Egypt Goes Dark Amid Energy Crisis

Egypt Goes Dark Amid Energy Crisis

Martin Armstrong

Egypt is now offering a real-time example of what happens when an energy crisis moves from theory into reality, and it is not unfolding in some distant or abstract way but directly in the daily life of one of the most populated nations in the Middle East. Cairo, a city historically known for its nightlife and constant activity, is now being forced into darkness as the government imposes strict measures to conserve energy following the fallout from the Iran war.

Businesses are being ordered to shut down early, public lighting has been reduced, and what was once a 24-hour economy is now being artificially curtailed to cope with soaring fuel costs and disrupted supply chains.

The scale of the shock is significant because Egypt is not a major oil producer capable of insulating itself from global disruptions, but rather a country heavily dependent on imported energy. The government has confirmed that its energy import bill has more than doubled since the war began, forcing authorities to raise fuel prices, increase transportation costs, and even slow state-backed projects to manage the financial strain. This is precisely how an energy crisis spreads through an economy, beginning with supply constraints and then rippling outward into inflation, reduced activity, and ultimately social pressure.

What is unfolding in Cairo is not just about dimmed streetlights or earlier closing times, it is a form of economic contraction imposed by necessity. Shops, cafes, and restaurants are now required to close as early as 9 p.m., cutting off peak business hours in a culture where much of economic and social life traditionally occurs late at night. This has immediate consequences as businesses lose revenue, workers lose hours, and entire sectors begin to slow down. The government has even introduced reduced working hours and remote work policies to limit energy consumption, which further highlights how deep the problem has become.

Egypt was already dealing with a weakened currency and inflation running above 13%, and now it is being hit with an external shock that it cannot control. This combination is extremely dangerous because it reduces the government’s ability to respond while increasing pressure on the population. Tourism, one of Egypt’s primary sources of foreign currency, is already showing signs of slowing, and if that continues, it will further strain an already fragile balance of payments.

Egypt is simply one of the first visible cracks in the system. Countries that rely on imported energy are all facing similar pressures, but Egypt’s scale and economic structure make the impact more immediate and more visible.

This is where the broader picture becomes clear. The energy crisis is not something that hits everywhere at once. It moves unevenly, affecting the most vulnerable economies first, particularly those dependent on imports and exposed to global price shocks. Egypt is now showing what that looks like in practice, where an external geopolitical conflict translates directly into domestic restrictions, economic slowdown, and rising costs of living.

The Oil That Is Already on the Water Is the Only Thing Buying Time

Claiming Victory, Whilst Admitting Defeat: There Is No Easy Way To Open Hormuz

Claiming Victory, Whilst Admitting Defeat: There Is No Easy Way To Open Hormuz

Alastair Crooke

Bloomberg: “It is arguably Iran that has secured the most significant strategic victory … There is every sign that Tehran’s ability to control the Strait is increasing”

The defeats which the West keeps on having “[are] above all … intellectual”. And “not being able to understand what they are seeing – means that it’s impossible to respond effectively to it”. So Aurelien has argued. But “the problem goes beyond the fighting on the battlefield, to seeing and understanding the nature of asymmetric wars and their economic and political dimensions”.

“This is particularly the case for Iran, where… Washington appears to be incapable of understanding that the ‘other side’ does have a strategy with economic and political components – and is implementing it”.

“[In line with the western obsession with trivia], all the media concentration recently has been on the movement of U.S. troops to the region and their possible uses, as though that, in itself, was going to decide something. Yet in fact, the real issue is the development and deployment by the Iranians of a new concept of warfare, based on missiles, drones and defensive preparations, and the inability of the West, with its platform-centric mentality, to understand and process these developments [i.e., fully assimilate the strategy behind asymmetrical warfare]”.

Iran’s security concept and model was planned more than 20 years ago. The trigger for the move to an asymmetric paradigm came from the U.S.’ utter destruction of Iraq’s centralised military command in 2003, as a result of a 3-week massive air assault on Baghdad.

The issue for Iran that arose in its wake was how the country might build a deterrent military structure when it did not have (and could not have) anything resembling peer air capability. And when too, the U.S. could look down upon the extent of Iran’s military infrastructure from its high-resolution satellite cameras.

Well, the first answer simply was to have as little of its military structure out in the open to be observed from above. Its components had to be buried – and buried deeply (beyond the reach of most bombs). The second answer was that deeply buried missiles could indeed, in effect, become Iran’s ‘air force’ – i.e. a substitute for a conventional air force. Iran thus has been constructing and stockpiling missiles for more than twenty years. The third response was to divide Iran’s military infrastructure into autonomous provincial commands – to decentralise command centres, with each having separate stockpiled munitions, separate missile silos, and where appropriate, their own naval forces and militia.

