That would be the problem. If Iran declares the waters of the Gulf to be a "war Zone" then all bets are off for insurers of commercial shipping. A de facto barricade as effective as a physical one.
It won't get to that point. We will rip them to shreds quicker than an insurance company can cancel a policy. It would be like fish in a barrel in today's military world.
[That would be the problem. If Iran declares the waters of the Gulf to be a "war Zone" then all bets are off for insurers of commercial shipping. A de facto barricade as effective as a physical one.]
With all due respect, this sounds like a DU posting. If Iran declared anywhere a war zone, it would give us the excuse we need to end their regime. One has to assume that Rummy has the entire war plan ready for "contingencies" like that. I don't think we are in a position where we don't want a conflict. If we could even stage one credibly, I think we would. Insurance companies would not have too much time to deny coverage to commercial shipping if Iran declared anywhere a war zone and then quickly lost all their silkworms and the eastern shores of the Persian gulf and oil producing regions to a northern alliance style of Iranian exiles dropped courtesy of the US Navy and Air Force.