Iran’s parliament has approved the closure of the key oil shipping route Strait of Hormuz after the US bombed three of its nuclear facilities, state media Press TV reported today.
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most critical chokepoints, through which a fifth of global oil and gas supply flows.
It connects the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. The narrow channel, approximately 33 km wide at the narrowest point, separates Iran (north) from the Arabian Peninsula (south).
But shipping lanes in the waterway are even narrower – 3 km wide in each direction, making them vulnerable to attacks and threats of being shut down, which Iran has decided to do now.
The bulk of oil exports from regional powerhouses – Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE, Qatar, Iran, and Kuwait – must transit this narrow waterway. In the past, it was the West – chiefly the US and Europe – that stood most exposed to disruption in Persian Gulf energy flows, but today it is China and Asia that would bear the brunt of any closure.