Iran’s word lasted less than 24 hours. On Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi took to social media to declare the Strait of Hormuz “completely open” to commercial shipping. It was supposed to be a goodwill gesture tied to the ceasefire in Lebanon. The headlines ran everywhere. The markets exhaled for about five minutes. Then Saturday morning happened. Iranian Revolutionary Guard gunboats opened fire on commercial tankers trying to transit the Strait. Multiple vessels, including an Indian-flagged super tanker, were forced to turn around after taking fire. The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations confirmed the attack, saying the tanker and crew were safe but noting the IRGC boats gave no warning over radio before firing. Here was Iran’s Foreign Minister making the declaration just one day earlier: In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire, on the coordinated route as already announced by Ports and Maritime Organisation of the Islamic Rep. of Iran.— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) April 17, 2026 So much for “completely open.” Iran’s military command then put out a statement confirming the reversal. They announced that control of the Strait of Hormuz had “returned to its previous state” under “strict management and control of the armed forces.” Their reason? They accused the United States of “piracy” for maintaining the naval blockade on Iranian ports. The Associated Press reported on the escalation Saturday morning: Two gunboats from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard opened fire on a tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday after Iran said it has reimposed restrictions on the vital waterway. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said the tanker and crew were reported safe, without identifying the vessel or its destination. The incident took place 20 miles northeast of Oman. TankerTrackers.com reported vessels were forced to turn around in the strait, including an Indian-flagged super tanker, after they were fired on by Iran. This is the same regime that, 24 hours prior, told the world the Strait was safe for business. You cannot make this up. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy has not flinched. U.S. Central Command posted this update on the American blockade of Iranian ports: Guided-missile destroyer USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115) directs a merchant vessel to return to an Iranian port as it enforces the U.S. blockade, April 17. Since commencement of the blockade, 19 ships have complied with direction from U.S. forces to turn around and return to Iran.… pic.twitter.com/v4dhGw8wUH— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 17, 2026 That number has now climbed to 23 ships turned around, according to CENTCOM’s latest update. The blockade, which began last Monday with over 10,000 U.S. sailors, Marines, and airmen enforcing it, remains fully operational. CBS News provided additional context on the reversal: Iran’s joint military command said that “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state, under strict management and control of the armed forces.” It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect. Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission, said that the strait was “returning to the status quo,” which he had earlier described as ships requiring Iranian naval authorization and toll payment before transiting. So now Iran is demanding “toll payments” from commercial vessels passing through international waters. Think about that for a second. The Strait of Hormuz handles roughly one-fifth of the world’s daily oil supply. Every time Iran plays games with it, gas prices spike for American families. President Trump warned this would happen if Iran didn’t negotiate in good faith, and he’s been proven right every step of the way. Despite the chaos, Pakistani officials say the U.S. and Iran are still moving toward a deal before the April 22 ceasefire deadline. Whether Tehran can be trusted to honor any agreement at this point is another question entirely.

Iran has closed and restricted the Strait of Hormuz again, swiftly reversing course on reopening the vital waterway. Tehran said it had reimposed restrictions after the US said the reopening would not end its blockade [...] The post Iran Closes Strait of Hormuz Again After US ‘Violates Deal’ appeared first on The People's Voice.

Millions of older and vulnerable people in England are being urged to book their spring Covid-19 jabs. Despite all the information now available showing how dangerous these jabs are, they are still being pushed on [...] The post NHS Urge Old & Vulnerable To Get Their Spring Covid Jabs, Warning Of ‘Waning Immunity’ appeared first on The People's Voice.

Dr. Oz stopped payments to 450 hospices in California, and not one has called and asked to be reinstated. He is rooting out the fraud. Katie Pavlich interviewed Dr. Oz and told him the complaint is that rooting out fraud “is cutting Medicaid services.” What is your response to that? Dr. Oz said, “Not at all. They know it’s manufactured.” Oz said that they sheepishly argue that we, once in a while, hurt children who are innocent and need the services. However, he said we are providing a great service for those children. He said that in Minnesota, the officials took a budget from $3 million to $400 million. They did it by creating programs and manufacturing services that aren’t supposed to be used. They are hurting the child who really has autism because they can’t get access to services, and you’re corrupting the entire system. “We’re seeing the same thing in California with hospice, where you have one-third of all the hospices, Katie, in the entire country are in Los Angeles, not California, just LA. I mean, how many people are dying there? … I’ll make this announcement in your show. We have stopped payments to 450 hospices in California. Guess what? Not one has called us asking to reinstitute them. … in 10 weeks, we’ve shut down 450 payment systems to these guys, that’s representing at least $600, $700 million just this year, and no one’s complaining.” The attorney general, Rob Bonta, claims he has been addressing the fraud with his handful of prosecutions. However, how does he explain that, after a probe by citizen journalist Nick Shirley and an investigation by the Trump administration, they closed 450 seemingly fake hospices in record time? Dr Oz confirms that after stopping payments to 450 hospices in California, still NOT ONE has called and asked to have their payments reinstated 450 hospices out of 450 hospices in California were fraud He says collectively they stole $750 million in just on year pic.twitter.com/t6iBl2flQL — Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) April 18, 2026 The post Proof of Medicaid Fraud in California appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

'we'll have to start dropping bombs again'