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Major Iranian Port Paralyzed: 700 Injured, 5 Dead After Massive Explosion

Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

Major Iranian Port Paralyzed: 700 Injured, 5 Dead After Massive Explosion

Update (1338ET):

Iranian state-owned news media Press TV reported that at least four people died and 700 were injured after a fuel tanker exploded for unknown reasons at Shahid Rajaee port in Hormozgan Province.

A separate report from the Associated Press said the explosion that rocked Iran’s second-largest container port—located on the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime chokepoint—originated from containers reportedly linked to chemical ingredients linked to missile propellant.

The state-run IRNA news agency said that the Customs Administration of Iran blamed a “stockpile of hazardous goods and chemical materials stored in the port area” for the explosion at the port. The outlet did not provide details on the chemical ingredients.

With one of Iran’s largest commercial ports paralyzed, the economic disruption could be devastating for Tehran:

Trade Disruption:

  • Shahid Rajaee handles 85% of Iran’s total cargo traffic.

  • Disruption would effectively spark supply chain disruptions for Iran’s import-export economy, causing shortages of consumer goods, industrial equipment, food, and medicines.

  • Iran’s limited alternative ports (like Chabahar) would have trouble absorbing even a fraction of that volume quickly.

Oil and Fuel Export Disruption

  • The port is a major terminal for refined oil products (gasoline, naphtha, gas condensate, etc.).

  • Iran already faces sanctions on crude oil; losing its refined product export capacity would cut off a key source of hard currency.

  • This would intensify Iran’s already precarious foreign exchange crisis, sending the rial lower.

With Shahid Rajaee Port in chaos and closed, the question now is: What will be Tehran’s economic fallout?

Also keep in mind, this blast occurred just as Iran and U.S. officials wrapped up the third round of negotiations in Oman’s capital of Muscat. 

*   *   * 

 

At least 500 people were injured after a massive explosion rocked Iran’s largest and most strategically significant maritime hub in the southern Hormozgan Province on the Strait of Hormuz. 

Iranian state media outlet Tasnim reported that the blast occurred on Saturday at the Shahid Rajaee Port. The outlet said, “The port remains in a state of chaos,” and many buildings have been destroyed. 

Tasnim reported that a fuel tank had “exploded for an unknown reason,” and port operations had been shuttered. A report from the state media outlet IRIB stated that the explosion occurred in the port’s chemical and sulfur area. 

Designated as a Special Economic Zone, Shahid Rajaee Port handles about 85% of Iran’s total port cargo operations. Its annual capacity is about 70 million tons, including 6 million TEUs of containerized cargo. The port spans 2,400 hectares and features 40 berths and 19 hectares of warehouses.

The port also serves as a critical node for Iran’s oil exports, equipped with docks that can accommodate large tankers. These facilities enable the annual export of around 34 million tons of oil products, including gasoline, naphtha, gas condensate, marine fuel, and mazut. 

At the same time, Iran and U.S. officials began the third round of negotiations in Oman’s capital of Muscat about the fate of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. Here’s more color on the second round.

The negotiations aim to suppress Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the U.S. lifting some economic sanctions it has imposed on the Islamic Republic. 

President Trump has threatened to launch airstrikes targeting Iran’s critical infrastructure if a deal is not reached. 

Last month, the U.S. began deploying stealth bombers to Diego Garcia—often referred to as Washington’s “unsinkable aircraft carrier”—located between Africa and Indonesia, about 1,000 miles south of India. The island serves as a critical launch point for stealth bombers in the event of a war with Iran. Staging the bombers on the island, well within striking distance, has made Tehran deeply uncomfortable.

Let’s take a step back to an October op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, penned by David Asher—a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a former U.S. State Department official who worked on counterterrorism operations in the Middle East—who advocated for neutering the Iranian regime’s “oil-export capacity to deprive the regime of its financial lifeblood.” 

