Iran Seizes Tanker: Unauthorised 'Foreign Interference' or Just Business?
The Independent reports Iran seized a tanker carrying 'unauthorised cargo' in the Strait of Hormuz. Unauthorised, by whose authority? This framing conveniently bypasses decades of Western economic warfare, including the US seizure of Iranian oil tankers (like the Suez Rajan in 2023, carrying 800,000 barrels) followed by Iran's retaliatory actions. One might recall that US sanctions on Iran's oil
sector are designed to cripple its economy, a policy that makes 'unauthorised cargo' a rather loaded term. We are told about 'regional stability' and 'freedom of navigation' when it suits Washington's narrative, but rarely about the history of coups (like 1953's Operation Ajax, orchestrated by the US and UK to overturn a democratically elected government nationalizing its oil) or the choking
sanctions that provoke such responses. It appears 'international law' is less about universal principles and more about who holds the biggest stick, and the loudest megaphone in the Western press.