The current White House regime might be engaged in a 21st century reality-television approach to foreign policy, but the ghosts of the previous century – especially the 1970s and 1980s – are haunting its approach. In 1971, the prime minister of Iran, Amir Abbas Hoveyda, declared his country would take the three strategic islands at the mouth of the Persian Gulf beside the shipping lanes of the Strait of Hormuz – Abu Musa, and the greater and lesser Tunb islands – after the withdrawal of British forces.

Hoveyda insisted the islands were the property of Iran “historically and legally” at a time when half the world’s oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz. It was for that reason the Shah of Iran described the strait as “the jugular vein” of his country and stated in 1976: “The Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz in truth constitute Iran’s lifeline. If this area were in any way threatened, our very life would be endangered.” The strait was regularly referred to in the 1970s as “the global chokepoint”.

Tensions over control of the strait abounded during the Iraq-Iran war from 1980 to 88 and the “tanker war” with the US over control of shipping there from 1987 to 88. In 1980, the Iranian minister for executive affairs accused Washington of leading a “psychological campaign” against........

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