Distress call captures tanker under fire, Iran shuts Hormuz trapping thousands of sailors

Fox News is reporting on skyrocketing tensions in the Middle East as Iran's Revolutionary Guard doubles down on its iron grip over the Strait of Hormuz and opens fire on passing ships.

President Trump, speaking from the Oval Office, made it crystal clear that the U.S. naval blockade will stay in full force. White House correspondent Alex Hogan is on the ground with the latest on this rapidly escalating diplomatic and military standoff.

Hundreds of commercial tankers are now stranded on both sides of the Strait of Hormuz after Iran slammed shut this critical chokepoint on April 18, bringing traffic to a complete halt and leaving crews trapped amid reports of gunfire and "traumatic experiences" on board.

The Strait of Hormuz is considered an international waterway under international law, through which ships have the right of transit passage, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz, making it a critical chokepoint for global energy markets, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said Iranian gunboats opened fire on a tanker the same day, while a projectile struck a container vessel, damaging cargo.

U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that "U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers are among the assets executing a blockade mission impacting Iranian ports." (CENTCOM)

Audio released by maritime monitoring group TankerTrackers appears to capture the moment a vessel and its crew came under fire while approaching the strait, including a distress call from a crew member.

"Sepah Navy! Motor tanker Sanmar Herald! You gave me clearance to go… you are firing now. Let me turn back!" the crew member can be heard saying in the recording, according to TankerTrackers.

Iranian state media confirmed that shots were fired near vessels to force them to turn back, while the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India said the foreign secretary was deeply concerned.

Hapag-Lloyd, the world’s fifth-largest container shipping line, told Fox News Digital that it had activated a crisis team as its crews remain stuck on board vessels in the region.

"We have been working from Friday afternoon until today with the entire crisis team to bring the vessels out — in vain, unfortunately," said Nils Haupt, senior director of group communications at Hapag-Lloyd AG.

"These events can easily lead to traumatic experiences. There is also a significant risk from sea mines, which has made insuring vessels for passage through the Strait nearly impossible."

"The crews are well, but they are becoming increasingly impatient and frustrated. It is very unfortunate that we could not leave today," he added. "Many ships are still stuck in the Persian Gulf."

"Our six ships are anchored near the port of Dubai, and all crews hope for an improvement in the situation," Haupt said.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on April 18 that the strait would remain closed until the U.S. lifts its blockade on Iranian ports, warning ships not to move from anchorage or risk being treated as "enemy" collaborators.

Iran has previously argued that restrictions on its oil exports and shipping amount to "economic warfare," framing actions in the Strait of Hormuz as a response to foreign pressure on its economy, according to statements from Iranian officials and state media in past incidents.

"Approaching the Strait of Hormuz will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and any violating vessel will be targeted," the IRGC said in a statement carried by the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.

Fishing boats dot the sea as cargo ships, in the background, sail through the Arabian Gulf toward the Strait of Hormuz off the United Arab Emirates, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo)The United States imposed the blockade on Iranian ports to pressure Tehran to reopen the strait, with U.S. Central Command saying the measures are being enforced "impartially against all vessels."

Hapag-Lloyd said its vessels have been stuck for weeks following the initial closure after the outbreak of war with Iran on Feb. 28.

"For us, it is critical that our vessels can pass through the strait soon," Haupt said."We offer all crew members unlimited data so they can video call loved ones and access entertainment. Crews are strong, but after weeks on board there is growing monotony and frustration."

"One crew experienced a fire on board from bomb fragments. Others have seen missiles or drones near their vessels," he added.

"They are resilient, but each additional day makes the situation more difficult, more monotonous, and more stressful."

President Trump said Iran had agreed not to close the strait again but after the closure, Trump called the situation "blackmail" and said the U.S. would not back down.

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Besides destroying IRGC infrastructure, the US destroys their lies after Khamenai is also destroyed

The United States didn't pull any punches. It straight-up called out Tehran by name, shredding what CENTCOM describes as outright lies from the Iranian regime in a no-nonsense, point-by-point smackdown posted just hours after the joint U.S.-Israel operation that took out Iran's Supreme Leader.

