Trump’s illegal blockade of Iran highlights Liberal party hypocrisy. After repeatedly raising the importance of international maritime law Ottawa has yet to condemn the US’ flagrant violations of international law.
In recent weeks Mark Carney’s government has repeatedly complained about Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz. As part of its asymmetric response to US/Israeli aggression, Iran instigated a partial blockade of a waterway in its (and Oman’s) territorial waters. While many have said Iran’s actions contravene the law of the seas, international lawyer Reza Nasri explains how its “legal position regarding the Strait of Hormuz rests on a firm and multi-layered foundation in international law that has been consistently articulated, formally recorded, and never relinquished.” Nasri lays out Iran’s legal case, noting that the country hasn’t ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and when it signed UNCLOS “explicitly rejected” the “transit passage” provisions. Additionally, notes Nasri, “following an unlawful use of force against it, Iran is entitled to invoke its inherent right of self-defense. In such circumstances, the legal characterization of passage cannot be divorced from the realities of hostilities.”
Iran’s blockade/imposition of its terms on passage may be illegal, but it isn’t a clear-cut case. Still, foreign affairs minister Anita Anand said, “blocking the strait of Hormuz violates customary international law as well as the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.” The Carney government has repeatedly made this point about Iranian actions while refusing to condemn the US and Israel’s aggression, which is the “supreme international crime”. At the same time, they’ve stayed silent about Trump’s four-month-old oil blockade on Cuba, which has led to the near collapse of the island nation’s electricity network. (As Richard Sanders reported, Canada has sanctioned multiple vessels that have sought to bring oil to Cuba.) That blockade is patently illegal.
As is Trump’s current blockade of Iran. Again, Ottawa has yet to criticize the US violation of maritime law. (more...)
Liberals ignore USA’s blatant violations of international law
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