European countries could face a severe shortage of jet fuel in as little as six weeks if the Strait of Hormuz doesn’t open soon, according to a warning from the International Energy Agency. The executive director of the IEA, Fatih Birol, told the Associated Press it was “the largest energy crisis we have ever faced,” and warned that developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America will be hit even harder.
“Everybody is going to suffer,” Birol said about the economic pain that will be caused if the Strait of Hormuz isn’t reopened for good.
Roughly 75% of Europe’s net imports of jet fuel come from the Middle East, according to Birol, who expects flights to be cancelled soon because European airlines can’t get enough jet fuel. Some U.S. airlines have already raised fees for baggage to offset rising fuel costs.
Birol also warned against the toll booth system Iran has discussed to allow ships to pass through the Strait, telling the AP, “I would like to see that the oil flows unconditionally from the point A to point B.” Iran has reportedly sought to charge tolls of $2 million in cryptocurrency to allow ships to pass, and President Donald Trump has even suggested that it could be a toll jointly collected by the U.S. and Iran.
The crisis was created by President Trump’s decision to start a war with Iran on Feb. 28 when he began bombing the country along with Israel. Trump’s rationale for the war has changed many times, with the president sometimes saying it was about regime change while other times saying it was about stopping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.
Trump has also said he wants to “keep the oil,” a phrase he used frequently in his first term concerning American military operations in Syria and Iraq. The 79-year-old president frequently insists that the U.S. has already won the war, though the Iranian regime is still intact and there are no indications that Iran has lost any of its enriched uranium.
Iran has shut down virtually all travel through the Strait of Hormuz, where roughly 20% of the world’s oil traversed before the start of the war. In response, the U.S. has started what it calls a “blockade” of Iranian ports in the same Strait, apparently in an effort to save face and say that America is actually in control.
Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Dan Caine insisted during a press conference on Thursday that the U.S. blockade “applies to all ships, regardless of nationality, heading into or from Iranian ports,” but is not a total blockade of the Strait.
The U.S. held peace talks with Iran last weekend in Pakistan, but Vice President JD Vance was quick to declare them a failure. Pakistan announced Wednesday that it would soon host more peace talks between the two countries, perhaps as soon as this week. But a date has not been announced.
The U.S. is sending roughly 10,000 more troops to the region, according to a report from the Washington Post, including 6,000 troops on the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush and about 4,200 others with the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group.
There’s widespread speculation about the possibility of a ground invasion of Iran, which may include taking the strategically important Kharg Island. But experts say U.S. forces taking and holding the island would make them sitting ducks for Iranian drone and rocket attacks.
English (US) ·