Trump’s “petro-imperialism” is pushing the US and Iran to the brink

Petro-imperialism is back in a big way.

On Monday, Iran’s military vowed to execute “necessary action” against US forces after it fired at and seized an Iranian-flagged ship the day before—destroying any hope for renewed peace negotiations in the near future.

While a spokesperson for Iran’s military called the US’ capture of the Iranian cargo ship trying to pass through a US blockade “blatant aggression,” they said the country’s first priority was to ensure the safety of crew members and their families on board. These developments are a drastic escalation of the fight for control over the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait of Hormuz is a key waterway in the Persian Gulf through which approximately 20 percent of global crude oil and natural gas flowed—at least before the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran starting in February. Iran announced the re-opening of the strait after a 10-day truce between Israel and Lebanon. (Israel continued its indiscriminate bombing campaign against Lebanon even after the ceasefire agreement between the two countries).

But according to Al Jazeera, Iran reversed its decision on Saturday, stating that the strait will remain closed until the US withdraws its blockade on all ships entering and leaving Iranian ports. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, said in a television interview that the blockade, which began last Monday, was “a clumsy and ignorant decision” and violated their ceasefire agreement with the US.

Since then, Iran has reportedly fired at ships with Indian flags attempting to cross the strait and President Donald Trump has threatened to commit war crimes against Iran again by decimating civilian infrastructure—including power plants and bridges—if Iran didn’t agree to re-open the strait in a new deal to end the war. Iran is, of course, not cooperating as the US has persisted with their naval blockade on their shipping ports. 

Thus, the two countries are at a stalemate. According to CNN, JD Vance is expected to travel to Pakistan on Tuesday to discuss next steps with Iran, but the vice president isn’t exactly a skilled negotiator. 

As Jeff Colgan, a political science professor and Director of the Climate Solutions Lab the Watson Institute for Public and International Affairs at Brown University, told me last month, during which the US and Iran were largely in the same place regarding control of the strait, the Trump administration’s poor planning and foresight to the lasting impacts of their bombing campaign with Israel has brought us to this situation.

More than 3,000 people in Iran have been killed as of April 9 and Iran’s “backs are to the wall”—they have no other realistic option to defend themselves, especially as the US has intervened in Iran’s oil trade since the 1950s.

The Trump administration has returned to what Colgan calls “petro-imperalism,” interventionist policies that not only affect Iran but have also led to the recent attacks on Venezuela.