Any event on the critical maritime chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz—such as an explosion at a major port—could spark uncertainty among energy traders and push Brent crude futures higher on Sunday evening.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 04/26/2025 – 13:38

House GOP Seeks Federal Pension Cuts, Including Lavish Benefit For Early Retirees

Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

House GOP Seeks Federal Pension Cuts, Including Lavish Benefit For Early Retirees

Already rattled by the Trump administration’s efforts to slash its bloated ranks, the US government employee workforce is about to be hit with a new source of agitation, as House Republicans are proposing to cut benefits and increase premiums associated with federal employee pensions. As is typically the case where the timing of potentially controversial news is concerned, the announcement of the proposed cost-cutting moves came on Friday night, via House Oversight Committee and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer. 

House Republicans are working to identify at least $2 trillion in spending cuts to put a dent in the price of extending the broad tax cuts instituted by 2017’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which is slated to expire on Dec. 31. Comer said the proposed changes to federal employee pensions would yield more than $50 billion in reduced net federal spending. Engaging in the usual DC budgetary obfuscation, Comer’s statement doesn’t assign that number to a time period — knowing naive citizens and journalists will assume it’s a recurring annual benefit. However, from another document circulating on Capitol Hill, we conclude he’s talking about savings over a 10-year period. 

Oversight Committee Chair James Comer said the proposal will deliver “a substantial win for fiscal responsibility” (Jacquelyn Martin – AP)

The most substantial of the proposed changes would increase pension premiums that longer-tenured employees pay into the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS). Today, those premiums, which are automatically deducted from salary payments, vary by the year in which an employee entered federal service:

  • 2012 and earlier: 0.8%
  • 2013: 3.1%
  • 2014 and after: 4.4%

The Oversight Committee proposal does away with that distinction, seeking to charge all employees in the FERS system a uniform 4.4%, raising $30.7 billion in revenue over the next 10 years. A little under half of federal employees are paying less than 4.4% today, according to FEDweek. The rate hike is projected to boost revenue by $30.7 billion over 10 years. 

Another proposal takes aim at one of those rich government benefits that are virtually unheard-of in the private sector. Believe it or not, long-serving federal employees who retire with a full pension before Social Security age currently receive a supplemental payment on top of that calculated pension. The “FERS Annuity Supplement” is supposed to approximate their age-62 Social Security income attributable to their federal employment. The head-scratchingly lavish goal: Saving early retirees from having to make do with less total money than they’ll eventually rake in at age 62 — even though they’re receiving a full federal pension in the interim. Oversight Committee Republicans want to kill the supplement — except for federal employees in jobs subject to mandatory early retirement, such as federal cops and firefighters. (God forbid we apply austerity measures to these “heroes” retiring at 57 on a hefty, inflation-adjusted federal pension.) Projected savings from this move: $10.1 billion over 10 years. 

The proposed pension cuts are sure to spark backlash from federal employees and others who mindlessly defend them (Alex Wong/Getty via Idaho Capital Sun)

A third move would change how pension payments are calculated in both FERS and the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), the latter of which generally covers some employees hired before Jan. 1. 1984. Today’s formula keys off the average of a given employee’s highest three years of earnings; the committee wants to change that to the highest five years, projecting $4.75 billion in savings in 10 years.  

In a non-pension move, the House GOP proposal also has a provision requiring a “comprehensive audit” of employee dependents currently enrolled in Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) plans. By dis-enrolling ineligible relatives, it’s hoped the audit will save $1.5 billion over 10 years. 

The Oversight Committee will have a full markup meeting to consider, debate and potentially amend these and other cost-cutting proposals at 10am on Wednesday. Once finalized, they’ll be added to President Trump’s promised “big, beautiful bill” that Republicans hope to pass by summertime. 

In the meantime, here comes another round of leftist wailing and gnashing of teeth...

Tyler Durden
Sat, 04/26/2025 – 13:25

America’s Mom-And-Pop Truckers In Dire Straits As Bad News Mounts 

Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

America’s Mom-And-Pop Truckers In Dire Straits As Bad News Mounts 

Submitted by American Truckers United‘s Gord Magill, 

The American trucking industry continues to face a growing number of challenges in 2025, with economic turbulence downstream of President Trump’s tariff reforms merely the latest bump on a very poorly maintained road. Many within the freight, logistics, and supply chain industries are predicting the ride to get even bumpier, with thousands of trucking companies at risk along the way. Will small-time trucking businesses survive?

