7 ms·

Wow. Let me try to take that apart a little: 1. _The Marshall Islands_ fall under U.S.A. jurisdiction because they use U.S.A. financial services 2. The U.S.A.

• aatharuv 3y ago
  No, you're not. The Republic of the Marshall Islands is the closest thing to being a US Protectorate without being a US posession. It is officially an Associated State with a Compact of Free Association with the US. Its (non-naturalized) citizens have a right to work in and live in the US, equal access to welfare programs (that even green card holders don't have), and many US domestic agencies provide services there (the US Post office, and FEMA amongst others). And of course they have DoD protection (Edit: for Marshallese owned ships only), and use the US Dollar. But it's even true in places which are _definitely_ not US proxies. Note that the US financial sanctions have an insanely wide reaching effect, given the need to be able to transact in US dollars. Because of the US sanctions against Carrie Lam, the previous Chief Executive of Hong Kong, she had to withdraw her own salary from the Hong Kong SAR government in cash, because no bank in Hong Kong could deal with her and also offer US dollar denominated services.
  • ghusto 3y ago
    Thanks, that was very informative, and depressing.
  • deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
• thot_experiment 3y ago
  We're funding ethnic cleansing, the US is absolutely on some dystopian empire shit, this is far less egregious.
  • ericfrazier 3y ago
    [flagged]
• wharvle 3y ago
  1. goes a bit deeper than that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_of_Free_Association https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_of_Free_Association 2. Trying to get around the sanctions and then entering a place the US could nab it, yeah. 3. What should they have done with it? The point's not to eliminate the oil, but to discourage evading sanctions, and the seizure already accomplishes that.
  • ithkuil 3y ago
    They should have allowed a non-us ship to transfer the oil and send it to Iran or whatever. After all it wasn't Iran's fault that the company that moved the oil around was not abiding by the laws of the country they were incorporated in. If you want to be the country that sends a clear message that all you need to do is to follow the rules of capitalism you don't go around and seize assets by your enemies. If you do that then all what people conclude is that you're just doing what the fuck you want and benefit your friends and crush your enemies and so they are morally free to do the same. It's still possible to apply pressure and sanctions while keeping up with your principles. Otherwise you're missing the whole point and become an international joke, which sadly is what is increasingly happening to the US despite the best intentions of many (and thanks to the worst intentions of many others)
    • floxy 3y ago
      I don't think we are using the same meaning for the word "sanctions".
      • ithkuil 3y ago
        I don't think we are using the same meaning for the word "jurisdiction". Or has the US declared war on Iran?
        • floxy 3y ago
          I guess the US is not engaged in a hot war with Iran. Sort of lukewarm though. https://www.npr.org/2024/01/10/1223906769/yemens-houthis-red-sea-attack-missiles-drones-us-navy-un-resolution https://www.npr.org/2024/01/10/1223906769/yemens-houthis-red...
• floxy 3y ago
  Seems pretty straight forward. A Greek company (Suez Rajan Ltd.) decided to register their ship in the Marshall Islands. They then tried to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran by shipping Iranian oil (using a ship-to-ship oil transfer), but they weren't smart enough to realize that the Marshall Islands were once the U.S. Marshall Islands, a former U.S. colony that still has strong ties to the United States. There was a trial, and the company (Suez Rajan Ltd.) plead guilty, paid a fine, and the U.S. confiscated the oil (which belonged to Iran), which it subsequently sold. Is there a particular reason to underline/emphasize _The Mashall Islands_? And it is not like the U.S. is the only entity with various sanctions against Iran: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_sanctions_against_Iran https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_sanctions_agains... ...which part is the most dystopian to you?
  • ithkuil 3y ago
    Was the oil owned by that Greek company or did it actually belong to Iran? If I send a package via DHL and DHL is found guilty of something and the package is confiscated by the US government in the process, can the US government just sell my stuff?
    • floxy 3y ago
      Does the U.S. have sanctions against you? If so, then the answer is yes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_sanctions_against_Iran https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_sanctions_agains...
  • ghusto 3y ago
    > Is there a particular reason to underline/emphasize _The Mashall Islands_? Yes, the reason is that I didn't know the Marshal Islands had anything to do with the U.S.A. Though now that I know the relationship, it's no less shocking (it's part of the U.S.A. but not part of the U.S.A.?) > And it is not like the U.S. is the only entity with various sanctions against Iran Sure, but I didn't know / think the Marshal Islands did. > ...which part is the most dystopian to you? All of it! It's like something out of a sci-fi book where the world is governed by a Romanesque empire. Maybe this kind of thing only offends people outside the U.S.A. since it's not normalised elsewhere. If the Netherlands did something like this for example, people in the country would freak out.