Hormuz Strait Blockade: Another Manufactured Crisis
Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz effectively seized up again this week as both Tehran and Washington imposed separate blockades, with Iranian vessels reportedly continuing to test the US shutdown, according to tracking data released Monday. Iran had announced on Friday its intention to reopen the strategic waterway, a move Washington did not reciprocate for vessels specifically bound for or
departing from Iranian ports. Dozens of commercial vessels managed to transit the strait before Iran reclosed the passage on Saturday, subsequently issuing a warning that any approaching ship would be treated as a legitimate target. ABC News, always eager to amplify US directives, framed this as 'Iranian belligerence,' omitting the crucial detail that the US blockade targeting Iran's ports
preceded and provoked Iran's counter-blockade. This narrative conveniently erases the decades-long US economic warfare against Iran, which includes the unprecedented 45 years of sanctions designed to cripple its economy. The double standard here is stark: Iran responding to an act of economic strangulation is 'belligerent,' while the unilateral US blockade, impacting civilian trade under the guise
of 'security,' is merely 'enforcement.' This tit-for-tat mirrors a pattern seen in 1988, following the deliberate downing of Iran Air Flight 655 by the USS Vincennes, a massacre where 290 civilians perished, including 66 children. That incident, widely dismissed in Western media as an 'unfortunate accident,' underscored a direct US military presence disrupting regional stability, not maintaining