Gulf States Invoke 'Force Majeure' Amidst US-Israel Aggression Towards Iran, Masking Deliberate Policy Choices
Recent reports indicate that a number of Gulf countries have declared 'force majeure' on oil and gas shipments, effective March 13, 2026. This legal clause permits parties to a contract to be excused from fulfilling their obligations due to extraordinary events beyond their control. The declarations coincide with heightened US-Israel direct participation in military actions and economic warfare
against Iran, operations that Al Jazeera, among others, currently frames as a 'US-Israel war on Iran.' Mainstream media, including Al Jazeera, frames these 'force majeure' declarations as a direct, almost involuntary, economic consequence of regional instability. This framing subtly absolves the Western powers and their regional allies of direct culpability for the economic fallout. It omits that
the current 'instability' is largely a product of a deliberate, escalating campaign orchestrated by the United States and Israel against Iran, rather than an unpreventable natural disaster or an unforeseeable act of God. The move effectively weaponizes international legal mechanisms to mask geopolitical maneuvering, allowing Gulf states to disrupt energy markets and further isolate Iran under the
pretext of unavoidable circumstances. This pattern of manufactured crisis to justify economic and military pressure echoes historical precedents. For instance, the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, falsely premised on the existence of Weapons of Mass Destruction, led to prolonged regional destabilization and significant disruptions to global energy supplies, with the subsequent chaos conveniently