Oz Veloshian

An Iranian drone struck the grounds of a U.S.

consulate in Dubai, setting it ablaze.

multiple attacks on Kuwait last night.

There's a great deal of economic impact that's already been felt in this region.

That is a surprise.

It's not a surprise that they're in the Middle East.

It's just a surprise that the tacit deal that had been made to keep them out of the fray has completely unwound as a consequence of Trump deciding to decapitate the Islamic Republic.

He went bigger than the rules of the game allowed.

And now the dominoes have all come tumbling down.

So we're recording this at a time where we don't really know what's going to happen.

By the time you're listening to this, the Strait of Hormuz could be open, it could be closed, it could be open and closed, there could be ground troops, there could not be ground troops.

So we don't really know right now exactly where this is headed in the next couple of weeks between this conversation and when people are listening to this conversation.

I have to say one thing I've been struck by, and I don't know if this is just my own lack of focus, is, you know, if you step back from the strategic vulnerabilities of all the Gulf states and the degree to which they have been drawn into this conflict, literally, palpably, that their air defenses and their missile defenses and their drone defenses seem to be extraordinarily good.

You know, it seemed for years, particularly the Saudis, were just sort of buying...

vanity hardware to make their state look better, but that their military capacity was fairly limited.

It's kind of surprising how adept they are at their own self-defense and how much they have clearly prepared.

I don't know if they were preparing for an Israeli attack, but they certainly were preparing for some sort of airborne attacks.

So I guess I agree with that, Zach.

But the funny thing is, I don't think I would have taken that as a conclusion.

I mean, the Iranians have done a lot of learning.