Locator: 50224KHARG.
Updates
March 14, 2026:
- two days ago, Iran doubled down, saying as long as the US and Israel continued bombing, Iran would keep the strait closed;
- yesterday: Iran said that countries who paid in Chinese currency would be allowed to transit the strait;
- today: Iran said that Indians vessels would be allowed to transit the strait.
Anyone noticing a trend here. I still maintain that back-channel diplomacy, Iran is taking the threat of an international peace force to take control of Kharg Island is a very real possibility. Meanwhile, the Kurds are an hour away from Tehran.
By the way: mines? Trump said the Iranians were not laying mines in the strait. I don't know, but I do know that mines can't tell the difference between those vessels that pay in Chinese currency and those that don't; and, can't tell Indian vessels from non-Indian vessels.
And, oh, by the way, the Houthis? Where are they? Where have they been?
Original Post
Link here. Be sure to read the thread.
Has anyone asked the question why any Arab country or member of GCC hasn't politely asked the US to declare victory and leave? Re-posting:
********************************
Strait Security
My
hunch: behind the scenes, the US diplomatic team is talking with Qatar,
Iraq, and Saudi Arabia about the need for maintaining security in the
strait. It's considered "international waters" by the UN and the UN is
tasked with keeping the strait safe, secure and open.
My hunch:
someone in the Mideast will step up to the task, most likely Saudi
Arabia. It would be Qatar, but Qatar is simply too small and, oh, by the
way, that's where the Hamas leadership resides in comfort. So, it will
be Saudi Arabia with a young prince, eager to do these things, who will
step up to the task -- but like William Shakespeare, the Saudi prince
will simply be the factotum, the front man. The default organization:
the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The Cooperation
Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, also known as the Gulf
Cooperation Council, is a regional, intergovernmental, political, and
economic union and military alliance comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman,
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.[
The council's
main headquarters is located in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.The
Charter of the GCC was signed on 25 May 1981, formally establishing the
institution.
All current member states are monarchies, including
three constitutional monarchies (Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain), two
absolute monarchies (Saudi Arabia and Oman), and one federal monarchy
(the United Arab Emirates, which is composed of seven member states,
each of which is an absolute monarchy with its own emir).
There
have been discussions regarding the future membership of Jordan,
Morocco, and Yemen. Iraq is the only Gulf Arab state that is not a GCC
member.
Iran is not a member of the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) primarily because the organization was
established in 1981, following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, as
a security and political bloc of Arab monarchies designed specifically
to counter Iran’s regional influence and ideological expansion. Fundamental ideological, geopolitical, and security differences divide them.
This is also one of the reasons that the Arab countries have not politely asked the US to declare victory and go home.
The
GCC has long wanted to see Iran answer for its misdeeds, and never
wants Iran to have nuclear weapons. They now know they have been right
since 1979.
Now that Iran has used the "nuclear option" to close the strait, the GCC is more united than ever.
Remember
the deals that were made between the US and Saudi Arabia after the
CHIPS Act and Trump's overtures; we could very well see the same thing
on the economic and political front with regard to the strait.
Even more interesting, China is 1000% in support of maintaining a safe, secure, and open strait.
Russia, not so much, but will play along to get along now that's it's tied down in Ukraine.
Along with Texas, Saudi may ultimately be another winner of this war.
