Drone Impacts US Embassy In Riyadh After Rubio Warns Iran 'Hardest Hits Yet To Come'

Drone Impacts US Embassy In Riyadh After Rubio Warns Iran 'Hardest Hits Yet To Come'

TYLER DURDEN

Summary: President Trump opened Monday's Medal of Honor ceremony in the White House East Wing with a carefully prepared, somewhat brief statement on Operation Epic Fury. Speaking deliberatively - but not quite with the level of his typically confident and energetic tone and demeanor - he spoke initially and broadly on the rationale for ordering the attack on Iran, which is now in day three and has taken at least four American troop lives at this point. Trump vowed to "crush" the "Iranian threat posed to the US," claiming that "we will easily prevail". 

He declared that already US forces have knocked out ten ships, and that the plan is to also ensure the Iranians "can't fund armies beyond borders". But high on the minds of Congressional leaders and the American public is: what's next? 

Trump gave a timeline of a "projected four to five weeks" for war with Iran, "but we can go longer" and this will involve "whatever it takes." He vowed to continue the mission with "unyielding resolve" - even amid reports that US Gulf allies UAE and Qatar are now lobbying allies to persuade Trump to end the Iran war soon (as the Gulf continues to feel the impact of Iran's retaliatory strikes). The President just committed the nation to another potentially open-ended war in the Middle East.

Late U.S. cash session, UBS analyst Jonathan Garber told clients that "Iran's Revolutionary Guards commander said the Strait of Hormuz is closed and they will set any ship on fire that tries to pass through, Reuters reports, citing Iranian media. WTI crude oil is now up more than 7% following the headlines." This soon on the heels of CENTCOM having announced that Iran's Navy now has zero ships in the Gulf of Oman. Whether all of this is fully accurate or not amid the natural competing infowar that accompanies any major conflict, it remains: How many ships will be willing to go through with Iranian kamikaze drones taking pot shots? 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio was on the defensive Monday afternoon while fielding questions on the Iran war. When asked about boots on ground, the prospect wasn't discounted, alarmingly. But he said the "president always has all options" and yet he believes the objectives "can be achieved without ground forces." He also confirmed that at this moment there is no diplomacy happening with Iran and that the "next hits are the hardest to come". The administration is also very heavy on repeating the mantra - "this is not Iraq... it's not endless" - as if fully aware that the prospect most definitely hangs over this whole operation.

Rubio, perhaps anticipating growing public anger especially if things go off the rails, says Treasury Secretary Bessent and Energy Secretary Wright will announce steps to mitigate oil costs; measures will be announced Tuesday. Rapidan Energy Group analyst Fernando Ferreira has noted: "The US-Israeli offensive has shifted Tehran's calculus from deterrence to regime survival. Iran cannot contest US control of the Gulf in a conventional fight, but it does not need to. Its strategy has always centered on denial, using drones, missiles, and mines to raise the cost of commercial transit through Hormuz. Even if the IRGC Navy takes heavy losses, the core threat remains. Drone and missile attacks can still disrupt shipping and rattle energy markets." CENTCOM clarifies: the vital oil transit strait "not closed despite IRGC claims".

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