December 28, 2011
Recent threats by Iranian officials that they could use military
force to close the Persian Gulf by blocking the Strait of Hormuz
is a dangerous development. The closing of the Strait would
wreak economic havoc across the globe, and continue to
destabilize the Gulf region. More than 40 percent of all traded
oil moves through the narrow Strait of Hormuz. The United States
is taking this threat seriously and a US Fifth Fleet Spokeswoman
said such action by Iran will not be tolerated. In this
analysis, LIGNET assesses the prospects and costs of an Iranian
action.
Iran's Navy Commander Admiral Habibollah Sayari points at a
map during a press conference in Tehran on December 22.
Sayari spoke today about how easy it would be for Iran to
cut off Persian Gulf oil shipping by closing the Strait of
Hormuz. (Hamed Jafarnejad/AFP/Getty Images)
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