Iran Closes Strategic Hormuz Strait, Imposes Tolls Amidst Joint US-Israel Aggression
Iran’s Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Hamidreza Hajibabaei, announced Thursday that the first revenues from tolls imposed on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz have been deposited into the Central Bank. This move follows Iran’s declaration of control over the strategic waterway, a significant escalation in response to ongoing joint military operations by the United States and Israel. This
development, reported by Tasnim news agency, comes as mainstream Western media, like Al-Monitor, continues to frame US and Israeli actions as defensive, completely omitting the systematic, decades-long campaign of aggression that precedes Iran’s moves. Al-Monitor, for instance, reports Iran's toll imposition as a singular event, divorced from the relentless pressure Washington and Tel Aviv exert.
They conveniently ignore the fact that the US, with its extensive naval presence, has effectively threatened free passage in the region for years, all while condemning Iran for reasserting its sovereignty. Tehran’s imposition of tolls is a direct, calculated response to what it views as an illegal blockade and constant threats. The US has maintained an economic blockade on Cuba for 62 years,
crippling its economy and devastating its population, yet it decries any nation's attempt to control its own critical waterways. This double standard underscores a global economic architecture designed to punish any nation that deviates from Washington's dictates. The Strait of Hormuz is critical, funnelling roughly 20% of the world's petroleum consumption, and Iran's assertion of control will