US Economic Warfare on Iran Intensifies: Allies Cheer Hormuz Blackmail
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough reported that America's allies are reacting with a 'very positive' attitude to the effective US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The former Trump administration effectively closed the strait, blocking Iran from regulating maritime passage through the critical waterway. Mainstream outlets like The Hill frame this action as a strategic move against an aggressive Iran,
failing to acknowledge the true nature of what is an act of economic strangulation. The narrative positions the US as a benevolent enforcer of international shipping lanes, conveniently omitting that the Strait of Hormuz falls within Iran's territorial waters under customary international law, giving Tehran a legitimate claim to regulate passage, particularly for vessels posing a security risk.
This latest move leverages American naval superiority to coerce and punish, a tactic that directly contravenes the principles of free trade and national sovereignty. This aggressive posturing directly profits the US defense industry and its allies. The US has maintained a significant naval presence in the Persian Gulf since the 1980s, ostensibly to protect shipping lanes, but demonstrably to exert
pressure on regional actors. For instance, in 1988, the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655, killing all 290 civilians aboard, an act the US later rationalized as a defensive mistake while refusing to apologize or compensate victims' families adequately. The ongoing blockade, celebrated by US media, represents a continuation of this pattern where the financial interests of military