Irans golden weapon of Strait of Hormuz became a greater priority than its nuclear program heres how
DUBAI, July 8 – Control over the Strait of Hormuz has become a “golden weapon” to Iran, for which it is willing to risk new escalations with the United States, and is a bigger priority than a nuclear program for which it accepted decades of sanctions.So central is the issue to Iranian strategy that ships passing the Strait without Tehran’s approval were fired upon this week, leading to an exchange of fire with the United States that threatens last month’s interim peace deal.Iranian leaders, who had demurred for years from choking off the fifth of global energy supplies passing through Hormuz, now see it as their strongest card in a host of disputes with the West, and the reason Washington ended the war.“Recognize the new Iranian order in the Strait of Hormuz: this is the only way forward,” wrote Ebrahim Azizi, a member of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee on social media, addressing the United States.While their insistence on maintaining control over the waterway risks becoming another long-term dispute with the rest of the world, there is little disagreement over the policy in Tehran, two senior Iranian sources told Reuters.Follow The Post’s live coverage of President Trump and national politics for the latest news and analysisThere had been discussions about whether Iran risked overplaying its hand, but the overall view in top circles was that no rational country could give up such an important leverage point, one of the sources said.“The issue of Hormuz, which is Iran’s golden weapon, is something they now want to take away from Iran, and that will be absolutely impossible,” the source added.While last month’s interim deal to end the conflict, signed by US President Donald Trump, opened the strait to more traffic, the wording was left vague on the waterway’s ultimate fate.The memorandum of understanding says Iran “will make arrangements using its best efforts for the ...