The headlines keep coming: Iran still playing games with the Strait of Hormuz, while UK and France just chaired a big video conference with around 50 countries. They’re talking about wanting to “be relevant,” leading a so-called “strictly defensive” multinational mission to ensure freedom of navigation once conditions allow. They even plan another meeting in London next week.
“Deals” on paper mean nothing until someone wins decisively and sets the rules.
Here’s the counter-thought that needs saying out loud, without the rhetoric games:
Fine. Keep it closed.
Go ahead, Iran. Choke the narrow passage that carries nearly a fifth of the world’s oil. Block the tankers. Test how far you can push.
You’ll collapse long before we do.
We’ve already shattered Iranian sovereignty and we will keep choking their regime — economically, militarily, whatever it takes. If they want to choke themselves even harder by keeping the strait shut, that’s their choice. Let them.
Europe, go ahead and pretend you’re relevant. You wanna open up the strait like you said? You wanna ensure it stays open? Go right ahead — on your dime, at your cost, with your ships and your risk. When you come knocking later saying you need our help, you’ll get the same thing you gave us: the middle finger.
We do what we like. Period.
America has options. We produce more energy at home than ever before. We can pivot, adapt, and weather any storm because we built real strength — not just slogans and multilateral meetings. Europe, China, India, and everyone else who depends on that flow? They’ll feel the pain faster and harder: higher gas prices, spiking inflation, fertilizer shortages hitting food, factories grinding down. The world will suffer more than the United States.
This is what weakness and endless talk invite. Iran only understands decisive strength. NATO hesitation, performative conferences, and offers to “help” after the fact just prove the point — some allies want the benefits of American power without sharing the real burden when it actually mattered. That’s not partnership; that’s freeloaders looking for a seat at the table once the heavy lifting is done.
We don’t play those rhetoric games. The stronger power sets the terms. Not suggestions. Not polite multilateral statements. Terms.
To Iran: Be careful what you wish for. Keep the strait closed and watch your economy crater while the world routes around you. The strong horse doesn’t beg or join committees. The strong horse makes the path.
P.S. Oh, and by the way, we’ll just take Kharg Island so we can pay for the costs of protecting our interests.
America’s job is to protect our interests, our people, and the allies who actually show up when it matters. Protection through strength. Results over rhetoric.
Strength first. Freedom follows.
LIVE GRATEFUL 🇺🇸
Spine NOT Knees.
— The Grateful Immigrant
St. Paul, Minnesota
April 18, 2026
Grateful Immigrant 