Iran's new security chief threatens regional retaliation against US economic pressure allies

With the appointment of hardliner Mohsen Rezaei as Iran's security chief, Tehran has chosen confrontation over conciliation, issuing sweeping threats against neighbours and oil routes as American economic pressure intensifies. The Strait of Hormuz — that narrow passage through which so much of the world's energy flows — has become the fulcrum of a contest between Iranian leverage and a regional scramble for alternatives. Egypt reaches for diplomacy, France and Saudi Arabia reach for blueprints, and the world watches to see whether negotiation or infrastructure will outpace the drift toward ope