5 ms·

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. sanctio

by 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.
- floxy 3y ago
  Is the most offensive part the idea of sanctions in general? Or just these particular sanctions on Iran? Or enforcement of these particular sanctions or enforcement of sanctions in general? It doesn't seem like the Netherlands is opposed to all sanctions. https://www.government.nl/topics/international-sanctions/policy-international-sanctions https://www.government.nl/topics/international-sanctions/pol...
  - ghusto 3y ago
    The overreach, I guess. I find it terrifying that we essentially have a smarter version of the Roman empire ruling the world. Smarter because they can safely hide behind bureaucracy and deny they're any such thing. More terrifying because this means they'll get away with it until the end of days.
- floxy 3y ago
  >it's part of the U.S.A. but not part of the U.S.A.? Doesn't seem too wildly different from the various former Dutch colonies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suriname_(Kingdom_of_the_Netherlands) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suriname_(Kingdom_of_the_Nethe... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Caribbean https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Caribbean

by floxy 3y ago

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.

floxy 3y ago
Is the most offensive part the idea of sanctions in general? Or just these particular sanctions on Iran? Or enforcement of these particular sanctions or enforcement of sanctions in general? It doesn't seem like the Netherlands is opposed to all sanctions. https://www.government.nl/topics/international-sanctions/policy-international-sanctions https://www.government.nl/topics/international-sanctions/pol...
- ghusto 3y ago
  The overreach, I guess. I find it terrifying that we essentially have a smarter version of the Roman empire ruling the world. Smarter because they can safely hide behind bureaucracy and deny they're any such thing. More terrifying because this means they'll get away with it until the end of days.
floxy 3y ago
>it's part of the U.S.A. but not part of the U.S.A.? Doesn't seem too wildly different from the various former Dutch colonies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suriname_(Kingdom_of_the_Netherlands) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suriname_(Kingdom_of_the_Nethe... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Caribbean https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Caribbean