Episode 235: 'Shadow Fleets,' Sanctions & Western Media's International Law-ification of Arbitrary US Dictates
A Note from the Citations Needed team:
This episode was recorded before the United States and Israel launched a war of aggression against Iran on February 28, 2026.
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"Seizure of rogue oil tanker off Venezuela signals new U.S. crackdown on shadow fleet," booms the Associated Press. "U.S. Targeting Oil Tankers in Bid to Stymie Global Black Market," announces The Wall Street Journal. “Inside ‘Operation Absolute Resolve,’ the U.S. Effort to Capture Maduro," boasts The New York Times.
When reporting on Official Enemies of the US — most recently Venezuela — of “violating” U.S. government sanctions, our media frequently depicts these countries’ actions as suspicious, secretive, and illegal when, by any objective metric, they are not. Yet U.S. media writes about them as if they’re breaking some vaguely international law, when, in reality, they are just going about their business.
It is indeed extremely unusual for countries to follow the laws of other countries. U.S. sanctions, often either unilateral or only roping in a handful of other states, are almost always presented by U.S. media as some type of ersatz international law, either explicitly or implicitly. Baddie Country X “evades,” uses “dark fleets” “evades detection,” and other such lurid and scandalizing labels. This rhetorical sleight of hand effectively “internationalizes” what is little more than unilateral dictates of only one of the 193 UN member states.
Left unmentioned by our media is that trade that violates U.S. sanctions is perfectly legal under international law as an American president is not the Pope of the World. When U.S. companies sell arms to Taiwan in violation of Chinese sanctions against these U.S. companies, for instance, our media does not say they’re “evading sanctions” or “operating a dark fleet” in the Pacific. They’re just, you know, trading goods and services, as is their right and prerogative.
Alas, no such neutral language is used for official enemies, whose actions are scandalized and rendered illicit by sheer imperial say-so.
On this episode, we examine how our media casually and uncritically adopts the framing that unilateral U.S. state policy, complete with punitive sanctions and piracy, is somehow international law, looking at how the U.S. defies, violates, selectively invokes, and effectively abandons international law in the process, especially under the second term of the Trump regime.
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Guest
Maryam Jamshidi is Associate Professor of Law at the University of Colorado School of Law, where she teaches and writes on international law, national security, and tort law. Her writing has appeared in various scholarly and media outlets, including the Boston Review, Minnesota Law Review, and Mondoweiss.
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Show Notes
Instruments of Dehumanization
Maryam Jamshidi | December 9, 2023 | Boston Review
US Relied on Illegal Sanctions to Seize Venezuelan Oil Tanker
Marjorie Cohn | December 15, 2025 | Truthout
Maryam Jamshidi | December 2025 | Minnesota Law Review
Amid shifting alliances, General Assembly demands end to US embargo on Cuba
Vibhu Mishra | October 29, 2025 | UN News
The Human Consequences of Economic Sanctions
Francisco R. Rodríguez | April 28, 2023 | Center for Economic and Policy Research
How Israel Weaponizes International Law
Maryam Jamshidi | May 24, 2021 | Boston Review
The “Coup” Attempt in Venezuela Seems Ridiculous. But Don’t Forget — Regime Change Is the U.S. Goal.
Mehdi Hasan | May 9, 2020 | The Intercept
A Brief History of Sanctions on Iran
Ashish Kumar Sen | May 8, 2018 | Atlantic Council
Hurting, Hanging, Suffocating & Starving: The Inhumanity of Iran Threat Rhetoric
Nima Shirazi | March 2, 2012 | Wide Asleep in America
Office of Legal Counsel | June 21, 1989 | U.S. Department of Justice
Office of the Historian | April 6, 1960 | U.S. Department of State
Referenced
Oil tankers ‘go dark’ off Venezuela to evade US sanctions
Joshua Goodman | November 14, 2019 | Associated Press
Report: New players help Maduro evade tanker sanctions
Joshua Goodman | July 13, 2020 | Associated Press
How Iran Moves Sanctioned Oil Around the World
Paul Carsten and Prasanta Kumar Dutta | January 7, 2025 | Reuters
U.S. Issues New Sanctions Targeting Maduro’s Family and the Oil Sector
Nicholas Nehamas, Tyler Pager, Farnaz Fassihi and Alan Rappeport | December 11, 2025 | The New York Times
The U.S. has long had interest in Venezuelan oil, but that's not all
All Things Considered | December 16, 2025 | NPR
What to Know About Trump’s Seizure of an Oil Tanker Near Venezuela
Edward Wong and Nicholas Nehamas | December 11, 2025 | The New York Times
Seizure of rogue oil tanker off Venezuela signals new U.S. crackdown on shadow fleet
Joshua Goodman | December 12, 2025 | Associated Press
Hoisting Russian Flags, ‘Shadow Fleet’ Edges Into the Light
Paul Sonne and Michael Schwirtz | January 8, 2026 | The New York Times
Meet the guy tracking illicit oil tankers from his rooftop
Lex Harvey | January 16, 2026 | CNN
The ‘Ghost Fleets’ Moving Oil Around the World
The Daily | January 27, 2026 | The New York Times
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Transcript
For a full transcript of this episode, go here. You can also find transcripts of past episodes, live shows, Beg-a-Thons, Interviews and News Briefs here.
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Credits
Senior Producer: Florence Barrau-Adams
Producer: Julianne Tveten
Production Assistant: Trendel Lightburn
Newsletter: Marco Cartolano
Music: Grandaddy
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