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From Leverage to Liability: The Hormuz Strait Is Now Iran’s Biggest Weakness

Forty years of leverage have inverted. The chokepoint Tehran once wielded against the world has become the world’s tourniquet on Tehran.
From Leverage to Liability: The Hormuz Strait Is Now Iran’s Biggest Weakness
The sun rises behind tankers anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Qeshm Island, Iran, on April 18, 2026. Asghar Besharati/AP Photo
Daniel Lacalle
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Commentary

For half a century, the Strait of Hormuz was Iran’s weapon. Today, it is its noose. The mathematics of energy has flipped, and with it the balance of coercive power in the Persian Gulf.

Daniel Lacalle
Daniel Lacalle
Author
Daniel Lacalle, Ph.D., is chief economist at hedge fund Tressis and author of the bestselling books “Freedom or Equality” (2020), “Escape from the Central Bank Trap” (2017), “The Energy World Is Flat”​ (2015), and “Life in the Financial Markets.”