In short, Iran’s military machine – in the event of a decapitation strike – was designed to operate as an automated, decentralised retaliation machine that cannot be easily stopped or controlled.

When unable to understand what is before our very eyes, the easiest thing is to reach for that which one knows – a build-up of troops – and to continue doing what hasn’t worked in the past.

Time moves on, and today, as Ben David writes, the U.S. military juggernaut serves as Trump’s ‘Roy Cohen’. He presents the American military might for display to the Iranians in the expectation that they readily will capitulate; else he, Trump, will let go of the leash. Trump complained to Witkoff after the armada of U.S. naval vessels had been assembled off the Persian coast that he was ‘puzzled and confused’ as to why the Iranians had not already capitulated on sighting the collective naval power assembled.

“[The cause for Trump’s puzzlement is that] this time he faces an opponent different from any he has ever known. These are not Manhattan real estate moguls or Atlantic City mobsters, they are Persians, members of a 3,000-year-old culture, and they have different concepts of time and what victory is”.

Whilst Trump is sending mixed messages about the prospects for talks with the Islamic Republic, Israeli officials believe he is considering three options: First to escalate the war by attacking Iran’s energy infrastructure on Kharg Island and at its South Pars gas field, with a second option being a ground operation to eliminate Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile.

A third option being considered would be to negotiate an agreement with Iran – but such a prospect would be seen by Israeli leadership circles as a “clear Iranian victory, opening the path for the Iranian Republic to survive”, Caspit writes. “Israel is focused on weakening the regime to the point where it cannot recover – thus it hopes, maybe encouraging future mass protests. This argument is also being used to convince Washington to continue the war”, Caspit emphasises.

A fourth option could be that Trump just declares victory and walks away.

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Gog-Magog Invasion Coming Into Focus

God’s Hooks in Gog May Be Coming into Focus

Mark A. Becker

“And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back [from Ukraine?], and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords…

“Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.” – Ezekiel 38:3-4, 10-12

Recent developments and a proposal from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Arab Gulf countries regarding the difficulties with the Strait of Hormuz due to the US/Israeli war against Iran have given way to the title of our article, God’s Hooks in Gog May Be Coming into Focus.

Here are two recent articles on this subject:

From Only long-term solution for Hormuz crisis is a pipeline through Israel, says PM Netanyahu – but Turkey and Syria compete for strategic route | All Israel News:

The only long-term solution to the danger of the Iranian regime blocking access to the strategic Strait of Hormuz runs through Israel, asserted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a Monday interview with Newsmax.

“Long-term solutions include rerouting energy pipelines westward, across Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea and Mediterranean, bypassing Iran’s geographic choke point,” Netanyahu said, adding that the pipelines should reach Israeli ports to ensure “free flow of oil and gas” in the future…

While he didn’t specifically mention it in the interview, Netanyahu’s statements referred to the existing “India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC),” also known as the “Peace Railway,” which was announced at the G20 Summit 2023 in India.

It envisions creating a route for the transport of goods from India to the United Arab Emirates via ship, and from there, via a 2,000-kilometer (1,240 miles) land route through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Israel to the port of Haifa and then onwards toward Europe, shortening shipping distances via the Suez Canal.

And from Gulf countries consider potential Haifa pipeline route as alternative to Strait of Hormuz | All Israel News:

Gulf countries are considering the construction of new oil pipelines that could transport crude via Haifa on the Israeli Mediterranean coast as an alternative route to the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, according to the Financial Times (FT). The deliberations come amid concerns about Iranian disruption of the Strait, a key artery for global energy exports…

Israel’s Haifa port is seen as a stable outlet for exporting Middle Eastern oil to global markets. The FT noted that proposed Gulf pipelines to Haifa would also advance the U.S.-backed IMEC initiative, which envisions connecting the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea through the Middle East and Israel.

NewMed Energy CEO Yossi Abu says the potential pipelines to the Mediterranean would allow people in the region “to control their own destinies, with their friends.”

“You need oil pipelines, railway connectivity throughout the region, onshore, without giving others bottlenecks to choke us,” he said.

Gog and Islam: Spoil, Prey, and Genocide

Here is what we suggested regarding God’s hooks in Gog in Gog and Islam: Spoil, Prey, and Genocide:

The Absolute Necessity of Energy in an End-Times World

One commodity that is of immense value in today’s world, and will be until Jesus comes back, is energy of all types. Energy is a universal standard commodity that every nation on Earth needs to survive and thrive.

