought conditions and a nearby dam release “resulted in a major fish kill affecting approximately 100 percent of the fish population.” Across the country in Massachusetts, the Charles River was the site of a massive die-off of carp after a pre-summer heat wave baked fish exhausted from spawning.

Does anyone out there want to claim that this is “normal”?

On the other side of the world, severe drought is already causing serious water shortages in Indonesia…

Drought has begun affecting several regions across Java as the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) warns that the country’s dry season is expected to peak in August and may last longer than usual.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported earlier this week that prolonged dry conditions have already caused clean water shortages across parts of Java, despite flooding that continues to affect several regions nationwide.

A month without rainfall has impacted residents in Bekasi regency, West Java, with the worst conditions reported in Ridogalih village, Cibarusah district, where 296 households, or around 800 people, are struggling to access clean water.

Every time there is a “Super El Niño” some parts of the world are going to experience drought.

That is just the reality of what we are facing.

In the late 1870s, a particularly strong “Super El Niño” caused widespread global droughts that resulted in the deaths of approximately 50 million people…

History can give us some examples. In 1877, one of the strongest El Niños ever recorded was associated with historic droughts across Asia, as well as in parts of Brazil and northern Africa. These droughts, “along with colonial policies, contributed to famines in many regions which were really devastating,” said Deepti Singh, an associate professor at Washington State University who co-authored a study on this period of global famine.

The fatalities associated with these famines, upward of 50 million people, said Singh, “are humbling to think about.”

From everything that I have seen, I would say that it is very likely that the Super El Niño that has now begun could potentially be much stronger than the Super El Niño of 1877-1878.

And that is quite noteworthy, because that Super El Niño was one of the worst environmental disasters in recorded history…

“It was arguably the worst environmental disaster to ever befall humanity and one of the worst calamities of any sort in at least the last 150 years,” the authors of a 2018 research article in the Journal of Climate wrote in their paper. “In a very real sense, the El Niño and climate events of 1876–78 helped create the global inequalities that would later be characterized as ‘first world’ and ‘third world.’”

Even if there was no Super El Niño, global food production would be way down this year due to the global fertilizer crisis, higher diesel prices and ongoing droughts in major breadbaskets around the world.

But now the Super El Niño that is upon us threatens to cause “deep production shortfalls” in some of our most important crop producing regions…

El Niño events cause droughts in major crop producing regions across the Western Pacific (e.g., eastern Indonesia, the Philippines, SE China), southern Africa, the western Sahel, north-central India, and the northeast part of South America. These conditions in turn lead to significant declines in staple crop production in those areas. A one-in-a-hundred year El Niño is likely to cause deep production shortfalls, driving up demand for traded products to compensate, and raising global food prices.

There are just four crops that account for over 60 percent of all calories consumed by the global population.

Unfortunately, it is being projected that those four crops will be hit really hard…

Globally, there is a heightened risk of a shock to global food supply chains. Four crops – wheat, rice, maize and soybeans – provide more than 60% of the world’s calorie intake.

Maize and rice are especially sensitive to El Niño, with drought and disrupted monsoons reducing yields in major producers such as South Africa, India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Brazil. Wheat is affected by heat and drought in key exporters like Australia, Canada and China, while soybean production has fallen in countries such as Brazil and Argentina.

None of us have ever experienced anything like this in our entire lifetimes.

Global famines are ahead of us. The only question is how widespread they will become.

Right now we are still eating food that was produced last year to a very large degree.

The turning point will come at harvest time this fall.

Food prices will start to rise even higher in wealthy nations, and in poor nations there simply won’t be enough food to eat at all.

Is It Just A Coincidence That So Many Disasters Are Suddenly Hitting The United States The Same Week The Memorandum Of Understanding Was Signed?

June 18, 2026June 18, 2026 by Michael

Why isn’t anyone else writing about this? On Wednesday, the Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the presidents of the United States and Iran. Meanwhile, major disasters were breaking out all over America. Is this just some sort of really bizarre coincidence, or is something else going on here? Read the evidence that I have compiled below and decide for yourself.

On Wednesday, the very first named storm of the season, Tropical Storm Arthur, suddenly formed and slammed into the Texas coastline…

Tropical Storm Arthur made landfall along the coast of Texas on Wednesday, and as the first storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, it is bringing significant flooding and severe weather to the Gulf Coast.

Arthur formed on Wednesday after a sprawling area of showers and thunderstorms over Texas tracked over the warm waters of the Gulf, which helped it organize and strengthen. Hours later, the center of the storm moved inland over the Texas coast.

