If Iran insists on weaponizing the Strait of Hormuz, the world must render it irrelevant.
By : Ya Libnan Editorial Board , Op.Ed.
For decades, the world has tolerated a dangerous reality: Iran can threaten the global economy simply by rattling the Strait of Hormuz. Every crisis, every escalation, every warning from Tehran sends oil prices higher and markets into panic.
This is not strategy. It is submission.
Roughly a fifth of the world’s oil passes through that narrow chokepoint. That is precisely why Iran exploits it—using geography as leverage to extract political and economic concessions while funding its regional proxies.
The solution is not more warnings or temporary naval patrols. The solution is to make Hormuz matter less.
Saudi Arabia already offers a blueprint. Its East-West pipeline carries crude from the Gulf to the Red Sea, bypassing Hormuz entirely. The UAE has done the same, routing oil from Abu Dhabi to Fujairah on the Arabian Sea.
These are not just infrastructure projects. They are strategic lifelines.
Others must follow. Iraq can expand exports through Syria to the Mediterranean. Regional networks linking Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey can provide alternative outlets. Countries on both sides of Hormuz should accelerate pipelines to the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Mediterranean.
Fujairah’s rise as major fuel terminal
Yes, the current capacity is not enough. But that is exactly the point: dependence on Hormuz is a vulnerability that must be reduced—not managed.
The world built redundancy in finance, technology, and defense. Energy should be no different.
No nation should have the power to threaten global stability by exploiting a single waterway. And no regime should be allowed to enrich itself and its proxies by holding that waterway hostage.
The message must be clear:
If you weaponize a chokepoint, the world will route around you.
Bypassing Hormuz will not happen overnight. But every pipeline built, every alternative route opened, and every barrel diverted weakens Iran’s leverage.
And that is how you end the blackmail—permanently.
