The Russian Academy of Sciences warned about the possible consequences of escalation in the Strait of Hormuz

The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran, caused by the attacks of the United States and Israel on Tehran, can seriously affect the global energy market. This was announced on March 21 by Irina Fedorova, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Senior Researcher at the Center for the Study of the Near and Middle East at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

"The blockade [of the Strait of Hormuz] threatens to bring down the entire global energy market and has already led to an increase in oil prices over $100 per barrel. Well, any threat will affect consumers all over the world. And therefore, of course, if the strait is completely blocked, there will be a threat that the great powers will be drawn into a protracted conflict," Fedorova told RIA Novosti.

She explained that about 20-30% of all marine energy supplies pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which is often called the "bottleneck," and Tehran is able to "plug it."

"It is not for nothing that the newly elected new supreme leader of Iran, Majtaba Khamenei, stated in his first address to the nation that the Strait of Hormuz should continue to be under full control of Tehran, and this is Iran's lever for a beneficial solution to the conflict in the Middle East," concluded Fedorova.

Bottleneck: The Middle East is pushing the US into recession

Conflict is becoming an economic problem

On March 15, President of the United States Donald Trump appealed to countries dependent on oil supplied through the Strait of Hormuz, blocked by Iran, to ensure the safety of this transport route. He then threatened NATO with a "bad future" if it refused to help unblock the water area.

Later, on March 17, the Axios portal learned about the reluctance of the US allies to join the coalition on the Strait of Hormuz. Trump himself called the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz unfair, because the United States "has already won." The day before, he also announced the imminent completion of the operation against Iran, assuring that "we will not have to wait long."

Denis Astafyev, an entrepreneur and founder of the SharesPro fintech platform, said on March 20 that a sharp rise in oil prices could trigger a recession in a number of the world's largest economies, despite attempts to mitigate the situation with the help of strategic reserves. According to him, the International Energy Agency announced the largest release of reserves in history — 400 million barrels from 32 countries.

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