CAUGHT ON CAMERA: IRGC Confronts US Destroyer — The Incident That Could Start WW3

Hello everyone and welcome to Geopolitical Trends, where truth matters. Excited to be with you as always. An Iranian naval officer locked onto the US destroyer and says, "Forwards!" That stopped the most powerful navy in the world dead in its tracks. Of course, the US won't admit this. And this is it, the last warning. That's exactly what that officer said. And I have footage that I'm going to share with you here. What happened sort of after that, sort of the 30 minutes, the hour after that, nearly triggered a war. And the US government, of course, for us American viewers, it does not want us to see that footage. And that's exactly what that Iranian officer locks in onto the destroyer. And here we go again. Now you have these issues with the US saying one narrative and the reality on the ground saying otherwise. So what happened? Just as a background here, what happened is that the IRGC Navy between the 11th of April and 12th That was yesterday and the day before. And the IRGC Navy blocked, and I use the term carefully here, blocked the US destroyers. I have two pictures of this is the US Michael destroyer and this is the Patterson. The other picture is the Patterson US destroyer. Both of them were blocked. So, and this is where you have now the sharply conflicting accounts. Between the US and Iran. So in this livestream, I'm going to be providing you my own analysis with facts and footage, and I'll let you decide for yourself. But I'm going to provide two sides: the US account and the Iranian account. So we'll start with the US first. The US is saying— which I mean the US Central Command— is saying that the two destroyers, USS Frank Patterson— let me once again just to show the picture for, for the community to see here. And the other one is the USS Michael Murphy. There's the picture of it. So what the Central Command is saying is that, oh, these two destroyers transited the Strait of Hormuz and operated in the Arabian Gulf as part of a broader mission 'to ensure the strait is fully clear of sea mines previously laid by Iran's IRGC.' End of quote. This is what the Central Command is saying. And the 3 officers confirmed the ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz without an issue, which is a lie, and describing it as, and I put in quote, 'freedom of navigation mission.' And it makes you just wonder when I recall a few years ago, the Russians and the Chinese navies were near Alaska on the international water. The US just was sort of screaming bloody loud, "What are they doing near of our shores?" and so forth. And the Chinese and the Russians saying, "You know what? It's freedom of navigation. We are on international waters." So what makes the US justify its action under this so-called freedom of navigation mission? But anyway, that's what the US is saying. Now you have the Iranian account. And according to Iran's two main agency, Fars News Agency, the Iranian armed forces informed the country's negotiation delegation in Islamabad that a US destroyer was moving towards the Strait of Hormuz and warned that if the ship movement continues, it will be hit within 30 minutes. And it was stated, I listened to the recording in, as a matter of fact, it was in Farsi, but it was also translated into English. And I listened to it in Arabic in another location. And negotiations between Iran and the United States will also be hit. Which by the way, as we know now, the talks are dead. You can't trust the Americans. Simple as that. I'm not surprised. I did mention it to you before I left the US, that I said I doubt it. You remember the article I wrote? It's not going to work because we don't have credibility. We don't— we can't be trusted no matter what we say. And Iran is within its right And that is exactly what happened. So what you have is that Iran stated that the destroyer stopped moving due to this warning. And once again, we're going to go through all the analysis here. And when I get to the clip, I'll share it with you as we take a listen. And I'll— and again, you will hear in English. I don't need to do translation for you. Report this specific ones. Then you have independent observers, and this is where the key that I need you to understand. Why is the key? Is because it highlights to you between what the US is saying and what Iran is saying. And when you have observers, those are— they don't work for any government because you all know, and I'm not going to get into the technical of the microwaves and, and, and the, uh, the, uh, for, for the radio listening and so forth, uh, like the talkie-walkies and all that. You can pick it up if you know how to do it. And that's exactly what happened— a radio conversation recorded by a civilian ship and shared with, believe it or not, with an American media outlet, Wall Street Journal. And in, in it, in this recording He captured verbatim that the IRGC naval stated, saying, "This is your last warning," while the US ship replied by saying, "Oh, passage in accordance with international law, no challenge is intended to you, and I intend to abide by the rules of our government's ceasefire, in quote. But at the same time, it was reported by the Iran news agencies, Tasnim and the Farsi, that the media reported that the destroyers, the two, turned around after the IRGC launched a drone in their