The U.S.-Israel war on Iran left 11,000 sailors stranded for months in the Persian Gulf, and it took a UN-led evacuation to fix the mess. Iran attacked civilian ships, killed 14 seafarers and choked off a waterway that carries a fifth of the world's oil. The peace deal is a step forward, but Iran's push to charge tolls on an international waterway shows the damage to global trade isn't over.
Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz was a direct response to being bombed, and Tehran is right to insist the waterway will never return to the pre-war status quo. The interim deal is fragile — Iran flatly denies agreeing to IAEA nuclear inspections despite U.S. claims otherwise. Rushing to reopen the strait without resolving core disputes on sovereignty and nuclear oversight sets up another crisis.
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