How a Cornered Iran Could Wreak Havoc on Global Oil Trade (1)

June 22, 2025, 2:46 PM UTC

US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities are sharpening the focus on one option Iran has yet to really deploy in the conflict: disrupting regional oil trade, especially through the critical Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has over the years threatened multiple times to shut the strait — a narrow stretch of water through which a fifth of the world’s oil supply flows each day. But in practice, Tehran has numerous less-drastic options at its disposal to calibrate a response that hurts its enemies while limiting the impact on allies like China, its biggest oil buyer.

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