direction, not to hit them, but a warning. It's the exact setting The Russian did in the Black Sea against the UK naval destroyer that got too close. And when the Russians issue a warning, the Brits, they thought, oh, the Russians just bluffing, and they fired not at them, but close by. So the next question becomes is why is this significant? Because one of the key I need you to understand is that the Strait of Hormuz still the central issue in these peace talks. But now, like, we're going back to square one, even though Donald Trump is saying we're gonna blockade, that's his word, we're gonna blockade the Strait of Hormuz. How idiotic of an incompetent president that is being played out by the Israelis. All the intelligence that was provided was provided by the Mossad. What do you think is going to happen? Even the CIA director, John Clift, which is just some sort of a pathetic, because he can't say no to Donald Trump. And of course, he was fed the intelligence from the Mossad. And this is again where you start to realize what the significance of this. And Tasnim, the Iranian semi-official news agency, reported that the Strait was among the main points of the serious disagreements in the Islamabad negotiations. Because what the US is saying, oh, Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz is a non-starter. The Iranians are saying, well then get lost, America. That era is gone. We're going to decide now who passes through where. And that is, again, as an analyst, the way I looked at it, even flying overseas, I was reading some white papers that I was able to have access to. The suggestion among some geopolitical analysts is that even hypothetically, if we get to the end of the war, and guess what? It will be the end of the war, but without a full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Because it is already, as I mentioned last time, a strategic failure for the US, no matter how the US tried to spin it. And this is why the Strait of Hormuz will remain, of course, the economic impacts of it. And we're not going to get into the percentage of the oil that goes through. You already know that information. I want to just provide the key aspects for you to understand. And the key other aspect is that Iran is asserting its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, not the US, because Iran play the Strait of Hormuz card the right way as part of any deal, because the US will try to propose— remember, and again, I'm going to take you back in history briefly here. Remember what happened in the Suez Canal. Remember what happened in Panama Canal? Iran is saying, no, that ain't gonna happen to us. We will maintain the control of it. And that is why the representative of Iran is saying the initiative for the passage of or movement of any vessels is in the hand of the armed forces of Iran. This is how it works. And that is where you're going to see now the military escalation risk is a reality. We can't deny this. And that is why the US warships now avoiding the Strait. So what the statements came out of the Central Command is a flat-out lie. Because in a naval language, The naval officers describing now the Strait as a kill box, because when you look at it, it's the— I see, I kept the map for you here, guys, just to see right there. It's a kill box right there where it says the Strait of Hormuz. It's a kill box. And usually in any, in any eventuality like this, you don't want to be in the kill zone or the kill box. And that is exactly how it is described. So the core dispute, just what you need to understand, the core disputes is whether the Strait of Hormuz now is in international waters subjected to freedom of navigation or an Iranian-controlled choke point. I go with the latter because we left Iran with no other options. And remember, all these decades, Iran never did anything. The ships, the cargoes used to pass, no issues whatsoever. Now it's changing. And if the US is saying we're going to establish a safe avenue for tankers that doesn't require Iran permission, that will be just a window dressing because the US is realizing they lost. They lost, and the talks will never move into America's favor. That's the bottom line to it. Because Iran is committed for a long term to this war, and they will end it on their terms, not on the US. That's why the Islamabad talks, and now they failed. That's it. They're done with that. And the standoff, the naval standoff that is, suggests that the war is far from over. More to happen. So, so what I'm gonna do here, I'm gonna play the clip for you. I want you to hear it with your own ears, then, then we'll continue in my own analysis briefly here. So let me play it. It's upload. Oh. Okay, hold on a second. I'm gonna share the screen and bear with me. Connection, it's a little challenging where I am. All right, let's take a listen here. Basically what it's saying in there is just— this is what, what the— what is this saying is that This is a call to ship 121 to change course and return immediately to the Indian Ocean, warning that it will be targeted if it did not comply. The end of the message. And this is now the female you're hearing is the response from the US officer. And which— what is she saying? She's saying, with you is the coalition ship. This is where you realize the US couldn't even identify itself as the US, and it is just the US. And it tells you right there, either