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Tehran’s Milad Tower, the tallest operation successful Iran, stands arsenic a awesome of the revolutionary state’s engineering ambitions. Rising 435 metres, including its 120-metre antenna, the tower’s octagonal factual shaft joins a pod with 12 floors lodging reflection decks, a cafe, and a museum. Above it, the antenna pierces Tehran’s smoggy skyline. From the platform of the 12th floor, the highest constituent accessible to visitors, 1 tin instrumentality successful the immense sprawl of the city, made the superior of the Persian Empire successful the precocious 18th period by Agha Muhammad Khan, laminitis of the Qajar dynasty. To the northbound emergence the Alborz mountains, the earthy obstruction separating the Iranian plateau from the Caspian Sea.
Inside the museum, a ample 18th-century representation of the Gulf drawn by a French cartographer is connected display. “You whitethorn person heard immoderate countries telephone the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf today,” a section question adjunct told this writer during a sojourn successful February 2022. “Look astatine this representation and scope your ain conclusions.” A young woman, who described herself arsenic “a immense fan” of Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, the adjunct pointed to the rima of the Gulf connected the map. “This is the Strait of Hormuz,” she said. “This is the gross of the Persian Gulf. And the Iranians clasp its key.” It is this geographical cardinal that Iran utilized to efficaciously unopen the strait aft coming nether attack by the U.S. and Israel connected February 28.
The strait is simply a constrictive corridor, 50 km wide astatine its entranceway and exit, connecting the Persian Gulf waters to the Gulf of Oman, which joins the Arabian Sea. At its narrowest point, betwixt Iran successful the northbound and Oman’s Musandam Peninsula successful the southbound — an exclave separated from mainland Oman by UAE territory — the waterway is conscionable 33 km wide, which means it falls wrong the overlapping territorial waters of Iran and Oman (up to 12 nautical miles, oregon 22 km, from their coasts).
As the lone gateway to the precocious seas from the Persian Gulf, the Hormuz Strait has remained 1 of the world’s astir important waterways for centuries. In modern times, abstracted shipping lanes, arsenic wide arsenic 2 nautical miles, person been marked for inbound and outbound vessels. There is simply a buffer portion of astir 2 nautical miles betwixt the shipping lanes. So the tankers carrying substance and state typically navigated highly constrained waters adjacent earlier the war.
In the 1980s, during the eight-year Iran-Iraq war, some sides targeted substance tankers successful the Persian Gulf, efficaciously weaponising the waters. In caller years, Iran has repeatedly warned that it would adjacent the waterway if it came nether attack. There are 8 large islands successful the strait, 7 of which are controlled by Iran. Islands specified arsenic Qeshm, Hormuz, Larak, and Abu Musa beryllium person to the shipping lanes, giving Iran a commanding carnal vantage implicit the route. The ownership of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb islands is contested betwixt Iran and the UAE, but they are de facto controlled and administered by Tehran. Since the 1970s, Iran has maintained a subject beingness connected the islands.
Strategic significance
The strait’s strategical value grew aft the lipid discoveries successful the Persian Gulf portion successful the aboriginal 20th century. The post-War lipid roar transformed the full region. All Persian Gulf countries — Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait — person been much oregon little babelike connected the strait to get entree to the Arabian Sea. While Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Oman person ports extracurricular the Gulf waters, others are afloat babelike connected Hormuz.
During 2023-25, 20% of the world’s liquefied earthy state (LNG) and 25% of seaborne lipid passed done the strait. In 2025 alone, 20 cardinal barrels of lipid and lipid products passed done this way each day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. About 3,000 ships sailed done the strait each period earlier the war. Hormuz is besides a cardinal way for exports of fertilizer from the region, and Gulf countries import food, medicines and tech products done this route.
In June 2025, erstwhile Israel bombed Iran, Tehran’s effect was mostly constricted to striking backmost astatine Israel. After the U.S. joined the warfare and attacked Iran’s atomic facilities, Tehran carried retired a token onslaught connected the American basal successful Qatar and agreed to a ceasefire. The 12-Day War, arsenic it’s known, did not airs immoderate nonstop menace to postulation done the Strait of Hormuz. But successful aboriginal 2026, erstwhile the U.S. was mobilising forces successful the portion amid threats of different war, Iran had warned that it would retaliate by striking American bases and shutting down the strait. The U.S. and Israel started the warfare connected February 28 by assassinating Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Iran responded by doing what it had vowed to do. It retaliated by attacking Israel and Arab countries successful the Gulf. And it took power of the strait. The fig of ships passing done the strait daily, which was much than 100 earlier the war, fell by implicit 90%.
During the 40 days of bombing, the U.S. and Israel caused immense worldly harm to Iran. Its aerial and naval infrastructure has been repeatedly hit. But specified attacks weren’t capable to unit Iran, which utilized asymmetric warfare to weaponise the waters, to reopen the strait. Iran utilized cheap, disruptive weapons to enforce disproportionate costs connected the vessels that ignored its restrictions. Several ships that sought to walk the strait without the IRGC’s support came nether attack. Fuel prices started rising. Insurance and shipping costs soared. Energy-import-dependent economies, peculiarly India, were deed hard.
Contested terms
When U.S. President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire with Iran connected April 8, helium said Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The truce came into effect, but some sides differed connected its terms. Iran demanded a ceasefire successful Lebanon arsenic well, but Israel really stepped up the bombing of Lebanon. Mr. Trump aboriginal announced a ceasefire successful Lebanon and “prevented” Israel from bombing the state — but the bombing run continued. When Iran refused to reopen the strait, Mr. Trump, connected April 12, announced a blockade of Iranian ports. He said nary Iranian ships would beryllium allowed to walk done the American blockade successful the Gulf of Oman. In response, Iran cancelled nonstop negotiations with the U.S., and pushed the atomic record down its precedence list.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly said that helium was adjacent to reaching a woody with Iran. He wants Iran to reopen the Strait successful instrumentality for the lifting of the U.S. blockade. And Iran should wantonness its atomic programme. Iran, connected its side, has established a caller body, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, to negociate postulation done and support the Hormuz Strait, defying Mr. Trump’s demands. The PGSA has introduced a caller email-based licence strategy for vessels and says each ships passing done the Strait should coordinate with the agency. Result: a diplomatic logjam.
One of Mr. Trump’s cardinal demands for a woody contiguous is that Iran should reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which was afloat unfastened earlier Mr. Trump and his state Benjamin Netanyahu launched this warfare connected February 28.
