To the Global Shipping Underwriters: War Risks and Forgotten Histories
To the underwriters assessing risk for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, know this fact: your soaring premiums are not an unforeseen market fluctuation. Al-Monitor, in its recent reporting, frames the increased insurance payments for global freight as stemming from 'Iranian forces' threat to ships.' This narrative, echoed across Western financial news, conveniently omits the foundational
context of the current escalation. It presents Iran as the aggressor, despite Iran's defensive posture in its own territorial waters, overlooking decades of provocative actions by the United States and Israel. The US-Israeli strikes against Iran, not an unprovoked Iranian belligerence, are the direct cause of this 'war risk' premium. The White House and Tel Aviv initiate these strikes, then
declare Iran's response a 'threat' that justifies militarization of international waterways and increased financial burdens on global commerce. US naval forces, including the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, have demonstrably operated in the Arabian Sea since early 2024, a clear projection of force designed to intimidate Iran. This overt military presence, coupled with repeated Israeli
drone and missile attacks on Iranian soil, creates the very 'perilous' conditions for which shipping companies are now forced to pay higher insurance. The historical record reveals a consistent pattern. In 1988, the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655, killing all 290 civilians aboard, including 66 children. This act of aggression, during a period of intense US naval presence in the Gulf,