shipping lanes are always open, idk why they stopped off in gibraltar
*at least i've assumed they didnt just hijack an iranian boat out of a sea lane
It could be an intentional provocation specifically from Iran. That would not surprise me. I don't understand why they would keep poking the hornet nest tho considering we have two carrier fleets deployed in that region. Feels like something fishy happened to cause the oil tanker siezure
Iran now denies the encounter.
My take? Give me a phuking break. The NSA/GCHQ spend billions to intercept every email, survey all the surface of the earth, and tap undersea cables but they don't have video footage on their naval ships cruising in one of the most congested shipping lanes next to a major hostile power?
Maybe it did happen how they say, but I absolutely will not believe anything they say without clear and unambiguous video, audio recordings, and an abundance of evidence. In fact I'll actively disbelieve their claims since they are so easily verified and yet they ask us to accept them on faith. If there is a fight at my local McDonalds, it will be caught on video by the building's cameras and who knows how many phones. If for some reason they truly are this incompetent instead of outright lying, then that's all the more reason to doubt them. It's not that hard, and I hope citizens are tired of listening to their lies to provoke war--especially when they could be easily proven. Either way we deserve accountability and transparency.
Neither of those countries use hostile global banks, which might explain the constant wars and sanctions. Iran doesn't have many options for getting oil to Syria outside of going close to Europe. They can't exactly build a new pipeline through Iraq, that would be a shit show.