Iran and What it Means to Your Wallet

I know that a lot of people are hurting right now because of gas prices. Almost every state has gas over four dollars a gallon and that is crippling our nation. I still remember in the 90's when gas was a dollar a gallon. With all of our money going into gas, everything else has gone up in price also. We depend on oil in this country for everything and thats not good news for us.

Iran produces over four million barrels of oil a day. Thats a lot of oil. If Iran would decide to stop producing oil then we would be in big trouble. Oil prices would surge yet again and OPEC has already said that they couldn't replace the oil that we would lose if they did. Other nations producing oil could try and produce more but the problem with our consumption would still leave a gaping void of oil.

The Strait of Hormuz which is located along the coast of Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman has over 40% of all oil in the world pass through it. This narrow strait is only 21 miles at the narrowest part. There are several shipping lanes in which ships pass through. Each lane is roughly six miles wide and at some places have two incoming lanes and two outgoing lanes. If Iran wanted to wage war against the U.S., this would be the spot that they would pick. Iran could cripple not only our economy, but the worlds economy. Iran could stop producing oil for everyone because they have enough for themselves and then wage war at the Strait of Hormuz. This would have oil prices through the roof.

Now I know that a lot of people say the the United States would never let anything happen there but there have already been a couple of problems in the past with Iran at the Strait of Hormuz.
1. In April of 1998 Operation Praying Mantis happened. The U.S. attacked and sunk several Iranian warships and speed boats after one of our battleships were bombed. This only lasted one day.
2. In July of 1988 the U.S. Navy shot down a passenger jet over the strait that killed 290 people.
3. Several standoffs between Iran and the U.S. Navy have occurred several times this year.
4. Last but not least are the well known missile tests that occurred around the strait.

Iran has vowed to continue their nuclear program with or without anyones consent. The Strait of Hormuz is so vital to not only us but to everyone, that something has to been done soon to insure everyone that we will have oil for tomorrow. Gas prices could skyrocket in minutes if a war broke out in Iran. I'm very very glad that the U.S. has at least changed its stance towards Iran and will join them in talks about their nuclear program. Until our country can stop guzzling gas, we all have to keep an eye on whats going on in Iran.