(FILES) In this picture obtained from Iran’s ISNA news agency on June 18, 2026, vessels are seen anchored in Bandar Abbas along the Strait of Hormuz. (Photo by AMIRHOSSEIN KHORGOOEI / ISNA / AFP) /The Strait of Hormuz is the world’s most critical oil chokepoint, and its uninterrupted flow is essential to global stability. History shows that closures, even threatened ones, trigger global economic shocks. In 2019, when tensions flared and Iran threatened to block the strait, Brent crude jumped 10 per cent within days. The Strait of Hormuz is not Iran’s, America’s, or Israel’s.