00:00Just days after a U.S. fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone near a major American aircraft
00:23carrier and as tensions spiked in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has made a move of its own, a very
00:32calculated one. On February 5, 2026, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy seized two foreign
00:41vessels near Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf. Iranian state media says the ships were part of
00:48an organized fuel smuggling network operating for months. On board, over 1 million liters of
00:56smuggled diesel. That's about 270,000 gallons. 15 foreign crew members were detained. Their
01:04nationalities, not disclosed. Their destination, not confirmed. But Iran says they've now been
01:11handed over to judicial authorities. This kind of seizure is not new. Iran frequently announces
01:19the interception of ships accused of smuggling subsidized Iranian fuel to neighboring countries,
01:25where prices are much higher. Despite sanctions, despite shortages at home, smuggling remains big
01:33business. And Iran says it is cracking down. But this story is about more than fuel. The operation was
01:41carried out by the IRGC Navy, a force known not for traditional warfare, but for asymmetric power in the
01:49Gulf. Fast boats, drones, vessel seizures. And the timing is everything. Just two days earlier, on February 3rd,
02:00a U.S. Marine F-35C from the USS Abraham Lincoln, shocked down an Iranian Shahed 139 drone in the
02:09Arabian Sea. The drone approached the carrier group aggressively. Around the same time, Iranian fast
02:17boats harassed a U.S. flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, forcing U.S. naval intervention. So this
02:24seizure, it fits a pattern, a message. The U.S. flexes air and naval power. Iran responds in its own
02:33backyard. With ship seizures, with drones, with control over one of the world's most critical
02:40maritime choke points. For Tehran, this is about sovereignty, deterrence, and showing it can still
02:47shape events in the Persian Gulf. For the world, it's a reminder. The Gulf remains a flashpoint,
02:54where even routine enforcement can carry global consequences.
03:24So, I go to the law of the Arabian Sea, the Gulf is a reminder. The Gulf is a little bit more
03:29about the British territory. So the Gulf is a little bit more than actually a lot of the
03:33United States, a new country that is the RAGOL. So the Gulf is a little bit more than
03:35the Gulf of the sea. And I've been talking about the Gulf. And I know you know you can
03:37get a lot of the Gulf of the sea. But you know you'll see that the Gulf of the sea has
03:39got long stories of the Arctic. So it's up to the Gulf of the sea. And I'm not saying you guys
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