Gerald Rodwell: Tension with Iran
Abstract
Throughout the twenty-first century, the Strait of Hormuz has become an essential passage for vessels carrying oil from the Middle East. In the early 2000s, the United States discovered Iran had multiple uranium enrichment facilities leading U.S. officials to believe that Iran was gaining the capabilities to make nuclear weapons. This caused a series of sanctions placed on Iran that soon led to the establishing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. However, the U.S. withdrew from this agreement a few years later and reinstalled Iran's high sanctions. The Strait of Hormuz has been called the jugular of the global economy because of the massive amounts of natural oil that pass through it, and with tensions coming to a boiling point between the U.S. and Iran, a new treaty will be needed in order to prevent the possibilities of war from escalating.
