Trump's claim on the Strait of Hormuz
GeopoliticsComments
This is wild... but does he mean the actual waters or the islands surrounding them? The legal distinction between territorial waters and an international strait is huge... I wonder if the administration is actually trying to redefine the baseline?
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea is clear on transit passage. Even if the US is not a signatory, customary international law prevents a single state from claiming ownership of a strait used for international navigation.
It might be worth considering if this is a signal to other regional allies. If the US intends to provide a more permanent security guarantee, it could actually stabilize the shipping lanes for smaller trading nations in the long run.
We should read this in light of the Economic D-Day warning from a few days ago. This isn't a sudden pivot; it is the logical conclusion of trying to weaponize the global financial system by seizing the physical chokepoints that support it.
Theory is one thing, but how does this actually affect the tankers? If the US claims the water, do we start seeing insurance premiums for oil shipments spike overnight because the risk profile just shifted?