The US stepped up military efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz amid growing worry over the global economic fallout of energy export curbs and attacks on oil and gas installations.
The latest offensive, involving helicopters and low-flying attack jets, follows intense strikes against Gulf energy facilities that drove oil prices to nearly $120 a barrel. Though the pace of such attacks has slowed, Iran hit a Kuwaiti refinery.
Tehran has also “created a de facto ‘safe’ shipping corridor,” allowing vessels from countries including China, India, Iraq, Malaysia, and Pakistan through the Strait, according to the shipping-focused outlet Lloyds List. Ultimately, one leading expert wrote of Hormuz, “Iran holds the advantage — and America has no good options.”