Antichrist will also need vast amounts of energy to operate his worldwide Mark of The Beast economic and worship system; therefore, energy will be of vital importance to this system’s success. Energy may also be another hidden motive when Antichrist – in attempting to annihilate the Israeli people after the Abomination of Desolation, purging the nation of Israel of every Israeli in the Promised Land in the Great Tribulation – prepares to install his Mark of The Beast economic and worship system.

So, how can we come to a logical conclusion of energy being potentially the main objective of Gog’s invasion of Israel, as recorded for us in Ezekiel 38, since these modern-day energy sources were not in existence and/or unknown in Biblical times? Can we make sense of energy commodities, using the same ancient spoils and prey that God uses in Ezekiel?

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Iran’s New Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei Reportedly UNCONSCIOUS, Being Treated for ‘Severe’ Medical Condition

Iran’s New Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei Reportedly UNCONSCIOUS, Being Treated for ‘Severe’ Medical Condition — Completely Incapable of Running the Terrorist Country

Jim Hᴏft

Now the mask is completely off.

Multiple international reports now indicate that Iran’s newly installed Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is unconscious and suffering from a severe medical condition, leaving him effectively unable to govern.

According to a diplomatic memo obtained by The Times, the 56-year-old son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is lying incapacitated in the city of Qom.

He is “unable to be involved in any decision-making by the regime,” the assessment states bluntly.

The Times reported:

Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is incapacitated and receiving medical treatment in the holy city of Qom, according to an intelligence assessment which suggests he is not capable of running the country.

A diplomatic memo understood to be based on American and Israeli intelligence and shared with Gulf allies suggests that Khamenei, the son of the killed long-time leader Ali Khamenei, is unconscious and being treated for a “severe” medical condition.

The memo, seen by The Times, reveals the supreme leader’s location for the first time. The central city, 87 miles south of Tehran, is considered sacred in Shia Islam.

“Mojtaba Khamenei is being treated in Qom in a severe condition, unable to be involved in any decision making by the regime,” it reads.

Iran has confirmed that the new supreme leader was wounded in the same airstrike that killed his father, his mother, his wife Zahra Haddad-Adel, and one of his sons on the first day of the war that has since inflamed the region.

This comes as no surprise to Gateway Pundit readers. We have been reporting for weeks on the mysterious disappearance of Mojtaba Khamenei, the “Invisible Ayatollah,” amid rampant speculation that he was badly wounded, possibly disfigured, or even in a coma following the heroic U.S.-Israeli strikes that obliterated his tyrannical father and dozens of top regime thugs back in late February.

Mojtaba was rumored to have “lost a leg” and was nowhere to be seen as Iran’s clerical establishment desperately tried to prop him up as the new face of the Islamic Republic. President Trump himself confirmed the man was “damaged” but “probably alive in some form,” while mocking the entire clown show.

Times Liveblogging: Hegseth says Hormuz is open; senior Iranian official says Tehran will open strait in ‘limited’ manner tomorrow or Friday

Trump: There will be ‘no enrichment’ of uranium in Iran, we’ll dig out ‘nuclear dust’

Times of Israel is liveblogging Wednesday

Lebanese PM calls on country’s allies to help halt Israeli strikes

 Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam calls on his country’s friends to help put an end to Israeli attacks following a series of deadly strikes across the country targeting the Hezbollah terror group.

In a statement, Salam says that while Beirut “welcomed the agreement between Iran and the United States and intensified our efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, Israel continues to escalate its attacks.”

“All of Lebanon’s friends are called upon to help us stop these attacks by all available means,” he adds, after Israeli strikes that Lebanon’s health ministry said killed dozens of people and wounded hundreds more.

UAE says 17 Iranian missiles, 35 drones targeted country since ceasefire declaration

The United Arab Emirates says that 17 Iranian missiles and 35 drones had targeted its territory despite a US announcement of a two-week ceasefire with the Islamic Republic.

“Blatant Iranian attacks since the ceasefire took effect have reached 17 ballistic missiles and 35 drones, and the air defences have successfully dealt with them,” the UAE’s defense ministry says in a statement on X.

Saudi oil pipeline hit in Iranian attack despite truce

Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline was hit in an Iranian attack despite a declared ceasefire, and damage was being assessed, while other facilities were also targeted, an industry source tells Reuters.

The pipeline is the only outlet for Saudi crude exports after Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

IDF says 50 fighter jets dropped 160 bombs on 100 Hezbollah targets in 10 minutes

The large wave of Israeli airstrikes against Hezbollah across Lebanon involved 50 fighter jets dropping some 160 bombs on 100 targets within 10 minutes, according to the military.

The wave of strikes was given the internal codename “Eternal Darkness.”

The IDF said it bombed around 100 Hezbollah command centers and other military infrastructure in Beirut, the Beqaa Valley and southern Lebanon during the strikes.

