In retaliation for the U.S. strikes on three nuclear facilities, Iran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz. From this one waterway, which is 21-miles wide at its narrowest point, comes 30% of the globe’s seaborne oil trade and 20% of the global liquefied natural gas trade.
Closing the strait would cause a huge disruption to the world’s energy markets, experts say, but such a drastic move would not be without consequences for Iran. However, Victoria Coates, former deputy national security advisor, said on the “Furthermore with Amanda Head” podcast that nothing is for certain.
“Everybody needs to be really cautious right now on both sides of this debate about either spiking the President or spiking the football. We just don’t know what’s going to happen next,” Coates said.
Hours after the U.S. bombing, the Iranian Parliament voted to close the strait, but before that could happen, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council would have to approve it. Robert Rapier, a chemical engineer and editor-in-chief of Shale Magazine, called it “Iran’s nuclear option” that would represent a “substantial escalation” in the conflict. He said the impacts on global markets would be comparable to those of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But it’s unlikely Iran will go that far.
