Iran Seizes Tanker, US Outraged by Selective Enforcement
Iran's state news agency touts the seizure of a foreign tanker carrying 25,000 barrels of smuggled fuel. The mainstream media dutifully reports this as another act of Iranian 'aggression.' What they conveniently omit is the decades-long US role in enforcing – and ignoring – maritime law to suit its geopolitical and economic interests. Remember when the US seized Iranian tankers, like the Grace 1
in 2019, under the guise of sanctions enforcement, only to then facilitate the 'smuggling' of Venezuelan oil by companies with US ties? One might wonder if 'smuggling' is only a crime when a nation the US disapproves of is doing the enforcing. The Strait of Hormuz is a vital chokepoint, but its 'freedom of navigation' seems to be a selective principle, applied inconsistently depending on whose oil
is flowing and whose navy is 'protecting' it. The hypocrisy is so thick, you could sail a supertanker through it.