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Episode Description
Guest: Maryam JamshidiRecorded: June 3, 2026
As soon as the US lost its war with Iran -- and lost effective control over the vital Strait of Hormuz to the IRI -- Washington and its allies started pontificating about international law and the right of "transit passage" for all shipping. Iran however never ratified the UNCLOS treaty that would've required them to allow "transit passage" through the SoH. In this episode, we talk to international law professor Maryam Jamshidi about what the laws actually say, Iran's claims, and how international law is both a tool of rich world domination, but also a tool for the weaker Global South countries and peoples.
Subscribe to Maryam's substack The Anti-Imperium.Read Maryam's article in The Nation: Only One Side Has Broken the Law in the Strait of HormuzFollow Maryam on Twitter.
A quick glossary of terms:-territorial waters - 12 mi-contiguous waters - 24 mi-Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) - 200 mi-UNCLOS - United Nation’s Convention on the Law of the Sea treaty, adopted in 1982 (never ratified by Iran)-"innocent passage" - predates UNCLOS, coastal states can regulate shipping in their territorial waters and charge fees, including international straits (Iran abides by this)-"transit pasage" - under UNCLOS, restricts coastal states' to regulate through international straits
Total time: 1:18:09Direct link to this episode's mp3 here
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