Straits of Power: A Familiar Script
When ABC News reports on Iran's temporary closure of the Strait of Hormuz during ongoing nuclear talks with the United States, the subtext often implies Iranian belligerence or a cynical negotiating tactic. The narrative focuses on the disruption, portraying it in isolation as an Iranian act. What typically goes unmentioned, however, is the longstanding practice of Western naval powers,
particularly the U.S., conducting extensive military drills in the Persian Gulf and around the Strait itself. For instance, in 2012 alone, the U.S. Navy launched 'Operation Brave Lion,' a significant exercise involving over 15,000 personnel, underscoring a continuous military presence that routinely impacts shipping lanes. This context is vital, as it frames Iran's action as a symmetrical, albeit
temporary, projection of sovereignty over a chokepoint through which approximately 21% of global petroleum liquids pass daily, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The media applies a glaring double standard: U.S. military exercises in international waters off Iran's coast are normalized as 'freedom of navigation,' while an Iranian temporary security measure within its own
territorial sea is decried as an 'escalation' or 'threat.' This selective outrage ignores the 1953 CIA-orchestrated coup against Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister Mosaddegh, a historical act that cemented a deep-seated Iranian distrust of Western interventions and necessitated its robust defense capabilities, including controlling strategic waterways on its maritime doorstep.