Strait of Hormuz

The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow passage connecting the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman, between Iran and the Musandam Peninsula. It is a major route for global oil and gas shipments.

Oil transit chokepoints: Narrow maritime passages whose disruption can constrain international oil shipments. Hormuz is among the most consequential passages for oil transit.
Traffic Separation Scheme: A routing system that separates opposing streams of ships into designated lanes. The scheme organizes commercial traffic through the strait’s constrained waters.
Persian Gulf: A shallow marginal sea of the Indian Ocean bordered by Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Hormuz connects this enclosed gulf to the open ocean.
Iran–Iraq War: A war between Iran and Iraq fought from 1980 to 1988. Its later years brought attacks on Gulf shipping near the strait.
Bab-el-Mandeb: A strait connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden between Yemen and Djibouti and Eritrea. It is another vulnerable maritime chokepoint, but serves the Red Sea route.
Liquefied natural gas: Natural gas cooled into liquid form for storage and transport by ship. Qatar’s LNG exports pass through the strait en route to global markets.
Musandam Peninsula: A mountainous peninsula belonging to Oman that projects into the Strait of Hormuz. Its shores form the southern side of the passage’s narrowest section.
Gulf of Oman: A gulf linking the Arabian Sea with the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf. It forms the strait’s eastern seaward approach.
Operation Praying Mantis: A 1988 United States naval operation against Iranian forces in the Persian Gulf. It followed an Iranian mine damaging a U.S. warship near Hormuz.
Suez Canal: An artificial waterway in Egypt connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea. Unlike Hormuz, it is a constructed canal on a route between Europe and Asia.

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