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.
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 doesn't have many options for getting oil to Syria outside of going close to Europe.
That's not an argument for why they shouldn't be embargoed, that's just the reason an embargo isn't toothless.
transporting sanctioned materials through western territories? similar to when panama captured heavy arms going between cuba and north korea, i think. if they want to stay outside of the sanctions they need to stay out of hostile territory and not use hostile banks or they're just asking for trouble.