Jackie Northam

That cargo is piling up, stress on the ports, things are slowing down, and all this is not good from a market standpoint.

Lukewarm, I would say.

You know, the U.S.

Navy also tried this in the Red Sea using escorts to protect ships from attacks by Yemen's Houthis.

And I'll say, you know, it didn't have much impact.

And let's face it, Iran is more sophisticated than the Houthis from a military point of view and its ability to target moving vessels.

And traveling alongside a U.S.

naval vessel might make a tanker or a container ship vulnerable.

more of a tempting target for Iran.

But, you know, Steve, Iran knows that launching the odd missile or drone at a vessel or even a threat of one can strangle marine traffic in the Strait of Hormuz like we're seeing now.

And it's using that as a weapon.

And, you know, this bottleneck is creating serious threat for the global energy shipping and, frankly, the global economy.

NPR's Jackie Northam, thanks so much.

Thank you.

A panel of 88 clerics chose overwhelmingly to make Mojtaba Khamenei Iran's new supreme leader.

He's the 56-year-old son of the former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike at the start of the war.

The younger Khamenei is considered a hardliner who was closely associated with a violent crackdown on protesters during the 2009 so-called Green Revolution.

Khamenei is close with the powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

It has pledged its support for the new supreme leader.

Pro-regime state TV showed images of large crowds celebrating the news.