Iran Close the Stait Of Hormuz, Global Oil Market Impacted
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards have said that the Strait of Hormuz has been closed, maintaining that it will fire on any ship trying to pass through the area.
It was Iran’s most explicit warning since telling ships it was closing the export route at the weekend, a move that threatens to choke a fifth of global oil flows and send crude prices sharply higher.
The Strait is the world’s most vital oil export route, which connects the biggest Gulf oil producers, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates, with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.
The closure was triggered by US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 seeking to topple its leaders, with US President Donald Trump offering Iranians help in ousting the ruling clerics, a Reuters report said.
With the closure, Tehran made good on years of threats to block the narrow waterway in retaliation for any attack on the Islamic Republic. About 20 per cent of the world’s daily oil consumption passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which is about 33 kilometers (21 miles) wide at its narrowest point.
