- How Iran Blocking the Strait of Hormuz Affects the U.S. (factcheck.org)
President Donald Trump claimed that Iran essentially shutting down the Strait of Hormuz “doesn’t really affect” the United States the way it does “other countries.” It’s true that a small share of U.S. oil imports comes from the Persian Gulf. But the U.S. has been affected by the global increase in the price of oil.
- Strait of Hormuz (Wikipedia)
The Strait of Hormuz (/hɔːrˈmuːz/ Persian: تنگهٔ هُرمُز Tangeh-ye Hormoz listen, Arabic: مَضيق هُرمُز Maḍīq Hurmuz) is a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean and is one of the world’s most strategically important choke points. On the north coast lies Iran, and on the south coast lies the Musandam peninsula, shared by the United Arab Emirates and the Musandam Governorate, an exclave of Oman. The strait is about 90 nautical miles (167 km) long, with a width varying from about 52 nmi (96 km) to 21 nmi (39 km).