The role of the Strait of Hormuz in global trade - How could its blockage affect oil supplies?
Iran's IRINN news agency reported that Iran is considering closing the Strait of Hormuz as the conflict with Israel intensifies. The move would raise oil prices and risk escalating the war. But what exactly is this strategic waterway and why is it vital to global trade?
The Strait of Hormuz is the only sea entrance to the Persian Gulf. It separates Iran on one side and Oman and the United Arab Emirates on the other, and connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea in the Indian Ocean.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, about 20 percent of global oil consumption flows through the strait, which the agency describes as “the world’s most important oil transit point.” At its narrowest, it is 20 miles (33 km) wide, but the shipping lanes in this waterway are even narrower, making them vulnerable to attacks and threats of blockade.
During the Iran-Iraq conflict between 1980 and 1988, which killed hundreds of thousands of people on both sides, both countries targeted merchant ships in the Persian Gulf, but the Strait of Hormuz was never completely closed.
In 2019, four ships were attacked near the strait off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, amid high tensions between Iran and the United States during Donald Trump's first presidency. Washington blamed Tehran for the incident, but Iran denied the allegations.
Attacking shipping lanes has long been used to exert pressure during conflicts. Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, Yemen's Houthis have attacked shipping around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea, on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula.
Even countries that do not import oil from the Persian Gulf countries would be affected if the strait were closed, because a major drop in supply would increase the price per barrel on the global market.
After Israel launched a wave of attacks across Iran, targeting military leaders, residential buildings, military bases and nuclear power plants, Tehran responded with hundreds of ballistic missiles.
In April 2024, Iranian armed forces seized a container ship near the Strait of Hormuz. This followed a deadly Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria. A limited Iranian attack on Israel was followed by an Israeli attack on Tehran. At the time, these were the most serious direct military exchanges between the two enemies.
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