Naval piercing: strait shooting in Iran war
The Intelligence from The Economist
The Economist
4.5 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 5 May 2026
⏱️ 22 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
The Trump administration’s “Project Freedom” has done and will do little to boost traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. We examine an unsustainable standoff. A fashion influencer’s post addressed to President Vladimir Putin has brought Russians’ wider grumbling into the open. And how India’s notorious street noise comes with costs to human health.
Guests and host:
- Gregg Carlstrom, Middle East correspondent
- Arkady Ostrovsky, Russia editor
- Vishnu Padmanabhan, Asia correspondent
- Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”
- Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”
Topics covered:
- Iran war, Strait of Hormuz
- Russia, Vladimir Putin, influencers
- India, noise pollution, health
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Economist |
| 0:02.0 | Hello and welcome to the intelligence from The Economist. |
| 0:12.0 | I'm Jason Palmer. |
| 0:18.0 | Today on the show, how an influencer's message to Vladimir Putin has resonated |
| 0:23.7 | and the costs to health of India's street noise. |
| 0:31.4 | But first... |
| 0:46.3 | ... But first... If nothing else, you have to appreciate the branding attempt. On Sunday, the Trump administration announced Project Freedom, a bid to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. |
| 0:55.3 | When it came into force yesterday, it immediately ran into trouble, with aggression from both |
| 1:00.4 | sides. The oil price roller coaster lurched up again. This morning, Brent Crude is at about |
| 1:06.0 | $114. It's not peace, but it's not out-and-out war either. |
| 1:12.6 | Yes. |
| 1:14.0 | America and Iran have drifted into a dangerous and unsustainable stalemate. |
| 1:20.1 | Greg Carlstrom is a Middle East correspondent for the economist. |
| 1:23.5 | We're three weeks into the American blockade of Iranian shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, |
| 1:29.9 | and that was never going to be a situation that could stay as it was indefinitely. |
| 1:35.0 | Someone was going to be tempted to try and escalate the war to break this stalemate. |
| 1:40.4 | And the events that took place in the region on Monday are a sign that we're getting closer and closer to that point. |
| 1:48.3 | And so talk me through how we got to that point and the degree to which Project Freedom is what's breaking the stalemate a bit. |
| 1:55.6 | So you're right. It started with that announcement from Donald Trump of what he's calling Project Freedom. |
| 2:01.9 | Now, if you read Trump's post on social media, it sounded like the U.S. was going to send |
| 2:06.5 | destroyers to escort commercial vessels. That is not, by and large, what the Americans want to do. |
| 2:12.5 | The way they've described it in background briefings to reporters is more of a coordination effort. So they are going to |
... |
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