What is the Strait of Hormuz, can it be treated in the Israeli conflict Iran? | International Trade News

explainer

The Iranian legislator says that Tehran is considering closing the waterway, described as “the most important in the world about the transit of planet.”

Iran is studying a closure Hermoz StraitThe Iranian News Agency, IRINN, said, citing the main conservative legislator, Esmail Kosari, with the intensification of the conflict with Israel.

This step will send oil prices to the rise and risk of expanding the war. So what is the strategic waterway and why is it vital for global trade?

Hermoz is the only sea entrance in the Persian Gulf. It divides Iran on one side and Oman the United Arab Emirates on the other hand, and links the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea in the Indian Ocean.

According to the US Energy Information Department, about 20 percent of global oil consumption flows across the strait, which is the agency Describe As “the most important point of transit of oil in the world”. In the narrowest point, its width is 33 km (21 miles), but the freight corridors in the waterway are narrower, making it vulnerable to attacks and threats to close them.

During the conflict of Iran and Iraq between 1980 and 1988, which killed hundreds of thousands of both sides, both countries targeted commercial ships in the Gulf in what became known as the carrier war, but Hormuz was not completely closed.

Recently, in 2019, four ships They were attacked Near the strait off the coast of Fujira, the United Arab Emirates, amid increasing tensions between Iran and the United States during Donald Trump’s first presidency. Washington blamed Tehran in the accident, but Iran denied these allegations.

Long a while ago, the attacking corridors have been used to push pressure in the conflict. Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, the Houthis have been in Yemen Attacking About the Bab Al -Mandeeb Strait, the entrance to the Red Sea on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula.

While the Houthi campaign affected world trade, ships can avoid the Red Sea by sailing all over Africa – a longer but safer journey. However, there is no way to charge anything by the sea outside the Gulf without passing through Hormuz.

Even countries that do not import gasoline from the Gulf countries will be affected if the strait is closed because a significant decrease in the supply would rise the price of the barrel in the global market.

Despite the threat of the Iranian legislator, it is unclear whether Iran has the ability or willingness to close the strait.

Certainly, such a move will require revenge on the United States, which has naval military assets in the region.

After Israel launched a wave of attacks throughout Iran early on Friday, it targeted military leaders, residential buildings, army bases and nuclear sites, Iran responded with hundreds of ballistic missiles.

Although the United States helped to shoot down Iranian missiles, Washington did not attack Iran directly. US officials confirmed that Washington did not participate in Israeli strikes.

Tehran did not target American forces or interests in the region as well.

However, the closure of Hermoz will strike the Americans in the wallet and can provoke a military response from Trump.

While the Iranian move against the strait may not be imminent, Kusari’s comments confirm that attacking the shipping corridors is a card that Tehran may play in hostilities.

in April 2024The Iranian armed forces seized a container ship near the Strait of Hormuz amid increasing tensions throughout the region after a fatal Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria. A limited Iranian blow to Israel was followed in response to an Israeli in Iran. At that time, they were the most dangerous direct military exchanges between opponents.