Nearly half a year into the US-Iran war, global oil stockpiles are rapidly diminishing as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively stalled and the two powers at the center of the hostilities argue about who controls the critical waterway.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted that the strait – through which oil flows from countries like Saudi Arabia and Iraq to the rest of the world – is under US control.
“They don’t have control. We have total control. We own it, and at some point, maybe they’ll do something, and then they get blown away,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday. “Right now, we’re in a very good position.” And earlier Wednesday, he claimed the US Navy had swept the strait for mines.
But Iran says it won’t reopen the strait fully until the US meets its conditions.
The reality is far more complicated than Trump’s proclamation of control, experts say – with ships fearing for their safety amid attacks on vessels in the strait, and the ever-looming threat of US-Iran strikes resuming.