An aspect of supply chain shocks experienced during Covid is known as the ‘accordion effect’, where a disruption in one part of the chain take time to be felt in another, but then the shock arrives at speed, good and hard. This tweet offers an explanation of Trump’s tariffs and how that shock is expected to affect trucking.

“The White House has put itself and the country in a bad situation but doesn’t realize it yet. Around April 10th China to USA trade shut down. It takes ~30 days for containers to go from China to LA. 45 to Houston by sea, 45 to Chicago by train. 55 to New York by sea. That means that there are no economic effects of what was done on April 10th until about May 10th.

“Around that time (it’s already started to happen) trucking work is going to dry up. Warehouses will start doing layoffs because no labor is needed to unload containers and some products will be out of stock, reducing the need for shipping labor.”

The problem for America’s truckers is that the situation is already dire, and has been for some time. News of small and medium-sized trucking companies going out of business has been a near-daily occurrence since 2023, and that is just what we know from being reported – how many single-truck independent owner-operators have gone out of business in the same time? Tracking those numbers is very difficult to almost impossible, over and above the cavalier attitude from the government towards the plight of these people.

How many more will go out of business given predictions that already below cost trucking rates are going to go even lower?

“In 2008, some of the largest truckload carriers offered to haul freight at $.80/mile to anywhere. They simply wanted to cover driver wages and fuel, but keep the trucks moving to avoid losing all of their drivers. If things get bad, it could happen again.”

How did the trucking market find itself in this position?

The market for truck drivers has long been juiced by the government, as they have been deceived by mega carriers and their corporate lobbyists into believing that there is a shortage of truckers. This narrative has existed for decades now, and has resulted in one of the longest-running stealth corporate welfare programs in the nation, where the taxpayer shovels out millions upon millions of dollars at these carriers to finance the training of new drivers, without anyone ever asking why the industry can’t keep them around. If the taxpayer wasn’t on the hook for a system that burns through so many people that many trucking companies have 90% plus annual turnover rates, the market would have maintained its own equilibrium. 

Another way the government has flooded the market is through the use and misuse of insourced labor. Under the 2021 ‘Biden Harris Trucking Action Plan’, an apparent scheme began to take place where ‘red tape’ cutting resulted in many states handing out CDLs to migrants and refugees, part of which was made possible by loopholes created during the Obama Administration that saw enforcement of English language proficiency requirements for CDL holders waived. Statistics compiled by American Truckers United…

… indicate that production of CDLs doubled from 2021 to 2022. Of course, this flooding of the market by Biden was going to result in fierce rate slashing and many trucking companies going out of business.

And also…

Yet in the face of this, companies largely made up of migrants continue to thrive.

What gives? Even the American Trucking Association, whom have been artificially inflating the number of truckers for decades, has had to admit there is a problem here. In a recent interview given to Overdrive Magazine, the ATA appears to be cynically attempting to get ahead of a problem they themselves have caused and benefitted from, citing problems discussed years earlier by the likes of American Truckers United.

“In a recent letter to Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, ATA President Chris Spear, echoing what the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association recently told Congress, called for DOT to “begin better tracking the number of new CDLs issued on a state-by-state basis, including, but not limited to, the number of non-domiciled CDLs that are issued on an annual basis.””

Is DOT Secretary Duffy listening to anyone, though? His publicly available commentary about the trucking industry has been sparse to non-existent; he appears to be busy attempting to define what an astronaut is instead.

America’s truck drivers are facing a crisis: A massive problem created by the Biden Administration now runs into the corrective economic measures taken by Trump’s tariff program, which will include an uncomfortable period of trade rebalancing. As ZeroHedge describes in the note “All Quiet On The Western Ports… Is This The Calm Before The Trade War Storm?”

