In the latest news from the Middle East, where the theocratic Iranian regime is being disassembled by American and Israeli air power, there's a new possible threat. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operation, a group sponsored by the Royal Navy to handle emergency calls by shipping, is claiming to have reports that the Iranians may try to close the Strait of Hormuz.
Merchant vessels operating in the Persian Gulf region are being told that Iran is shutting down the Strait of Hormuz amid the expanding conflict between Iran and the U.S. and Israel.
The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations, a Royal Navy-sponsored organization that acts as a “911 call center” for the global shipping industry, said it has received multiple reports from ship operators about the shutdown.
At least 20% of the world’s petroleum product passes through the Strait of Hormuz, widely considered the most crucial oil chokepoint in the world.
The Strait is a major shipping lane, as well as being a major bottleneck between the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. Iran holds the east shore of the Strait, while Dubai holds the peninsula that forms the west shore of the narrow point of the Strait. The United Arab Emirates and Oman are neighboring countries to Dubai. The United Arab Emirates, we might note, are probably peeved at having been the apparent target of Iranian missiles, despite them not having been involved in the American/Israeli operations.
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The reports of Iran's threats are not yet verified:
“These reports cannot be independently verified at this time,” the UKMTO said in an advisory issued Saturday. “Mariners are advised that VHF broadcasts or statements indicating closure of the Strait of Hormuz are not legally binding and do not constitute a lawful restriction on navigation under internal law.”
Vessel tracking data indicate reduced ship operations through the strait, but not a total shutdown.
The UKMTO said military forces may establish advisory or warning zones to reduce the risk of inadvertent engagement, but such a move isn’t intended to impede merchant shipping. Vessels are free to navigate through international waterways.
Here's the thing: This is a threat that the Iranian regime has regularly made when things aren't going their way. And boy howdy, are things ever not going their way right now.
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It sounds a lot like these reports may be the result of some local Iranian naval commander working his blowhole, indulging in the famous Iranian predilection of having his mouth write checks his butt can't cash. That may be the case, as the surviving members of the regime are almost certainly too busy dodging American and Israeli munitions to work their jaws over the Strait of Hormuz right now.
Think on this, though: If Iran manages to try anything in the Strait, when their navy is basically a collection of speedboats, well, the United States and Israel aren't going to play patty-cake with them. Not now. We've done it before; in 1988, the American Operation Praying Mantis put pretty much all of Iran's navy on the bottom, and we certainly have enough hardware and munitions to do it again, should it become necessary.
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