As missiles fall from the sky and energy infrastructure is targeted, the limitations of relying on the US for protection are becoming all too obvious, says Sanam Vakil of Chatham House

The Kharg Island strike shows how US force is calibrated to avoid disrupting global oil flows.

The war on Iran, now well into its third week, is ripping through the region in ways that even US President Donald Trump has admitted come as a surprise: the unrelenting Iranian…