Hegseth says Hormuz is open; senior Iranian official says Tehran will open strait in ‘limited’ manner tomorrow or Friday

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says that the Strait of Hormuz is open and the US military would be “hanging around” in the Middle East to ensure Iran complies with the ceasefire.

However, a senior Iranian official involved in talks with the US tells Reuters Iran could open the Strait of Hormuz in a limited and controlled way tomorrow or Friday ahead of a meeting between US and Iranian officials in Pakistan, implying it was not open yet.

“If an understanding on a framework for talks is reached, the strait could be opened “limited, under Iran’s control,” the official says.

“Coordinating with Iranian military will be mandatory for all ships. Still the ceasefire is fragile, however, we prefer lasting peace but Iran has no fear to return to war if the US wants go the same way.”

US forces ‘ready’ if Iran ceasefire ends, top US general says; ‘a ceasefire is a pause’

The US military is prepared to resume attacks on Iran if ordered by President Donald Trump, the top US general says.

“Let us be clear, a ceasefire is a pause, and the joint force remains ready, if ordered or called upon,” General Dan Caine tells a press conference.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also warns that “we stand ready in the background to ensure that Iran upholds” the terms of the truce agreed to on Tuesday.

Iran’s defense-industrial base ‘completely’ destroyed, Pentagon chief Hegseth says

The US war against Iran has “completely” destroyed the country’s ability to build missiles or other sophisticated weaponry, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says.

“We finished completely destroying Iran’s defense-industrial base, a core pillar of our mission,” Hegseth tells reporters. “They still shoot… here and there… but they can no longer build missiles.”

Iran “accepted the ceasefire under overwhelming pressure,” knowing that US was “locked and loaded” on energy and other targets it had no means to defend, Hegseth says.

“They know this agreement means they will never, ever possess a nuclear weapon.”

There is now a chance for “real peace and real deal,” he says, and warns that the “War Department… stand ready in the background to ensure Iran upholds every reasonable term.”

He thanks Israel “for being a brave, capable, and willing ally on this battlefield. The rest of the world and the rest of our so-called allies saw what real capabilities look like. They should take some notes.”

IDF denies involvement in alleged strikes today on Iranian oil refinery

The IDF denies any involvement in the reported strikes targeting an oil refinery on Iran’s Lavan Island this morning.

Iran has claimed that in response to a “cowardly attack” on the Lavan Oil Refinery, it launched missile and drone attacks on Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

IDF says will continue to strike Hezbollah, ‘no compromise’ on north’s security

The wide-scale Israeli attacks against Hezbollah across Lebanon a short while ago are not “closing strikes,” and the fighting against the terror group continues, according to the IDF.

Earlier, the IDF said it bombed around 100 Hezbollah sites in Beirut, the Beqaa Valley and southern Lebanon within 10 minutes. The wave of strikes was given the internal codename “Eternal Darkness.”

“We will continue to strike the Hezbollah terror organization and seize every opportunity. We will not compromise on the security of northern residents. We will continue to attack without pause,” IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir is quoted as saying by the military during the strikes.

The military says the massive wave of strikes was planned regardless of the ceasefire in Iran, and the timing is coincidental. The strikes were carried out after various “operational conditions” were considered optimal, according to military officials.

The IDF says it will continue its campaign against Hezbollah until told otherwise by Israel’s political leadership.

Trump: Iran won’t enrich uranium, will dig up uranium stockpile; US lifting sanctions

US President Donald Trump asserts that Iran will not be allowed to enrich uranium and claims that the US will work with Iran to dig up its stockpiles of highly-enriched uranium. 

There is no indication that Iran has agreed to comply with either of these points, and they are likely to be subject to negotiations that are slated to begin on Friday. 

“The United States will work closely with Iran, which we have determined has gone through what will be a very productive Regime Change!” Trump writes in a Truth Social post, even though the Islamic Republic has not fallen.

“There will be no enrichment of Uranium, and the United States will, working with Iran, dig up and remove all of the deeply buried (B-2 Bombers) nuclear ‘dust,'” he adds, referring to the results of the June 2025 strikes on Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites.

“It is now, and has been, under very exacting satellite surveillance (space force!). Nothing has been touched from the date of attack.”

“We are, and will be, talking rariff and sanctions relief with Iran,” he reveals. 

In a subsequent post, Trump adds, “A country supplying military weapons to Iran will be immediately tariffed, on any and all goods sold to the United States of America, 50%, effective immediately. There will be no exclusions or exemptions!”

Back in the first post, Trump says, “Many of the 15 points have already been been agreed to.”

He notably appears to make Washington’s 15-point plan for ending the war the basis of negotiations with Iran, even though his post announcing the ceasefire said Iran’s 10-point response would be the basis for talks.