Bessent on Iran:

Everything the Iranians say, most—much of it—is rooted in fantasy. Much of it is aspirational.

Bessent on Iran:

The Wall Street Journal said the Iranians are rebuilding their missile inventory.

Maybe they are, but where’s the calibration? Where’s the magnitude?

We’ve destroyed 85% of their factories. So are they building one new one a week? Are they building two?

You know, it’s just these headlines.

Putin:

Over the past 5 years, more than 40% of world GDP has been produced by the BRICS states.

Whereas the contribution of the so-called "Big Seven" — why it's big, I don't understand — well, it amounted to only 29 percent.

Bessent:

To think that I don’t know what the chair of the Fed’s thinking is, you know, is absurd.

But if somebody sitting at a Bloomberg terminal can somehow divine and figure out what the Fed’s going to do better than I can from my conversations with the chair, then they should have at it.

Bessent on Iran:

They’re just a bunch of losers, like sitting around saying, "Yeah, we’re going to do this. We’re going to do that."

I mean, they’re comical to me.

Bessent on Iran:

What we’re seeing with Iran now is a cornered and wounded animal.

It’s the last gasp of the dying regime.

Putin:

All the time we were told that competition is a sacred cow, and you can't touch it.

But unfortunately, your Western competitors today are trying by any means to return their former leadership.

This competition today acquires, at times, unseemly forms.

Entrepreneurs are trying to block international transport corridors and capture maritime routes.

Illegal restrictions are also being imposed, along with threats of so-called secondary sanctions against those who refuse to act in someone else’s interests and instead protect their own national interests.

Bessent:

I am the house now.

But you can bet against me if you want.

Bessent on AI:

The Chinese have their model. They have central planning on AI, which will never work, because at the end of the day they won’t turn over enough control.

They are afraid that AI will come for the CCP one day — that the CEO of Tencent or Jack Ma, the head of Alibaba, can create something that’s so powerful that it could bring their regime down.

Yemen’s Houthis say they launched a large-scale military operation on September 3 against Saudi-backed forces on Yemen’s western coast, citing continued attacks, military buildups, and the blockade imposed on the country.

The group said the operation was carried out from several directions with support from local tribes.

According to the Houthis, the operation resulted in the capture of six districts in Taiz and Hodeidah governorates, covering around 5,400 square kilometers.

They also said seven military divisions, including 38 brigades, were targeted, with hundreds of fighters killed, wounded, or captured.

The Houthis said a number of their prisoners held on the western coast were also freed.

They added that their air defenses carried out 32 interception operations and shot down nine Saudi aircraft.

The Houthis also said maritime navigation remains safe for all companies except Saudi vessels, which they said remain subject to blockade.

They reiterated their policy of “a siege for a siege” and said attacks on Saudi military positions would continue until the fighting stops and the blockade on Yemen is lifted.

British military intelligence estimates that 500,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with total casualties including the wounded reaching about 1.5 million.

UK armed forces chief Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton said most losses came after January 2023, while Russia gained only around 2% more Ukrainian territory.

“These numbers illustrate clearly the senseless and futile waste of human life for such little progress,” he said.

Source: Sky News

Reports are circulating that Brig. Gen. Farouk al-Khoulani — commander of the National Resistance's 1st Infantry Division on Yemen's west coast and a key Tareq Saleh field commander — has been killed in fighting on the Mokha front by Houthis.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi:

The U.S. Treasury Secretary has been gleefully boasting about wanting to impoverish Iranians and collapse our economy.

Instead, he stands powerless and exposed as the world loses belief in the U.S. financial system.

Meltdown over cost of funding U.S. debt is only the beginning.

An Israeli official told Channel 12 that Houthi control of Bab-el-Mandeb is more dangerous than the current Hormuz situation, and the reason is simple geometry.

The eastern shipping channel past Perim Island is only about 3 km wide.

Ships will pass within visual range of Houthi positions.

Israeli official:

They will be able to fire at whatever they want with anti-tank missiles.

They will be able to see the ships with their own eyes.

That's the difference.

At Hormuz, Iran needs radar, surveillance systems, and anti-ship missiles to threaten traffic.

At Bab-el-Mandeb, a fighter with a basic ATGM on Perim Island can hit a tanker he can physically see.

No sophisticated targeting required. The official said this gives the Houthis "enormous power."
hters on the island.