What to know about the Strait of Hormuz as Iran imposes closure
Iran said it temporarily closed parts of the Strait of Hormuz while it ran military drills that included live fire, drawing attention to a maritime passage that links the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and helps move global energy. The closure, reported by Iran and related media outlets, was described as being for safety and maritime concerns, while the scope and impact were not immediately clear.
The Associated Press reported that the announcement came as semiofficial Iranian news agencies said live-fire exercises were taking place in the waterway. Iran’s action was characterized as a rare, perhaps unprecedented shutdown of the strait, with the implication that it could affect the global economy if the United States proceeds with threats to attack amid intensifying U.S.-Iran tensions.
The Strait of Hormuz sits near the United Arab Emirates, including near Dubai, and is viewed as an international waterway that ships can use. It is about 33 kilometers (21 miles) wide at its narrowest point, and it bends as it runs from the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, where ships can travel to broader markets. In the strait, Iran and Oman have territorial waters, but the overall route is treated as a key transit chokepoint for international shipping.
In modern times, the strait’s role centers on supertankers moving oil and gas. The AP report said most volumes transiting the strait have no alternative means of exiting the region, citing the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and that the majority of shipments go to markets in Asia, including China, which the report said remains Iran’s only remaining oil customer.
The AP also placed Iran’s closure within a broader pattern of maritime risk during past conflicts and tensions. It noted that in earlier periods Iran had harassed shipping through the narrows, and during the 1980s’ Iran-Iraq war both sides attacked tankers and other vessels, including with naval mines that could completely shut down traffic at points. The report said Iran had not carried out repeated threats to close the waterway altogether since the 1980s, including during last year’s 12-day war when Israel and the U.S. bombarded Iran’s nuclear and military sites.
The immediate lead-up involved military activity and warnings. The AP report said that with the U.S. threatening to strike amid anti-government protests that erupted in late December and January, Iran held a live-fire military drill in the Strait of Hormuz in early February and warned ships of the drill at the time but did close the passage. It also said that on Feb. 4 tensions rose after a U.S. Navy fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone approaching the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea, and after the U.S. military reported that Iran harassed a U.S.-flagged merchant vessel sailing in the strait.
On Monday, Iran announced a drill called “Smart Control of the Strait of Hormuz” and warned mariners by radio that it planned “live surface firing.” The AP report said the semiofficial Tasnim news agency, which is close to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, reported live missile tests Tuesday morning, saying missiles launched from inside Iran and along its coast struck targets in the Strait of Hormuz.
The report said the U.S. military’s Central Command did not immediately comment on the closure or Iran’s live-fire drills. But it said CENTCOM had previously said Iran has a “right to operate professionally in international airspace and waters,” while warning against unsafe and unprofessional behavior near U.S. forces, regional partners, or commercial vessels because it increases risks of collision, escalation and destabilization.
The closure and drills unfolded amid broader U.S.-Iran confrontation as negotiations continued in parallel. The AP reported that U.S. President Donald Trump initially threatened a military strike after Iran’s bloody crackdown on protests last month, then shifted to threatening attack to pressure Tehran to make a deal over its nuclear program. It said the two sides held a new round of indirect nuclear negotiations in Geneva on Tuesday.
The Associated Press also reported that USS Abraham Lincoln and supporting guided missile destroyers had been in the Arabian Sea for several weeks, and said Trump on Friday said the USS Gerald R. Ford, described as the world’s largest aircraft carrier, was being sent from the Caribbean to the Mideast to join other assets in the region. It added that Iran had warned it could launch a preemptive strike or target American interests across the Middle East and Israel.
Iran’s senior leadership issued a sharp warning as the strait-related actions unfolded. The AP report said 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,” adding that Iranian state TV reported him also saying that while a warship is dangerous, more dangerous is the weapon that can sink a warship into the depths of the sea.