President Donald Trump said Monday that U.S. strikes against Iran were targeting the country’s military capabilities tied to the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway Tehran has used for years as leverage against the United States and Israel. The U.S. military announced new strikes against Iran on Monday, but Trump told reporters at the Oval Office that he had not ruled out a negotiated settlement with Tehran. “We’re attacking their capabilities associated with the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said.

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints, with the Congressional Research Service estimating that about one-fifth of global petroleum consumption passes through the narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman. Iran has spent decades developing military systems aimed at threatening shipping in and around the strait, including anti-ship missiles, naval mines, fast attack boats, coastal defense systems, and unmanned drones, according to the Congressional Research Service. Those capabilities are central to Iran’s asymmetric military strategy, allowing Tehran to threaten a far more powerful adversary by targeting commercial shipping and naval forces in a confined maritime area, according to U.S. military analysts.

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