we were scared to identify ourselves because we're a legitimate target, or we just don't have the gut to say, yeah, it's us, the Americans. So why is she— why was she saying Oh, it's the coalition ship. That's to me very, very sort of problematic. Let's continue here quickly. And it's saying, we are crossing in accordance with international law and did not intend to challenge the Iranian warning, which it described as a Final. And now you hear the response from the Iranian side. I want you to hear it first before I'll do the translation. With you is the Iranian IRGC Navy. This is the last warning. This is the last warning. This is the last warning. And this, what, what followed after that one, what followed was a sort of a statement to all, to all ships crossing. And here is what it says, and I'm going to just translate it quickly here. The general appeal from the IRGC Navy to all ships in the Gulf of Oman to stay at least 10 miles away from any ship, which means what? It's indicating a state of a field alert in the region. And that's again— That's exactly what it's saying over there. So I'm going to stop this here and continue with my own argument for why the US is lying about this and why the ships, the two destroyers, US destroyers, did indeed return and left the area. Of course, the argument that Donald Trump made earlier, "Oh, we're gonna go and clear the mine," it's nonsense. It is nonsense. U.S. knows this. They won't be able to do so anyway. And Donald Trump lied by saying, "Oh, the Iranians have no idea where the mines are." That's nonsense either. I mean, we all know you can't trust Trump for whatever he's saying. And these developments now, what, what had happened is that coincided with the IRGC's sort of confirmation that any attempt by any military vessel to cross the strait, Strait of Hormuz that is, will be met with a firm response, stressing that the passage, the IRGC Navy still stressed this. That is limited to civilian vessels only for now, and specific, uh, not to the US, not to any other ship that goes to, uh, Israel. And the way you know this, and I'm going to share one piece of info with you, is that the Russians have been providing the Houthis with coordinates of the ships that's going to be getting closer to the Red Sea. Even the Russians, to my knowledge, and I just find that out 2 days ago right here in the location I'm in, it's what the Russians telling the Houthis. And by the way, those ships or the tankers that might pass, they're going to have different flags. So don't get fooled by that.. And the Russians, they're good at, at really, because with their satellites and all that stuff, they are able to pinpoint. So the Houthis now have the information about the location of whatever is going to be passing through that area. And this is once again to go back to our conversation regarding this issue, the two conflicting accounts, clashes now over the Strait of Hormuz. US has no credibility left whatsoever. So everybody in the world now is just shaking its head over what the US is saying because you can't trust the American government. You know, will Iranian lies— what will Iran gain from lying? I understand it's a war. I understand the information is part of that. But at the same time, I know how both medias on each side will push the narrative. That's the norm. And again, when you think even the individuals who are in the know with the background regarding this is that it's not going to work in favor of the US. Iran has the upper hand. It really does. Because what Iran is after, the IRGC is after now, it's after— it needs any ship that will cross needs to coordinate in advance with the IRGC. And that is also from Iran's perspective is for the purpose of first reconnaissance, recon to know who's coming through, and second, to secure navigation later because they wanted to make sure. It could also be put on a different perspective, is that it will be a main challenge for the US hegemony, per se, naval assets, whatever, that it proved, no, US Navy has no capabilities anymore. Yes, you still have the large aircraft and all that stuff, carriers and so forth, but that's not going to cut it. And that will become in the issue of how the response is going to be. Is going to be a response with targeting or is going to be a response with returning to confrontation? Or the US will accept the conditions. This is the harsh reality that is now facing. And once again, I found myself needing to talk to you about— and I did a posting for the community about the landmine. The landmine, removing the landmine represents one of the highly complex logistical challenge for the US. Even if a political agreement is reached, which I do not foresee. Because what the US is saying, oh, the Iranians have lost the possession of this landmine. No, they have not. Let me just assure you for that. You know, the arguments also have been made that, oh, Iran doesn't have the minesweepers. Really? You think a naval like that would not have a capability? Doesn't matter how advanced or not. And that's again what the US narrative is coming out to highlight the idea of, oh no, this is, uh, uh, uh, Even when I looked at first last night, because I was working on this last night here to understand, I'm reading the reports from Central Command and I was like, wait a minute, wait a minute, what the footage is showing, and I am seeing it in my