the attitude with arnie arnesen the wed edition Feb 4
Arnie Arnesen
Oil supertanker costs in the Middle East climbed to their highest level on record as conflict between the U.S. and Iran disrupts shipping through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.
Major marine war risk providers have started to scrap cover for vessels operating in the Persian Gulf as the fallout from a sudden security shock hobbles key shipping routes in the region.
The benchmark freight rate for Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) — used to ship 2 million barrels of oil from the Middle East to China — hit an all-time high of $423,736 per day on Monday, data from LSEG showed. That marked an increase of more than 94% from Friday’s close.
Alongside a significant jump in oil and gas prices, the stratospheric rise in the cost of hauling crude oil follows the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran over the weekend. The expanding conflict has resulted in the effective halt of shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — one of the world’s most important oil choke points, located in the gulf between Oman and Iran.
An Iranian Revolutionary Guards senior official said Monday that the Strait of Hormuz had been closed and warned any vessel attempting to pass through the waterway would be attacked, state media reported. The claim has since been disputed by the U.S. military’s Central Command, CENTCOM, Fox News reported.
“Charterers in the VLCC segment stepped back from the market and avoided securing vessels as multiple incidents have led to increased threat levels around the strait of Hormuz, despite the waterway not being officially closed,” Sheel Bhattacharjee, head of freight pricing in Europe at Argus Media, told CNBC by email
....It is estimated that roughly one-third of seaborne crude oil trade moves through the strategically important waterway, alongside 19% of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows and 14% of global refined products trade, according to Argus Media.
part one: Iranian dissident and professor of sociology at Dartmouth discusses the events swirling around Iran
'I hope something more democratic comes to power': NH college professors discuss Middle East conflict. https://www.wmur.com/article/i-hope-something-more-democratic-comes-to-power-nh-college-professors-discuss-middle-east-conflict/70569931
Parsa also believes that if members of the Iranian military see their relatives protesting, change could happen.
"Their parents, their relatives, their children are out there protesting. That increases the likelihood that elements of the guard or elements, or especially if they bring the army, which most of which about 90% of is conscript, they would defect and then the regime would collapse," Parsa said.
Dr. Misagh Parsa, 80 , a dissident of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a retired Dartmouth sociology professor of 33 years Parsa moved from Iran to the U.S. in 1970 as a student. His studies have since focused on the 1979 revolution and the population’s ongoing push for democracy against the repressive Islamic Republic of Iran...we tap his knowledge of the Middle East to talk about the war with Iran initiated by Israel and the US
part two: Mark Joseph Stern sr writer at Slate.com
Extra: This War is Obscenely Illegal. https://slate.com/podcasts/amicus/2026/03/trumps-war-against-iran-is-obscenely-illegal does it matter if ordinary Americans believe this war is legal or not? Eugene Fidel, a visiting lecturer and senior research scholar at Yale Law School and expert on the law of armed conflict, joins me now to discuss whether international law or the Constitution still matter when America goes to war.
Trump’s War With Iran Isn’t Just Reckless. It’s an Impeachable Abuse of Office. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/03/trump-iran-war-is-this-illegal-impeachment-congress.html
The Catholic Bishops’ Supreme Court Brief Is a Searing Moral Rebuke to Donald Trump https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/02/donald-trump-birthright-citizenship-immigration-catholic-bishops.html
D. ARNIE ARNESEN
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