Beijing-based Citic Securities has compared the US dilemma in the Strait of Hormuz to Britain's 'Suez moment' in the 1950s, suggesting it could mark a turning point for American global supremacy. In a report published on Saturday, analysts said the US is now 'wedged' in the strait, facing a challenge to its control and searching for a way out. The analysis comes amid shipping blockades by the US and Iran in the vital waterway.
Citic Securities analysts described the current Strait of Hormuz situation as a potential 'Hormuz moment' for the US in a report published on Saturday, drawing parallels to Britain's loss of global superpower status during the 1950s Suez Canal crisis.
The report stated: 'The Suez moment marked the United Kingdom’s relinquishing of global power.' It portrayed the United States as on the horns of a dilemma that might accelerate Washington's strategic retreat and its increasingly transactional relationships with other powers. With global attention on US and Iranian shipping blockades in the strait and vessel transits, the Beijing-headquartered investment bank assessed long-term gains and losses that could reshape the global economic order.
' This may well be a Hormuz moment from which we can draw several inferences about the evolution of the global order,' the report said. Economic strength has long been a key arena in the Beijing-Washington rivalry, with scholars predicting China could surpass the US as the world's largest economy within a decade.
On Friday, Iran declared it would allow non-military vessels to pass through the strait but reimposed restrictions on Saturday, accusing Washington of 'banditry'.
