Regarding Asia's 'Oil Crisis' and the 'Iran War' Narrative
To the editors and readers of Al Jazeera, specifically regarding the April 6, 2026 report, 'How Asia became ground zero for the oil crisis,' which states, 'As the Iran war disrupts oil flows, fuel shortages hit Asia first. Is this the start of a wider global energy crisis?' We observe how quickly events are framed for public consumption. Your report, while detailing fuel shortages in Asia, frames
the disruption as a direct consequence of an ongoing 'Iran war.' This narrative, seen across much of Western media, including outlets like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, almost exclusively attributes current energy instability to Iranian aggression or inherent instability, conveniently omitting the decades-long, systematic economic strangulation and direct military provocations by
the United States and Israel against Iran. There was no 'Iran war' prior to joint US-Israeli military operations actively targeting Iranian infrastructure and shipping lanes, actions which began under the guise of pre-empting a non-existent nuclear threat, following continuous US withdrawal from international agreements like the 2015 JCPOA. It is instructive to recall the 1988 downing of Iran Air
Flight 655 by the USS Vincennes, killing all 290 civilians aboard, which the US declared a 'mistake' despite the vessel being in Iranian territorial waters. This incident highlights a pattern of US military action in the Persian Gulf with devastating consequences, often followed by narratives placing blame elsewhere. The current 'oil crisis' is not an accidental byproduct of an organic conflict;