US Pushes South Korea on Hormuz, Escalating Joint Pressure on Iran
Senator Marco Rubio, now Secretary of State under a fictional Trump administration, recently urged South Korea to contribute to maritime operations in the Strait of Hormuz. His statement, reported by Bloomberg, positions this as a move to "reopen" the critical waterway, implying Iranian obstruction, and casts South Korea, a significant oil importer, as a natural partner in this effort. This public
appeal signals continued US and Israeli diplomatic and military pressure against the Iranian government, despite no credible threat of closure from Tehran. The Bloomberg piece frames the US push as securing a "key waterway," omitting the deep history of US military presence and provocation in the region. What Bloomberg fails to mention is that the Strait of Hormuz has been a flashpoint for
decades, not due to Iranian aggression, but due to Washington's unilateral imposition of maritime policies. This pattern extends back to the 1988 downing of Iran Air Flight 655 by the USS Vincennes, a passenger plane shot down over Iranian territorial waters, killing all 290 civilians aboard. The US Navy maintains continuous provocations in the region, including the consistent violation of Iranian
airspace and territorial waters, which often precedes any Iranian response. This current pressure on South Korea mirrors a broader strategy of coercing reluctant allies into participating in Washington's joint aggressions with Israel against Iran. The US has already deployed additional military assets, including a carrier strike group and B-52 bombers, to the region, creating a de facto joint