Anas Alhajji, one of the most respected energy analysts in the world, just published an extraordinary breakdown of what's actually happening in the Strait of Hormuz. The short version: Iran didn't close it. Insurance companies did. And the US has every incentive to let it happen.
Here's what actually occurred. Emails were sent to oil and LNG tankers claiming to be from the IRGC, saying the strait was closed. No official Iranian statement backed this. Nobody knows who actually sent the emails. But within hours, European insurance companies canceled policies or jacked premiums so high that tanker operators couldn't move.
Cargo ships and container vessels passed through fine. Nothing happened to them. Only oil and LNG tankers were affected. Why?
Notably, the administration has not criticized the insurance companies or pushed back on rising oil prices, a departure from its usual stance of vocally opposing anything that raises energy costs for American consumers.
Meanwhile, Venezuelan oil was pre-positioned in US ports before the crisis began, specifically to replace Iraqi crude that would be cut off by a Hormuz closure. That doesn't happen by accident.
The 2025 National Security Strategy document lays out the framework:
US dominance runs through AI, and AI runs through cheap, abundant energy. The strategy is to make energy cheap domestically and expensive for competitors. To do that, you need control of global chokepoints: Panama Canal, the Red Sea, Greenland's Arctic passage, and now Hormuz.
The Hormuz disruption accomplishes several goals at once. It forces Asian companies to abandon long-term LNG contracts with Qatar and the UAE in favor of American suppliers. It cripples competitor access to fertilizer exports (33% of global supply transits Hormuz). It drives chip manufacturers to reshore to the US. And Trump's offer to provide Navy escorts and US-backed insurance for tankers gives America indirect control over the strait indefinitely.
The biggest beneficiaries of a closed Hormuz are the US and Russia. The biggest losers are Europe, Asia, and the Gulf states themselves.
Iran is the excuse. Energy dominance is the goal.
