Iran’s Hormuz transit fee illegal: GCC

(Does the UN actually know their statements don’t matter. They’ll do what they want.)

Iran charging vessels to transit the strait of Hormuz is illegal and a violation of a UN convention, Gulf Cooperation Council secretary general Jasem Mohamed Al-Budaiwi said today.

Iran effectively closed the strait by attacking commercial vessels shortly after the start of military strikes by the US and Israel at the end of February, and is now imposing fees on those wanting to transit the strait, Al-Budaiwi said.

"This is a violation of the UN convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)," Al-Budaiwi said.

Passage via the strait of Hormuz is dissimilar from Suez Canal and Panama Canal transits, through which Egypt and Panama legally charge fees, because it is a natural international strait rather than a manmade waterway.

UNCLOS allows "strait states" such as Iran to designate safe shipping lanes, but stipulates that these states "must not discriminate among foreign ships or, in their application, have the practical effect of denying, hampering or impairing the right of transit passage".

Despite this, Tehran is showing signs of plowing forward and formalizing a system to officially collect fees to ensure safe passage via the strait.

The GCC — made up of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and the UAE — will likely remain vocal in the near term about the imposition of fees by Iran because it threatens to continue to hamper shipments from the Mideast Gulf even after the end of the war. The payment of fees will also boost freight costs from the region and create new arbitrage opportunities for buyers sourcing outside of the Mideast Gulf.

By Ross Griffith

(The problem for the UN, they all know Iran can’t charge, but they will do it to terrorize the Strait, and collect fees.

https://www.argusmedia.com/en/news-and-insights/latest-market-news/2806424-iran-s-hormuz-transit-fee-illegal-gcc

Trump says Iran let 10 oil ships through Strait of Hormuz as ‘present’ to U.S.

PUBLISHED THU, MAR 26 202611:54 AM EDTUPDATED 13 MIN AGO

KEY POINTS

• Iran allowed a total of 10 oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz this week as a “present” to the United States, President Donald Trump said.

• Iran made the gesture to show the U.S. “the fact that we’re real and solid and we’re there,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting.

• Trump made the claim after insisting that the U.S has “very substantial talks going on with respect to Iran,” even though Tehran has denied direct talks have begun.

Iran allowed a total of 10 oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz this week as a “present” to the United States, President Donald Trump said Thursday.

Iran made the gesture to show the U.S. “the fact that we’re real and solid and we’re there,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting.

The comments provide an answer to questions raised two days earlier, when Trump first said that Iran “gave us a present” related to oil and gas, without elaborating.

Trump made the claim after insisting that the U.S has “very substantial talks going on with respect to Iran,” even though Tehran has denied direct talks have taken place.

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, a top negotiator with Iran, said in the Cabinet meeting that the U.S. has had “multiple reach outs from the region and others who want to play a role in ending this conflict peacefully.”

Witkoff also confirmed that the U.S. has presented a 15-point framework for a peace deal, but noted that it has been delivered via Pakistan, which has acted as mediator.

Iranian state media on Wednesday reported that Tehran rejected a U.S. ceasefire offer and submitted its own list of conditions for ending the war.

That counteroffer would give Tehran sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, the vital oil shipping route that has been effectively closed since the war began nearly four weeks ago.

Trump on Monday floated the possibility that the strait could be controlled jointly by “me and the ayatollah.”

Witkoff said in Thursday’s meeting Trump has directed him to “maintain confidentiality on the specific terms and not negotiate through the news media.”

“I can say this, we will see where things lead,” he added.

Trump and Cabinet officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, boasted that the U.S. has severely damaged Iran’s military capabilities.

“We estimated it would take approximately four to six weeks to achieve our mission. And we’re way ahead of schedule,” Trump said in the meeting.

But he acknowledged that Iran’s continued ability to block the strait — through which about 20 million oil barrels, or one-fourth of the world’s seaborne crude, passes daily — remains an unresolved challenge.

