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Seizing the island would cut off Iran’s oil lifeline, which is crucial for the regime,” says Petras Katinas, research fellow in climate, energy and defence in the Europe office of the Royal United Services Institute. “Of course, with shipping via the Strait of Hormuz now stopped, they cannot sell oil anyway, but looking ahead, seizure would give the US leverage during negotiations, no matter which regime is in power after the military operation ends.”

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) or GPS jamming tools used by Iran are likely to be domestically produced or made with equipment sourced from Russia or China, says Thomas Withington, associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a think tank. He also suggests that US forces in the region are using jamming systems to protect their bases, personnel and vessels from drones and GNSS-guided weapons.

Joseph Jarnecki, research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, argues that these states are unlikely to reverse their AI drive completely. “The underlying incentives pushing the build-out of data centres in the Gulf remain for now,” he says.