US – Iran, what should Washington prioritize most?

The U.S.-Iran conflict just took another dangerous turn. On September 5, the U.S. military said it struck three Iranian oil tankers after Iranian missiles targeted two U.S. Navy ships in the region. One tanker was destroyed and two were rendered inoperable, according to U.S. officials.

That makes this more than another exchange of fire. The attacks are now directly hitting Iran’s oil-export infrastructure, raising a difficult question for the global economy: how far can the conflict escalate before energy markets and international shipping face a much larger shock? Iran’s Kharg Island alone has historically handled the vast majority of the country’s crude exports.