this post was submitted on 11 Mar 2026
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Yeah, if the Strait becomes "death valley" then that quickly transforms into economic collapse anyway.
A bunch of immovable wrecks will close of the Strait just as well as a blockade.
In the same way a needle can clog a fire hose.
One needle can't. Wanna find out how many flaming wrecks Iran can fill the Strait with?
Never mind the fact that workers aren't going to sail to their deaths. Even with hazard pay it's going to be hard to actually find enough crews.
It's a geometry problem. We're not talking the Suez Canal here. You don't seem to realize just how wide and deep the strait is. Crews not wanting to run the blockade is another matter, but there is no possibility of physically blocking the strait. You could sink every ship on Earth into it and it wouldn't even notice.
It's only 24 miles wide at its narrowest point. You're right that they couldn't clog it completely, but making the waters un-navigable for large oil tankers seems doable. Especially since the crews wouldn't just have to watch out for the sunken ships, but also large and dangerous chunks of floating debris and hazards they can't see under the water.
The imagery conjured by "death valley" to me is a boat graveyard - endless wrecks from shore to shore.
Iran wants to maintain trade with China through the Straight. Filling it up with wrecks would hurt them as well.
I'm guessing this situation is the existential threat they feared most. They are ruthless. Revenge is in the culture (so I hear), so I think they are acting on "if I'm going down, you're coming with me" mode.
Revenge is in everybody's culture, it's human