Flexing Control Over Waterway Iran’s New Deterrent

“The United States and Israel launched their war against Iran on the argument that if Iran one day got a nuclear weapon, it would have the ultimate deterrent against future attacks,” the New York Times reports.

“It turns out that Iran already has a deterrent: its own geography.”

“Iran’s decision to flex its control over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic choke point through which 20 percent of the world’s oil supply flows, has brought global economic pain in the form of higher prices for gasoline, fertilizer and other staples. It has upended war planning in the United States and Israel, where officials have had to devise military options to wrest the strait from Iranian control.”

CNN: A timeline of how the Trump administration responded as the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz consumed the global economy.