Empty Threats
From Operation Epstein Fury to Project Epic Fail
Published: 2026-05-08
On Thursday May 7th, leaks from inside the White House were published stating that both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait had denied the US use of their airspaces and whichever US military bases had not already been destroyed by Iran.
The previous day, Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi had arrived in Beijing to the welcoming arms of his counterpart Wang Yi. Chinese diplomatic support for Iran came after China had launched a counter-attack on the US sanctions regime the day before.
By the time the Iranian and Chinese diplomats were in embrace, the charade of US naval capability against Iran’s firm control of the strait of Hormuz had been called off. Operation Epstein Fury had become Project Epic Fail.
This sequence of events detailing US impotence and embarrassment on one side with the confidence of the Chinese, Russian & Iranian strategic triangle on the other defines the current state of the transition of world power away from the US “rules based order”.
Recall that:
There is no military solution to Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz
China controls the world’s supply of rare earth minerals required for many hi-tech industries and US munitions and weapons systems
China has the world’s leading economy, upon which US consumers depend.
China has an inter-bank international trade settlement system CIPS which settles hundreds of billions of dollars a day outside the US financial system.
The Chinese counter-attack to the US sanctions regime was a legal domestic measure which becomes economic, internationally.
It is now illegal in China to implement the US sanctions directed against Chinese refineries processing imported Iranian oil. The dormant law which China’s Ministry of Commerce announced being used is equally applicable to any US sanction. The law’s application was a warning to the US, like China’s counter-tariffs on rare earth minerals, to back off. US attacks on Chinese energy processing and anything else, for that matter, can and will be countered, with US businesses suffering on each occasion. China understands how to speak the imperial language of the dollar.
The Chinese countermeasure creates a conundrum for international businesses. It informs them that they can either trade with the world’s largest economy or comply with US sanctions, but not both. China hinted, “choose wisely” to the international business community and demonstrated the difference between itself and the rupturing US empire.
China’s demonstration of these obvious differences between its actions and philosophy and those of the White House could not be more obvious. Examples of the bellicose, authoritarian rhetoric and demands being spewed by the White House can be heard on independent news programs like Daniel Davis’ Deep Dive (see sources). The White House is full of ignorant hot heads issuing demands they cannot compel others to accept. China is declaring policy it can and will enforce, the consequences of which are calculated and intended. Business leaders understand the difference.
The significance of the Saudi and Kuwaiti rejection of the US using its airspaces cannot be understated. The protest they issued was that the US did not consult them. While this is true, and it demonstrates the arrogance of the US, that behaviour is not new. What is new is that the US has lost the war of choice it and Israel illegally started against Iran. The other new fact is that Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have suffered economic and physical damage from the war which was also started without their support.
The Saudi and Kuwaiti rebuke of the US and its militarism is also a rebuke of its abject failure to protect them despite their payments of trillions of dollars for this protection. The US and Israeli failed illegal war has exposed just how pathetic the US protection racket was. By example, the US decommissioned a missile defence system installed in South Korea to ship it to protect Israel while Kuwait was being hammered by Iranian drones.
One can take the perspective of a Kuwaiti or Saudi, or Qatari business person when one hears the arrogant rhetoric flowing out of the White House. They know the US has no means to enforce its demands. They know its demands are empty.
So does China and Russia. So does Iran.
The White House is inhabited by empty threats.
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Update 2026-05-08
On the night of May 7th the US bombed the Iranian ports of Qesm Island and Bandar Abbas (nb: bandar means port in Farsi). The US also attacks two Iranian owned oil tankers.
In retaliation, Iran attacked three US destroyers with anti-ship missiles and drones.
Iran stated that two of the US destroyers were damaged and that all three fled.
The US would have us believe that it was attacked but no damage was done. This flies in the face of physics and recent warfare.
If the US Navy is immune to Iranian munitions it should actually escort a ship instead of “advising” them and lying to the citizens who fund it.
Sources
US Bombs Iran’s Qeshm Port and Bandar Abbas; Dave DeCamp; Antiwar; 2026-05-07
Military Spokesman Gives Details of Thursday Night Clashes in Southern Iran; N/A; Tasnim News Agency; 2026-05-08 [achived]
Iran Targets 3 US Destroyers Near Strait of Hormuz: Sources; N/A; Tasnim News Agency; 2026-05-08 [archived]
CENTCOM Protects U.S. Warships Transiting Strait of Hormuz; CENTCOM; US Government; 2026-05-07 [archived]
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Sources
War On Iran: - Saudis Pulled Break On Trump’s Escalation; b.; Moon of Alabama; 2026-05-7,
Ball of Confusion - Trump’s Mixed Signals on Iran; Larry C. Johnson; SONAR 21; 2026-05-06
Trump goes to China, but Iran holds all the cards; Pepe Escobar; Sputnik International; 2026-05-07
Confused CENTCOM Plays Chicken; YesXorNo; 2026-05-05
Victorious Iran; YesXorNo; 2026-05-03
Videos
Trump Threatens Iran With Nuclear Armageddon as Hormuz Slips Away | Tarik Cyril Amar; Kevork Almassian; Syriana Analysis; 2026-05-08
Prof Marandi Warns: Blockade stays Until Israel Withdraws!; Daniel Davis / Deep Dive; Daniel Davis / Deep Dive; 2026-05-07
Nima R. Alkhorshid: BREAKING: US and Iran Exchange Fire – Ceasefire COLLAPSES; Alkhorshid; Dialogue Works; 2026-05-07
Israel’s Agenda Is Falling Apart 2026-05-08 22:25; Alkhorshid interviews Amb. Chas Freeman; Dialogue Works; 2026-05-08
Freeman asserted the US President Trump wants to end the war. I call BS.
Trump is manipulating markets for insider trading. There is no sign whatsoever that he wants to end the war, else he would withdraw the US military. Trump is the “commander in chief”. He can do this anytime he chooses. He hasn’t. Instead he keeps running a cycle of announcing fake ceasefire negotiations on Monday and attacking Iran on Thursday or Friday.
Apart from this annoyance, Freeman’s commentary contains its usual insight.
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Thanks very much for this excellent report.