Iran has strangled one of the world’s most critical shipping routes, the Strait of Hormuz, by threatening merchant ships and attacking tankers. Iran also has more than 5,000 naval mines in its arsenal, according to estimates by the Defense Intelligence Agency, and is beginning to deploy them, according to U.S. officials said.

Energy prices have surged following a series of strikes on oil and gas facilities across the Middle East, as the US and Israel's war with Iran continued through a third week. Oil prices peaked at $119 a barrel on Thursday after Israel struck Iran's South ...

In March 2026, as the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran was escalating, posts circulating on social media claimed that only 23% of Americans could point to Iran on a map. The posts often included graphics showing a map of the Middle East and were typically shared to criticize Americans' geographic knowledge or political awareness.