“The problem with the straits is this,” the president said. “Let’s say we do a great job. We got 99%. 1% is unacceptable, because 1% is a missile going into the hull of a ship that cost a billion dollars.”

“But I have a feeling it’s going to clean up pretty quickly,” he added.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/26/trump-iran-war-oil-strait-of-hormuz.html

Regime dealt another BLOW as Gulf Arab states turn against Iran

Mike Tobin and Former Trump NSC chief of staff Alex Gray join 'America's Newsroom' to break down the ongoing attacks against Iranian leadership as the U.S. attempts to negotiate an end to the conflict.

3:50

https://youtu.be/5CVCm-U2_xU

OPINION

Comedian Gives Streaming Giant Ultimatum Over Muslim Joke, Says Company Caved

Comedian Mark Normand says he made a streaming giant squirm.

The comedian recounted Monday a call that he had with a streaming service about two weeks prior, in whichthe company pressed him on a joke about Muslims in his special. Normand says he agreed to take the joke off social media — but only if the company agreed that Muslims were a “dangerous people.”

“Hulu sent me, about a week ago, two weeks ago, they said, ‘Send us a couple jokes you like, we’ll chop them up, then use them as promo on social media,'”saidNormand.

The clip is dubbed over so that the audio says “Hulu,” but Normand visibly mouths “Netflix” in the podcast clip. Normand has not publicly announced he’s working with Hulu on a comedy special. His new comedy special, “None Too Pleased,” was released March 17 on Netflix.

“They come back in a week, they go, ‘We gotta do a conference call …They go, ‘Yeah, we got some bad news there. We reviewed the special again. We’d like to take out the Muslim joke.'”

Normand asked them why.

“And they go, ‘Well, last time a comic did a Muslim joke we got bomb threats, we got death threats, they said they were gonna kill us, ruin the whole studio, blow the place up to smithereens, so we’d like to not use the Muslim joke.”

“And I go, ‘Well I like the joke, it kills, it’s a hot joke … So I was like, I gotta fight for the joke here, folks.'”

Normand says the company agreed to keep the joke in the special itself, but wanted it removed from social media.

“And I was like, ‘Okay, okay, I don’t love it but okay, I will take it off on one condition… I go, =I want you to admit, on this call, that they’re a dangerous people==,” Normand said, referring to Muslims.

“And they were like, ‘What, no, what are you, crazy?'”

“And I’m like, ‘You gotta admit it or I’m keeping it, or I’m posting it,” said Normand, adding that he was “half joking.”

“And they go,‘Well, we’re not gonna do that,’ and I go, ‘Why not?’ And they go, ‘Well that’s offensive.”

“And I go, ‘That’s what the call is.You’re calling about this and I just need you to say it out loud’. … But it’s kind of a microcosm of the whole thing. You can say, ‘Hey, I love this group,’ but then you don’t live near them.You know, we’re all talk, we’re all signaling, we’re all virtuous, but you don’t actually act that way. And I think this is a perfect example of that. ‘Hey, we’re scared. Hey, we don’t want to get Hebdo’d. Hey, we’re nervous.’ Okay, well why are you nervous?”

“Hebdo’d” is a reference to French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. The magazine was the target of three terrorist attacks, presumably because they published cartoons depicting Muhammed. Islamist gunmen killed twelve staff members in 2015. The gunmen reportedly shouted“Allahu akbar” during the attack.

Normand’s point is clear and correct. “The Book Of Mormon” was a smash hit.There is no “Book of Islam,” in part because Broadway types aren’t keen on making fun of Muslims, and in part (I suspect) because no one is keen on getting murdered.

Normandclaims the streaming company eventually “admitted it.”

“I got a Muslim friend, Umar is a big Muz. I don’t give a shit,but it was fun to get a group of HR homos to go, ‘All right, they’re dangerous. We’ll see you later,'” Normand added.

