CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING – Less than a month ago, with global attention fixed on the Ukrainian offensive, U.S. Admiral James Stavridis (ret.) sought to open the security aperture a bit more by pointing to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and its seizure of a pair of huge oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz.
Billed as the world’s most important energy chokepoint, transiting one-third of total seaborne oil exports and a quarter of its liquefied natural gas, Stavridis said that to protect shipping in the strait, the U.S may be drawn back into a role it assumed during anti-shipping campaigns of the 1980s, known as the “Tanker War.” Back then, amidst ongoing conflict between Iraq and Iran, American ships escorted oil tankers through the Persian Gulf – a positioning that resulted in a one-day battle between Washington and Tehran.
.memberful-global-teaser-content p:last-child{
-webkit-mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg, #000 0%, transparent);
mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg, #000 0%, transparent);
}
“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief in terms of the number of articles published by formers.” —Sept. 2018, Studies in Intelligence, Vol. 62
Access all of The Cipher Brief‘s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+Member.
The post U.S.-Iran Stand-Off Hints of Old “Tanker War” appeared first on The Cipher Brief.
Source link
