Two million barrels a day. That's how much oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz — and that's how much is now trapped. The American blockade of the planet's most important oil corridor isn't just a military operation, it's an economic atomic bomb with delayed detonation.

Iran responds with rhetoric calibrated for domestic consumption: "American ships will be sunk to the bottom of the sea." Sounds dramatic, but the last time Iran directly confronted the American navy, the result wasn't great for the challengers. The real threat isn't Iranian missiles — it's the global oil market teetering on the edge of collapse.

Ships under sanctions are already passing downstream from the strait as the blockade begins — which means either the blockade is selective, or it's chaotic. Both options are bad. Selective blockade means Washington writes the rules in real time. Chaotic blockade means no one controls the situation.

For ordinary people, from Skopje to Singapore, this means one thing — pricier oil, pricier transport, pricier everything. The global economy, barely recovering from the last shocks, is now absorbing yet another hit. And while generals and diplomats calculate with ships and barrels, the bill lands on the people standing at fuel pumps.

The Strait of Hormuz is narrow — barely more than 40 kilometers at its tightest point. But the consequences of closing it stretch across the entire planet. And for now, neither side shows any intention of backing down.