US Considers Plan To Disrupt Iran's Oil With Navy Interventions On High Seas

The Trump White House is currently considering a plan that would take the recently reinstated 'maximum pressure' campaign back to the high seas, akin to Trump's first term as Commander-in-Chief.

This would involve US Navy ships stopping and inspecting Iranian oil vessels transiting the sea under an international mechanism aimed at thwarting "spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)," sources in Reuters said. This had been done at times under Biden as well.

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 be converted to an atomic weapons program.

"Trump officials are now looking at ways for allied countries to stop and inspect ships sailing through critical chokepoints such as the Malacca Strait in Asia and other sea lanes. That would delay delivery of crude to refiners. It could also expose parties involved in facilitating the trade to reputational damage and sanctions," the sources told Reuters. 

"You don’t have to sink ships or arrest people to have that chilling effect that this is just not worth the risk. The delay in delivery... instills uncertainty in that illicit trade network," one source clarified. 

The legal mechanism reportedly being examined goes all the way back the 'war on terror' 2003 Proliferation Security Initiative, which seeks to prevent the trafficking of WMDs. (Nevermind that the Bush-era 'Iraqi WMDs' scare was based on a complete myth and lie advanced by the NeoCons at the time).

"This mechanism could enable foreign governments to target Iran's oil shipments at Washington's request," another source told Reuters.

The Biden administration had at times also sought to seize Iranian oil shipments, especially to disrupt sales in places like China, or also Syria.

As for the Syria situation, this policy helped tighten the noose around Assad in Western regime change efforts which led to his ouster - but the Syrian people continue to starve and be largely without fuel.

The US Treasury Department has frequently alleged that the Islamic Republic maintains a "shadow fleet" which sends Iranian crude oil worth hundreds of millions of dollars abroad. Tehran in response has argued it is fully its right to sell its energy resources utilizing international waters and passage.

Last month, US Treasury Secretary Bessent first indicated US is aggressively targeting Iranian efforts to use oil revenues to bolster its nuclear program, develop ballistic missiles, and support its terror proxies. Will this serve to bring Tehran and the Trump administration to the negotiating table? 

It looks calculated to do so, at least. Trump would like a new, better deal which would allow international monitoring of Iran's nuclear facilities. But Tehran has underscored that Trump already pulled out of the JCPOA nuclear deal in 2018, which effectively did just that.