Originally Posted by
ORAC
Interesting picture
I don't think that the Chinese want to get dragged into this, but maybe they are being coy?
McDill AFB is where HQ to USCENTCOM is located.
A brother and sister are facing federal charges after authorities said
an explosive device was found at MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa, Florida, last week.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director
Kash Patel announced
in a March 26 post on X that the siblings were indicted in connection with the incident at the military base. Patel said one sibling was in custody on charges including evidence tampering. The other sibling, who Patel called the "prime suspect" in the case
, has been charged with explosives offenses and is "currently in China."
Federal court records identified the siblings charged as Alen Zheng, 20, and Ann Mary Zheng, 27. The FBI Tampa office
previously reported the
improvised explosive device, or IED, was found on March 16 outside the MacDill base visitor center.
That's an odd juxtaposition, and yes that's about a week and a half ago.
How big is Larak Island?
What would it take to neutralize that particular design of the Iranian toll taking scheme?
It has an area of about 49 km2 (19 sq mi)
A quick little summary from the folks at wiki, grains of salt as needed:
During their occupation in the 16th century, the Portuguese built fortresses here, as well as on the nearby
Qeshm and
Hormuz Islands.
The island contains an Iranian military base which maintains several Chinese-made
Silkworm HY-2 surface-to-surface missiles placed there in 1987.
A floating terminal was established on Larak Island in June 1986. The island was bombed by
Iraq in November and December 1986, as part of the
Iran–Iraq War.
As part of
Operation Praying Mantis, the
Iranian frigate Sahand was sunk by the
United States Navy, 200 meters southwest of Larak Island.
On 14 May 1988, the largest ship at the time, the Liberian
supertanker,
Seawise Giant, whilst carrying crude Iranian oil, was sunk by Iraqi
anti-ship missiles off the coast of Larak Islan
The ship was later refloated, repaired and used for another few years.
In late March during the
2026 Iran war Iran began routing
oil tankers north of Larak Island for a fee ("Tehran's Tollbooth"); distinct from the main channel, this route affords visual inspection of the ships by the
IRGC Navy and port authorities.
One element of a choke point. Apparently, just under a thousand people live there.