Transcript [00:00] Hey everyone. So, the US continues to [00:02] strike Iran. And what we're going to do [00:04] in this video is we are going to look at [00:06] the locations that they have been [00:08] striking over the last 24 hours or so. [00:11] And we're going to try to figure out by [00:13] looking at these locations, what exactly [00:15] is America doing and maybe figure out [00:18] some things about their objectives. But [00:19] to kick us off, let's look at a short [00:22] clip of Secretary of State Marco Rubio [00:25] from yesterday. He was heading out uh [00:27] he's heading out to some meetings in the [00:29] Far East and he took some questions from [00:31] reporters and he was asked what are the [00:34] objectives of the current American waves [00:37] of strikes and here's what he had to [00:39] say. [00:41] >> I think Zencon has laid it out exactly [00:43] what the objectives are and the only [00:44] reason why the US is conducting strikes [00:46] is against assets of Iran that are being [00:48] used to attack global commercial [00:51] shipping. The Straits of Hormuz are [00:53] international waterways and they [00:54] continue to launch against ships in that [00:57] international waterway. [00:59] >> Right? So you hear that I'm going to [01:00] play a little bit more, but he said the [01:02] only thing that we're attacking is is uh [01:05] the assets that they're using to attack [01:07] global shipping to attack the shipping [01:10] through the straits of Hormuz. Keep that [01:11] in mind. [01:11] >> Other countries should join us in this [01:13] effort. And the United States is [01:14] involved not just in protecting those [01:15] ships, but in targeting the places that [01:17] they use to launch these missiles and [01:19] drones. So that's what you're seeing. [01:21] That's been the objective of this [01:22] mission and that's what it continues to [01:23] be and we continue on a daily basis very [01:26] successfully to degrade Iran's ability [01:29] to target and ships. Uh you hear about [01:32] the ships that have been struck. You [01:33] don't hear about the ones that have been [01:34] defended and the ones they haven't been [01:35] able to launch against. But as long as [01:37] Iran insists on controlling an [01:39] international waterway, we we're going [01:41] to have to respond to that. [01:43] >> Okay. So he says pretty definitively [01:46] that what they are targeting is those [01:49] sites that uh that are being used to [01:52] obstruct the shipping. Okay. Now based [01:55] on the locations that they've been [01:57] striking over the last day or so, I'm [02:00] not exactly sure that's true. We do know [02:02] that they've been striking bridges. You [02:03] could argue that bridges are also used [02:05] to facilitate the strikes because that's [02:07] how they move equipment and move [02:09] missiles into into the location. So [02:11] maybe it's for that purpose. We are [02:13] seeing some infrastructure like bridges [02:15] being struck. But we also have reports [02:18] from today coming out admittedly from [02:21] Iranian state media. But you'll see what [02:23] they're what they're describing there. I [02:25] think that we have to use this as a [02:27] starting point to look at a possible [02:29] shift in the American objectives uh in [02:32] in these strikes and it's a little bit [02:34] different than what Secretary of State [02:36] Rubio is describing there. So let's [02:39] start with this. Here's a story from [02:40] earlier today. US launches new wave of [02:42] strikes on multiple Iranian cities [02:44] following an announcement by US Central [02:46] Command that it had launch a new round [02:48] of strikes against targets inside Iran. [02:50] Initial reports indicate the explosions [02:52] have been that explosions have been [02:54] heard in several cities across the [02:55] country. And then they list the [02:57] following cities [02:59] and it says that these are these were [03:01] all heard minutes ago and this is from [03:03] 3:00 a.m. uh Israel time uh this [03:07] morning. And so where were they struck? [03:10] Tab, Shabahar, Konarak, Bonder Mashar, [03:15] and Bonder Imam Kmeni. [03:19] Okay. And and then we also had this [03:22] story from a few hours later. Air [03:24] strikes target Corm in two separate [03:27] waves. And we also had this. This is [03:29] responding to a strike from yesterday, [03:30] but this story is from