Iran’s goal is to maintain chokehold on global economy even as some say it could run out of oil storage by Sunday
Middle East crisis – live updates
Donald Trump’s indefinite shelving of the plan to bomb Iran’s bridges and power station on Tuesday night is being widely described as leaving the conflict in limbo, but that is anything but the truth.
Pakistan insists the prospect of talks in Islamabad has not evaporated, and positive messages are still being exchanged, but in the meantime the site of kinetic activity has switched from land to sea. Both sides are vying to prove they can enforce their blockade of the strait of Hormuz more effectively than the other. It has become a form of gunboat diplomacy brought to life in the most significant geopolitical waterway in the world.
Iran, by firing at and seizing commercial ships trying to navigate the strait, is trying to send a message that it can maintain its chokehold on the world economy. The US, through its blockade of Iranian ports, is trying something more immediate. Through sanctions and naval action, it is attempting to make the Iranian economy collapse as Tehran runs out of space to store the oil it is producing and cannot export due to the blockade.
