December 31, 2021
Hossain Shariatmadari (photo), the hardliner named editor of the daily Kayhan by the Supreme Leader, says it is Iran’s “incontrovertible right” to close the strait of Hormuz to foreign shipping and “we should not hesitate” to do so. But the strait is an international waterway and Iran has no right to close it. In fact, perhaps the easiest way to start a war would be to try to close it and stop oil from the Arab states on the other side of the Persian Gulf from going through it.