The Iran War & The Strait of Hormuz Crisis

Hyuk An

9월 4일

3분 분량

As an international relations major, I am naturally drawn to articles and news about global events. So when I heard about the outbreak of the Iran War through various online sources back in March of 2026, I was worried for the countries directly involved in the war but didn’t worry about South Korea. But right after the Strait of Hormuz was blocked, all countries, including South Korea, were directly impacted. Not only were countries physically blocked from crossing the strait but also, people around the world experienced spikes in oil prices, which in turn led everything that used fossil fuel (from airplane fares to fertilizers) to become more expensive. I realized how our global economy was dependent on a single source, the Strait of Hormuz, and how dangerous this is.

To learn more about how the closure of the Strait of Hormuz impacted the global economy, I searched for articles online. One article from CNN was titled, “The Iran War Could Have a Surprising Silver Lining for the Global Economy.” In the article, David Goldman explores surprising positive effects of the Iran War, such as development of renewable energy and new pipelines that would bypass the Strait. Despite some of the long

term benefits mentioned in the article, I thought the current damages happening now are more serious and urgent. In another article I found from The Washington Post, David J. Lynch shares how the Iran War is “the worst hit to the global economy” since the pandemic (Lynch). Sharp increases in costs for oil, gas, and industrial chemicals all have led to “near zero” economic growth for many developing nations (Lynch).

As of September 2026, after over six months since the outbreak of the Iran War, the situation in the Middle East is still the same. The U.S. has carried out new strikes against Iran in response to “recent attempted attacks by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region” (Bao). Despite the negotiations that appeared to make some progress, the two countries are still at war. Because of the ongoing tension, the Strait of Hormuz is still closed and its tremendous impact on the global economy is still in effect.

If the Iran War drags on and the Strait remains closed, oil prices will continue to rise. Then spikes in everything else like energy bills, food prices, airplane fares, and shipping costs will all follow in a domino effect, and the global economy will be further damaged. And countries whose economies are affected heavily by the current political crisis might view the Middle East and Iran negatively.

Through the Iran War, the world has witnessed and experienced how fragile the global economy is. The world has realized the need for renewable energy to be less dependent on fossil fuels and the necessity of routes other than the Strait of Hormuz. And so, countries might be able to make positive changes in response to the War in the long run. But still, I think that the ongoing damages of the War on the global economy and international relations are too big. So in order to solve the current political and economic issues, the War should end as quickly as possible.