7 Ways Iran Can Stop Oil Shipments

If you're wondering why it's taking so long to vanquish Iran, this is why.

Where’s the US Navy?

It’s going on three weeks since President Trump said, “If necessary, the United States Navy will begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, as soon as possible.”

It seems necessary! Oil prices have jumped 60% since mid-February and are now firmly above $100 per barrel. US gasoline prices are quickly heading toward $4 per gallon. Stocks are sinking, as traders lose hope the war will end quickly. The pain is even worse in Europe and Asia.

The unhappy reality is that Iran, for all the damage it is sustaining, is fighting back—mainly by blocking cargo shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and snarling the markets for energy and other commodities. The wounded Iranian regime remains in charge, with Trump’s early call for a popular uprising among Iranian citizens looking especially naïve.

This standoff has surprised many investors, who expected a quick end to the war after the US-Israeli bombing campaign began on February 28. But strategists who study the Middle East expected exactly this type of painful impasse in the event of an American war with Iran. And it’s time for everybody else to take a crash course in how Iran can gum up energy markets, perhaps indefinitely.