today. Garib [03:33] condemns US strike on Darkovven nuclear [03:36] power plant. Now, this wasn't actually a [03:38] nuclear power plant. It was a nuclear [03:40] power plant under construction. It was a [03:43] construction site and we saw that the [03:45] Russians condemned it also which might [03:47] indicate that they maybe they were [03:48] involved in the project which is common. [03:51] So we're going to take a look at these [03:52] sites that I just listed here. That's [03:54] going to be what we're going to do in [03:55] this video and we're going to we're [03:56] going to try to look for what do these [04:00] particular sites indicate about what the [04:03] American strategy might currently be. [04:06] Okay. So we're going to go through them [04:08] one by one. Let's start with Tre. So, [04:11] let's first pull them each up on a map. [04:13] Tabreeze [04:16] is here. Okay. So, where is Tre? Let's [04:20] pull back the camera a little and see [04:22] where it actually is. [04:24] Treeze is all the way up here. Whoa. [04:27] That is nowhere near the Straits of [04:29] Hormuz. [04:31] So, what on earth is in Tre? Well, [04:33] what's in Tre is this site. [04:36] This is Tabrez's the top jewel of Iran's [04:38] petrochemical industry. This is the [04:40] website of the Tabreze [04:43] prochemical company. [04:45] It's in Tabreze. So, what what exactly [04:47] is this? [04:51] So, [04:52] here's what it is. Here's Tre. It's in [04:55] the northwest. You see, it's near the [04:57] Turkish border [04:59] and it has an oil refinery that handles [05:02] about 7% of Iran's total refining [05:04] capacity. [05:06] Um, and then it also has this [05:07] petrochemical company that I pulled up [05:09] on the screen for you. The Tabreze [05:12] uh prochemical company is located there. [05:14] But look at where it's located. It's all [05:16] the way up near Turkey uh north of Iraq [05:18] near [05:20] it's very very far from the street of [05:22] Hormuz. Now, the Tabris Petrochemical [05:24] Company makes ethylene, polyethylene, [05:27] styrene, and industrial feed stocks. But [05:30] here's what here's what I think is [05:31] important about why they're targeting [05:32] it. The Tabris Petrochemical Company has [05:35] been on and off the US sanctions list [05:38] since 2013. And that's not just because [05:40] it's stateowned. It tried at one point [05:43] to procure a heat treatment unit that a [05:46] nuclear suppliers group uh member [05:49] actually blocked over proliferation [05:51] concerns, meaning they were ordering it [05:52] and the nuclear supplier group was like, [05:55] "We're not so sure we should be selling [05:56] this." The UK flagged it separately in [05:59] 2015, this company, as an entity of [06:01] concern for weapons related procurement. [06:04] So it's not just a plant that that that [06:06] is producing power like there's a p [06:09] there's a power plant or the [06:09] petrochemicals or employing people. Uh [06:12] there's a documented history here of um [06:16] of [06:18] that's tied to military to militarily [06:21] relevant purposes let's say and it's not [06:23] the first time it's been hit. It was [06:25] also hit back in March in the first wave [06:27] of this war. Okay. So, that's tab [06:29] breeze. Again, this So, when Marco Rubio [06:32] says that they're only targeting [06:35] uh that they're only targeting sites [06:36] that are related to the shipping in the [06:38] straight of moves and keeping shipping [06:39] lanes open, I don't see any way uh if [06:43] they're striking to breeze to put it in [06:45] that category. Now, the next site we're [06:47] going to look at is Shabahar. So, what [06:48] is Shabah? Shabah is interesting. It's a [06:50] totally different location. Shabahar is [06:52] all the way down here. I might as well, [06:54] you know, I'm going to pull it up on the [06:55] map so you see the red pin. make make [06:57] life easier for you visually. [07:00] Shabahar. [07:02] And here's where it is. It's all but [07:04] it's all the way in the other side of [07:05] the country from where we just were. [07:07] Shabahar is a very interesting site [07:10] because it's [07:12] it's right here. This is Shabah. Okay. [07:16] Shabahar is all the way down. Let me [07:18] show it to you on the map. There it is. [07:19] There's there's the red pin. So, look at [07:21] where it is. Here's the straight of [07:22] Hormuz. And Shabah is