Breaking news now in the war with Iran.
Iran's new supreme leader Ayatollah Mataba Khamenei has issued his first statement...
Today, Iran released a statement that it said was from its new supreme leader,
saying that the Strait of Hormuz must remain closed.
So a defiant statement there read out by a TV presenter,
because as you mentioned, of course, we still have not seen him.
The message marks 10 days since Iran threatened to attack any ship trying to cross the strait.
which is a critical shipping route for oil internationally.
This is the largest oil supply disruption in history,
meaning it is causing a global economic disruption that will likely be felt for some time.
Our colleague Jared Melson is a Middle East correspondent for The Wall Street Journal.
The Strait of Hormuz usually handles about one fifth of the world's oil.
That has contributed to a surge in oil prices worldwide, which pushed past $100 a barrel this week.
And that's going to have all kinds of knock-on effects in terms of the price of gas in the U.S.
and all over the world.
So there are all kinds of second- and third-order economic effects that are going to happen as a result of this.
So incredibly far-reaching consequences all focused on this one kind of body of water.
Exactly.
Why is Iran doing this?
Why is it so focused on the Strait of Hormuz?