Thethingsz
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- Dec 26, 2025
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We have been told: history repeapts itself.
This is classic. Under a different banner but the same idea.
Iran Charges Some Ships Hormuz Transit Fees for Safe Passage. By Salma El Wardany, Fiona MacDonald, Ben Bartenstein, and Samy Adghirni. Bloomberg News, March 24, 2026. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...me-ships-hormuz-transit-fees-for-safe-passage
The Modern Barbary Pirates: The Islamic Fascist Republic of Iran Holds the World Hostage
source
In the early 19th century, the Barbary Pirates—Muslim corsairs from North Africa's Islamic states—terrorized the Mediterranean and Atlantic, seizing ships, enslaving crews, and demanding tribute from nations too weak or unwilling to fight back. European powers and the young United States eventually crushed them with cannon fire and resolve. Today, history repeats in the Persian Gulf, but on a far grander, more menacing scale. The Islamic Republic of Iran—a regime steeped in theocratic fascism, jihadist ideology, and centuries-old supremacist impulses—has revived the pirate's playbook with 21st-century sophistication.
According to recent reporting, Tehran has begun charging select commercial vessels transit "fees" through the Strait of Hormuz, with demands reaching as high as $2 million per voyage. These are not official tariffs or legitimate sovereign dues. They are ad hoc extortion rackets: pay up for "safe passage," or risk harassment, seizure, or worse from Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the regime's maritime muscle. Some ships have already coughed up the cash. Others navigate under the shadow of Iranian threats. This isn't governance; it's piracy dressed in clerical robes.
The Strait of Hormuz is no ordinary waterway. It carries roughly 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas. Choke it, tax it, or terrorize it, and you squeeze the global economy by the throat—higher fuel prices, disrupted supply chains, inflation for billions. Iran knows this. For decades, its mullahs and generals have brandished the strait as a weapon: mining it, attacking tankers, proxy-swarming with speedboats, and issuing apocalyptic threats rooted in their apocalyptic Shia eschatology. Now, amid escalating conflict, they formalize the shakedown. Iranian lawmakers openly boast about it, framing the loot as proof of "strength" and a necessary cost of "war." One parliamentarian declared it reflects Tehran's "sovereign regime" over the passage. In reality, it exposes the regime's nature: a parasitic fascist entity that produces little of value but extracts tribute through fear.
This is classic Islamic supremacism in action. The regime's ideology—Khomeinist, expansionist, and hostile to "infidel" powers—views the world as divided between the House of Islam (under their twisted rule) and the House of War. Non-Muslims, or even insufficiently submissive Muslims, must submit, pay jizya-like protection money, or face the sword (or speedboat drones and missiles). The Barbary Pirates justified their raids with Quranic calls to jihad and plunder. Iran's IRGC does the same, blending medieval theology with modern ballistic missiles and asymmetric warfare. They don't build; they blockade, they bomb proxies, they enrich themselves on smuggled oil and Western ransoms while their people starve under sanctions and mismanagement.
The world has tolerated this for too long. Western capitals dithered with "deals," appeasement, and frozen assets. Gulf states paid quiet danegeld. Shipping firms weighed insurance premiums against the risk of Iranian capture. Meanwhile, the regime funds Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, and other terror tentacles, all while racing toward nuclear breakout. Charging $2 million "tolls" is merely the latest symptom of a deeper sickness: a fascist theocracy that treats international waters as its personal fiefdom and the global energy market as an ATM.
Free navigation through Hormuz is not a favor Iran grants; it is a universal right under international law and basic human commerce. No single regime—especially one that hangs dissidents, stones women, and chants "Death to America"—should dictate terms to the world's lifelines. History shows the remedy for Barbary-style piracy: overwhelming naval power, targeted strikes on enablers, and zero tolerance for tribute. The United States and its partners sank the old pirates. The modern ones in Tehran deserve the same unambiguous message: the age of ransom is over.
The Islamic Republic isn't a normal country with legitimate grievances. It is a revolutionary death cult masquerading as a state, holding the world economically hostage while exporting chaos. Until that regime is confronted, contained, or collapses under its own tyrannical weight, the "transit fees" will only grow bolder—and the pirates will keep laughing from their fortified shores.
