Oil Spikes Ahead Of Hormuz Blockade.
• Strait blockade: The US military said it will enforce a blockade on all traffic entering and leaving Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz from 10 a.m. ET today, after weekend peace talks in Pakistan faltered. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has vowed to retaliate.
• Pope criticism: Meanwhile, Pope Leo XIV said he has “no fear of the Trump administration” and will continue to speak out after criticism from President Donald Trump, who denounced his stance on the Iran war and said he was “terrible for foreign policy.”
• Markets roiled: Oil prices have again topped $100 a barrel and stock markets fell as the collapsed weekend talks, and imminent blockade, threatened to further disrupt the global economy.
Oil is key international relations, every nation needs it and needs it cheaply to power their domestic economy. The Middle East has historically been the the World’s oil spigot carrying enormous amount of clout because the World needs what they have. The economics have changed drastically with America now being a contender as the World’s largest oil producer but a delicate ecosystem is still in place that requires oil flowing from the Middle East to keep costs down. That is at the hear of the current conflict and existential threat to the Global economy.
