The Strait of Hormuz is the jugular vein of the world economic system.  Iran has it in a chokehold and can put the knife across it any time it chooses. For the moment, the world is gripped by the incredibly destructive power that the US and Israel are unleashing on Iran. Despite the early “successes”, however, the prospect of the ongoing closure of the Strait is triggering panic attacks among the people who know what is likely to happen next: energy experts. 

Western countries, including  Australia and New Zealand, were quick to line up to support Operation Epic Fury, the US-Israeli blitzkrieg on the Islamic Republic of Iran. They were effectively throwing international law into a cauldron of blood and mayhem.  These same Western powers – and the Gulf Arab states that stand with them – may soon live to regret it.

When I heard the terrible news that the Americans and Israelis had killed over 150 children this week in an elementary school in Minab in Southern Iran it took me back to a wonderful day I spent in Isfahan in 2018. I met lots of Iranian school children and their teachers that day. They were keen to practise their English and ask lots of questions. I want to share that day with you because it was filled with hope, with promise for a better world.  

Cuba believes a genuine “third way” can only exist if it defends the economic sovereignty of states against coercion. For more than sixty years, our country has been subjected to a policy explicitly designed to generate material hardship in order to force political change. The issue therefore is not ideological but systemic: no nation can claim strategic autonomy while tolerating that another punishes third countries for lawful trade.

If Israel and the US attack Iran, the cosy worlds of Europe, Australia and New Zealand could be swept up in an economic catastrophe. Should the Iranians survive a terrifying onslaught, they have vowed to strike back in a way that could crash the global economy.  How they could quite possibly do this is the topic of this article.