_
This is classic. Under a different banner but the same idea.
Iran Charges Some Ships Hormuz Transit Fees for Safe Passage. By Salma El Wardany, Fiona MacDonald, Ben Bartenstein, and Samy Adghirni. Bloomberg News, March 24, 2026. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...me-ships-hormuz-transit-fees-for-safe-passage
The Modern Barbary Pirates: The Islamic Fascist Republic of Iran Holds the World Hostage
source
In the early 19th century, the Barbary Pirates—Muslim corsairs from North Africa's Islamic states—terrorized the Mediterranean and Atlantic, seizing ships, enslaving crews, and demanding tribute from nations too weak or unwilling to fight back. European powers and the young United States eventually crushed them with cannon fire and resolve. Today, history repeats in the Persian Gulf, but on a far grander, more menacing scale. The Islamic Republic of Iran—a regime steeped in theocratic fascism, jihadist ideology, and centuries-old supremacist impulses—has revived the pirate's playbook with 21st-century sophistication.
According to recent reporting, Tehran has begun charging select commercial vessels transit "fees" through the Strait of Hormuz, with demands reaching as high as $2 million per voyage. These are not official tariffs or legitimate sovereign dues. They are ad hoc extortion rackets: pay up for "safe passage," or risk harassment, seizure, or worse from Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the regime's maritime muscle. Some ships have already coughed up the cash. Others navigate under the shadow of Iranian threats. This isn't governance; it's piracy dressed in clerical robes.
The Strait of Hormuz is no ordinary waterway. It carries roughly 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas. Choke it, tax it, or terrorize it, and you squeeze the global economy by the throat—higher fuel prices, disrupted supply chains, inflation for billions. Iran knows this. For decades, its mullahs and generals have brandished the strait as a weapon: mining it, attacking tankers, proxy-swarming with speedboats, and issuing apocalyptic threats rooted in their apocalyptic Shia eschatology. Now, amid escalating conflict, they formalize the shakedown. Iranian lawmakers openly boast about it, framing the loot as proof of "strength" and a necessary cost of "war." One parliamentarian declared it reflects Tehran's "sovereign regime" over the passage. In reality, it exposes the regime's nature: a parasitic fascist entity that produces little of value but extracts tribute through fear.
This is classic Islamic supremacism in action. The regime's ideology—Khomeinist, expansionist, and hostile to "infidel" powers—views the world as divided between the House of Islam (under their twisted rule) and the House of War. Non-Muslims, or even insufficiently submissive Muslims, must submit, pay jizya-like protection money, or face the sword (or speedboat drones and missiles). The Barbary Pirates justified their raids with Quranic calls to jihad and plunder. Iran's IRGC does the same, blending medieval theology with modern ballistic missiles and asymmetric warfare. They don't build; they blockade, they bomb proxies, they enrich themselves on smuggled oil and Western ransoms while their people starve under sanctions and mismanagement.
The world has tolerated this for too long. Western capitals dithered with "deals," appeasement, and frozen assets. Gulf states paid quiet danegeld. Shipping firms weighed insurance premiums against the risk of Iranian capture. Meanwhile, the regime funds Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, and other terror tentacles, all while racing toward nuclear breakout. Charging $2 million "tolls" is merely the latest symptom of a deeper sickness: a fascist theocracy that treats international waters as its personal fiefdom and the global energy market as an ATM.
Free navigation through Hormuz is not a favor Iran grants; it is a universal right under international law and basic human commerce. No single regime—especially one that hangs dissidents, stones women, and chants "Death to America"—should dictate terms to the world's lifelines. History shows the remedy for Barbary-style piracy: overwhelming naval power, targeted strikes on enablers, and zero tolerance for tribute. The United States and its partners sank the old pirates. The modern ones in Tehran deserve the same unambiguous message: the age of ransom is over.
The Islamic Republic isn't a normal country with legitimate grievances. It is a revolutionary death cult masquerading as a state, holding the world economically hostage while exporting chaos. Until that regime is confronted, contained, or collapses under its own tyrannical weight, the "transit fees" will only grow bolder—and the pirates will keep laughing from their fortified shores.
_
