US urges China to dissuade Iran from closing Strait of Hormuz

[AverageOldGuy]

17. About the Strait

The Iranian Parliament has reportedly ordered the Strait of Hormuz to be closed. The Parliament left the final decision to Iran’s national leadership.

Google Strait of Hormuz and look at the map. The Strait is one of the points that Alfred Thayer Mahan referred to as “the narrow seas” – choke points through which pass critical shipping and that can be closed with relatively little effort by the states bordering the “narrow seas.”

One-third of the world’s supply of liquified natural gas (LNG) and 20-25% of the world’s petroleum pass through the Strait.

Iran sits on one side of the strait while Oman and the UAE are on the other side. With drones and shore-to-ship missiles, Iran can close or all but close the strait to shipping.

One can argue that closing the Strait would shut down Iran’s economy because the petroleum passing through the Strait brings in A LOT OF MONEY to Iran. However, war tends to override good sense and Iran’s leadership may figure their population can do without the income longer than the West and China can do without LNG and oil. Closure of the Strait would cause US petroleum prices to spike to levels we have never before seen.

Will Iran try to close the Strait? That’s for them to decide. Last week, all US naval vessels were ordered out of the Persian Gulf so they would not be trapped if the Strait were closed.

Things get complicated when we get past eighteen. And for people whose mental age is around 14 . . . Hegseth, Trump, Miller, Gabbard . . .

I suspect Trump, Hegseth, Miller, Gabbard do not know who Alfred Thayer Mahan is. Not surprising – MAGAts tend to be ignorant of the important stuff.