SINGAPORE FOREIGN MINISTER REJECTS IRAN’S HORMUZ TOLL BOOTH — FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION IS A RIGHT, NOT A MULLAH TAX
Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan just delivered a crystal-clear message the world needs to hear: Iran has no right to turn the Strait of Hormuz into a toll booth or demand “negotiations” for safe passage.
His parliamentary remarks:
“The Straits of Malacca, the Straits of Singapore is in fact another critical choke point. You may be aware that if you add up all maritime oil — crude and refined — you might actually [see] more flows through the strait than even the Strait of Hormuz.
If you think about global trade, container trade, there is far more flowing through this place. And the most important geographical fact, which most people are not aware of: The narrowest point in the Straits of Hormuz is 21 nautical miles. Guess what? The narrowest point in the Strait of Singapore is less than two nautical miles.
So do you understand now why we have to take a categorical position that international law and UNCLOS is the constitution of the oceans? This is a right, freedom of navigation as a right and not a privilege for ships or planes.
So to your specific question, yes, I have a near future… But as a matter of principle and not because we are taking sides, I cannot engage in negotiations for safe passage of ships or negotiate on toll rates, because to do so would be implicitly eroding this legal principle. So again, this is another example of Singapore upholding principle, not taking sides.”
Singapore — a tiny nation whose entire economy depends on open sea lanes — refuses to legitimize Iran’s blackmail. The mullahs are choking one-fifth of the world’s oil supply, attacking shipping, and now pretending they can charge “tolls” or force deals while firing missiles at their neighbors.