Middle East Crisis Strait of Hormuz

Iran threatens to stop all energy exports from the Middle East

Iran is threatening to stop all energy exports from the Middle East, after the US reimposed a blockade on Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz. This is reported by the AP.

"The export of oil and gas from the region will either be shared by all or denied to all," the Revolutionary Guard wrote in a statement.

The blockade took effect overnight Wednesday. Iran responded by closing the strait and launching several attacks on countries nearby that have US military bases.

The Revolutionary Guard wrote in its statement that the strait will remain closed until "the evil of the US ends".

Analysis: Iran War's New Phase Is a Quarrel Over a Customs Post

Attacks between the US and Iran have flared up again, and with it the war is entering a new phase – with the Strait of Hormuz as its main focus, analysts write for CNN, the New York Times and The Guardian.

The war, which was supposed to be about destroying Iran's nuclear weapons capability and weakening its global terror network, has turned into a quarrel over a customs post, write Hanna Ziady and David Goldman for CNN.

"If the conflict ends with Hormuz permanently under Iranian – or US – control, it could be the beginning of the end for free navigation on the high seas," they write.

Julian Barnes, Eric Schmitt and David E Sanger write in the NYT that the new phase of the war has a new focus – but not necessarily a clearer strategy.

For them, the central question, just as in phase one, is whether Iran’s hardline leadership will outlast Trump’s concerns about rising oil prices.

In The Guardian, Patrick Wintour writes that it would have been better if the US had let Iran control the strait for 60 days, and demanded that it start clearing mines.

“After almost five months of war, Trump is in a worse position than when he started,” he writes succinctly.