Probably, those human resources employees didn’t expect Normand to share the episode with the public.

https://dailycaller.com/2026/03/24/comic-mark-normand-netflix-hulu-streaming-muslim-islam-joke/

'DEAD MAN CRAWLING': CENTCOM reveals 'DEVASTATING' details on Iran strikes

Retired Lt. Gen. H.R.McMaster analyzes the degradation of Iran’s military capabilities, reporting that 92% of the Iranian Navy has been neutralized while internal 'fragmentation' leaves the regime unable to repress its own population.

7:51

https://youtu.be/d-LVOMAh7x4

>>24430108

What’s interesting McMasters seem to love what Trump and the military are doing

Mossad Commentary

@MOSSADil

🚨 RUBIO: THIS WAR WAS LONG OVERDUE

Iran has been at war with the United States for 47 years killing Americans, targeting civilians, and spreading terror across the globe. Other presidents talked. This one is acting.

At their weakest point, the regime is still attacking embassies and civilians. Imagine what they would do with a nuclear weapon. That risk is no longer being tolerated.

The mission is clear: destroy Iran’s naval power, eliminate its missile capabilities, and shut down its ability to produce weapons. And it is happening.

This is not just about America. The world is becoming safer because someone finally chose to confront the threat instead of managing it.

Boost the algorithm: Bookmark, Share, Reply, Repost, Like and Follow

@Mossadil

11:11 AM · Mar 26, 2026

·

61.8K

Views

https://x.com/MOSSADil/status/2037185715050541318?s=20

Eric Daugherty

@EricLDaugh

🚨 JUST IN: Steve Witkoff reveals the shocking things Iran told him BEHIND CLOSE DOORS

"The Iranians have the 'inalienable right to enrich.' Then we heard they possessed enough 60% enriched material, 460 kilograms, to make 11 ATOMIC BOMBS."

"They would not give up diplomatically what we could not win militarily."

Trump really made the right call.

11:10 AM · Mar 26, 2026

·

432.2K

Views

https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/2037185462708678690?s=20

Italy seizes millions in assets allegedly stolen from Bond star Ursula Andress

Story by Associated Press

Updated: 10:36 AM EDT, Thu March 26, 2026

Source: AP

Italian authorities have impounded 20 million euros ($23 million) worth of property, artworks and financial assets in and around Florence that were allegedly purchased with money stolen from original Bond girl Ursula Andress, Italy’s financial police said in a statement on Thursday.

The seizures were the result of an investigation launched after Andress reported to Swiss authorities that she had been swindled out of assets by financial advisers.

The 90-year-old former Bond girl told Swiss newspaper Blick in January that she had been defrauded out of 18 million Swiss francs, approximately 20 million euros, by her long-time financial adviser over an eight-year period. The newspaper said the adviser had died in the meantime.

“I am still in shock,’’ Andress was quoted as saying. “I was deliberately chosen as a victim. For eight years, I was courted and wooed. They lied to me shamelessly and exploited my goodwill in a perfidious, indeed criminal, way in order to take everything from me. They took advantage of my age.’’

The stolen funds were invested in foreign companies, used to buy assets and then channeled through transactions designed to conceal their source, Italian authorities said.

They were traced to the purchase of 11 real estate properties, 14 plots of land cultivated as vineyards and olive groves, along with artworks and financial assets in Florence and the neighboring Tuscan countryside.

Authorities did not say if any arrests were made.

Swiss-born Andress is best known as the first Bond girl, Honey Ryder, in 1962’s “Dr. No,” which featured her memorable entrance emerging from the sea in a white bikini. She went on to work with Elvis Presley in “Fun in Acapulco” and Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin in “Four for Texas.” She later transitioned to a European cinema and television career, before retiring in the early 2000s.

https://lite.cnn.com/2026/03/26/entertainment/ursula-andress-james-bond-millions-seized-scli-intl