Mariel Ferragamo
The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has ignited a regional conflict that is strangling shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz—the choke point for nearly one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas supply—and roiling energy markets.
After Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a strike on February 28, Tehran retaliated by attacking U.S. military bases across the region and threatening ships in the Strait of Hormuz, a twenty-one-mile-wide waterway that abuts southern Iran at its narrowest point. At least three ships were targeted in the strait the day after the initial U.S.-Israeli strikes, and in the days that followed, the United States and Iran have continued to attack each others’ maritime infrastructure. Gulf countries, which rely on unimpeded travel through the strait to access global oil markets, now face shipping disruptions. Ship trafficking data showed a 70 percent drop in vessels traversing the strait after the launch of Operation Epic Fury.
U.S.-Iran tensions had been escalating for weeks, as efforts to reach a new nuclear deal were unsuccessful. Tensions spiked when Iran temporarily closed the Strait of Hormuz to conduct live fire drills while Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi participated in nuclear talks with the United States, raising concerns that Iran could use the strait to stymie global oil supplies in response to U.S. aggression.
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