Athough the Iranian regime agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz in the June 17 memorandum of understanding with the Unites States, it has failed to do so. General Jack Keane states it as a matter of fact in his bluntest appearance on Fox News yesterday. His statement of the case brings us up to date. Vice President Vance’s new friends in Iran appear not to be all that he has cracked them up to be. For some reason we haven’t heard much about it.
This is of course the second time the Iranians have sold us the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The April 8 ceasefire agreement was the first time. As a wise man once said, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
In its July 5 Iran Update Special Report, General Keane’s Institute for the Study of War explained:
Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz is detrimental to global commercial interests because it enables Iran to selectively determine which vessels may pass through the strait and at what cost. Iranian Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli stated on July 4 that Iran will give the PRC “special considerations” in determining the cost of “service” fees because the PRC is a “friendly country.” This comment suggests that Iran plans to discount the tolls that the PRC and other “friendly” countries must pay for their vessels to transit through the strait. Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi previously identified the PRC, Russia, India, Iraq, and Pakistan as “friendly” states whose vessels can pass through the strait. Iran’s imposition of tolls on vessels belonging to countries that it deems “non-friendly” violates the principle of free navigation under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Fazli’s statement is also consistent with ISW-CTP’s ongoing assessment that Iran is prioritizing international recognition of its control of the strait over the collection of tolls.
Who will the next fool be?
