Iran might be outgunned and outspent by the US and Israel, but it has one major advantage — its control over the Strait of Hormuz.
By attacking ships navigating the narrow waterway, Iran has effectively shut the route through which one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes.
Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei gave no sign of relenting, warning in his first purported message, that the strait will remain closed as a “tool of pressure.”
While the strait remains almost entirely closed to Western-aligned shipping traffic, Iranian oil is still passing through, according to several marine intelligence trackers, underlining Tehran’s control of it.
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