Thousands of civilian sailors have been stranded for more than a month in waters surrounded by a conflict zone because of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

© Altaf Qadri/Associated Press

The effects of the war in Iran are squeezing consumers, businesses and governments around the world, raising the prices of many essential goods.

© Taiwo Aina for The New York Times

A 1936 convention establishing Turkish control over the Dardanelles could be an inspiration to resolving the energy bottleneck in the Persian Gulf.

A 1936 convention establishing Turkish control over the Dardanelles could be an inspiration to resolving the energy bottleneck in the Persian Gulf.

The White House press secretary said the United States would evaluate oil shipments to Cuba on a “case-by-case basis,” after a Russian tanker full of crude reached the island.

© Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The president, speaking to reporters on Air Force One, cast the permission as a “sign of respect.” He also asserted that the United States had already achieved “regime change” in Iran.

© Elke Scholiers/Getty Images

The tanker full of crude oil could reach its expected destination by Monday, providing a lifeline to the island amid intense U.S. pressure.

© Adalberto Roque/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The U.S. and other exporters are poised for a windfall, but disruptions to Persian Gulf supplies are also pushing gas-buying countries to consider alternatives like coal, solar and nuclear energy.

Any deal with Iran would probably be a bad one. But sending ground troops to seize Iranian territory would be an even worse choice.

Nations are looking for alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz by raising risks for ship operators. In doing so, it has taken lessons from American financial policy.

An oil blockade could pressure Iran. Sanctions relief would do the opposite.

The U.S. cannot both end the war immediately and claim victory. It is one or the other.

With the Xi-Trump summit almost certainly delayed, and tensions rising over the war in Iran, vital issues for both the U.S. and China are also being cast into uncertainty.

As the conflict with Iran expands and intensifies, President Trump’s options — to fight on, or to move toward declaring victory and pulling back — both carry deeply problematic consequences.

President Trump warned that he could postpone a meeting set to begin in just over two weeks if China refuses to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

President Trump has urged China, Britain, France, Japan and South Korea to send warships to help reopen the waterway, even though they are not involved in the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran.

Across Asia, where countries are highly exposed to rising oil and gas costs and tightening supply, governments are acting to mitigate economic harm.

China and its neighbors scrambled to soften the blow of a disorderly trade war. Conflict in the Middle East now threatens to disrupt the oil imports that power their economies.

The captain’s arrest had raised fears of a broader diplomatic confrontation between Japan and China, which have been at odds for months.

The shipping traffic and factories never stop in China’s port city of Ningbo, but the local housing market has crashed and nearby restaurants sit empty.

The area most U.S. Arctic strategists think needs the most immediate development is not Greenland but the Bering Sea, almost 3,000 miles away.

U.S. and European officials say they are unaware of any intelligence that shows China and Russia are endangering the island, which is protected by the NATO security umbrella.