The Iranians have paralyzed traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, and trying to reopen it by force is going to be exceptionally difficult to do. As you will see below, this is going to have enormous implications for every nation on the entire planet. We are in the early chapters of a major global crisis, and a tremendous amount of pain is ahead.

On Thursday, Mojtaba Khamenei issued a statement in which he boldly declared that the Strait of Hormuz must remain closed in order to "pressure the enemy"…

Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said Thursday that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz maritime passage should be continued as a "tool to pressure the enemy," in his first public statement since being appointed.

Khamenei also said all U.S. military bases in the Middle East should close immediately and "those bases will be attacked," in televised comments translated by Reuters.

Oil prices extended gains following the statement, read out by a state TV broadcaster. The shipping of oil through the Strait of Hormuz has effectively stopped since the war began, causing global oil prices to soar. Iran warned on Wednesday that the price per barrel could climb to $200.

Needless to say, the Iranians are fully capable of carrying out Khamenei's threats.

Several more vessels have been attacked within the past 48 hours, and that includes a U.S.-owned oil tanker that was completely destroyed…

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency also released a dramatic video apparently showing a missile strike on a U.S.-owned tanker in the Persian Gulf. The video shows a massive explosion on a vessel that is then engulfed in flames as people aboard what appears to be an IRGC attack boat celebrate. CBS News Confirmed identified the vessel as the Safesea Vishnu, a crude oil tanker sailing under a Marshall Islands flag, but owned by the New Jersey-based company Safesea Group LLC.

Now that Iran has officially closed the Strait of Hormuz, it will be up to the U.S. military to try to reopen it.

This will not be an easy task.

In fact, some military experts are warning that it could take months to accomplish that goal…

Unblocking the Strait of Hormuz is shaping up as a remarkably complex and time-consuming task.

The fate of the global oil markets—and the global economy—rests on whether ships can traverse the 22-mile-wide waterway from the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman. More than 10 days after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, there is no clear plan for reopening it. Military experts say the effort is so daunting it could take months to achieve, absent a fast and full cease-fire.