This fact-check blitz hit right after the coordinated strike that eliminated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a hit that U.S. officials are calling a major takedown in the regime's long-running terror spree and chaos across the region.In a couple of tough posts on X, CENTCOM directly slapped down claims from Iran's UN ambassador and the IRGC, branding them false and accusing Tehran of trying to snow the whole world.

At a UN Security Council session, Iran's ambassador insisted Tehran's retaliation was aimed "solely and exclusively at the bases and assets of the United States. "CENTCOM shot that down hard."

The Iranian Regime is actively targeting civilians and has attacked more than a dozen locations," the command declared, then rattled off the sites it says got hit.Those include: 

Dubai International Airport

Kuwait International Airport

Zayed International Airport in Dubai 

Erbil International Airport in Iraq, 

Fairmont Palm Hotel in Dubai, 

Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai, 

Crowne Plaza Hotel in Bahrain, 

Port of Dubai, 

residential areas in Beit Shemesh, Israel, 

residential areas in Tel Aviv, 

Israel, residential area of Era Views Towers in Bahrain, 

residential areas in Qatar.

This public call-out ramps up the messaging war big time, with Washington accusing Iran of slamming civilian targets while feeding the international community a bunch of garbage.In another whopper, the IRGC claimed it nailed the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier with ballistic missiles. CENTCOM wasn't having it.

"The Lincoln was not hit. The missiles launched didn’t even come close," the command fired back, and media video shows that this is true.

The Lincoln continues to launch aircraft in support of CENTCOM’s relentless campaign to defend the American people by eliminating threats from the Iranian regime.

"These blunt denials drop as the U.S. and Israel keep hammering Iranian military targets in their joint ops, going after air defenses, missile setups, naval forces, you name it. 

By flat-out labeling Tehran's spin as bogus, the U.S. is fighting the info war right alongside the kinetic one, pushing back on Iranian propaganda, steadying allies, and making crystal clear that key American assets are still locked and loaded.

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Saudi Arabia: days after Khashoggi killed another journalist 'tortured to death'

Would this face lie?

The Saudis are not like people from the West. They are not like Christians and Jews, Hindus or Jains. They are a strange and violent folk who don't tolerate what they don't tolerate, and you don't want to mess with them if you're planning a vacation in the desert.

A second journalist has allegedly been tortured to death in Saudi Arabia just days after Jamal Khashoggi was tortured to death.

Turki Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Jasser [no relation to Zuhdi Jasser] was violently murdered in his jail cell last week after he was arrested by authorities.

Jasser secretly ran a Twitter account called Kashkool. It exposed human rights violations by officials of the royals in Saudi Arabia. It appears that his death proved him correct.

Saudi moles in Twitter's regional Dubai office uncovered his identity and he was arrested, according to reports.

Jasser's death comes when Turkey believes Washington Post reporter Khashoggi, 59, was tortured, dismembered in 15 parts, removed from the Saudi embassy in Turkey, and taken away little by little. He was killed on October 2nd soon after entering the consulate.

Crown Prince Salman:
"Those folks are dead to me"

And Yasin Aktay [aka: "Also"] a presidential advisor, said Khashoggi's body was dissolved in acid and cut up. That's disgusting, but there is no evidence to support this theory as his body has not been found.

Mohammad bin Salman, crown prince and head mucky muck of Saudi Arabia has denied Aktay's claims and, like O.J. Simpson, is "determined to find out all the facts."

The prince's officials have yet to officially comment on Turki Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Jasser's death.

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Iran ready to give U.S. a loose-wristed "slap in the face"

Dubai -- A commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Wednesday that if we underestimate their defensive capabilities, that we should expect a "strong slap in the face."

And Iran should not underestimate the kick in the crotch they will get for trying to slap us in the face by preventing them from developing a nuclear weapon, which we know they will use to bring back their so-called Twelfth Imam.

