Trump administration revives selective use of international law on Hormuz: While rejecting the “rules-based international order,” the U.S. now insists the Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway where Iran cannot impose tolls, citing freedom of navigation and UNCLOS principles. 

Clear power politics at play: The administration demands Iranian compliance with rules it itself often ignores (U.S. never ratified UNCLOS), while continuing military threats, illegal actions elsewhere, and demands for U.S.-imposed tolls if any are charged. 

Hypocrisy and imperial approach: The policy is framed as defending international law but functions as an imperial demand for submission — Iran must follow U.S. interpretation or face further attacks and potential regime change threats.

The Trump administration is reviving an imperial application of international law as part of its efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Although it openly denigrates the idea of a rules-based international order, the U.S. government is claiming that Iran must follow international law as it concerns shipping through the strait. Trying to prevent Iran from establishing tolls, the Trump administration is characterizing the strait as an international waterway that must remain open to shipping. Rather than committing to international law, however, it is applying the imperial rule: countries must follow the rules as they are understood by the United States or risk serious consequences, including annihilation.

“There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started,” Trump wrote on social media last month. “If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!”

Since entering office, the second Trump administration has embraced power politics. Openly flouting international law, the administration has repeatedly used force in international affairs. It has committed illegal extrajudicial murders in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, conducted an illegal military intervention in........

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