TACO Tuesday: Iran Still Exists, Still Controls Strait of Hormuz, American Civilization in Question

Iranian civilization still exists.

It’s not often that the world can take comfort in Donald Trump’s reliable nature. But yesterday, as always, Trump chickened out.

A world impatient for a come-down from President Donald Trump’s apocalyptic bluster breathed a sigh of relief Tuesday as the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, tempered with worry that the deal could bring new risks.

“Better TACO Tuesday than World War III,” said one European official, nodding to Trump backing off his threats to wipe out Iran’s civilization if it didn’t open the Strait of Hormuz. The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, hoped the pause could allow for an eventual negotiated end to the war [Daniella Cheslow and Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing, “World Exhales—a Little—as US, Iran Agree to Ceasefire,” Politico, 2026.04.07].

The ceasefire apparently does not mean everyone is ceasing fire:

But neither Iran nor the United States said when the ceasefire would begin, and that became evident on Wednesday morning when the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain reported new Iranian attacks.

Euronews journalists in Dubai received air-raid alerts early Wednesday morning and observed renewed daily fighter-jet defence activity over the city throughout the morning.

The UAE announced a new attack was launched on its Habshan gas complex, ending the short-lived relief that a ceasefire would bring the much-wanted calm.

The UAE said it would suspend production at the Habshan gas complex, as falling debris from an interception of an attack caused multiple fires at the facility, with two Emiratis and one Indian national suffering minor injuries, according to the Abu Dhabi media office.

Euronews journalists in Doha received air raid alerts early Wednesday morning after a prolonged Iranian raid on Tuesday night before the ceasefire announcement, with at least eight intercept booms shaking the city and diverting inbound flights towards Doha for an hour.

And in Bahrain, new blasts were heard after sirens sounded again on Wednesday morning, urging residents to shelter. The renewed attacks come after a night of Iranian strikes, which damaged houses in the Sitra area, injuring two people from shrapnel falling after the interception of an Iranian drone [Jane Witherspoon, “Iranian Attacks Continue in the Gulf, Raising Questions About Ceasefire,” Euronews, 2026.04.08].

…and Iran continues to assert more control of the Strait of Hormuz than it did before Trump started this war a month ago:

OK, so Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, wrote in a post on X that if attacks on Iran are halted, Iran would cease its attacks, which he called defensive. So this came out after Trump’s announcement. And crucially, regarding the Strait of Hormuz, this is what he said. He said that for two weeks, the safe passage will be possible. But he said it would be in coordination with Iran’s armed forces, and he said, quote, “with due consideration to technical limitations.” So that leaves open the possibility that we will see more ships going through the strait. At current, there’s only maybe six a day, two a day depending. But now, it’s clear that this strait is under Iran’s control. The comment on technical limitations suggests to me the number may not be at the level of ships per day that were transiting freely before this war began [Aya Batrawy, “Trump Has Backed Down from His Threat to Wipe Out Iran’s Civilization,” NPR: All Things Considered, 2026.04.07].

…and…

The plan allows for both Iran and Oman to charge fees on ships transiting through the strait, according to a regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss negotiations they were directly involved in. The official said Iran would use the money it raised for reconstruction [Bassem Mroue, Jon Gambrell, and Samy Magdy, “US and Iran Agree to 2-Week Ceasefire as Trump Pulls Back on Threats,” AP, 2026.04.07].

Trump’s barbarous threat to bring an end to an entire civilization evidently meant nothing… unless he was referring to bringing an end to any pretense that Trump’s America—not just the dictator at the top, but the Cabinet, Congress, and public that don’t immediately remove this insane menace from the White House—remains a civilized nation.