While the US attempts to cobble together an anti-Iran maritime coalition in the Persian Gulf were decidedly unsuccessful, they have gained a couple of new participants in the past 48 hours, with the Saudis joining Wednesday and the UAE joining Thursday.
The UAE is presenting this as an attempt to protect commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, though in practice the “danger” to such ships seems vastly overstated, with Iran not even attempting to capture ships in general.
One tanker out of the UAE was captured on allegations it was smuggling diesel in Iranian waters, and while this is no doubt playing a role in the timing of the UAE joining, most tankers aren’t being touched, and there is no sign Iran is doing anything other nations don’t do in their own waters.
The addition of the Saudis and UAE likely adds to the reason so many nations didn’t join in the first place, believing the coalition is deliberately provocative in nature and more likely to start fights than prevent them.
UAE Joining International Maritime Mission Against Iran
Officials say move intended to protect shipping
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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