FAILED TALKS, IRAN SHUTS DOWN STRAIT OF HORMUZ, FORCES AMERICAN DESTROYERS TO RETREAT
- Michael Thervil
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Written by Michael Thervil
[Iran American Destroyers Strait of Hormuz] Yesterday an Iranian Naval Officer was forced to display a show of force to repel two American Destroyers from attempting to pass through the entrance of the Strait of Hormuz, while falsely identifying themselves as a "Coalition Ship” instead of being an American vessel. The IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) informed the Americans of their final warning to leave the Strait and return to the Indian ocean under the threat of being fired on. The Americans were forced to return to the Indian ocean just as the IRGC Navy provided a final warning and launched an armed drone towards the Americans reinforcing their show of force.
With talks brokered by the Pakistani government between the Americans and Iran collapsing over the weekend, the IRGC continued down the path of both creating a toll system in which western aligned ships and vessels would have to pay a $2 million to guarantee their safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Non-aligned vessels and ships coming from countries such as China, Russia, Brazil, South Africa, and now Thailand have been granted permission to sail almost freely through the Strait of Iran and the Gulf of Oman. The reason why the talks between America and Iran broke down was due to what Iranian leaders are calling “excessive” and “unreasonable” American demands, with one of those demands being that Iran stops all efforts of uranium enrichment, which Iran says, is not only critical for peacetime purposes, but because they have a sovereign right to enrich uranium.
The failed talks, which lasted for an estimated 21 hours over the weekend, has incited chaos and havoc, monetary inflation, and a great degree of uncertainty within the oil and gas markets, which has led to oil prices escalating to over $100 a barrel. While the Trump Administration has openly stated that they don’t need Iranian oil, which is superior to theirs due to its “sweet” nature, geopolitical and economic analysts have pointed to the fact that the rest of the world remains highly dependent on Iranian oil exports before the joint American/Israeli war of aggression.
Despite this, the Trump Administration deemed it necessary to create and deploy a blockade around the Strait of Hormuz. Despite President Trump calling on all western aligned countries to provide aid and support for his decision to rely on the American military to essentially force Iran to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, western aligned countries such as the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, and others are abstaining from fulfilling President Trump's request.
While stating that the military actions executed by the Trump Administration are “unclear”, the UK decided to keep somewhat in step with the Americans by also stating that the UK doesn’t support any types of blockades or disruption of commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Spain’s Defense Minister Margarita Robles stated to the Press the current application of building a naval blockade around the Strait of Hormuz “makes no sense” and that it's nothing more than a “downward spiral” in terms of geopolitical relations and diplomacy on the world stage. China didn’t hesitate to publicly warn the international community that any kind of blockage must be stopped as the Strait of Hormuz must continue to be “safe, stable, and unimpeded.”
According to the United Nations Development Program, which operates in roughly 170 countries and focuses on poverty, equality, sustainable development and climate control has stated that an estimated 32 million people rely on commercial shipping, and the exportation of oil and gas from Iran. With just over 20% of the world's oil and gas being exported from the Strait of Hormuz, the number of industries and consumers adversely affected by this situation remains highly significant.
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