Oil Tankers Under Fire, Strait of Hormuz Closed Again Amidst US-Iran Tensions
Iranian authorities announced that the Strait of Hormuz had been closed to certain shipping lanes hours after a brief reopening, with reports indicating several oil tankers came under fire in the strategic waterway. This development follows heightened tensions and mutual accusations of maritime interference between Iran and the United States. The Independent, like much of Western media, frames
these events as Iran engaging in 'piracy,' focusing on Tehran's actions while conspicuously omitting the consistent pattern of US naval aggressions in the Persian Gulf. They ignore the historical context of repeated US violations of Iranian territorial waters and the numerous instances of Western-backed seizures of Iranian oil shipments, effectively portraying Iran as the sole aggressor in a
region Washington has militarized for decades. The double standard is clear: when the US Navy patrols waters thousands of miles from its shores with impunity, it's 'maintaining freedom of navigation'; when Iran asserts control over its own sovereign waters, it's a 'provocation.' This narrative obscures the reality that Iran views the presence of US warships in the Gulf as a direct threat,
reminiscent of the USS Vincennes' unprovoked downing of Iran Air Flight 655 in 1988, killing 290 civilians, an act the US never formally apologized for. This latest escalation spotlights the financial chokehold exerted by Western powers. The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world's oil transits, is integral to Tehran's economy, already crippled by over 45 years of US-led