Rabat – Ebrahim Jabari, a senior official of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, announced today that the Strait of Hormuz is closed, conveying Tehran’s promise that it will fire on any ship trying to pass.
The Hormuz Strait is one of the key oil export routes. It connects the largest Gulf oil producers, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Iran’s decision to close the Strait of Hormuz came as it had been threatening to block the export route in retaliation for any attack on Tehran.
According to Reuters, Hormuz is where 20% of the globe’s daily oil consumption passes.
Since the US-Israel strike on Iran and subsequent retaliatory attacks, US crude oil prices surged by 7%, while Brent Crude surged 9%, NBC reported.
The Iranian announcement came after the initial attack on February 28, with Trump promising his country will continue its operations for a month or longer “if needed.”
He claimed the US objectives include degrading Iran’s missile capabilities and preventing Tehran from supporting militant groups regionally.
“We projected four to five weeks but we have capability to go far longer than that. We’ll do it … Somebody actually said, from the media, I think you’ll get bored after about a week or two. No, we don’t get bored. I never get bored, if I got bored, I wouldn’t be standing here right now. I guarantee you that. To go through what I had to go through,” Trump said.
Since Saturday, Iran responded with retaliation operations, attacking US and Israeli assets in Gulf countries.
Reports of surging oil prices continue, especially after Trump’s remarks that the conflict would potentially continue for more than a few weeks.
“Even before the weekend’s escalation, oil prices had risen 17% this year due to Trump’s recently ramped-up rhetoric against the Iranian regime. The Trump administration has also ratcheted up sanctions on Iran in recent months,” NBC said.
Tensions continue to escalate, with the US announcing that six US service members have been killed in action.
“US forces recently recovered the remains of two previously unaccounted for service members from a facility that was struck during Iran’s initial attacks in the region,” said US Central Command (CENTCOM) in a statement.
On Sunday, Al Jazeera said the death toll in Iran due to the Israeli-American attack stood at 555 people, while hundreds were injured.