Secretary Duffy, along with new FMCSA head Derek Barrs, must immediately investigate what went on with Biden’s ‘Trucking Action Plan’ and how it flooded the market with insourced labor of dubious skill and even more dubious legality, and take steps to remove that insourced labor from the roads by enforcing existing laws which are meant to keep the American motoring public safe, and the domestic trucking market functional. 

American Truckers United’s Shannon Everett warned: “If we don’t act swiftly, a tidal wave of American trucking companies will face bankruptcy, accelerating a devastating replacement cycle that could cripple the industry.” 

Tyler Durden
Sat, 04/26/2025 – 12:50

NATO Chief Lobbies Trump Not To Pressure Ukraine Into Peace Deal

Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

NATO Chief Lobbies Trump Not To Pressure Ukraine Into Peace Deal

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte after meeting with President Donald Trump and Norway’s PM Jonas Gahr Støre on Thursday proclaimed that all Western leaders, including Trump, are on the same page viewing Russia as a “long-term threat” to NATO territory.

Rutte was optimistic about Trump helping to potentially end the Russia-Ukraine war, saying that “huge steps” have lately been made which put the onus on Russia to respond by displaying positive action or making concessions.

But it’s clear there’s a lot of tensions and discomfort in the Western military alliance given the optics of more US pressure being brought to bear against Ukraine and Zelensky in particular. This has been seen in the back-and-forth over the fate of Crimea.

Trump on Wednesday unleashed immense criticism on the Ukrainian President for his rejection of a US plan that would given recognition of Russian sovereignty over the Crimean Peninsula. Trump had said on Truth Social in reference to Zelensky,  “if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired”… and “He can have Peace or, he can fight for another three years before losing the whole Country.”

It’s clear that Rutte’s trip to Washington was in large part about lobbying Trump to take the pressure off Zelensky. A prior Financial Times  report had said Rutte would urge the White House “not to force Ukraine to accept a peace deal against its will.”

Presumably this message was also conveyed in the NATO chief’s meetings with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz on Thursday. 

A NATO official had told FT, “The key message is making the Americans understand what’s at stake.” Western officials and mainstream media have at times described Trump’s latest messaging on the conflict as outright ‘pro-Russian’. Trump had said Thursday that Russia’s main concession to Ukraine is not taking over the whole country, which were viewed as highly provocative remarks.

Meanwhile, Trump told reporters Friday, “We’re meeting with Putin right now as we speak” – in reference to Steve Witkoff being in Moscow. “We have a lot of things going on, and I think at the end, we’re going to end up with a lot of good deals, including tariff deals and trade deals, but we’re going to try to get out of war.” He added that he thinks “we’re pretty close” to achieving a peace deal.

Among other things the Russian side has demanded the cessation of Western arms and ammo to Ukraine, but Washington wants Ukraine to be able to maintain the ability to react forcibly, which contradicts Moscow’s desire for the full demilitarization of the country.

* * *

Meanwhile, independent journalist and political commentator Michal Tracey has a strong note of caution regarding where things actually are regarding progress on Ukraine peace…

The most generous interpretation of Trump’s negotiating strategy thus far is that he’s made relatively cost-free conciliatory gestures to Russia, which Putin has to some degree reciprocated. This makes sense, as the party against whom US military assets have been arrayed is Russia, and there had been little or no high-level US/Russian contact for several years.

In order to achieve a settlement to the war, there would have to be some “detente” with Russia, as the cut-off in contacts between 2022-2025 was a huge historical aberration. Even during the most fraught Soviet days, never had there been any comparable cut-off in contacts between the world’s leading nuclear powers. Trump has simultaneously taken a publicly aggressive line toward Ukraine. This also makes sense, as Ukraine is a US client state, and it’s over Ukraine that the US has leverage — not necessarily Russia.

The Biden Administration’s incessant mantra had been “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” thereby purporting to displace US policy agency onto Ukraine, despite the US obviously having the ultimate agency as arms supplier, intel-provider, NATO leader, etc. Trump has shifted that fictional “agency” calculus.