location here from different sources, not just in the local country where I'm at. No, no, no, no, I'm looking at it from others and all of them go in contradiction to what the US Central Command is saying. And that was where that video that I shared with you, the clip was released as of yesterday. It was not released on the 11th, it was released on the 12th. And that is the reference to that warship. Basically, it was the reference to the Frank Patterson ship 121. That was the reference to it. And again, because now the footage changes the picture, which what the U.S. did not want the Americans to see. The administration, Donald Trump doesn't want— Donald Trump now is marred by what just happened with the Epstein files regarding his wife. That is, she said she didn't know Epstein, which was a lie. There was an email there. I read the email yesterday, but the sensitive info was redacted, but I read it. And it was from her sending it to Jeffrey, saying that I will see you in New York. So that Trump, he's now entrapped after what the Israelis did for him, to him, because he had no choice. He had no choice. So despite what you hear, the Secretary of Defense is saying, what Trump is saying, or any other White House representatives, whatever, it's all a lie. It's because the sources from within the intelligence services right here, not, not here in the country I'm in, in back home, you know, and even regional intelligence agencies. And, and that's how I get a hold of some info yesterday. We'll leave it at that. Even the regional intelligence agencies. So They are saying that the destroyers, the US destroyers, did encounter the IRGC Navy. And this, by the way, it only gets reported later on in the US. It was reported at noon of yesterday in Dubai. So why the delay? Why the White House not disclosing the truth? And that is again where that the fear of the US, why in my opinion, why I end up leaving because the window, the last warning the IRGC Navy issued to the Americans, if they did not withdraw within 30 minutes, that's why they gave the warning because it takes a while to reroute a ship. And that's why they were telling other ships stay away by about 10 miles. Because if you want to reroute, it's not going to happen in 2 minutes. It takes time to redraw or redirect a ship. And that is what that 30 minutes is. If the ship, the US destroyers, now withdraw, they're going to be attacked. And that is why the drone, a drone was launched, but not— let me just make that confirmation for you— was not to attack the ship, the destroyer. It was just a warning. And this was reported by Pravda. So, and later on, and here is the hard truth. This is once again why I want the community to be aware of this. You know what happened later on? Central Command later acknowledged the ships returned to the Arabian Sea after The warning, though, though this is where again the manipulation, the Central Command framed this as a planned withdrawal rather than a forced retreat. You're smart enough, you've been around long enough to know now how to read this kind of really manipulation. If the truth matters to you, Hit like, subscribe, and tap that bell. No spin, no agenda, just the stories they don't want you to know. Don't watch from the sideline, be part of the movement. Your support keeps the truth alive. Thank you. Indeed, indeed. So, and again, for, for this, I want to keep it very brief, uh, because I am I'm not on vacation here. Let me just put it this way without getting into details. But I'm also— my commitment to, towards the community, I want to keep you informed. There are two main stories that I am working on, even though I have my other stuff that I need to deal with. And one of them, very important, which I will do a live stream for you either tomorrow or the next day, I'm not certain yet. And this has to do with China. Donald Trump now is threatening China. That's how idiotic. But that's not what I'm going to be talking about. I'm going to be talking about the development of certain type of technologies that Iran is now receiving from China. And I have the, I have the info that I will share with you either tomorrow or after tomorrow. For now, let me just wrap this up for you. And once again, just to highlight to you why this matters. Especially in light of the footage that's been coming out. Because what the footage shows is that there was an issue. Yes, there is also the other side of the argument to this, and that other side is the credibility gap between the footage, between what the US saying, between what the Iranians saying. But again, Some will say, oh, this is fabricated footage. I don't think so. I don't think so. Because you have now the reality, the US public narrative versus the reality on the ground, meaning on the water in this case. So you have Trump and Central Command, which claimed a successful transit of mine clearing mission. And you have the footage The radio exchange recorded by a civilian ship, not by the Iranians, not by them, by a civilian ship. And even Bloomberg sources inside the US within the intelligence community suggest that the ships were challenging US destroyers. Those ones here. The Patterson and Michael, they were challenged and returned, turned back instead of crossing. And they have not completed whatever mission they stated they are. And of course, while this happening, the talks in Islamabad collapsed. And