Iran has indicated that oil tankers may still pass through the Strait of Hormuz, but only if they are not linked to the United States or Israel and, according to multiple reports, if the oil involved is traded in Chinese yuan rather than US dollars. The move raises the stakes for global energy markets, turning a key flashpoint into a test of financial and political loyalties, just as the current president of the USA, Donald Trump, urges countries that rely on the route to help keep it open with American backing.
The proposal signals more than a wartime warning. It shows Tehran trying to turn control of one of the world's most important oil chokepoints into both a diplomatic tool and a financial lever at a moment when roughly one-fifth of global oil passes through the narrow waterway.
