00:00The United States has imposed a naval blockade on Iran,
00:03a move with enormous geopolitical consequences
00:06that most Americans do not fully understand.
00:09The blockade, which came in response to Iran's de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz,
00:15means that American warships are now actively interdicting Iranian shipping in international waters.
00:21This is a major escalation that puts the U.S. and Iran on a hair trigger.
00:26Iran has 1,200 miles of coastline and significant naval capability,
00:31including fast attack boats, anti-ship missiles,
00:34and submarine forces that have practiced asymmetric sea warfare for decades.
00:39Military analysts warn that a single miscalculation,
00:42an Iranian patrol boat that gets too close to a U.S. warship,
00:46a drone that crosses a red line,
00:48could trigger an engagement that neither side officially wants,
00:52but both sides are now positioned to stumble into.
00:54Congress has not declared war.
00:57The American public does not fully grasp
00:59how close the two navies are operating to one another.
01:02And the Strait of Hormuz,
01:04through which 20% of the world's oil must pass,
01:07remains the most dangerous waterway on Earth right now.
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