During the 1970s, neither Iran or Oman attempted to impede the passage of warships through the strait, but in the 1980s, both countries asserted claims that were different from customary (old) law.
In July 1972, Oman also expanded its territorial sea to by decree.
However, since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, a significant part of Iran’s military spending has been allocated to the asymmetric warfare approach of its naval capabilities, the anti-access/ anti-denial (A2/AD) systems.
During the 1970s, neither Iran or Oman attempted to impede the passage of warships through the strait, but in the 1980s, both countries asserted claims that were different from customary (old) law.
(2) Harassment of tanker traffic and damage to infrastructure, as was seen in the Iran–Iraq war in the 1980s.
Upon ratifying UNCLOS in August 1989, Oman submitted declarations confirming its 1981 royal decree that only innocent passage is permitted through its territorial sea.
Upon signing the convention in December 1982, Iran entered a declaration stating "that only states parties to the Law of the Sea Convention shall be entitled to benefit from the contractual rights created therein", including "the right of transit passage through straits used for international navigation".
In 2018 alone, 21 million barrels a day were passing through the strait - this means $1.17 billion worth of oil a day, at September 2019 prices. ==Events== ===Tanker War=== The Tanker War phase of the Iran–Iraq War started when Iraq attacked the oil terminal and oil tankers at Iran's Kharg Island in early 1984.
Iran limited the retaliatory attacks to Iraqi shipping, leaving the strait open. === Operation Praying Mantis === On 18 April 1988, the U.S.
Roberts striking a mine laid in the channel by Iran on 14 April 1988.
Upon ratifying UNCLOS in August 1989, Oman submitted declarations confirming its 1981 royal decree that only innocent passage is permitted through its territorial sea.
In May 1993, Iran enacted a comprehensive law on maritime areas, several provisions of which conflict with UNCLOS provisions, including a requirement that warships, submarines, and nuclear-powered ships obtain permission before exercising innocent passage through Iran's territorial waters.The United States does not recognize any of the claims by Oman and Iran and has contested each of them. Oman has a radar site Link Quality Indicator (LQI) to monitor the TSS in the Strait of Hormuz.
Most notably, this includes the United States Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain, and the Al Udeid Air Base, housing troops from the United States Air Force ==Alternative shipping routes== In June 2012, Saudi Arabia reopened the Iraq Pipeline through Saudi Arabia (IPSA), which was confiscated from Iraq in 2001 and travels from Iraq across Saudi Arabia to a Red Sea port.
(3) Continue threats of Strait closure in response to U.S sanctions, or conduct more naval exercises, displaying Iranian naval capabilities. ==Ability of Iran to hinder shipping== Millennium Challenge 2002 was a major war game exercise conducted by the United States armed forces in 2002.
The US Navy sent aircraft and a destroyer, USS Farragut, to monitor the situation. Maersk says they have agreed to pay an Iranian company $163,000 over a dispute about 10 container boxes transported to Dubai in 2005.
This site is on a small island on the peak of Musandam Governorate. ==Oil trade flow== A 2007 report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies also stated that 17 million barrels passed out of the Persian Gulf daily, but that oil flows through the Strait accounted for roughly 40% of all world-traded oil. According to the U.S.
warships in the Strait of Hormuz occurred in December 2007 and January 2008.
There were no injuries, and no oil leaked from the tanker. ===Tensions in 2008=== ====2008 U.S.–Iranian naval dispute==== A series of naval stand-offs between Iranian speedboats and U.S.
warships in the Strait of Hormuz occurred in December 2007 and January 2008.
On 14 January 2008, U.S.
The Navy's regional commander, Vice Admiral Kevin Cosgriff, said the Iranians had "neither anti-ship missiles nor torpedoes" and he "wouldn't characterize the posture of the US 5th Fleet as afraid of these small boats". ====Iranian defence policy==== On 29 June 2008, the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Mohammad Ali Jafari, said that if either Israel or the United States attacked Iran, it would seal off the Strait of Hormuz to wreak havoc in the oil markets.
would not allow Iran to hold hostage nearly a third of the world's oil supply. On 8 July 2008, Ali Shirazi, a mid-level clerical aide to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was quoted by the student news agency ISNA as telling the Revolutionary Guards, "The Zionist regime is pressuring White House officials to attack Iran.
shipping in the Persian Gulf will be Iran's first targets and they will be burned." ====Naval activity in 2008==== In the last week of July 2008, in the Operation Brimstone, dozens of U.S.
and foreign naval ships came to undergo joint exercises for possible military activity in the shallow waters off the coast of Iran. As of 11 August 2008, more than 40 U.S.
