Why should the US care? Because in the end, as its wrangle with Britain this week should have reminded them, America still needs bases, friendly ports, & overfly rights.
American military doesn’t have weeks to do so — only days. The waterway is world’s most important oil chokepoint, transporting about 20% of world’s crude & refined petroleum products.
Iran’s best bet is to drag the US into a prolonged and costly ground war to defeat it through exhaustion, as happened in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and partially in Iraq.
Led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, the group was set to resume modest output hikes from April after a three-month freeze. In Q4, it added 137,000 barrels a day each month.
The crude flows in the Strait of Hormuz largely originate from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar and move to China, India, Japan and South Korea.
Talks come amid uncertainty over India’s role in Iran’s Chabahar Port, Trump’s threats of military action against Iran & India’s vote against UN resolution condemning Iran.
In Truth Social post, US President says he hopes Iran will ‘come to the table’ and negotiate a deal that would ensure Tehran never develops nuclear weapons.
Why should the US care? Because in the end, as its wrangle with Britain this week should have reminded them, America still needs bases, friendly ports, & overfly rights.
Multiple companies have invoked the principle of ‘force majeure’, which lets a party off the hook in case of unforeseen ‘acts of God’, to avoid penalties.
IRIS Lavan was in the region for the International Fleet Review held last month and ‘sought urgent docking in Kochi citing technical issues,’ it is learnt.
Trump has ushered in the age of humiliation. His method is to push around America’s friends rudely and publicly. He knows none of them can afford to fight back.
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