Glenn Beck argued that the long-term geopolitical significance of the conflict involving Iran extends beyond military operations and nuclear concerns, saying a series of major pipeline and infrastructure projects could permanently reduce Tehran's ability to influence global energy markets.

Beck began by discussing Iran's military capabilities before shifting to a historical comparison.

"We don't know about their nukes," he said. "They're now a defense supplier building really dangerous weapons in drones. We're in the middle of a European war."

He then introduced a historical example involving Denmark and control of the Baltic Sea.

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"The map, which takes me to Denmark, 1429 to 1857," Beck said. "I can't believe we're talking about Denmark."

According to Beck, Denmark collected tolls from ships entering the Baltic Sea for more than four centuries because it controlled both sides of a strategic waterway.

"Every ship that entered the Baltic Sea paid a toll to the king of Denmark," Beck said. "Not a tax on Danish goods, a tax on other people's trade collected because Denmark happened to own both sides of that narrow piece of water into the Baltic."

He explained that the fees, known as the Sound Dues, became a major source of revenue for Denmark.

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"The sound dues is what they were called," Beck said. "They ran from 1429, and at their height, they were a third of the Danish crown's entire income."

Beck noted that European nations continued paying the toll because the alternative was conflict.

"Europe grumbled, but they paid because the alternative was war, and the toll was cheaper than war."

According to Beck, the United States eventually challenged that system.

"Who refused to pay it? Us, the United States," he said. "We said, you know what? We've had enough of this. We're not going to recognize your levy, and we're not going to pay it."

Beck said that dispute ultimately resulted in the Copenhagen Convention.

"So everybody went to the negotiating table," he said. "That was the Copenhagen Convention, and it was a one-time buyout, and the permanent principle that a straight is not a possession."

He said that principle later influenced the construction of the Kiel Canal.

"The Kiel Canal came later," Beck said. "They build this canal because they knew somebody's going to look at that strait at some point in the future and go, 'You got to pay us a toll, and it'll choke everything down.'"

According to Beck, the canal made that strategic choke point optional.

"So they made a canal, making the choke point optional," he said. "That's the key to this."

Turning to current events, Beck argued that concerns over Iran's nuclear program are only part of a larger strategic picture.

"I think it is misdirection," he said. "I think it's serious. I think it's real. The nuke part of it. I think it's real. I think the drones are a real part of this."

He said he believes the larger issue involves energy infrastructure now under development in the Gulf region.

"I think the choke point and the canal that is being built right now in the Gulf... that I think is what this is all about."

Beck pointed to several projects that he said would reduce reliance on the Strait of Hormuz over the next several years.

"There is an east-west line, a million and a half barrels a day in service by early 2027," he said. "Saudi Arabia weighing 2 million barrel expansion to the Red Sea, Iraq back at the table on a Mediterranean corridor through Turkey."

He also cited projections from Goldman Sachs.

"Goldman Sachs counts seven different projects now," Beck said, "and puts Gulf pipeline capacity over 14 million barrels a day by 2028."

According to Beck, those projects would allow much of the region's oil exports to bypass areas vulnerable to Iranian interference.

"More than 60 percent of what those seven states exported before the war now moving in places Iran cannot touch with a speedboat or a mine."

Beck argued that the strategy is designed to maintain oil exports while reducing Iran's leverage over international trade.

"This is not being held hostage by crazy people trying to take them out," he said. "But keep the oil running while we build an end to the choke point."

He concluded by arguing that the long-term objective extends beyond military targets.

"The prize is the permanent expiration of Iran's veto over the world economy," Beck said. "That's the only asset that ever made a broke, isolated, demographically hollowing theocracy into a power anyone had to consult."

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