Long before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, the Islamic Republic had devised its own weapon: holding the world’s main oil lifeline hostage to offset its foes' military superiority, three regional sources familiar with Iranian ​planning said, Reuters reported. 

For decades Iran has signalled that if pushed into a confrontation, it would restrict tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint where its adversaries are most exposed because disruptions there reverberate instantly through global energy markets.

With the Gulf’s main export artery in the crosshairs, Tehran has turned the region’s greatest economic asset into its most powerful deterrent, the sources said, according to Reuters.