But leaving aside the public gestures and diplomatic posturing (while important), the policy status quo to a large extent persists. US sanctions have not been adjusted. Aside from a brief interruption in March, US arms continue to flow to Ukraine. Europe is re-militarizing, however fitfully. Ukraine has no credible plans to take back major territory currently occupied by Russia. Thus the principal concession that would have to be obtained at this point, in terms of the underlying power dynamic, is from Russia.

Freezing the conflict along the current lines had been previously denounced by Putin as intolerable. Now we hear that the outline of the Trump proposal includes not just freezing the current lines, but allowing Ukraine to control significant parts of what Putin has declared to be eternal territory of the Russian Federation. Along with the US taking control of the Zapohirizia nuclear plant (also located on territory annexed by Putin.) Russia would further be required to abandon its original war aim of “demilitarizing” Ukraine, although it’s possible that this provision could be subject to technical modifications.

All the while, there’s no indication that US/EU/NATO would cease arming Ukraine under the “ceasefire” framework. If anything, the armament could intensify, as Norway’s prime minister pledged in a meeting today with Trump. It’s very easy to imagine Russian “milbloggers” and hawks being utterly infuriated if Putin were to accept the terms proposed by Trump — at least as they have been publicly reported. It could easily be spun as a capitulation by Russia.

US recognition of Crimea might be a nice side perk, but it may not have much direct bearing on the core grievances that gave rise to the 2022 invasion. Russia has never been in serious jeopardy of losing Crimea, so US recognition in practice would be a mostly legalistic change. In totality, it makes little sense for Trump to publicly antagonize Putin at this time. (Notwithstanding his “Vladimir, STOP!” post, which is pretty mild all things considered.) Whether the public gestures are sufficient for Putin to accept ceasefire terms that could be easily spun as a capitulation remains in considerable doubt — but it’s not IMPOSSIBLE that a settlement of some sort could be achieved, if Putin is willing to significantly scale down his 2022 war aims.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 04/26/2025 – 12:15

“We Need An Uprising”: Democratic Rep. Calls On People To “Threaten” Congress And “Take To The Streets”

Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

“We Need An Uprising”: Democratic Rep. Calls On People To “Threaten” Congress And “Take To The Streets”

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., is the latest Democratic politician to use rage rhetoric to rally voters despite an alarming increase in political violence on the left. Calling for an “uprising,” Wilson also lashed out at the Laken Riley Act.

Wilson was visiting the ICE Krome Detention Center in Miami and declared:

“So I’ve been giving out the phone numbers to the House of Representatives and to the Senate. It’s one number that number you call and you threaten it, and you say, this is wrong. This is not America. This is not what we stand for. We need a change. You have to do that. It’s going to take the people. We’ve done it.

We need the people. We needed an uprising where people are taking to the streets and the phones and writing letters. That’s what we need.”

She is not alone.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D., Cal.) said “We are here to fight back.” Sen. Cory Booker (D., NJ) called on citizens to “fight” and declared “We will rise up.”

Not to be outdone in the rage fest, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D., TX) yelled, “We are gonna be in your face, we are gonna be on your a–es, and we are going to make sure you understand what democracy looks like, and this ain’t it.”

Rep. LaMonica McIver (D., N.J.) added: “God d—it shut down the Senate!…WE ARE AT WAR!”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called for Democrats to fight  “in the streets.”

In my recent book, I discuss the role of rage rhetoric in our politics extending back to the very beginning of the Republic. The danger is that it can give a license to some for political violence, including those who claim that they are now triggered by everything from candidates to cars.

Wilson also lashed out at the Laken Riley Act and complained that:

“The Laken Riley Act has caused an increase in detainees, and these are people who have… you could have been here forever… walking across the street, jaywalking, or shoplifting, they will detain you and bring you right here.”

First, the Laken Riley Act was enacted to increase such arrests. It does not cover jaywalking. 

The highly popular law allows the detention of illegal immigrants accused of theft-related crimes, assaulting a police officer, or a crime that results in death or serious bodily injury, including drunk driving. 

