Iran announced today that the Strait of Hormuz is "completely open" for commercial traffic. Iran announced it. Not the US Navy or Trump.

Iran opened the strait the same way they closed it — by deciding to, tied to the ceasefire in Lebanon.

That's the whole story. Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz. They always did. Their coastline runs the length of it. They hold seven of eight islands.

The shipping lanes are two miles wide and funnel every tanker within range of shore-based drones, mines, and fast-attack boats. The president himself admitted they can threaten those lanes "no matter how badly defeated they are."

So what was the blockade for?

In this episode, I walk through why Iran's control over Hormuz is permanent, what they built during the war (a toll system collecting Chinese yuan and crypto that was actually moving oil), who the US blockade was actually targeting (the ships getting through — mostly bound for China), and who paid the price for all of it (Americans, Europeans, Australians — not Iran, and definitely not Russia, who's having their best quarter in years).

The blockade was theater. The opening today proved it.

Sources and receipts are linked at Brave The New World — bravethenewworld.com

Chapters:

00:00 Iran Just Opened the Strait 0

4:00 The Map Doesn't Lie 09:00 The Insurance Is the Weapon

13:00 The Toll Booth

20:00 Who Was on Those Ships

25:00 Who's Paying for This

32:00 The Blockade of a Blockade