Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker discusses whether or not the U.S. assault on Iran will change the Center East on Varney & Co.
Iran has warned that it could try to shut the Strait of Hormuz to delivery visitors in retaliation for the U.S. becoming a member of Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear services.
The Iranian authorities is mulling retaliatory actions, together with the potential closure of the Strait of Hormuz, an important delivery lane for international vitality provides. The regime in Iran may pursue that purpose by using mines, anti-ship missiles or different means to hinder or destroy delivery.
Iranian state media not too long ago reported on such a plan being accredited by the nation’s parliament, although it emphasised that it might require clearance from the nation’s Supreme Nationwide Safety Council.
Roughly 20% of worldwide demand for petroleum merchandise transits by the Strait of Hormuz – which connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea and is bordered by Iran on one aspect. The strait is lower than 30 miles throughout at its narrowest level, which might make it tougher for vessels to transit the passage if Iran makes an attempt to shut it.
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Iran has threatened to aim to shut the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear services. (Photograph by Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto through Getty Pictures / Getty Pictures)
The Power Info Administration (EIA) throughout the U.S. Division of Power famous that in 2024, oil flows by the strait averaged about 20 million barrels per day, with comparable ranges being reported within the first quarter of 2025.
“Flows through the Strait of Hormuz in 2024 and the first quarter of 2025 made up more than one-quarter of total global seaborne oil trade and about one-fifth of global oil and petroleum product consumption,” EIA wrote.
“In addition, around one-fifth of global liquefied natural gas trade also transited the Strait of Hormuz in 2024, primarily from Qatar.”
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The EIA estimated that 84% of the crude oil and condensate and 83% of the liquefied pure fuel that moved by the Strait of Hormuz went to Asian markets in 2024.
“China, India, Japan and South Korea were the top destinations for crude oil moving through the Strait for Hormuz to Asia, accounting for a combined 69% of all Hormuz crude oil and condensate flows in 2024. These markets would likely be most affected by supply disruptions at Hormuz,” the company mentioned.
EIA famous that the U.S. imported about 0.5 million barrels per day of crude oil and condensate from Persian Gulf nations by the Strait of Hormuz, which accounted for about 7% of U.S. oil and condensate imports and a couple of% of U.S. petroleum liquids consumption.
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Tankers are seen on the Khor Fakkan Container Terminal alongside the Strait of Hormuz, on June 23, 2025. (GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP through Getty Pictures / Getty Pictures)
The biggest exporters of crude and condensate that transit by the Strait of Hormuz are Saudi Arabia (5.3 million barrels per day), Iraq (3.2 million) and the United Arab Emirates (1.8 million). Iran ranked fourth at about 1.5 million barrels per day as of the primary quarter of 2025.
China is the primary importer of crude oil shipped by the strait, bringing in 5.4 million barrels per day within the first quarter of 2025, in keeping with EIA knowledge.
“I encourage the Chinese government in Beijing to call them about that, because they heavily depend on the Strait of Hormuz for their oil,” Rubio mentioned. “If they do that, it’ll be another terrible mistake. It’s economic suicide for them if they do it. And we retain options to deal with that.”
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Rubio added that “other countries should be looking at that as well” and that it might “hurt other countries’ economies a lot worse than ours. It would be, I think, a massive escalation that would merit a response, not just by us, but from others.”
He additionally mentioned that Iran’s authorities is “gonna say what they need to say. These are the things that need to happen for their own internal politics and so forth.”
“We had three objectives. We struck those three objectives with decisive force, and that was the point of this mission, and that’s what we achieved,” Rubio mentioned of the U.S. strikes on Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.
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“What happens next will depend on what they want to do. They want to negotiate, we’re ready to negotiate. They want to get cute and do things that are dangerous, we have responses available that are devastating,” Rubio mentioned.
