Will Iran Close the Strait of Hormuz?

Iran’s parliament has voted to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to the United States’ strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

• The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean.
• About one fifth of the world’s total oil consumption passes through the strait annually.

The Gulf states—Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates—depend on transit through the Strait of Hormuz to keep their economies functioning. Many developed economies depend on safe passage through the strait.

Will it happen? After the parliamentary vote, the decision to follow through goes to Iran’s National Security Council.

Shutting down the Strait of Hormuz would cripple Iran’s own oil exports, most of which go to China. While Iran is under attack, it can’t afford to alienate its major international backers.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on China to pressure Iran not to follow through.

Iran controls only the northern half of the Strait of Hormuz. Oman, which lies on the southern Arabian Peninsula and has good relations with Iran, controls the southern half. Violating Omani sovereignty on the strait’s southern half would alienate Iran even more.

What next? Daniel 11:40 prophesies of a “king of the south” in the end time that “pushes” and provokes its neighbors until it starts a worldwide crisis. Since the 1990s, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has identified Iran as this “king.”

The Trumpet expects Iran to use its leverage over maritime trade routes as part of its “push.”

Controlling the Suez Canal, however, is not enough. Egypt tried that in 1956, when Britain, France and Israel kicked it out in one attack. But the situation is altogether different if this sea trade route is lined with radical Islamic nations possessing real airpower, including missiles and drones! This could give Iran virtual control of the trade through those seas. Radical Islam could stop the flow of essential oil to the U.S. and Europe!
—Gerald Flurry, The King of the South

Regardless if Iran decides to close the Strait of Hormuz this time around, Iran knows how much leverage its control over this trade routes brings. Its Houthi proxies in Yemen have disrupted trade through the Red Sea. Expect Iran to get control over even more of this trade route and use it to attack the West.

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