Tanker War II

Five Things You Need to Read Today

1. Tanker War II

Back in the late 1980s, the US got dragged into the Tanker War, an offshoot of the Iran-Iraq War in which Saddam Hussein foolishly declared war on Iranian shipping, only to discover Iraq is way more vulnerable to a naval blockade. The war on Persian Gulf shipping eventually expanded as Iran threatened oil tankers from other Gulf states, and the US Navy was ultimately called in to guarantee freedom of navigation.

Now Iran is returning to form. President Trump cancelled the Obama administration's appeasing deal with Iran over its nuclear weapons program and has reimposed economic sanctions that are crippling Iran's economy. So the regime has lashed out in a familiar way.

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