(16 July 2026) It is now 10 pm MST July 16, or, 4 AM GMT, July 17. We have been watching events centered on Iran and its regime, waiting for escalation of what looks to be the Second Signpost.
The Strait of Hormuz is closed again. The Strait was closed solidly for 113 days starting on March 2, allowing the global inventory of oil to drain to near zero.
It has now been 26 more days that the absolute closure ended. We have seen the Strait mostly closed, and even when it was open, traffic was only a small fraction of what it was before the war.
That makes the Strait closed for a total of 139 days.
Hormuzstraitmonitor.com is also counting the days at 139.
US Cannot Open the Strait
This video from Daniel Davis plainly explains why the US cannot force the Strait to be open. And alongside this explanation are some predictions showing that in the end, Iran wins.
At 05:37 through 09:05, it is explained that the US simply has no more weapons to fire at Iran after another two or three weeks have gone by. There are thousands of targets in Iran, and only ten US bases for Iran to hit until all bases are unusable.
And lack of missiles leaves the US vulnerable to war with Russia or China.
At 12:14 through 15:47, it is explained that the US extra inventory of oil, the SPR, has only a few days left before all that is left is military emergency reserve. A shortage of jet fuel and diesel in this country is predicted, as they are derived from sour crude, 70 percent of all refineries in the US handle sweet crude (for gasoline) and the US produces mostly sweet crude for domestic and global trade. Having plenty of gasoline doesn’t help if there is no diesel to deliver it to gas stations.
At 20:19 through 22:32 it is explained that the re-closure of the Strait and the escalation of the war comes at the worst time for the world being so lean on oil.
Conclusion
Except for the US nuking along the coast of Iran, and/or full invasion with one million soldiers, the Persian regime will have won. And those two alternatives are highly unlikely.
And with the US short on missiles for expenditure on a war, the IRGC and Basij might then be clear to run out. This part will likely take time for the conditions to ripen.
It is looking more and more like God in His sovereign will is going to have events fulfill both,
“No animal could stand against him, and none could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.” (Dan. 8:4)
and
“Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other.” (Rev. 6:4)
We won’t have too long to wait. I’m bumping up the chance this is the Second Signpost to a full 90 percent.
Keep watch.
Categories: ALERT, In The News, Signpost #2: Iran, USA in the End Times, World in the End Times
THE FOUR SIGNPOSTS 
Mark, you’ve said before that King of Javan refers to Anatolia. In the ancient template, Alexander the Great still fulfills the role of prototype of the founder of the Four Leopards kingdom despite Alexander’s Macedonia being based in Europe. You’ve also said you don’t think Albania being Muslim today and the ancient Seleucids being from that same region is happenstance. If Iran does enough damage to Turkey that its current government collapses, which is more likely than it might seem since Erdogan is old, has ruled with an iron fist for decades, and has removed many potential rivals who might have succeeded him, then could Albania prove instrumental in forming a new Turkish government that might go on to lay the foundation for the End-Time Four Leopards kingdom?
K,
Those aren’t quite my words. The children of Yavan live in Greece, Macedonia, Albania and western Turkey, and so the king of Yavan could come from any of those areas. However, because the Signposts involve Muslim countries it can only be Turkey or Albania. In Daniel Revisited, I refer to Erdogan as the best candidate to be the first horn on the goat, since he has many of the same characteristics as Alexander. The current constitution of Turkey allows him to be in power until 2029. If Iran were to invade Turkey, the paradigm might shift, in other words, he might change the constitution yet again.
But since Erdogan is only the best candidate and it is not definite, yes, it is possible the king of Yavan could come from Albania.