I'm here to tell you, you can't trust the US. It will be, in my opinion, Iran will be making another strategic mistake if they ever— of course you want to resolve this issue. And my suggestion will be, how about having a third party, a neutral country? No offense to Pakistan, but you have to have a country with weight. You know what weight Pakistan has? Let's just be honest about it. And I'm not putting Pakistan down. And I'm talking from a realistic approach. What weight does Pakistan have when we are the one dictating the terms to the ISI, to the Pakistani government? Look, just what happened with Imran Khan when he said no and what the Islamabad government did to him by putting him in jail. Is this a government you wanna count on to play a mediator? Respectfully, no. So to resolve this issue, get a third party, a country with weight. And the negotiations will be, of course, in a neutral part. And it's the country that decides how the setup for the talks between Iran and the US, if they are to move forward. But the facts remain is that the IRGC remaining or asserting its control over the Strait of Hormuz. That's a fact in light of what just happened. And this is once again why the footage is significant, precisely because it shows what particular happened. It shows also what the US claims it achieved and what actually happened. Two things. Because that gap is now at the center of why, or part of why, the talks have failed. You are in the middle of the talks and you send in a warship? What message that is sending? And that's again my point. So I'm going to conclude this for you. And I'm going to— I'm a little busy here. I'm going to have to do whatever I came here for. In addition to that, I need to work on the stories for you of Nexum. And here is the bottom line that I want you to get out of this livestream here, is that what you just witnessed as far as the footage that I shared with you, I know it's brief, I know it's what, 2 minutes or a minute, whatever. I just want you to see that isn't simply what you witnessed, isn't simply just a standoff in the straight and foremost. A narrow stretch right there in the Strait. No, no, no, no, no. It is a pivotal moment that could reshape now the really the global order as we know it. And it is already moving into that direction, whether the US likes it or not. It's a fact of the matter. You have that narrow Strait choke point that is now turning into a battlefield. Because what America wants to do, the US wants to exhibit its military power, which you and I know after the last events in Afghanistan, in Yemen, in Iraq, in Somalia, you name it. It proved that it's not. Flexing muscles doesn't cut it. Bullying your way doesn't cut it. This one here, This issue here in the Strait of Hormuz is showing it. Why? Because Iran's defiance still standing. Because Iran understood now that the world's economic lifeline, it's in a firm control. Iran doesn't want to hurt the world. Rest assured of that because that's not the intentions, but the intentions are is to show that we, meaning Iran in this case, able to challenge you, the US. You don't intimidate us, you don't scare us, and we are ready to fight. Because here is the difference. There is a reason why Iran is fighting for something they believe in. What are we fighting for? It's not even our war. We're fighting on behalf of someone else. What incentives? So who do you think is going to prevail? Beside the military hardware and all that stuff. You fight with conviction. This is exactly what the Ansarullah or Houthis did last year and before. This is what happened in Afghanistan. This is what happened in Iraq. This is what happened in Somalia. People fight with conviction. We don't have that conviction because we don't have an objective. It's not our war. But the fact of the matter is this, is that the footage that I shared with you does not lie. When that IRGC naval officer issued the direct ultimatum to the most powerful navy in the world, and the ship turned around, that's a fact. Of course, now peace talks in Islamabad is a thing of the past. After 21 hours with no deal. Intimidation. JD Vance is going like I am this hairee mairee. Who the heck are you? Vice president or not, you have to sit down with other people on an equal footing. This is our problem. We sit up here thinking we are up here and everybody is down. No, doesn't work that way no more. And even now, you have a third US aircraft carrier group that is steaming towards the Persian Gulf. What you going to do, intimidate the Iranians? No, because the mines still underwater. Iran knows this for a fact and dare you to bring any warship closer because it will be destroyed. And Russia and the Chinese are providing the exact coordinates because even when you think about the mines, they still litter the waterway. And of course, the global energy supply still hangs in the balance with all this. So when the Pentagon is saying, oh, it was a success. No, no, no, because the response from the Iranian was, it was a humiliation. But here is what nobody's asking. If the United States with all its firepower, carrier groups, military might, satellites, you name it, cannot free and navigate a waterway that international law says belong to everyone, what does that tell you about the new balance of power in the region? That in itself should be enough for you. And if that is not enough, it