The Strait of Hormuz - the eternal zone of conflict

The Strait of Hormuz connects the two gulfs - Omani and Persian, therefore it is a strategically important object. His northern coast is owned by Iran, and southern by Oman and the United Arab Emirates. In the strait there are two transport channels 2.5 km wide, and between them - a buffer zone five kilometers wide. The Strait of Hormuz is the only waterway through which Arabian gas and oil can be exported to third countries, for example, in the USA.

Etymology

Its name was received from the island of Ormuz, and the island, in turn, has three variants of the origin of the name. The first - in honor of the Persian god Ormuzd, and the second - from the Persian word, in the translation meaning "date palm". And the third option - a local dialect, called "churmoz".

Loud events

Operation Mantis

On April 18, 1988, during the war between Iran and Iraq, the US Navy conducted an operation in which the Persian and Hormuz Gulfs were involved. It became a response to the bombing of an American ship on Iranian mines. As a result, the Sahand frigate and several small ships were sunk.

Air crash

On July 3, 1988, US troops shot down an Iranian passenger plane, which killed nearly three hundred people. There are many versions about this event, and, undoubtedly, this is one of the bloodiest tragedies in the history of aviation.

The American-Iranian incident

On January 6, 2008, several patrol Iranian boats approached a distance of less than two hundred meters to the vessels of the US Navy, which, according to the command, were at that time in international waters. Subsequently, one of the captains of American ships was given a record, indicating that the boats threatened to open fire on US vessels. To this Iran published its record, which was attended only by ordinary radio exchange.

The threat of Iran blocking the channel

On December 28, 2011, Muhammad Reza Rahimi expressed his sharp dissatisfaction with the economic sanctions that the US wanted to introduce. He said that in the event of any pressure from America, the supply of oil through the Strait of Hormuz will be blocked, and in fact through it passes a fifth of all oil supplies.

In the US, they considered it as empty threats, without attaching any importance to the words of the Iranian vice-president. George Little, a representative of the Pentagon, said that the Strait of Hormuz is significant not only for them, but also for Iran itself. The American fleet expressed full combat readiness for possible actions at sea. Thus, if Iran still decides to block the strait, the US will immediately take forceful measures in this regard. America believes that Iran has no right to close this sea route, since this is a direct violation of international law, which it will not tolerate.

Despite the military spirit of the States, the geographic features of the strait make it more difficult for military activity in this region: it is rather narrow, so fast and small Iranian boats have an advantage over heavyweight American ships. Therefore, the US found another solution to the problem: cooperation with the neighboring countries of Iran for the purpose of redirecting oil by land without the participation of the Strait of Hormuz.