Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear deterrent has done everything except deter aggression. From the covert sabotage of Iran’s nuclear programme to last year’s 12-Day War and the ongoing conflict, Iran remains a key American and Israeli strategic target. However, during Gulf War III, the regime has realised that it has long possessed a ‘nuclear’ strategic asset: a geo-economic weapon that recalls the calculus of mutually assured destruction (MAD) that defined the Cold War.
The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly 20 per cent of global oil and gas supply. Closing it, even for just a few weeks, is sufficient to send a stagflationary shockwave through the world economy, distort supply chains and prices for years, and crater politicians’ approval ratings. Tehran did not even have to mine the Strait. The mere threat that it would attack transiting ships attempting to cross it was…
