Only if that results in fewer deaths. A civil war will be far more bloody than sticking with the status quo that is going to inevitably and peacefully change as we saw with Eastern Europe.
They have some leverage there. It's not infinite though, and any trade dispute comes at a cost for China as well.
The longer the strait remains closed, the less it will matter. The strait is not the only way for oil to leave the gulf, and closure just creates an incentive to bypass it entirely.
Iran is not Eastern Europe. The Iranian regime is not the Soviet Union. Nothing is inevitable about peaceful change. Hell, the peaceful fall of the iron curtain wasn't inevitable either, it could very easily have turned bloody.
Now you're into conspiracy theory territory, I'm not going to follow.
Interestingly almost the exact same number people shot by Americans in the USA last year. Fortunately not all of them died, so Iran is merely more efficient than Americans in this regard.
Why do you say that? Saudi Arabia already has pipelines to do that. It costs some money and time to increase the capacity, but it's very doable, and it would prevent Iran from using Hormuz as a weapon against the Gulf states in the future. Chances are they will build up that capacity regardless of how this war turns out.
www.reuters.com
Yes, it's at its full current capacity. That capacity can be expanded through additional construction. It is in SAs interest to expand that capacity, and I expect they will.
...gubblubbllblbubbug... What?
Nah. There's only a few here trying to defend Trump and his apocalyptic crew.
They can always find a buyer in China, even if only at a discount. But all the other Gulf states could eventually pump their oil out through pipelines to bypass Hormuz.
I guess as long as everybody loses it won't be so bad.
He said he was depicting himself as a doctor!!!
Because he wss supporting the Red Cross by looking the other way when the IDF murders their members in an ambush.