here. This is the [07:24] Pakistani border. Okay. Okay. And here's [07:27] Pakistan on this side here. You know [07:29] what? Should we get a bigger pointer? [07:30] Let's get a bigger pointer. [07:32] Um, we could do that. Nah, whatever. [07:34] We'll work with this. So, here's [07:36] Shabahar. So, you notice where this port [07:37] is. It's outside the straight of Hormuz, [07:40] but it's not just a port city. [07:43] So, it's overtly military. There's no [07:46] ambiguity there. It's Iran's only port [07:48] with direct access to the open ocean, [07:50] meaning that ships don't have to pass [07:52] through the street of Hormuz to get out. [07:53] As you can see on the map, the water [07:55] offshore is very deep and it's deep [07:57] enough for submarines and Iran has built [07:59] a submarine base there. It has missile [08:02] boat facilities, marine cop, marine core [08:04] infrastructure and it sits geop in a [08:07] geopolitically very important spot. It's [08:09] right near another port, a port on the [08:12] Pakistani side called um [08:16] um called Guadar. Now Guadar port is [08:20] right here. There's Guadada port just on [08:23] the other side of it and that is a [08:24] chin-run port in Pakistan. Everything in [08:26] Pakistan is Chinese-run and India has [08:29] poured investment into Shabahar. It's [08:31] actually a joint Indian Iranian [08:33] investment which is a little weird. I [08:34] talked about it in another video about a [08:36] month ago uh [08:39] because because India is always [08:40] challenging China. So you got these two [08:42] ports that are side by side there Guadar [08:45] and and Chabahar. So when a base like [08:48] this like Chabahara gets hit right now, [08:50] it's not this isn't complicated. This is [08:52] a military target and this fits into [08:54] what Secretary of State Rubio was [08:56] saying. This is this is at the mouth of [08:58] the Strait of Hormuz. Okay. The next one [09:01] is the next uh location we're going to [09:03] look at is Connorak. Connor is right [09:06] nearby. It's right near Shahabar, but [09:07] we'll pull up the pin anyway. [09:12] Okay. So, Connor is like right next to [09:18] it's right next to uh Shabah. So, here's [09:20] Shabah and Connor. You see, and they're [09:22] in the same spot, right? They're both at [09:24] at the at the mouth of the street of [09:26] Hormuz side by side. What makes Connor [09:28] important? What makes it unique? So, [09:31] this is the headquarters of Iran's third [09:33] naval district, one of its main [09:34] installations on the Gulf of Oman. It's [09:37] been there since, this is since before [09:38] the revolution, since the Sha's time. [09:40] They've had this there. satellite [09:41] imagery earlier in this war uh show [09:45] showed multiple frigots and smaller [09:47] vessels that were destroyed or damaged [09:48] there. So when the US was saying we're [09:50] destroying the navy, they were striking [09:52] this site pretty hard. Again, it's this [09:54] is another straightforward military [09:56] target. Nothing complicated here. The [09:58] next uh location that was mentioned in [10:00] that article that we saw is Bandar [10:02] Mashar. So what so let's look let's find [10:05] Bandar Mashar. [10:08] Bandar [10:11] Mashar. [10:12] Here we go. Bandar Mashar. Let's pull it [10:14] up. And we're all the way here. Ooh. Now [10:18] we're in a different place. We are now [10:20] all the way inside the the Persian Gulf. [10:24] See where we are? We're all the way deep [10:26] in the Persian Gulf, right next to [10:28] Kuwait. That's where Bandar Mashar is. [10:32] Again, is this about disrupting shipping [10:35] in the Straits of Hormuz? highly [10:37] unlikely that it is. No offense to [10:40] Secretary of State Rubio. So this is a [10:42] dual use site. So now we're back to [10:44] that. So this is the Kuzan province and [10:48] it an this is the anchor of Iran's [10:50] prochemical special economic zone. So [10:53] you have the prochemical uh company all [10:56] the way up in the north that I showed [10:58] you at Tre, but this is different. This [11:00] is a different scale. This is a whole [11:02] economic zone devoted to the prochemical [11:05] industry. There are over 30 plants [11:07] across around 3,000 hectares and they [11:10] employ a huge share of the local [11:12] population. There's around 300,000 [11:14] people who are employed in Bandar Mashar [11:17] in these 30 plants. On paper, it's [11:20] civilian industry, plastics, fertilizer [11:23] inputs, uh basic chemicals, but but [11:27] here's what's really going on or what [11:29] else is going on. The site is owned in [11:31] large part by the Persian Gulf [11:33] Prochemical Industry Company and the US [11:37] Treasury sanctioned that company back in [11:39] the first Trump administration in 2019 [11:42] specifically for funneling billions of [11:44] dollars to Katam Alania. Katam Alania is [11:48] the IRGC's construction and engineering [11:51] arm. So it's really part of the [11:53] terrorist network. uh it's a it's like a [11:56] construction company, an engineering [11:58] company that serves the purposes of the [12:00] IRGC. And on top of that money trail, uh [12:04] some of the some of the chemicals [12:06] produced here, ammonium nitrate, [12:08] sulfuric acid, tolawine are also inputs [12:12] for solid rocket propellant and [12:14] explosives. Israeli officials in past [12:16] strikes on this complex because Israel [12:18] has hit this complex before in the first [12:20] round of attacks. They've said that [12:23] outright the Israelis say outright that [12:25] the goal in hitting it was to damage [12:28] infrastructure feeding the ballistic [12:29] missile program. So uh that's that's [12:33] what this could this is about. This [12:35] isn't about the immediate issue of of [12:38] disrupting shipping in the straight of [12:40] Hormuz. it in a more long-term way. It [12:42] is because this is an industry that [12:44] serves their ballistic missile program, [12:46] but it's also the heart and soul of [12:47] their of their prochemical industry. [12:51] Okay? It's not just an economic hit. [12:53] It's also uh a funding apparatus for the [12:56] IRGC as one of their main businesses, [12:58] probably their main their main business. [13:01] And it's also a materials pipeline for [13:03] dual use materials. Okay. Now, we have [13:05] another site that's right next to this [13:07] one called Bandar Imam Kmeni. So where's [13:10] Bandar Imam Kmeni? Let's just I'll get [13:13] you the pin just but it's really right [13:15] next to it. It's in the same area. [13:18] Bandar Imam Kmeni [13:20] and it's going to be right there. [13:22] Okay. So Bandar IM Kmeni [13:25] is you see this is Bandar Masha where we [13:27] just were. Here's Bandaram Kumi. They're [13:29] right next to each other. Okay. [13:32] See that? That's where it is also same [13:34] spot same spot deep in the Persian Gulf. [13:37] It's it's really in a certain sense it's [13:39] part of that same big complex. It's [13:41] right next door. But this is not the [13:43] prochemical industry. This is the port [13:45] that serves that prochemical industry. [13:47] Uh it's the most modern port in Iran. [13:50] It's the largest port of Iran. And it's [13:53] the biggest prochemical export hub. So [13:55] it moves ethylene, benzene, LPG out into [13:59] the world. Functionally, it's the same [14:02] industrial complex as Bander Mashar that [14:04] we just looked at, but this is the port [14:06] infrastructure that's attached to it. [14:08] So, it's also dual use. It's um it has [14:12] legitimate export, civilian export [14:15] purposes. Um but it's also a revenue and [14:18] materials pipeline for the IRGC. [14:22] Okay. Now, we get to the nuclear power [14:24] plant that was under construction, [14:25] Darovven. Let's check that out. Darkov. [14:29] Here we go. This is also in the same [14:31] province in Kazakhstan. [14:33] Okay. Where is that? [14:36] In that northern province. It's up here. [14:38] Did we get a pen? Where's our pin? [14:44] Where's our pin? [14:46] Be nice to get a pin, but here we are. [14:48] It's It's It's right here. So, let's [14:50] keep our eye on it. Yep. Same area. This [14:52] is where the nuclear power plant was. [14:53] Now again, let's remember Marco Rubio [14:55] said last night that what we're striking [14:58] is those assets that are being used to [15:00] disrupt shipping. It's clear not it's [15:02] clearly not the case because this darkin [15:05] we have a nuclear power plant up here. [15:06] So this nucle if there's a nuclear power [15:08] plant up here right near this massive [15:10] like basically this city that was [15:12] created for this massive prochemical [15:16] uh industry [15:18] city with 30 different companies and [15:20] 300,000 people employed there. 