The US government seized nearly 1 million barrels of Iranian crude oil allegedly bound for China, according to newly unsealed court documents and a statement released by the Department of Justice on Friday.
It was an analogy. I don’t want to block you. I want to have an intelligent discussion about the merits of this act. But people just want to defend America despite its despotic acts. It makes me sad.
The analogy is closer to you getting banned by a lemmy instance for breaking their rules when replying to comments from another instance. Just because you're abroad doesn't mean you're ungoverned.
International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of guidelines, norms, and standards usually forming the default behavior between states. Inter means between thus outside of territories thus absent of sovereignty, thus isn't a law at all (See: Westphalian System) and is rather a common-practice between states - unless they wish otherwise due to their own reasoning. (Source](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_law).
This isn't an action between states. A US based company bought oil from Iran (hence why it's Iranian oil, they're referencing origin, not ownership) to sell to China. That us based company was found to be in violation of US sanctions against Iran. They capitulated because they still wish to do business in the US.