Iran cuts off oil to UK, France

OH MY GOD THOSE MERCILESS PERSIANS ARE GONNA MAKE ENGLAND AND FRANCE FREEZE IN THE DARK!!!

Oh really?

This is totally a non-story, but it's everywhere. Getting prominent play in the NYT, The Washington Post, UK's Telegraph, and on and on all over the democratic free press on both sides of the Atlantic.

The wording of the headline is intended to give the impression that this is yet another Iranian provocation.

The reality is that France and Britain import virtually zero Iranian oil now, and have already announced that will become absolute zero in a few months when the EU embargo on Iran's oil takes full effect.

So is this a story?

One wouldn't think so, which is not to say that the Washington Post and the New York Times couldn't find some interesting angles for an "Iran continues to export oil" story.

Here's a few story suggestions:

• why is the worlds largest democracy and our ally India still committed to buying Iranian oil?
• why is NATO member Turkey still buying Iranian oil?  
• are oil traders in Switzerland still facilitating Israel's purchases of Iranian oil?

These are all stories that pose interesting questions. The answers to these questions might even be "newsworthy".

A story about Iran cutting off non-existent exports to countries that don't buy its oil anyway and are already committed to boycotting it is hardly "news".