Twelve Democratic senators voted for the Act.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 04/26/2025 – 11:40

Trump, Zelensky Have Impromptu Face-To-Face Meeting In St. Peter’s Basilica

Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

Trump, Zelensky Have Impromptu Face-To-Face Meeting In St. Peter’s Basilica

President Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky met on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral in Rome on Saturday. By the looks of it, they had an impromptu face-to-face right there at St. Peter’s Basilica and in the ornate surroundings of the Vatican, also as confirmed by Zelensky himself in a social media post.

Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP

Zelensky called it a “good meeting” where “a lot” was discussed and that he’s hoping for results. This comes after Trump recently said a “final offer” is on the table regarding achieving ceasefire in the war.

Zelensky wrote on X, “Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out. Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results.”

This was the first such meeting since the explosive Oval Office shouting match also involving Vice President JD Vance on February 28.

“President Trump and President Zelenskyy met privately today and had a very productive discussion,” White House communications director Steven Cheung later confirmed.

As for length of the meeting, Axios reports: “Trump and Zelensky first huddled for a few minutes with French President Macron and British Prime Minister Starmer, then set down for a 15-minute one-on-one meeting inside the St. Peter’s Basilica.”

Zelensky has made clear over the last few days that he’s not on board with Trump’s strategy, which has featured offering recognition of Russian ownership of Crimea as a key concession. This has unleashed fresh tension, including Trump complaining that agreement on the rare earths deal is also “three weeks too late”.

As of yet it’s unknown precisely what was communicated in the quick Vatican sit-down, but Trump is unlikely to back down from his demands at this point, given the US holds all of the leverage (also in terms of supplying arms and intelligence).

Trump earlier this week asked by reporters whether the US might (again) cut weapons to Kiev and intelligence-sharing, and Trump responded, “Let’s see what happens; I think we’re going to make a deal; ask that question in two weeks.”

Tyler Durden
Sat, 04/26/2025 – 11:05

Is Walking Away From Ukraine The Best Option For Trump And The US?

Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

Is Walking Away From Ukraine The Best Option For Trump And The US?

This week Vice President JD Vance reiterated the Trump Administration’s position that “walking away from Ukraine” and the peace negotiations after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky demanded that Crimea be “liberated” as part of the terms.  Zelensky argued that the “war against the entire free Europe” began with Crimea and must end with the return of Crimea. 

Vance’s frustration with Zelensky is understandable. As he noted, Ukraine is in no position to demand anything given their precarious position on the battlefield.  Russia’s attrition tactics have been highly effective in countering western arms and intel support on the eastern front while also whittling down Ukrainian troop strength.  They have also retaken almost all of the gains made by Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region while they amass troops to take Sumy to the south. 

Furthermore, Vladimir Putin’s latest missile salvo on Kyiv proves that the Kremlin has actually been holding back, and heavy bombardment of the capital is entirely possible.  Ukraine does not have the ability to defend against such an attack should it occur.

At bottom, Ukraine has no options.  They need to settle now, give up the Donbas and Crimea, or lose everything.  A deal would probably have been secured by now if it weren’t for interference from the European establishment.

The Europeans have once again organized a peace talks event, this time in London, as a means to make the situation about them rather than make it about achieving a legitimate end to the war.  Russia is, yet again, not included in the talks which makes the event nothing more than irrelevant pomp for the media.  This is likely the real reason why Secretary of State Marco Rubio has cancelled his attendance at the meeting and the European elites are left to jabber in their echo chamber.  Nothing is going to be accomplished anyway.

 

European political leaders seem intent on keeping the war going for as long as possible while threatening to deploy troops to Ukraine and escalate the conflict, possibly triggering WWIII.  The ongoing narrative is that Ukraine is the “first domino” in a series of dominoes that could come crashing down across Europe if the Russians are allowed any form of victory.  In other words, it’s the Vietnam argument all over again – If the Russians get the Donbas, then they will want all of Ukraine, and then they will want all of Europe and the world.

