For decades, Iran hinted that it could close the Strait of Hormuz if hostilities between the US, Israel or its regional rivals boiled over. Yet the ease with which it has finally done so surprised not only its rivals but members of the regime itself.
While regional tensions have long centred on Iran’s nuclear or missile programmes, this previously untested weapon has become its most important point of leverage, triggering the biggest energy crisis in decades and dealing an immediate hit to the global economy.
One person close to the regime described the closure as a strategic breakthrough for the Islamic republic, which had before the US-Israeli war been seen to be at its weakest point militarily in years.
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