300,000 [15:22] people means if you if you extrapolate [15:25] that out to families, you're talking [15:26] about millions of people like a massive [15:28] cities where the people where [15:30] everybody's employed in the prochemical [15:31] industry and there's the big port there [15:33] and there's a big and they're building [15:35] this nuclear power plant there. Um so [15:38] they're they're really destroying by [15:41] hitting the port and Bander Mashad and [15:44] and the nuclear power plant under [15:47] construction. The goal seems to really [15:49] just be destroy this this whole thing. [15:51] And what is all of this together? If you [15:53] take it all together, this is the [15:56] beating heart of their economy. Okay, [15:59] there's the oil, but then there's the [16:00] prochemical [16:02] industry. It's massive. So, I don't [16:05] think that this or the strike on [16:07] Tabreze, this is all Think about the [16:09] fact that this is all in the same 24 [16:10] hours that they're striking these sites [16:12] and Tabreze, which is also a massive [16:14] petrochemical company in the north. It [16:17] seems to me that the Americans are [16:20] pivoting now to [16:23] to destroying the Iranian economy, not [16:26] just through the sanctions and the [16:27] frozen assets and the other things [16:29] they've been doing and the blockade, but [16:31] actually hitting their major industries [16:33] that are fueling the economy without [16:35] going directly after the oil sites that [16:39] would that that [16:42] they're not going after like Car Island. [16:44] But that's what it looks like they're [16:45] doing. Okay, we have one more site to [16:47] do. We have one more site to look at. So [16:51] again, so we just looked at Darkaban at [16:54] at Darkovven, this new uh this new [16:56] nuclear power plant. Now, what's there's [16:59] a little bit of history also that's [17:00] interesting about Darkovven. Before the [17:02] Iranian revolution, [17:04] the before the Iran like during the [17:07] Sha's time, the Iranians had a deal with [17:09] the French to build two reactors at this [17:12] site. And after the revolution that went [17:16] away and then in the '9s Iran tried [17:18] tried again with China to build a couple [17:21] reactors that also fell through. So [17:23] Darovven was really like a stalled [17:25] project and then in 2008 Iran announced [17:27] it was building its own reactor there. [17:30] Um [17:32] and uh it it was it was going to be a [17:35] heavy water reactor. Heavy water [17:37] reactors are the design you use if [17:39] plutonium production is part of what [17:40] you're after. It's a different pathway [17:42] than lightwater reactors. I had to I was [17:45] reading up on this to try to figure out [17:47] what to say. I don't really know this [17:49] stuff that well, but I was reading and [17:51] apparently it's different. And um and a [17:54] lightwater reactor is what Iran runs at [17:57] Bucher with with the help from the [17:59] Russians. And here the Russian and here [18:01] the Iran the Iranians are trying to [18:03] build a a heavy water reactor. [18:06] Um [18:09] anyway, Darkovven is Iran's attempt to [18:11] build another heavy water reactor um [18:14] domestically and the US hit the [18:16] construction site on Sunday, yesterday [18:18] and Iran and and Iran is now all upset [18:20] about it. So we have this news item here [18:22] which I had pulled up on the screen [18:24] earlier [18:25] of how upset they are. Right? Look at [18:27] that. Gary Vabati condemns US strike on [18:30] Dark of a nuclear power plant. [18:32] Right? uh the US action constituted a [18:34] dangerous assault on Iran's peaceful [18:36] nuclear infrastructure, right? He's, you [18:39] know, and and we saw that the R and the [18:40] Russians also, by the way, condemned [18:42] this attack. The Russians condemned this [18:45] attack. Like I don't know if the if the [18:48] United States cares that the Russians [18:49] condemned it, but um the [18:53] you know that's that's what this is [18:55] about. you look even the language. The [18:58] Atomic Energy Organization of Iran [19:00] called this attack a violation of [19:01] international law and and and you're [19:04] targeting one of Iran's key symbols of [19:06] scientific proc, you know, progress. [19:08] That's what it says in the article [19:09] there. Anyway, that's that's that one. [19:12] The last