The economic and military weakness shown by European governments in the past year might very well tempt such an invasion, but it’s highly unlikely that Russia is interested nor has Putin ever made such a threat.  

The greater question is, should the US remain involved?  Are JD Vance and Trump correct in their position that walking away might be the superior option?  Or is this simply a negotiation tactic to force Ukraine to accept a realistic settlement?

It’s clear that no matter what the US does the Europeans are going to do everything in their power to sabotage a formal peace agreement.  It was Europe (Boris Johnson and others) that reportedly convinced Zelensky to avoid diplomatic options and continue fighting.  Ukraine’s leverage has degraded to nothing since then and it’s impossible to know for now how many tens-of-thousands (or hundreds-of-thousands) have died.  It’s Europe that is currently giving Zelensky false hope that troop deployments are coming and that they will make a difference in the end.

Ukraine is never getting the Donbas back and there is no scenario in which military victory is viable, for Europe or Ukraine.  But, if the goal is to start a World War, then it makes sense to continue pushing for liberation of Russian holdings like Crimea.  Trump is continually criticized for pointing out the obvious: That Ukraine has lost the war and needs to make concessions.  Peace negotiations must take the facts on the ground into account. 

In any case, the US avoiding involvement sounds like the smart option.  Unless Trump can find a way to keep European interference out of the equation there is little hope for an end to the fighting.  On the bright side, reopening talks with Russia could help ease the greater global instability that is simmering.  And, leaving Ukraine to their own devices for a time might help them to realize European globalists do not have their best interests at heart.  Then again, not being involved means those same globalists will have free rein to influence the war as they please.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 04/26/2025 – 10:30

Dutch King Says Country Must Prepare For War, Pushes For Drone Development

Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

Dutch King Says Country Must Prepare For War, Pushes For Drone Development

Via Remix News,

As EU leaders rally for a prolonged conflict in Ukraine and push the idea of a European military no longer dependent on America, the Netherlands’ monarch has joined the chorus. 

“We may have taken it a bit too much for granted that we would always have freedom and peace,” King Willem-Alexander said at the Lieutenant General Best Barracks, writes De Telegraaf. 

“Unfortunately, Ukraine and other conflicts prove that this is no longer the case. And that we really have to prepare ourselves to continue living in peace and security. If you are not prepared, then you are not doing well,” he said.

Such a rearmament means the Netherlands must rebuild its defense industry, the monarch continued, adding, “It really needs to be able to start producing for a conflict again.”

The country, he said, must “arm itself to the teeth” to remain safe.

Following talks with military personnel and weapons manufacturers, the country will focus on producing better drones to take on enemy drones, given their dominance on the battlefield. Of key concern is making drones capable of say, securing the upcoming June NATO summit at The Hague

King Willem-Alexander himself served in the military, and as a reservist for the Air Force held the title of air commodore. 

He also was a commodore as a reservist in the navy and a brigadier general as a reservist in the army. 

After testing out a Dutch-made drone Ukraine used to detect mines, the king explained: “The operator must also be able to do very complicated work,” like mapping a minefield.

Soldiers also demonstrated weapons capable of disrupting the operation of a drone to take it out of the air, including taking over its controls, although even the king was not told how this is done.

Read more here…

Tyler Durden
Sat, 04/26/2025 – 09:55

Massive Explosion Rocks Port On Strait Of Hormuz

Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

Massive Explosion Rocks Port On Strait Of Hormuz

At least 500 people were injured after a massive explosion rocked Iran’s largest and most strategically significant maritime hub in the southern Hormozgan Province on the Strait of Hormuz. 

Iranian state media outlet Tasnim reported that the blast occurred on Saturday at the Shahid Rajaee Port. The outlet said, “The port remains in a state of chaos,” and many buildings have been destroyed. 

Tasnim reported that a fuel tank had “exploded for an unknown reason,” and port operations had been shuttered. A report from the state media outlet IRIB stated that the explosion occurred in the port’s chemical and sulfur area. 

