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If I had a nickel for every time President Donald Trump backed down or changed direction on Iran, I’d have…well, at least enough money for a gallon of gas $3.89.
Trump has threatened attacks and postponed. He has praised Iran’s leaders in one breath and labeled them as “filth” in the next. The latest game was played Tuesday morning, when Trump canceled a controversial, short-term plan to impose tolls on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway at the center of all this mess.
It is very easy to get lost back and forth. (Even as I write this, the US is still authorizing the sale of Iranian oil, blocking shipping from docking at Iranian ports, and bombed the country missiles.) But if you zoom in far enough, the details are clear does emerge: Whatever war there was in the beginning, it is now very clear a thin-pull the tug of war for control of the Strait of Hormuz.
The port is the world’s most important energy point: A fifth of the world’s oil and gas normally passes through it. And now that Iran has shown it can shut down the traffic, whoever controls the flow will gain a major source of revenue and a powerful economic weapon.
These waterways run the world
The Strait of Hormuz is known as the sea choke: narrow waterway that covers the outer part of international trade. Your daily life is about to be filled and inspired by the products that come through these channels. But you may never have a chance to think carefully about them until something – like a war or a stranded container ship – gets in the way. Here are some other weights (click to see bigger version here):
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