Iran announced a temporary closure of sections of the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic gateway to the Persian Gulf. Semiofficial Iranian news outlets reported live-fire drills taking place in the waterway, which handles about 20% of global oil shipments, as reported by Associated Press.
This rare, and possibly unprecedented, shutdown serves as a warning from Iran about the potential global economic consequences if the United States follows through on threats of military action amid rising tensions between the two nations.
In previous periods of tension, Iran has occasionally disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. During the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, both nations targeted tankers and other vessels, even using naval mines to temporarily halt traffic entirely.
However, Iran has not followed through on repeated threats to fully close the strait since the 1980s, including during last year’s 12-day conflict when Israel and the U.S. struck Iran’s major nuclear and military facilities, AP reported.
Here’s what to know about the strait, the drill, what caused the tensions and what might happen next.
The Strait of Hormuz is a winding channel, narrowing to roughly 33 kilometres (21 miles) at its tightest point, linking the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman.
From there, vessels can reach global shipping routes. Although Iran and Oman control portions of the strait’s waters, it is generally considered an international passage open to all ships. Nearby, the United Arab Emirates—home to the towering, skyline-filled city of Dubai—lies close to this strategic waterway, AP reported.
The strait long has been important for trade
Throughout history, the Strait of Hormuz has been a crucial trade route, facilitating the movement of goods like ceramics, ivory, silk, and textiles from China.
Today, it serves as a key passage for supertankers transporting oil and gas from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, and Iran. Most of this energy flows to Asian markets, including China, which remains Iran’s sole significant oil customer.
While there are pipelines in Saudi Arabia and the UAE that can avoid the passage, the U.S. Energy Information Administration says “most volumes that transit the strait have no alternative means of exiting the region.”
Threats to the route have spiked global energy prices in the past, including during the Israel-Iran war in June.
Iran drill includes live fire
Amid widespread anti-government protests that began in late December and January, and with the U.S. threatening military action, Iran conducted a live-fire exercise in the Strait of Hormuz in early February. The country issued warnings to ships about the drill but did not shut down the waterway.
On Feb. 4, tensions between the Iranian and U.S. navies rose further after a U.S. Navy fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that was approaching the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea. Iran also harassed a U.S.-flagged and U.S.-crewed merchant vessel that was sailing in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. military reported.
On Monday, Iran announced its new drill, dubbed, “Smart Control of the Strait of Hormuz” military drill. Mariners in the region were warned by radio that it planned “live surface firing.”
US CENTCOM has previously said Iran has a “right to operate professionally in international airspace and waters,” but it warned against interfering or threatening American warships or passing commercial vessels. The command, which oversees the U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said it would not tolerate actions such as Iranian aircraft or vessels getting too close to American warships or pointing weapons toward them.
Iran’s Supreme leader issues sharp threat to U.S.
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have escalated in recent weeks. U.S. President Donald Trump first threatened military action in response to Iran’s harsh crackdown on last month’s protests, then shifted his focus to using the threat of attack to pressure Tehran into negotiating over its nuclear program.
The two countries held a new round of indirect nuclear talks in Geneva on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, along with supporting guided-missile destroyers, has been stationed in the Arabian Sea for several weeks, ready to strike if ordered.
On Friday, Trump announced that the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, was being sent from the Caribbean to join the U.S. military buildup in the region.
Iran has warned it could launch its own preemptive strike or target American interests across the Middle East and Israel. While the 12-day war saw Iran fire off ballistic missiles and Israel target its stockpile, Tehran maintains an arsenal of short- and medium-range missiles that could hit surrounding Gulf Arab states.
On Tuesday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned the U.S that “the strongest army in the world might sometimes receive such a slap that it cannot get back on its feet.”
“Of course a warship is a dangerous apparatus, but more dangerous than the warship is the weapon that can sink the warship into the depths of the sea,” Khamenei said, Iranian state TV reported.
(With inputs from AP)
