By Ryan Morgan and Joseph Lord
The White House has warned Iran against closing the Strait of Hormuz in response to recent U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian military and nuclear targets.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council is deliberating blocking the channel, which forms a choke point for oil and gas shipped out of the Middle East through the Persian Gulf. Nearly 20 percent of global oil and gas exports flow through this critical waterway. Closure could disrupt supply and drive up prices.
Iranian state media cited Esmail Kosari, a member of the Iranian parliament’s national security commission, as saying that the parliament has “come to the conclusion we should close the Strait of Hormuz, but the final decision in this regard is the responsibility of the Supreme National Security Council.”
Israeli warplanes launched surprise strikes on Iran on June 13, to which Iranian forces responded with missiles and drones targeting Israel. The United States waded into the conflict on June 21, conducting a long-range strike with B-2 Spirit stealth bombers and Tomahawk cruise missiles targeting three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Speaking with reporters on the morning of June 23, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Trump administration is keeping an eye on Iran’s next move.
“I can assure you, the administration is actively and closely monitoring this situation, and the Strait of Hormuz, and the Iranian regime would be foolish to make that decision,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt did not directly answer a reporter’s question about whether the Trump administration is planning to add oil to the global market to help stabilize prices if Iran closes off the strait.
In an interview with Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” on June 22, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it would be “economic suicide” for Iran to block the Strait of Hormuz.
Rubio called on China to exert its influence to sway Tehran from closing it off.
“I would encourage the Chinese government in Beijing to call them about that, because they heavily depend on the Strait of Hormuz for their oil,” Rubio said.
Rubio said that if Iran does try to close the strait, it would hurt other countries more than the United States and that other nations should also consider options to sway Iran.
“It would be, I think, a massive escalation that would merit a response not just by us but from others,” Rubio said.
Closing the strait is one of several options Tehran may be considering in retaliation for the Israeli and U.S. strikes.
In the hours after the June 21 U.S. strikes, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Iran “reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people.”
