Will Iran close Straits of Hormuz? Iranians could block crucial route and control 25 per cent of world's oil

Currently some 25% of all the world's oil travels through the Straits of Hormuz from Middle Eastern countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Speaking on Britain's Newsroom, the GB News presenter explained: "When Iran says we might now fight this war on other fronts, what Iran is saying, right in no uncertain terms, is that they will mine the Straits of Hormuz.

WATCH NOW: Liam Halligan on the threat of Iran on the Straits

"They will block the Straits of Hormuz. We know the American Navy fleet is in Bahrain.

"There could then be absolute escalation of this conflict, because this is in some ways obviously tremendous awful humanitarian disaster. We must keep our focus on that.

"But the economic implications of this will massively impact the West's response because there's a cost of living crisis, and in Western democracies people are suffering with this cost of living crisis.

"Now Iran knows that. And if Iran decides to block those Straits of Hormuz, it could literally do massive damage to the global economy. The Americans don't want that to happen."

The comments come as Iran’s Foreign Minister has warned that “preemptive action” against Israel could be possible in the coming hours.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian issued the warning on Monday during a live interview on state TV, threatening to drag the entire Middle East into the conflict.

Halligan added: "This kind of proxy war, if you like, with the Americans backing Israel and Iran backing Hamas, could then explode economically. For now, the oil markets are going up because of OPEC and because of fears.

"But if the Straits of Hormuz are blocked by the Iranians - lot of people in global law markets are concerned that they will - then the the economics of this could trump even the ghastly humanitarian issues that we're seeing on our screens."

Liam explained: "The Iranians said they could fight this war on other fronts. "The Iranians control Hezbollah in Lebanon, they control Hamas. They also control the biggest global pinch point for oil in the world.

"What I'm saying, because it's a fact, is that 1/4 of the world's oil every day goes through that narrow gap, that pinch point of the global economy that is the Adam's apple, the throat of the global economy.

If the Iranians control that, I'm not saying it's going to happen.

"I'm saying the fear is there. If they choose to really get nasty in terms of supporting Hamas against Israel, slash the Americans as they see it, then we could have a severe escalation in fuel prices."

US President Joe Biden has sent an aircraft carrier, battleships and jets to the eastern Mediterranean in a warning to Iran and has also given Israel additional equipment and ammunition.