U.S. Pressure Campaign Leaves Iranian Tankers Stranded

“Some 15 miles off the southwest coast of Sri Lanka, around 20 empty Iranian oil tankers are stranded, drifting with their engines idled as food, fuel and fresh water run short,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“They are the most visible consequence of the new pressure campaign by the U.S. to bring Iran to heel. Dozens of Iranian or Iranian-linked tankers that had participated in the shadowy trade of getting sanctioned oil to China have been stuck in the waters near Asian countries like Sri Lanka and Malaysia since July, when the U.S. reimposed its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.”