this post was submitted on 22 Feb 2026
419 points (98.6% liked)
Political Memes
11145 readers
1641 users here now
Welcome to politcal memes!
These are our rules:
1) Be civil
Jokes are okay, but don’t intentionally harass or disturb any member of our community. Sexism, racism and bigotry are not allowed. Good faith argumentation only. No posts discouraging people to vote or shaming people for voting.
2) No misinformation
Don’t post any intentional misinformation. When asked by mods, provide sources for any claims you make.
3) Posts should be memes
Random pictures do not qualify as memes. Relevance to politics is required.
4) No bots, spam or self-promotion
Follow instance rules, ask for your bot to be allowed on this community.
5) No AI generated content.
Content posted must not be created by AI with the intent to mimic the style of existing images
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Idk, it will spike gas prices presumably, one thinks Iran would shut down the straits of hormuz this time, I can't believe they didn't last time though so what do I know. But it will supercharge inflation, and gas prices, 25% of oil moves through there.
Plus once a ship gets blown up, insurance pulls their coverage, and those tankers are worth like a hundred million or more, they won't risk them in a war zone without insurance.
One would think between mines, and missiles they could have dug in and pull out and shoot off then disappear, that they could shut down the straits, and that maybe last time they were holding back to wait it out and not escalating. Which was a mistake as it guarenteed Israel would want to get some more cost free hits in.
But close to the election the hyper inflation could hurt, now they've plenty of time to calm it down, assuming they can keep Israel on a leash enough to keep the gulf ships going through after.
You think Iran could control the Strait of Hormuz against two US carrier strike groups?
I think they could with mines, and missiles, and drones, be able to hit oil tankers well enough to shut down the straits of hormuz.
You don't think so? I thought they were going to do it last time and they didn't, so maybe I was mistaken.
There are certain things people can reasonably criticize the US military as being bad at, but I don't think anyone can credibly claim it isn't excellent at achieving air superiority. I mean, maybe it could turn out that the Navy is "fighting the last war" and unprepared for drones, but I don't think that's likely. Especially not against Iran (China I might give more credit to, what with their hypersonic missiles and all).
Iran prefers to go after ships with torpedo boats. Not the US Navy’s strongest defence.
I am not saying Iran would beat the US navy, just that it should be able to threaten cargo ships enough to shut down the strait of hormuz and thereabouts. Between mines, floating things that explode when something hits them, sometimes set to intermediate depths. That could be dropped by drones or missiles. To missiles and drones themselves, they should be able to shut down the trade, once there is a credible threat insurance should pull their coverage even if the navy is escorting them.
That is their only real card to play here. Well besides for taking out Saudi oil facilities, which is not a bad idea at all. No matter what the saudis say now that Iran showed they can hit them, the Saudis were the biggest proponents of war with Iran back in the president's first term. They deserve it, and they are more vulnerable, as the US doesn't protect them so much.
Besides for that, yeah maybe big maybe they could take out a ship, if they got lucky and overwhelmed their defenses?
I would expect countering that sort of thing because The ~~Spice~~ Oil Must Flow to be the Navy's first priority (aside from defending itself, obviously). But then again I'm not a military strategist, so what do I know?