The ship, Hankuk Chemi, was headed to the UAE port Fujairah after loading oil from Jubail, Saudi Arabia on 2 January 2021, as per ship-tracking data gathered by Bloomberg. ==Iranian threats of Strait closure== Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz on multiple occasions, most notably in 2008, 2012, 2018 and 2019.
In the article, Iran's strategy beats the materially superior US armed forces. A 2008 article in International Security contended that Iran could seal off or impede traffic in the Strait for a month, and an attempt by the U.S.
carrier battle group from Japan would complement the two which are already in the Persian Gulf, for a total of five battle groups, not including the submarines. ===Collision between USS Hartford and USS New Orleans=== On 20 March 2009, United States Navy collided with the in the strait.
Energy Information Administration, in 2011, an average of 14 tankers per day passed out of the Persian Gulf through the Strait carrying of crude oil.
The collision, which slightly injured 15 sailors aboard Hartford, ruptured a fuel tank aboard New Orleans, spilling of marine diesel fuel. ===U.S.–Iran tensions in 2011–2012=== On 27 December 2011, Iranian Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi threatened to cut off oil supply from the Strait of Hormuz should economic sanctions limit, or cut off, Iranian oil exports.
Pressure on prices reflect a combination of uncertainty driven further by China's recent response – reducing oil January 2012 purchases from Iran by 50% compared to those made in 2011. The U.S.
In a later issue, however, the journal published a response which questioned some key assumptions and suggested a much shorter timeline for re-opening. In December 2011, Iran's navy began a ten-day exercise in international waters along the strait.
The Iranian Navy Commander, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, stated that the strait would not be closed during the exercise; Iranian forces could easily accomplish that but such a decision must be made at a political level. Captain John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, was quoted in a December 2011 Reuters article: "Efforts to increase tension in that part of the world are unhelpful and counter-productive.
hardware in the area". On 3 January 2012, Iran threatened to take action if the U.S.
Pressure on prices reflect a combination of uncertainty driven further by China's recent response – reducing oil January 2012 purchases from Iran by 50% compared to those made in 2011. The U.S.
Further pressure on Iranian currency was added by French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé who was quoted as calling for more "strict sanctions" and urged EU countries to follow the US in freezing Iranian central bank assets and imposing an embargo on oil exports. On 7 January 2012, the British government announced that it would be sending the Type 45 destroyer to the Persian Gulf.
The British Government however have said that this move has been long-planned, as Daring will replace another Armilla patrol frigate. On 9 January 2012, Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi denied that Iran had ever claimed that it would close the Strait of Hormuz, saying that "the Islamic Republic of Iran is the most important provider of security in the strait...
if one threatens the security of the Persian Gulf, then all are threatened." The Iranian Foreign Ministry confirmed on 16 January 2012 that it has received a letter from the United States concerning the Strait of Hormuz, "via three different channels." Authorities were considering whether to reply, although the contents of the letter were not divulged.
The ship, Hankuk Chemi, was headed to the UAE port Fujairah after loading oil from Jubail, Saudi Arabia on 2 January 2021, as per ship-tracking data gathered by Bloomberg. ==Iranian threats of Strait closure== Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz on multiple occasions, most notably in 2008, 2012, 2018 and 2019.
According to a 2012 article in The Christian Science Monitor, it simulated an attempt by Iran to close the strait.
Most notably, this includes the United States Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain, and the Al Udeid Air Base, housing troops from the United States Air Force ==Alternative shipping routes== In June 2012, Saudi Arabia reopened the Iraq Pipeline through Saudi Arabia (IPSA), which was confiscated from Iraq in 2001 and travels from Iraq across Saudi Arabia to a Red Sea port.
