47 years of hostility between Iran and the United States is now taking a dangerous turn. After 40 days of war, in which the United States and Israel launched relentless bombing of Iran, the fragile ceasefire reached around three weeks ago has failed to resume the second round of dialogue between Tehran and Washington.

The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, first by Iran and then by the United States, has unleashed a dangerous fuel, food and fertiliser crisis across the world.

The lack of a crisis management mechanism to manage the Iran–U.S. crisis exposes the fragility of the world order. Neither the United Nations nor other international organisations or major powers have been able to unblock the Strait of Hormuz.

The closure of the strait has almost halted 20% of the global supply of oil and gas, and along with that, one can witness a serious food and fertiliser crisis impacting primarily the underdeveloped world. If the Strait of Hormuz was not the cause of the Iran–U.S. conflict, why has it led to a deepening global crisis?

The suspension of dialogue between Iran and the United States is also related to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz because Tehran has made it clear that, without lifting the blockade, it will not enter into any sort of negotiations with Washington. The U.S. President, Donald Trump, is adamant about keeping the Strait blocked to deliver a heavy blow to the Iranian economy.

But Iran has faced Western sanctions for decades, and 40 days of U.S.–Israeli attacks have not forced Tehran to concede to the core objectives of that campaign: regime change, dismantling of Iran’s nuclear and missile programme, and ending Iran’s support for its allies like Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

The Strait of Hormuz was not a cause of the war, but later, when Iran realised that the U.S. and Israel would continue the destruction of its infrastructure and leadership, it decided to attack pro-American allies in the Gulf, such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and then block the Strait.

The manner in which the........

© The Friday Times