site we're going to look at is [19:14] Hormuz. [19:16] Hormuz. Let's see where that is. [19:19] So, Corm. [19:21] Let's pull it up. [19:24] Here we go. And this is in Busher. So [19:27] it's all the way down. It's further down [19:28] south. And where's Gormouge? But it's [19:31] not so far down south. It is right here. [19:36] Gormuj. There it is. So this is the [19:38] straight of Hormuz. This is where we [19:41] were just looking at the petrochemical [19:42] sites. And this and and this is [19:44] somewhere in between, but it's inside [19:46] the Persian Gulf. Another site that is [19:48] really not connected to opening up the [19:51] Straits of Hormuz. What is significant [19:52] about Cormuzj? [19:54] So [19:56] Cormuj is the administrative center of [19:59] the Dashti district of the Busher [20:01] province on the Persian Gulf Coast. Um [20:06] and what's what's significant about it? [20:10] The the strikes knocked out power to [20:13] several neighborhoods. Now, the Iranians [20:15] say that they they got the power back up [20:17] very quickly, but satellite imagery has [20:20] previously identified an underground [20:22] IRGC ballistic missile base in Cormush. [20:27] And it reportedly has uh nine portals [20:31] functioning as launch silos built for [20:34] rapid fire ballistic missile launches. [20:36] Considering how it is right across the [20:39] water from Kuwait and Bahrain. Take a [20:43] look at the map again. Look at that. [20:46] Here's Bahrain. Here's Kuwait, [20:49] right? And and this here is, [20:54] you know, what do we have here? Like [20:58] Saudi Arabia all the way across here. [21:00] So, so if there's a if there's a major [21:02] ballistic missile launch site here, [21:05] right? you know what it's being used [21:07] for. So this is also this is this is [21:09] probably designed to you know to protect [21:14] to protect the those u you know the the [21:17] countries across the Gulf who are being [21:19] attacked. [21:21] So uh like Chabar and and uh and Connor [21:24] this is not a dual use site. This is [21:27] more just a pure military site. It's a [21:29] military base. It's confirmed as a [21:31] military target. Um and and that's what [21:35] I think that those attacks are about [21:36] missile sites there. So so there's the [21:38] pattern across the seven sites. There [21:40] are the purely military assets we saw [21:42] Shahabar, Connorak now Kormooj and uh we [21:46] have which is this underground missile [21:48] base. Um and then we have some civilian [21:51] economic infrastructure. Tabreze band [21:54] Mashar [21:56] Bandarim Kmeni. These are the the sites [21:58] that that's the prochemical industry is [22:00] being targeted directly. Uh even though [22:03] it has some dual use but it's it's [22:06] ostensibly u civilian and has nothing to [22:09] do with the disruption of of traffic [22:12] through the street of Hormuz. And that's [22:13] why I I opened with the with the with [22:17] Secretary of State Rubio. just to kind [22:19] of frame it that this is not really [22:22] what's going on. [22:24] Uh and then you have Darkovven which is [22:26] framed as a as a purely peaceful nuclear [22:28] infrastructure but it's uh it's but the [22:32] reactor design the heavy water reactor [22:34] design the entire category exists [22:36] because of proliferation concerns. [22:39] So [22:41] that's that. Now, one caveat to this [22:43] whole video. Um, the report that I have [22:46] that I'm basing myself on for the sites [22:49] where explosions were reported after [22:51] SenCom attacked is all coming out of [22:53] Iranian state media. Uh, so but but they [22:57] didn't give any explanation. They just [22:58] listed places where explosions were [23:00] heard. So, that's why I'm treating this [23:02] with some measure of credibility because [23:03] I don't it didn't have the smell of [23:05] propaganda on it. So, assuming that [23:07] these are actually the sites that that [23:09] were hit, I hope this was, you know, [23:11] this helped us uh read between the lines [23:12] and see what's actually going on here. [23:14] All right, please drop a comment. Let me [23:16] know what you thought of this video. Let [23:18] me know if you found it helpful. And if [23:19] you did, please share it. Please like [23:21] it. Please do all those good things. And [23:24] please tell other people about what [23:25] we're doing on this channel. God bless.