It will have a capacity of 1.65 million barrels per day. In July 2012, the UAE began using the new Habshan–Fujairah oil pipeline from the Habshan fields in Abu Dhabi to the Fujairah oil terminal on the Gulf of Oman, effectively bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.
It has a maximum capacity of around 2 million barrels per day, over three-quarters of the UAE's 2012 production rate.
The Habshan – Fujairah route secures the UAE's energy security and has the advantage of being a ground oil pipeline transportation which is considered the cheapest form of oil transportation and also reduces insurance costs as oil tankers would no longer enter the Persian Gulf. In a July 2012 Foreign Policy article, Gal Luft compared Iran and the Strait of Hormuz to the Ottoman Empire and the Dardanelles, a choke point for shipments of Russian grain a century ago.
In 2016, it was assessed that Iran’s military strength was weak, even compared to regional rivals.
In 2018 alone, 21 million barrels a day were passing through the strait - this means $1.17 billion worth of oil a day, at September 2019 prices. ==Events== ===Tanker War=== The Tanker War phase of the Iran–Iraq War started when Iraq attacked the oil terminal and oil tankers at Iran's Kharg Island in early 1984.
The court ruling allegedly ordered a fine of $3.6 million. ===2018 threats of strait closure=== In July 2018, Iran again made threats to close the strait.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards reported they were ready to carry out the action if required. In August 2018, Iran test-fired a ballistic missile for the first time in 2018.
The ship, Hankuk Chemi, was headed to the UAE port Fujairah after loading oil from Jubail, Saudi Arabia on 2 January 2021, as per ship-tracking data gathered by Bloomberg. ==Iranian threats of Strait closure== Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz on multiple occasions, most notably in 2008, 2012, 2018 and 2019.
In 2018 alone, 21 million barrels a day were passing through the strait - this means $1.17 billion worth of oil a day, at September 2019 prices. ==Events== ===Tanker War=== The Tanker War phase of the Iran–Iraq War started when Iraq attacked the oil terminal and oil tankers at Iran's Kharg Island in early 1984.
official describing the launch, who like the others requested anonymity to discuss sensitive information. ===2019 threats of strait closure=== On 22 April 2019, the U.S.
Again, this had implication playing out in the Strait of Hormuz, as Iranian threats of Strait closure was put forward in April 2019. Aljazeera quoted Major-General Mohammad Baqeri of the Iranian Armed Forces, stating "We are not after closing the Strait of Hormuz but if the hostility of the enemies increases, we will be able to do so".
Baqeri is also quoted for stating "If our oil does not pass, the oil of others shall not pass the Strait of Hormuz either". === 2019 U.S.–Iran tensions and attacks on oil tankers === On the morning of 13 June 2019, the oil tankers Front Altair and Kokuka Courageous were both rocked by explosions shortly before dawn, the crew of the latter reported seeing a flying object strike the ship; the crew were rescued by the destroyer while the crew of the Front Altair were rescued by Iranian ships.
Iran subsequently denied the accusations, calling the incident a false-flag attack. In July 2019, a Stena Bulk Tanker, Stena Impero, sailing under a British flag, was boarded and captured by Iranian forces.
The ship, Hankuk Chemi, was headed to the UAE port Fujairah after loading oil from Jubail, Saudi Arabia on 2 January 2021, as per ship-tracking data gathered by Bloomberg. ==Iranian threats of Strait closure== Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz on multiple occasions, most notably in 2008, 2012, 2018 and 2019.
The spokesman for Iran's Guardian Council, Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, was quoted as describing the seizure as a "reciprocal action." This was presumed to be in reference to the seizure of an Iranian Tanker, Grace 1, bound for Syria in Gibraltar a few days prior. In 2020, France deployed about 600 troops at sea and in the air under the CTF474 to protect maritime trade, regional business, and to ease local tensions.
The ship, Hankuk Chemi, was headed to the UAE port Fujairah after loading oil from Jubail, Saudi Arabia on 2 January 2021, as per ship-tracking data gathered by Bloomberg. ==Iranian threats of Strait closure== Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz on multiple occasions, most notably in 2008, 2012, 2018 and 2019.
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