Mark Gagnon

And between 1984 and 88, over 400 ships were attacked in the Persian Gulf.

And as a result, insurance rates were skyrocketing.

Oil prices are swinging wildly.

And the world got its first taste of what happens when the free flow of oil through Hormuz is threatened or turned off.

The United States responded with Operation Ernest Will in 87.

This is the largest naval convoy operation since World War II.

And basically, it just escorted reflagged Kuwaiti tankers through the Gulf, and it sent a very clear signal that Washington considered a free passage through Hormuz as a vital national security interest that they were going to fight for.

America's like, look, we need this oil, and we don't care what it takes to get these people through.

We're going to put all of our boys on it, and that's how we're going to get our people in the world the oil that they need.

The most dramatic moment came on April 18th, 1988, with Operation Praying Mantis.

This is the largest American naval battle since World War II.

After the U.S.

ship, the USS Samuel B. Roberts, struck an Iranian mine, the United States launched a coordinated attack against Iranian naval and oil platform targets.

Basically, in a single day, the U.S.

Navy sank or damaged, sank or damaged,

six Iranian warships and destroyed two oil platforms.

I mean, once again, billions of dollars of destruction for the Iranians.

Iran's Navy was devastated, but Iran learned a lesson from this operation.

And it wasn't the lesson that Washington hoped they would learn.

Iran didn't conclude that threatening the Strait was, you know, useless or a bad move.