In 2025, only one named storm hit the U.S. the entire year.

And it is very rare for a named storm to make landfall this early.

As this storm travels east, it is expected to bring “extreme” flooding to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle…

As many as 40 million people across eight states are in the deadly path of Tropical Storm Arthur after the first named storm of hurricane season made landfall Wednesday night.

Arthur, which has been downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone on Thursday, slammed into the Texas Coast last night, and is now projected to barrel across the South, bringing severe flooding from Louisiana to the Carolinas.

Meteorologists with AccuWeather warned that Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle will see ‘extreme’ levels of flooding along the coast and in urban areas throughout Thursday, with as much as 12 to 18 inches of rain falling.

Then on Friday, it is being projected that this storm will bring “life-threatening flooding” to Georgia and the Carolinas…

Georgia and the Carolinas are expected to be impacted on Friday, as forecasters say Arthur will continue to bring ‘life-threatening flooding, property damage and disruptions to commerce and travel.’

AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Duffus warned in a statement: ‘Heavy rainfall will be fueled by tropical moisture, delivering rainfall rates of 2-4 inches per hour across portions of the Gulf Coast.’

However, flooding is not the only concern tied to Arthur, as the National Weather Service has also issued a widespread tornado watch across coastal areas in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.

Tropical Storm Arthur formed and made landfall on the exact same day that the Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the presidents of the United States and Iran.

This storm is going to cause a massive amount of damage all the way from Texas to the Carolinas.

Is this just a coincidence?

I don’t think so.

Also on Wednesday, a series of extremely violent tornadoes suddenly broke out in the Midwest and the Southeast…

At least seven tornadoes broke out Wednesday night across the Midwest and Southeast, as severe weather descended on a large swath of the country.

According to the National Weather Service, a confirmed tornado was reported near the small northeast Iowa community of Harpers Ferry at 5:10 p.m., while a second confirmed tornado rolled through Charleston in central Illinois at about 6:40 p.m. local time.

Both tornadoes were flagged by the weather service as a “particularly dangerous situation,” a rare designation used by the weather service for environments in which “strong and violent tornadoes” are possible.

The town of Charleston, Illinois was hit particularly hard.

At one point, a trailer was actually picked up and torn away from its foundation…

Photos and videos obtained by CBS News showed extensive damage to homes and buildings in Charleston, where a mess of downed trees and power lines covered the streets. Emergency responders in the city could also be heard in dispatch audio describing some of the treacherous scenarios they encountered, including multiple overturned semitrucks and a trailer that had been torn from its foundation, possibly with someone inside.

Hail measuring between 2.75 and 3 inches was also reported in Charleston and surrounding parts of Illinois, where powerful winds at times climbed as high as 78 mph, according to the weather service.

Is it just another coincidence that this also occurred on Wednesday?

As you can see, the “coincidences” are starting to pile up.

Let me give you another one.

An enormous wildfire in eastern Washington state that is being driven by very high winds caused all sorts of chaos on Wednesday…

High winds drove a wildfire into an eastern Washington neighborhood, forcing the evacuation of about 1,500 people and destroying at least 15 homes, officials said Wednesday.

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday that its forensic unit found what appeared to be human remains inside a home destroyed in the fire. A family member had requested a wellness check because one of the residents had refused to evacuate and could not be reached, officials said in a news release.

Of course the skeptics will insist that this is yet another coincidence.

Meanwhile, the screwworm plague that just broke out in the Southwest just continues to pop up in even more Texas counties…

Screwworm cases are rising in the US as the outbreak spreads beyond the initial contamination zones.

Twelve animal cases have been confirmed so far, a significant increase from the first case detected in a calf in south Texas on 3 June. The growing number of infections has alarmed agricultural experts, who warn that a wider outbreak could have serious consequences for the Texas beef industry.

Of the 12 reported cases, 11 remain active and one is inactive, according to an update issued last Thursday by the US Department of Agriculture’s animal and plant health inspection service. The most recent case was reported on 12 June in Sutton countyin west Texas, where a sheep was discovered with the infection. Other cases have been identified in the Texas counties of Edwards, Tom Green, Gillespie, La Salle and Zavala, as well as in Lea county, New Mexico.

And just within the last 24 hours, we have officially hit “tank bottoms” in Cushing, Oklahoma…

As I discussed yesterday, once we get below 20 million barrels of oil at Cushing, there won’t be enough pressure in the pipelines to keep operating.

