Whilst there is an ever seemingly louder slanging-match being engaged in between Iran and the US and it's allies about the Straits of Hormuz, what is so important about those Straits? The Global Post brings us up to speed.
"These days, the Strait of Hormuz is like a a child of divorce caught between two angry parents. Not exactly a fun position to be in. But what exactly is the Strait of Hormuz, and why are the United States and Iran engaging in a back-and-forth war of words over it? Here are five key facts about it.
5. It is a narrow strait located between the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf. Iran borders the Strait of Hormuz to the north, and the United Arab Emirates and Oman's Musandam Peninsula border it to the south. See the map in the slideshow above.
4. Much of the Persian Gulf relies on the Strait of Hormuz to export its petroleum and reach the ocean, making it one of the world's most important oil supply routes.
3. About 15 million barrels of crude oil pass through the Strait of Hormuz on a typical day. About a fifth of the world's oil supply goes through the strait.
2. The strait is 21 miles wide at its narrowest point, and despite Iran's threats, it has never managed to cut it off completely to traffic.
1. Close to 300 people died in the Strait of Hormuz in 1988 when a US Navy missile cruiser, USS Vincennes, shot down an Iran Air Airbus A300 passenger jet over it."
From Mondoweiss - Israel's supposed "most moral army in the world", the IDF, engaged in immoral, and according to international law, illegal action.... "Israeli forces have demolished every home in the Bedouin village of Khirbet Taha in the northern West Bank district of Nablus during three separate demolitions since the start of the year. Unlike most Bedouin villages, the residents in Khirbet Taha own their own land. However that land falls in Area C, territory in the occupied West Bank under full Israeli control. The village’s only school was also destroyed, leaving children to study in a dilapidated 100-year-old mosque — the only structure left standing in the village. According the United Nations, Israel has demolished half as many Palestinian buildings in the first few months of 2016, as they had in all of 2015. In February alone, the UN found that more Palestinians homes were destroyed than any other month since 2009, when the organization began its docum...
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