Staggering $37.5B cost: US-Iran war threatens global oil choke points

By Emilio Quesada · Reporting from Miami · July 22, 2026

US-Iran hostilities flared across multiple regional waterways, escalating to fresh strikes in Jordan and Kuwait as of Wednesday, July 22, 2026.

The Price of Iranian Defiance: Why Sanctions Are Not Optional

The sheer audacity of the Islamic Republic is breathtaking—a predictable cycle of aggression fueled by failed diplomacy and deep-seated megalomania. As evidence mounts across vital global waterways, it becomes painfully clear that Iran views international law and American power as suggestions rather than binding realities. The escalation has forced even regional authorities to react; Bahrain’s Interior Ministry activated air raid sirens, prompting the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to add Jordan to its no-fly list due to rapidly deteriorating security conditions. This isn't merely a local spat; this is an existential threat to global commerce and stability, demanding nothing less than unwavering American resolve.

The US military continues its eleventh night of strikes on Iranian targets, aiming precisely at degrading their capabilities in maritime operations—targeting assets like aircraft hangars, drone storage facilities, and military logistics infrastructure. This aggressive posturing was met with predictable retaliation, including Iran’s claimed strike on U.S. Army ammunition storage and logistical sites at Camp Doha in Kuwait. The response is textbook authoritarian brinkmanship. When the US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that the conflict cost the United States $37.5 billion so far—an increase of nearly $8 billion from an earlier May estimate—he was not merely citing numbers; he was quantifying the escalating global price paid for Tehran’s defiance.

The Global Choke Points: A Test of Western Resolve

This crisis is fundamentally about control over trade, a battleground where Iran seeks to exert undue influence through maritime choke points like the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The economic stakes are staggering. Following an attack on a Red Sea tanker, benchmark crude topped $92 per barrel in Asian markets that Wednesday, with Brent crude reaching $95.16 a barrel—a 4.6% jump. This volatility confirms what every free market knows: instability at these arteries cripples global economies.

The disruption is widespread and undeniable. The British military maritime operations center reported an attack on a tanker in the disputed Red Sea area, prompting both Singapore-flagged and Liberia-flagged tankers to alter their path after loading crude at Saudi Arabia's port of Yanbu. Furthermore, Houthi rebels, who control Yemen's north and center, declared that the Bab el-Mandab Strait would be off limits to Saudi Arabia and warned international shippers to avoid the waterway entirely. The sheer volume of warnings—from EASA’s no-fly list for Jordan to Kpler noting a sharp decline in traffic across both chokepoints (Bab el-Mandeb saw crossings fall 34% day-on-day)—shows that the world is bracing for impact.

Diplomatic calls, such as mediator Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asking all parties to "refrain from actions," sound hollow against the backdrop of real violence, including Iran’s previous targeting of an air base in eastern Jordan, which resulted in the death of three U.S. service members. The only credible deterrent remains the explicit threat issued by President Donald Trump: that any time the Islamic Republic shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz would result in the United States bombing and destroying "ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran."

The escalating conflict proves that diplomacy is worthless when faced with an authoritarian regime determined to weaponize global trade. Continued American military readiness, backed by uncompromising sanctions enforcement and a clear willingness to strike back at Iranian infrastructure, remains the only effective deterrent against further chaos.

Staggering $37.5B cost: US-Iran war threatens global oil choke points

The Price of Iranian Defiance: Why Sanctions Are Not Optional

The Global Choke Points: A Test of Western Resolve

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