Escalating Hormuz crisis raises specter of prolonged closure

Hopes for quickly reviving trade through the strait are dimming without U.S. naval escorts as Iran steps up attacks

- Jared Malsin, Summer Said & Shelby Holliday

The U.S. has turned down repeated requests for tanker escorts from oil companies.

(REUTERS)

Escalating Iranian attacks and the U.S. government's decision to hold off on military escorts for oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz are raising the prospect of a prolonged closure that would choke off exports through the world’s most important energy-transport route.

On Wednesday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps struck three cargo ships attempting to transit the waterway, the only sea route out of the Persian Gulf. It warned that any other vessels trying to move through the strait also would be targeted.

Later on Wednesday night, in an incident far from the strait, two foreign tankers carrying Iraqi fuel oil were ablaze in Iraqi waters after being hit by projectiles, Iraqi ports officials said.

The U.S. has turned down repeated requests for tanker escorts from oil companies, officials from Gulf countries. Officials say it is too risky to send warships into the confined waters of the strait—which is about 21 miles wide at its narrowest point—until the risks of Iranian fire have receded.

American forces have hit Iran’s navy, and its drone and missile crews in an effort to curb the threat. But Iran is landing blows. Added to that are the risks of naval mines and Iranian submarines lurking below.

With traffic paralyzed as a result, the shutdown of the strait is fast causing a global economic disruption and a major military and political challenge for the Trump administration.

Shippers were bracing for an extended shutdown of the waterway, where traffic could take a long time to recover even after the conflict ends.