Just to be clear, the Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway. It is not under Iran’s jurisdiction. Tehran does not possess the legal authority to unilaterally shut down one of the world’s most important shipping lanes. Any attempt to block or suspend international transit would challenge long-standing principles of freedom of navigation and disrupt global commerce.
The United States and most maritime powers maintain that the right of transit passage reflects customary international law. Despite that legal disagreement, the dominant international view is that Iran cannot lawfully close the Strait to international navigation.
Iran was defeated – it doesn’t now get control of a critical international waterway as part of its surrender. No nation has
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