So this is it.

At the same time, fish are literally being cooked to death in lakes and rivers all over the country…

A team of contractors spent their weekend hauling thousands of dead fish carcasses from the waters of Minnesota’s Como Lake, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported on Tuesday. Located in a suburban park in St. Paul, the lake is now down about 1,000 bluegill and crappies, which died en masse as a result of low oxygen — a side effect of a rapid influx of heat.

Down south in Arizona, state wildlife officials closed public access to San Carlos Lake indefinitely after drought conditions and a nearby dam release “resulted in a major fish kill affecting approximately 100 percent of the fish population.” Across the country in Massachusetts, the Charles River was the site of a massive die-off of carp after a pre-summer heat wave baked fish exhausted from spawning.

This is happening even though summer has not even officially begun yet.

That is certainly not a good sign.

And now a “Super El Niño” has begun…

The forecasted El Niño—a mysterious but well-documented climate phenomenon—has officially begun, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced on June 11. Meteorologists expect it to evolve into one of the most powerful ones on record, and the event will likely bring about extreme weather worldwide and consequently affect the economy.

If you believe that it is just a “coincidence” that all of the things that I have shared in this article are happening simultaneously, that is okay.

We will just have to agree to disagree.

Personally, I am convinced that what we are currently experiencing is yet more evidence that history is taking us in a very particular direction.

So many prominent voices are crying out “peace and safety”, but the truth is that apocalyptic times are upon us.

Global events have been spinning out of control for quite some time now, but what we have been through so far is not even worth comparing to what is eventually coming.

U.S. Oil Stockpiles Fall To Critically Low Levels As Iran Continues To Mess With The Strait Of Hormuz

June 17, 2026 by Michael

Those that believe that the global energy crisis is going to be magically solved by a “memorandum of understanding” that is already being violated by both sides are going to be in for a very rude awakening. As you will see below, the Iranians have continued to launch drones at commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. How are shipowners and insurance companies supposed to feel comfortable while this is going on? In the “memorandum of understanding”, Iran agreed to allow commercial vessels to travel through the Strait at no charge for a period of 60 days. Hopefully that will actually happen. After the 60 day period is done, the Iranians have already announced that they are going to go back to charging ships to pass. Any ships that do not pay up will be subject to attack. Meanwhile, global oil supplies will just continue to get tighter and tighter.

Over the past couple of months, the U.S. has been the supplier of last resort for the entire world.

This has kept oil prices at reasonable levels.

But once our stockpiles are gone, we won’t be able to do that any longer.

Unfortunately, our stockpiles are rapidly disappearing. It is being reported that total U.S. oil inventories have now fallen for 10 weeks in a row…

U.S. crude oil inventories fell for a 10th straight week last week as demand surged, pushing total stockpiles to their lowest level in over 40 years as the Iran war continues to upend global energy markets, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Total crude inventories, including ‌commercial stocks and those in the Strategic Petroleum, plunged by 17.2 million to 758.5 million barrels last week, its lowest since March 1985, the EIA said.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is in better shape than commercial oil inventories, but even it has fallen to the lowest level since 1983…

The U.S. supply of emergency oil has hit its lowest level since 1983, according to newly released federal data.

The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is down to 340.3 million barrels, according to the data released on Monday.

The last time that levels were this low was 1983, when the Reagan administration was filling up the reserve for the first time. The U.S. established the emergency oil reserve in 1975 after an oil producer embargo against the country triggered an energy crisis.

We should have never allowed ourselves to reach such a dangerously low level.

But I am far more concerned about what is happening to our commercial oil inventories.

The tanks in Cushing, Oklahoma are about to hit critical operating levels, and even CNN is writing about this…

Today, neighboring Cushing is the hub of America’s energy market. It literally provides the oil plumbing for the United States. It’s where America’s benchmark West Texas Intermediate oil is priced and warehoused. From there, it’s piped to refineries around the country.

In normal times, Cushing stores around 40 million barrels of oil with capacity of up to 75 million.

These are not normal times.

Right now, there are approximately 21.6 million barrels of oil at Cushing.

That sounds like a lot.

But as CNN has correctly noted, once the tanks at Cushing drop below 20 million barrels of oil “they effectively hit empty”…

Cushing’s current inventory is 21.6 million barrels, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

That’s dangerously close to operational stress levels, the tipping point at which Cushing struggles to supply all of its customers with the oil they demand.

When Cushing’s reserves get below 20 million, they effectively hit empty, scraping the bottom of the barrel of what is largely unusable sludge.