President Trump has made it clear that we will get tough with Iran warning them after they performed yet another ballistic missile test on January 29th. He told them they were playing with fire and that all of our options were on the table.

Gen. Mohammad (can you believe it) Pakpour said "The enemy should not be mistaken in its assessments, and it will receive a strong slap in the face if it does make such a mistake." Pakpour, who sometimes goes by the nickname "Goat Chaser" for his playful antics with these animals, is head of the Revolutionary Guard's ground forces.

The Guard wrapped up three days of military exercises with rockets, tanks, artillery, and helicopters, a few weeks after Trump put the terrorist-funding country "on notice" over the missile launch.

"The message of these exercises . . . for world arrogance is not to do anything stupid," Goat Chaser said and was quoted by Tasnim, the semi-official news agency.

"Everyone could see today what power we have on the ground," he said. 

While there are mounting tensions with Israel, an analyst at Tasnim said Hezbollah, and Iran ally, could fire Fateh 110 missiles from inside Lebanon into Israel to destroy their Dimona nuclear reactor. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah (his mother wanted to name him Mohammad) said that his slime-balls could strike Dimona.

If that should happen, President Trump will have Israel's back and that kick in the groin is gonna hurt Iran, big league.


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Obama transfers 10 terrorists from Gitmo to Oman

Dubai, UAE -- Oman (not "Obama man") said on Monday that it will joyfully accept 10 of the worst terrorists still at Guantanamo Bay Detention Center right before Obama is ready to leave the White House as part of his threat to shrink the facility he promised, but failed to close.

The U.S. Department of Defense had nothing to say on the matter.

Oman's Foreign Ministry did not name the scumcrumpets but assured the public that most of them are named Mohammad or a derivative of that name, and said in a statement carried on state-run Oman News Agency that they have accepted Obama's plea.

When the Associated Press pressed for more input about the matter, Omani and U.S. military officials were too embarrassed to respond.

The sultanate of Oman previously took in a bunch of Gitmo's 'worstest': 10 from Yemen in January 2016; and 6 in June 2015. Saudi Arabia gladly repatriated 4 scum on January 5th, and the United Arab Emirates took 15 in the largest single transfer of dangerous cargo during Barack's administration on August 15th. 

Allahu Akbar, everybody.

Sultan Qaboos bin Said (his friends call him "Caboose") ruled Oman since 1970. He has been the "go-between" with the West and Iran and has also negotiated a boatload of prisoner releases in recent years for Western countries too stupid to know a dangerous dude unless he exploded in front of them.

Since he wasn't able to close Gitmo altogether, Obama is doing his level best to free as many Islamic terrorists as possible because he can, and because he will be provided with armed security for the rest of his life so, as they often say, "no worries."

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said that he not only wants to keep Gitmo open, but wants to "load it up with some bad dudes."

Mr. Trump is known for his openness, not his eloquence.

When Barack Hussein Obama came into power, there were 242 terrorists in Gitmo. Being the good Muslim sympathizer that he is, Barack pledged to close it over serious international criticism over the mistreatment of detainees. 

The idea that we would stoop so low as a nation to pour water on a person's head who may have merely immolated an infidel to death was just too much for liberals to tolerate.

Fortunately, Obama wasn't able to close down Gitmo because Congress was against suicidal behavior.

The majority of scumcrumpets were sent to lovely Afghanistan, Pakistan (pronounced "Pahkeestahn" by Barack Obama) and Saudi Arabia.

In all, only about 30 percent that we know of, have returned to the battlefield to kill us. The remaining 70 percent have sent their kids to do the job.


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Dubai WiFi fatwa

Dubai, UAE -- Dubai's religious Islamic authorities say that stealing WiFi from your neighbor's router is un-Islamic. Under sharia (aka Islamic law) when a person steal, say, a loaf of bread, the thief has his hands chopped off. 

With WiFi the punishment is not so clear. Perhaps they remove his mouse or monitor so he or she cannot put in a password.

The real problem is that it's too easy stealing WiFi in Islamic countries. Everyone's password is "Mohammad" or "Muhammed," or some derivative of Mohammed. Mahmoud perhaps.

