Kaine: Strait of Hormuz should be ‘open to all’

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine (D) said Sunday that the Strait of Hormuz must be reopened for all shipping traffic after Iran announced the waterway’s closure over the U.S. blockade.

“If they’re going to be open, I think they have to be open to all,” Kaine told Fox News’s Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday” as the U.S. military has stopped some ships from traveling in the Strait and blocked Iranian ports.

The global energy market has been hit hard since the U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes against Iran in late February, resulting in the effective closure of one of the world’s key shipping corridors.

Tehran agreed to reopen the Strait during negotiations earlier this month, when a two-week ceasefire was instituted. Israel’s strikes in Lebanon, however, caused Iran to once again close the key waterway days later.

President Trump on Friday announced the passageway would reopen amid the U.S. blockade. But later Friday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp said it would remain closed amid the blockade.

“With the continuation of the blockade, the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open,” Iran’s Parliament........

© The Hill