And when Cushing runs empty, strange things happen to the oil market.

To say that “strange things” will occur is a major understatement.

Once we hit the 20 million barrel mark at Cushing, there will be widespread panic.

We cannot drop below that level, because the storage tanks need a certain amount in them in order to be able to keep operating…

In oil storage tanks, “tank bottoms” refer to the unusable layer of sludge, sediment, water, paraffin, and other residues that settle at the base. These cannot be easily pumped or processed without operational issues.

At the Cushing hub level, the operational stress threshold is around 20 million barrels. Below this, pipelines lose pressure, blending and transfers between tanks become difficult or impossible, and outbound flows to refineries or export terminals can be curtailed or delayed.

Experts note that much of the remaining volume at current levels (potentially only 1–1.6 million barrels truly usable) consists of this sludgy material.

There is no way that we can keep supplying the rest of the world.

In fact, in very short order we won’t have enough oil to supply everyone in this country.

On Wednesday, President Trump openly told the press that the U.S. is on pace to “run out of reserves in about four weeks”…

President Trump’s comment at the tail end of the G7 press conference about rapidly depleting crude reserves may have been the clearest admission yet of what is really driving the urgent push for an MoU with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

“We run out of reserves in about four weeks,” Trump told reporters.

This is one of the reasons why Trump was so desperate to make a deal with Iran.

But the deal is already failing.

According to NBC News, the Iranians “launched multiple drones toward commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz” after the memorandum of understanding was signed…

Iran has launched multiple drones toward commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz since the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on Sunday, according to a US official, NBC News reported on Tuesday.

The official said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been carrying out repeated drone launches targeting shipping lanes in the strategic waterway. US forces have intercepted the drones before they could threaten commercial or military vessels, the report said.

According to NBC News, the official added that the IRGC has launched multiple drones each night since the agreement was signed, and that the US military continues to coordinate with commercial shipping operators to support safe transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

The Iranians were supposed to open the Strait of Hormuz.

Of course we were told the exact same thing when the first ceasefire agreement was signed, and that never materialized either.

But let’s assume that the Iranians stop attacking vessels in the Strait and decide to keep their word.

According to the text of the memorandum of understanding, the Iranians will have the right to control traffic through the Strait of Hormuz once a 60 day period of free passage is over…

Upon the signing of this MOU, Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days only from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman, and vice versa. The traffic of commercial vessels will immediately start, and considering the need for removing the technical and military obstacles and demining by the Islamic Republic of Iran will be instated within 30 days. The Islamic Republic of Iran will conduct dialog with the Sultanate of Oman to define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz in discussion with other Persian Gulf or littoral states in line with the applicable international law and the sovereign rights of coastal states of the Strait of Hormuz.

As I have discussed previously, the Iranians have repeatedly stated that they intend to charge ships to pass through the Strait once the 60 day period has been completed.

And even if everything goes perfectly, it would still take many months for traffic through the Strait to return to close to pre-war levels.

Meanwhile, the world will continue to run an oil deficit.

Stockpiles will continue to be depleted, and there will be shortages.

Hopefully the shortages will be isolated.

But I wouldn’t count on that, because I am convinced that the war in the Middle East is far from over.

If all-out war erupts again, that will make the crisis that we are facing so much worse.

So let us hope for the best, but let us also get prepared for the worst.

Giving Iran Permanent Control Of The Strait Of Hormuz Will Be A Disaster For The Global Economy

June 15, 2026June 15, 2026 by Michael

When we were told that the ceasefire extension with Iran would include “the toll-free opening of the Strait of Hormuz”, I didn’t realize that this was only for a period of 60 days. As you will see below, once the 60 days are over the Iranians will be allowed to charge vessels for passing through the Strait of Hormuz on a permanent basis. Any vessels that attempt to pass through the Strait without permission will be subject to attack by the Iranian military. In other words, the nightmare scenario that we have been enduring for the past several months will be institutionalized. I am shocked that U.S. negotiators would actually agree to this. With the Iranians in control, I seriously doubt that the flow of oil and natural gas out of the region will return to pre-war levels any time soon, and any oil and natural gas that does get exported will cost quite a bit more thanks to the protection racket that the Iranians will be running.

This is so humiliating.

The one thing that U.S. negotiators were supposed to get from this first stage of negotiations was the permanent toll-free opening of the Strait of Hormuz.