is something that is more important is what happens next when warnings alone may no longer be enough. And that's exactly why I believe the US turned the destroyer and left, because they are realizing, they coming to that point of warning is not going to be enough now. They're going to move forward. So the Strait of Hormuz, as you know it, okay, isn't just a shipping lane. It's a line in the sand. And right now the world is holding. Yeah, the world is holding its breath, waiting to see who's going to cross first. That's an interesting dynamic. I want to leave you with this just food for thought, question, whatever you want to call it. And I will greatly appreciate it because usually I will— it's daytime for me here. I don't know what time in I have no idea. I get confused with the, the timing. My apologies, uh, because when I was setting this up, I set it on the US time at the Central Standard Time, like the usual time. Then I realized I get a note that, oh, you are about to go live. Oh, it's not time yet. So my sincere apologies, and I'll— hopefully we won't have this issue again. So, but I'm glad you're here. As I said, I, I would love to read your comments on this because your feedback is important. What Why is this important, you may ask? Because I wanted to understand how you, as an outsider, as an observer, not part of the decisions, whatever, how do you see it? How do you evaluate it? If Iran can force the US Navy destroyer to turn back during an active ceasefire, it was an active ceasefire, but can you trust what the American side is saying? And with the footage that I shared with you to prove it, Has American military, in your opinion, has the US deterrence in the region permanently broke down? That is the key question I want to— I want you to answer. The footage you saw, does it tell you that with America's naval capabilities, what have you, in the region have permanently broke down? Or in your opinion, Is this just a tactical pause before a more devastating response? I'm not ruling that out either. So I'd like to, to hear from you. So just drop me your answer below in the chat box and tell me what you think. The Strait of Hormuz will be fully open again before the end of 2026, or we're going to be seeing more confrontation. I would greatly appreciate it. Uh, I take this opportunity to say thank you to Ken for buying me coffee in support of the channel. I'm very, very grateful. As you know, again, it's my commitment to you, to the community. That is what I'm doing, what I'm doing. And again, I am not overseas for vacation. No, I'm not. And I don't need to get into, uh, it's just I want you to understand my commitment to you is I will honor it by any means, no matter what. And that is why I'm keeping an eye on what's going on, because I want to keep you informed as to what's going on. So like I said, tomorrow or the next, the next day, I am not sure yet. I will work about Iran's new secret weapon, and that secret weapon has to do with the shipment from China. You would be amazed and surprised. Of course, you all know what happened in China. Two main events in China. You have the Premier of the— Pedro Sánchez, the Prime Minister of Spain, he's in China. It's like, forget about NATO, forget about America. And as a matter of fact, Spain, you give them credit, they shut down their airspace to the US planes. The UK said, well, I made a stop in London. Don't buy what the media is saying, you know. Italy, it's kind of— Italy is always confused. France, well, it goes with whatever the wind is blowing, but Spain is taking a stand. The other thing has to do with the elections in Hungary. Orbán is done for. I thought the guy stood for something when Netanyahu wanted to Budapest, Orbán didn't issue an arrest warrant because they issued the arrest warrant on Netanyahu, but Orbán didn't honor it. That tells you right there. So there is more concern in Israel about the elections in Budapest, in Hungary. You'll be surprised. And the second issue that is a key for you to understand is the trip by the opposition head of party in Taiwan to China. She is in China right now. That tells you what lies ahead. And the question that I'm asking as one who's been on the ground in Taipei and talked to people there, not all politicians in Taipei are on the same sheet of music as far as, oh, the US will come and defend us. No, no, no, no, no. The reason for why this opposition lady went to China is because, in my opinion, she's seeing What's happening right now? And when the US said to Taiwanese politicians, oh, we will define you, we will, we will, we will defend you, we will support you, and we'll provide you with all the weapons you need to fight the Chinese. And that becomes the story. So, so I'm keeping an eye on it. But tomorrow, the key one that I want to talk to you about has to do with Iran's secret weapons, that is, has to do with the Chinese. Shipments. So anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. Uh, if you wanted to support the channel, here is the link here, and I will get back to you either tomorrow or after tomorrow, depending. Again, I'll free up some time for you. Once again, my apologies for the miscommunication regarding the timing of the live stream, and, and we'll make it sure next time that I will be on time. As always, remember, geopolitics impacts your daily life in more ways than one. Till next time, bye-bye.