An Introduction to the Strait of Hormuz and Its Role in the Longstanding US-Iran Conflict

Above, you can watch a primer on the Strait of Hor­muz, the nar­row pas­sage between Iran and Oman through which rough­ly 20% of the world’s oil sup­ply flows. Pro­duced by Vox, the video explains why this choke­point has long played a cen­tral role in ten­sions between the Unit­ed States and Iran. Since the 1980s, Iran has threat­ened to dis­rupt traf­fic through the Strait, all as a way to exert pres­sure on the glob­al econ­o­my. Now, fac­ing an attack from the Unit­ed States and Israel, it’s mak­ing good on its threats, slow­ing traf­fic to a trick­le. With oil prices surg­ing, the Trump admin­is­tra­tion has yet to demon­strate that it has a coher­ent plan for coun­ter­ing a strat­e­gy that Iran announced decades ago. Stay tuned for more…

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