But instead, they handed sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz to Iran…

Iran’s state-run Fars News Agency on Monday cited a “knowledgeable source” who said the U.S.-Iran peace deal “includes U.S. acceptance, for the first time, of Iran’s right to collect fees for maritime services” in the Strait of Hormuz.

According to the source, “explicit emphasis on Iranian-Omani sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz” was added to the deal during “the final moments of the negotiations.”

These final revisions to the deal supposedly stated that “future administration of maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz” will be “determined” by Iran and Oman, which lies on the opposite side of the strait.

Iranian negotiators wiped the floor with U.S. negotiators at the negotiating table.

I could think of other less polite ways of saying that, but I think that I shall refrain from doing so.

The only good news is that there will be a 60 day period for vessels that are currently trapped in the Persian Gulf to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without being charged…

The source told Fars that these revisions to the deal mean “the United States has effective accepted Iran’s right to collect related service fees,” after a 60-period of toll-free travel through the strait has elapsed.

“This principle is repeated elsewhere in the text. Iran will accept the passage of ships without charge only for 60 days. This means the United States has accepted the principle of collecting fees, while securing only a 60-day exemption from Iran,” the source said.

Now that this precedent has been set, how long will it be before we see other nations start to monetize key chokepoints around the globe?

This is a red line that should have never, ever been crossed.

Iran’s foreign ministry has confirmed that once the 60 day period has concluded, a “maritime service fee” will be imposed upon all vessels that wish to travel through the Strait of Hormuz…

Iran will charge a “maritime service fee” in the Strait of Hormuz, its foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday, as Tehran expressed “deep mistrust” in the US despite signing a memorandum of understanding with Washington to stop the war.

Talking to reporters, Iran foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Iran would not charge a toll for ships crossing the key strait under a new framework deal with the US.

“We have always maintained that we do not seek to collect transit tolls, but fees for navigation services, environmental protection, ship insurance and other necessary services will be charged,” he said during a press briefing.

So how much will “navigation services, environmental protection, ship insurance and other necessary services” cost for each ship?

A million dollars?

Two million dollars?

The regime in Tehran could soon be absolutely swimming in cash.

And as they have shown in the past, they like to use their money to export their “revolution” to other countries.

If you feel sick after reading that, it is certainly an understandable reaction.

But for a moment, let’s imagine a wildly optimistic scenario in which Iran allows all vessels to travel through the Strait of Hormuz and only charges a “reasonable” protection fee.

Even in such a scenario, it would take an extended period of time to remove all of the mines that the Iranians have laid.

Some say that could take weeks, while others insist that it could take months.

In addition, shipowners and insurance companies will need time before they are convinced that it is safe to travel through the Strait of Hormuz once again…

Meanwhile, shipowners, insurers and vessel crews will need to be convinced that it is safe to pass through the Strait of Hormuz before full-scale maritime transit could resume.

“Even if the Strait is considered reopened, this does not automatically mean traffic will normalize immediately,” Dimitris Ampatzidis, Maritime Risk & Compliance Manager at Kpler, told NBC News.

“Vessels that have been delayed or held back would need time to exit, complete voyages, and potentially return for new loadings,” he said. “That process could take roughly 2–3 months.”

I very much agree with that assessment.

On top of everything else, it could take months for oil and natural gas production in the region to fully ramp up…

Middle Eastern producers have been forced to shut in more than 10 million barrels per day of oil production since the Strait of Hormuz was closed three and a half months ago. Producers will need months to fully ramp up wells to previous output levels, while the status of the Strait of Hormuz – even if it re-opens on Friday as expected – is still unclear.

This is a very important factor that is not getting nearly enough attention from the mainstream media.

One industry expert has warned that it would take Iraq “about a year” to get production back to previous levels…

“Places like Iraq could be much more challenged because they’ve had a much bigger shut-in, their fields are more difficult,” Alan Gelder, senior vice president of refining, chemicals, and oil markets at Wood Mackenzie, said.

“It may well take about a year before they get back,” the expert told AP.

Of course there are also oil and natural gas facilities all over the Persian Gulf region that have either been seriously damaged or destroyed.

Fully repairing and rebuilding all of that infrastructure could take years.

Meanwhile, global energy inventories will continue to get tighter and tighter.

What I have just described is the absolute best cast scenario.

So what would happen if the ceasefire breaks down and more war erupts?

Personally, I believe that is a far more likely scenario.

It has been said that the original ceasefire with Iran was the most violated ceasefire in history, and those that are convinced that a 60 day extension of that ceasefire will magically make everything better are not being rational.

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