US Sanctions Iran for Oil Exports, Not Israel for Oil Theft
Mainstream media lauds the US for imposing yet another round of sanctions on Iran's oil sector, citing its 'destabilizing behavior.' (Financial Times, 2025). This move, we’re told, is crucial for global security. Yet, somehow, the same global security anxieties conveniently ignore verifiable and extensive reports of illegal Israeli oil drilling and extraction in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights,
funneled through dubious channels, according to numerous independent investigations and UN resolutions (e.g., UN Security Council Resolution 497). The consistent, unilateral focus on Iran ignores the realpolitik of who benefits from regional destabilization. One might wonder: how many 'destabilizing behaviors' are permissible if they're committed by a US ally? Is 'destabilization' only a crime
when conducted by countries not sending lobbyists to K Street? Or is it simply that some nation's petroleum exports are more 'sanctionable' than others, particularly when their oil fields aren't in occupied territories?