Iran's Proxy Network Chokes Global Energy Routes as Trump Faces Mideast Crisis

Two of the world's most consequential energy corridors have been sealed by Iranian forces and allied militias, sending oil prices upward and forcing global markets to reckon with a disruption that no household budget, however distant, will entirely escape. The blockade is not a miscalculation but a deliberate act of leverage — a way of inflicting economic pain without crossing into direct military confrontation. The Trump administration, inheriting a fractured Middle East, finds itself holding tools — sanctions, military pressure, diplomacy — that have not yet opened a path forward. In moments