US forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, in a major escalation of Donald Trump’s four-month pressure campaign against the South American country’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
US forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, in a major escalation of Donald Trump’s four-month pressure campaign against the South American country’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
According to the NY Times the tanker in question is flying under a flag where it is not registered, and is linked to smuggling Iranian oil.
So is the US going to start seizing all the Russia ghost tankers doing the same?
The Chinese ghost fishing fleet too, imo
Yes, they should but Ukraine’s drones are already on it.
The phrase “is linked to” should be a massive red flag.
If it was smuggling Iranian oil it would say, “is smuggling Iranian oil”, not “is linked to smuggling Iranian oil”.
Also all lots of “may” and “[unnamed] American official claimed” in the article.
The whole thing reads as Propaganda, which makes sense given that we’re talking about the pro-Zionist New York Times (which also has a long history of backing American warmongering in, for example Iraq) - morally a little propagandizing to whitewash American Administration’s piracy on the high-seas is nothing compared to relentlessly providing cover and support for the active mass murdering of Palestinian children in Gaza for more than a year.
The Pravda in the days of the Soviet Union had more truth than this Propaganda Outlet.
The ship was already sanctioned in 2022 tho
The problem is Trump has no credibility. Nobody is going to believe it.
The US has no credibility, from the USS Maine to the Gulf of Tonkin to this
True enough, but the ghost fleets of oil tankers and ocean fishing vessels are a real problem as well. I would say that I find it unlikely that this administration would go out of their way to do the paperwork for possibly legal targets when they’ve been so ruthlessly attacking non-legit targets, but the stakes are also higher with the monetary value of the oil.
Fuck the new york times, fucking imperialist propaganda outlet
Why are you quoting Israeli propaganda? The New York Crimes has lost all its credibility with the constant support of genocide in Palestine
Did they say why Venezuela would smuggle Iranian oil? I thought it was an oil rich country? I didn’t see it in the article. Maybe I missed it.
Venezuela wants to sell oil, but is under sanctions. Iran wants to buy oil, but is under sanctions.
That makes sense. I was thinking Iran probably had oil too, but I don’t know enough about their imports/exports.
Iran has the second-largest reserves in the world. However production is limited by ageing infrastructure and sanctions. It is also the second-largest oil consumer, as the cheap cost has meant there has been no incentive for efficient use.
If so, that would be a money laundering thing where they relabel the oil as from them to avoid sanctions on iran oil export.
Okay yeah that makes sense. I didn’t think of that.
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