Designated as a Special Economic Zone, Shahid Rajaee Port handles about 85% of Iran’s total port cargo operations. Its annual capacity is about 70 million tons, including 6 million TEUs of containerized cargo. The port spans 2,400 hectares and features 40 berths and 19 hectares of warehouses.

The port also serves as a critical node for Iran’s oil exports, equipped with docks that can accommodate large tankers. These facilities enable the annual export of around 34 million tons of oil products, including gasoline, naphtha, gas condensate, marine fuel, and mazut. 

At the same time, Iran and U.S. officials began the third round of negotiations in Oman’s capital of Muscat about the fate of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. Here’s more color on the second round.

The negotiations aim to suppress Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the U.S. lifting some economic sanctions it has imposed on the Islamic Republic. 

President Trump has threatened to launch airstrikes targeting Iran’s critical infrastructure if a deal is not reached. 

Last month, the U.S. began deploying stealth bombers to Diego Garcia—often referred to as Washington’s “unsinkable aircraft carrier”—located between Africa and Indonesia, about 1,000 miles south of India. The island serves as a critical launch point for stealth bombers in the event of a war with Iran. Staging the bombers on the island, well within striking distance, has made Tehran deeply uncomfortable.

Let’s take a step back to an October op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, penned by David Asher—a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a former U.S. State Department official who worked on counterterrorism operations in the Middle East—who advocated for neutering the Iranian regime’s “oil-export capacity to deprive the regime of its financial lifeblood.” 

Any event on the critical maritime chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz—such as an explosion at a major port—could spark uncertainty among energy traders and push Brent crude futures higher on Sunday evening.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 04/26/2025 – 09:20

Trump Unleashes More Anger, Frustration At Zelensky For Not Signing Rare Earths Deal

Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

Trump Unleashes More Anger, Frustration At Zelensky For Not Signing Rare Earths Deal

On Friday there’s been more public, out in the open tension on display between Presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump once again chastised the Ukrainian leader for apparently refusing to sign the controversial rare earths deal. 

US administration officials had last week previewed that they expected it to be signed this week, which generated many anticipatory headlines, but there’s as yet nothing to show for it, and the reports proved premature.

“Ukraine, headed by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has not signed the final papers on the very important Rare Earths Deal with the United States. It is at least three weeks late,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Getty Images

The statement was issued while he was en route to Rome aboard Air Force One for the pope’s funeral. Trump emphasized, “Hopefully, it will be signed IMMEDIATELY.“

“Work on the overall Peace Deal between Russia and Ukraine is going smoothly. SUCCESS seems to be in the future,” Trump added.

Ukraine has been hoping that agreeing with the deal would allow it to secure more specific and lasting security guarantees in the face of the Russian threat. Washington has so far agreed that the country should be able to forcibly defend itself if Moscow violates any future peace pact.

But clearly this week’s sparring between Kiev and Washington over Crimea has helped further deal a minerals deal. The White House wants Ukraine to be ready to give up Crimea permanently, and is ready to recognize Russian sovereignty over it.

However, Zelensky reiterated to reporters on Friday, “Our position is unchanged. The constitution of Ukraine says that all the temporarily occupied territories… belong to Ukraine.”

To review, Ukraine says that some 5% of the world’s “critical raw materials” are in the country. They include:

…some 19m tonnes of proven reserves of graphite, which the Ukrainian Geological Survey state agency says makes the nation “one of the top five leading countries” for the supply of the mineral. Graphite is used to make batteries for electric vehicles.

Ukraine has 7% of Europe’s supplies of titanium, a lightweight metal used in the construction of everything from aeroplanes to power stations.

It is also home to a third of all European lithium deposits, the key component in current batteries.

Other elements found in Ukraine include beryllium and uranium, which are both crucial for nuclear weapons and reactors.

Deposits of copper, lead, zinc, silver, nickel, cobalt and manganese are also significant.

Trump’s impatience could also stem from the fact that a little over a week ago Ukraine signed a memorandum of intent, paving the way for an “economic partnership agreement” with the US. But apparently not much has happened since then, and the White House fears Kiev is just stalling.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 04/26/2025 – 08:45

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