The Trump White House is currently considering a plan that would take the recently revived maximum pressure campaign back to the high seas, similar to Trump’s first term as commander in chief.
This would mean that US Navy ships would stop and inspect Iranian oil tankers passing through the sea under an international mechanism designed to prevent the “proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,” Reuters sources told Reuters, a practice that had sometimes been followed under Biden.
The idea is to crack down once again on Iranian oil sales in order to cut off crucial funding for Iran’s nuclear energy program, which both Israel and Washington suspect could easily turn into a nuclear weapons program.
“Trump officials are now looking at ways for allies to stop and inspect ships passing through critical choke points, such as the Strait of Malacca in Asia and other sea lanes. This would delay the delivery of crude oil to refineries. It could also damage the reputation and impose sanctions on parties involved in facilitating trade,” the sources told Reuters.
“You don’t have to sink ships or arrest people to create a chilling effect that it’s just not worth the risk. Delayed deliveries… instills uncertainty into this illicit trade network,” one source explained.
The legal mechanism allegedly under investigation dates back to the beginning of the War on Terror to prevent the trafficking of weapons of mass destruction in 2003. (Don’t forget that the Bush-era “Iraq WMD” scare was based on a complete myth and lie propagated by the NeoCons of the time).
“This mechanism could allow foreign governments to target Iranian oil shipments at Washington’s request,” another source told Reuters.
The Biden administration had also at times sought to seize Iranian oil shipments, particularly to disrupt sales in places like China or Syria.
As for the situation in Syria, this policy helped tighten the noose around Assad in the Western regime change efforts that led to his overthrow – but the Syrian people continue to starve and are largely without fuel.
The US Treasury Department has often alleged that the Islamic Republic has a “shadow fleet” that ships hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian crude abroad. Tehran has responded by saying it has every right to sell its energy resources using international waters and passageways.
Last month, US Treasury Secretary Bessent announced for the first time that the US would aggressively target Iran’s efforts to use oil revenues to bolster its nuclear program, develop ballistic missiles and support its terrorist forces. Will this help bring Tehran and the Trump administration to the negotiating table?
At least that seems to be happening. Trump would like a new, better deal that would allow international monitoring of Iran’s nuclear facilities. However, Tehran has stressed that Trump withdrew from the JCPOA nuclear deal in 2018, which in effect did just that.
