Word: straits
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...bonnet on. Anyways, it turns out that her real name is Nancy Kulp, 62, and don't this beat all: she's running for the United States Congress in the ninth district of her home state of Pennsylvania. I know it's hard to imagine that strait-laced woman as a liberal, but it says right here that she's come out against Mr. Reagan's environmental and fiscal policies and is "appalled by the nuclear buildup." Now here's the best part. The Republican that's been doing...
...inconclusive fighting between Iraq and Iran, the Iraqis had decided to make good on a longstanding threat to close down Iran's biggest oil-exporting terminal. If that happens, the Iranian government of Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini has threatened to retaliate by blockading the 40-to-60-mile-wide Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the non-Communist world's crude oil passes. Such a closure, in turn, could widen the war considerably. President Reagan declared only two weeks ago, "There is no way we could stand by and see that sea-lane denied to shipping...
...back up its commitment to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, has four ships in the Gulf, in addition to a 30-ship flotilla, led by the aircraft carrier Midway, in the Indian Ocean. Early last week the U.S. destroyer Lawrence, on duty near the entrance to the strait, fired warning shots when an unidentified vessel crossed its bow at a distance of about a mile. That same day the Lawrence fired into the air in front of a low-flying Iranian patrol plane and broadcast a warning to an Iranian frigate after the plane and the ship came within...
...countries that would be most affected by the closing of the strait is Iran, which currently exports 2.6 billion bbl. of oil per day through the waterway...
Some Pentagon officials feel the threat to the strait has been exaggerated. The waterway is no longer as crucial a sea-lane as it was in the 1970s when up to 60% of the world's oil supplies moved through its waters. Today that figure is considerably smaller. Indeed, Iran would have the most to lose if shipping were interrupted: it currently exports 2.6 million bbl. per day through the Strait of Hormuz. That crude is expected to bring Iran more than $24 billion this year, half of which would go to finance Iran's war with Iraq...