Strait of Hormuz accessibility at the centre of US-Iran war flare-up

We're going to get a bit more analysis now with Rochelle Ferguson-Buyahu, who joins me on set. Rochelle, what part do we know about what caused this new uptick in fighting? Well, what we know from the U.S. Central Command is that ultimately precise action was taken. The U.S. says that this is because there were mine-laying forces posing an imminent threat in the Strait of Hormuz. It was Larrick Island, I hope we can bring that up for you specifically, that was targeted by the U.S. It is just offshore of the key port of Bandar Abbas and it sits right on the Strait of Hormuz. It's important, this area here, because that's where Iran is, according to some reports, currently demanding that tanker traffic pass. And when they pass in a check there, they are apparently being asked to pay up to $2 million to continue their travel. So it's an important strategic area. That's perhaps why the United States has decided to hit there. That was, of course, there was a retaliation from the Iranian army. They say two people were killed in those attacks and they wanted to respond to those. They have in turn targeted military bases in Jordan. There were several missiles that were intercepted just on, well, this morning, I should say. Also, a UAE base was targeted and the UAE has come out just a short time ago condemning that and saying that ultimately this attack over its territory on waters is a dangerous escalation. So we see this kind of, you know, narrative continuing. There's relative peace, as we've seen before this, or calm, I should say. And then, of course, you know, the strikes begin once again. And all of this, of course, is a reminder just how fragile the situation on the Strait of Hormuz actually is. Well, that's right. This global waterway, well, remember, we've, you know, bandied this figure around quite a bit, up to 20% of the world's oil and natural liquefied gas were or used to, let's say, pass through there. It's now far more complicated to do so. Trump saying last week then that all of the mines in the Strait of Hormuz had been either detonated or destroyed. Iran says that that is a complete deception. That's not the way that things look. Iran, in the meantime, then, facing a growing economic pressure because, of course, the United States has ramped up or slapped on, I should say, another set of sanctions. Iran has kind of, you know, brushed this away and said, well, it's part of the ordinary for us. There have been sanctions on, you know, Iran for decades. What I will say is that the US naval blockade of Iran continues, and, of course, that is affecting Iran's ability to export oil. So it continues. We've had, as I said, some calm. These strikes continue again. It remains to be seen how, you know, that that will be responded to by either the United States or Iran moving forward from here.