So now Dubai's Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department has declareda fatwa. 

Fatwas come in all colors. There can be a fatwa issued to say, kill Salman Rushdie for writing a book called "Satanic Verses," or a fatwa issued to kill the guy who put pig's blood on a wall of a mosque. There can be a fatwa against people who have negative opinions about jihad murder, blatant Islamic anti-Semitism, and the like. 

Fatwas are easy to declare if you're an imam.

The fatwa declared by Dubai's Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department was available online on the department's website, but an infidel hacker stealing free WiFi from a neighbor deleted it with this message:

"I will continue stealing WiFi wherever I find it. You will never find me for I will be like an invisible camel on the desert of darkness. Others will pay for the WiFi that I will take from them. They will be like geeks without chickens. Allahu Akbar!"

Dubai's Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department deals with many religious questions asked by readers of the online blog. When the reader asking about the WiFi situation posted the question as to whether or not it was okay to steal WiFi, the department said, "There is nothing wrong in using the line if your neighbors allow you to do so, but if they don't allow you, you may not use it."

"This is heavy, philosophical stuff," said John Brennan, Director of the CIA and visitor of the Hajj, a place where only Muslims may visit. "Imagine the immense thought that went into saying that using your neighbor's WiFi without their permission is stealing. I wonder what gets cut off in this instance if they get caught," Brennan said.


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There's Something About Donald

In an illuminating article by Robert Spencer in Jihad Watch, Donald Trump is depicted as an outspoken, somewhat buffoonish person, who has gone after politicians such as John McCain and Lindsey Graham. In fact, Spencer even admits how it's often hard to go after the Trumpster for his attacks on these career politicians, in spite of Donald's "clumsy savaging" of McCain.

On the other hand, McCain showed similarly poor judgment "when he claimed Michele Bachmann's entirely reasonable questions about Huma Abedin's Muslim Brotherhood ties manifested an "ignorance" that "defame[d]" the spirit of the nation."

As Spencer describe it, "So when it comes to John McCain and Donald Trump, it's blowhard versus boor. But that doesn't excuse Trump."

There is no doubt, as Spencer attests to, that Americans are tired of "mealy-mouthed career politicians talking platitudes. They want a real person as president . . . "

So while it's just great that Trump is willing to fling buffalo chips and attack those who caved to immigration issues and followed the herd on the left, the billionaire businessman is not willing to defend freedom of speech when it might jeopardize his businesses in Dubai.

Let's get specific.

The American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI)/Jihad Watch Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest took place in Garland, Texas. The purpose of this event was for Americans to express their First Amendment right to draw a Muhammad cartoon and possibly win a prize. The event was put on by Pamela Geller, a New York City blogger who is also associated with Robert Spencer and has made many appearances with him in the past to discuss issues regarding Islamo-Fascist problems with the religion of peace. 

You might recall how 2 Muslim terrorists tried to enter the event and kill as many participants as possible, but were summarily killed by a single cop with a handgun.

Trump had this to say about Pamela Geller:

"I watched Pam earlier, and it really looks like she's just taunting everybody. What is she doing drawing Muhammad? I mean it's disgusting. Isn't there something else they could be doing? Drawing Muhammad? They can't do something else? They have to be in the middle of Texas doing something on Muhammad and insulting everybody? What is she doing? Why is she doing it? It's probably very risky for her--I don't know, maybe she likes risks. But what the hell is she doing?"

If Trump has to ask these questions, what does that say about his understanding of the Constitution?

Salman Rushdie said of this tendency we witnessed that it is a case where "Fear is being disguised as respect." And he is absolutely right.

Rushdie had a death fatwa issued by an imam of the religion of peace for writing the novel, Satanic Verses, and had gone into hiding for years. He added that if he were threatened for insulting Islam today that "these people would not come to my defence and would use the same arguments against me by accusing me of insulting an ethnic and cultural minority."



But my personal favorite quote is from Dinesh D'Souza.







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