The Iran war has turned the world's shipping straits into a chessboard—and the U.S. aims to box out China from the Panama Canal to the Malacca Strait

In this handout photo provided by U.S. Central Command, U.S. forces patrol the Arabian Sea near M/V Touska on April 20, 2026, after firing upon the Iranian-flagged vessel that the U.S. accused of attempting to violate the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports near the Strait of Hormuz. (Handout Photo by the U.S. Navy via Getty Images)

While the U.S. and Iran remain mired in a stalemate of ever-evolving ceasefires, the Strait of Hormuz energy chokepoint at stake is just one part of a global chessboard in a broader “cold war” against China, geopolitical experts and economists said.

The Iran war and Hormuz blockade just happen to be the biggest gambit in the high-tempo game thus far. At play are all critical waterways and congestion bottlenecks through which the world’s energy products, agriculture, and supply chain parts flow.