This handout photo released by Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)'s official website Sepanews, Monday, shows a boat firing a missile during a military exercise by members of the IRGC and navy in the Gulf. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Monday began a series of military exercises in the Strait of Hormuz, state media reported, on the eve of talks with the United States. AFP PHOTO / HO / SEPAHNEWS-Yonhap
GENEVA — Iran says it temporarily closed parts of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf. The move came as semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported live fire exercises in the vital waterway, through which 20 percent of the world's oil passes.
The move is a rare, perhaps unprecedented shutdown of the strait, a signal from Iran of the potential fallout to the world economy if the United States goes through with threats to attack it as tensions mount between the two countries.
In past times of tension and conflict, Iran has at times harassed shipping though the narrows, and during the 1980s' Iran-Iraq war, both sides attacked tankers and other vessels, using naval mines to completely shut down traffic at points. But Iran has not carried out repeated threats to close the waterway altogether since the 1980s, even during last year's 12-day war when Israel and the U.S. bombarded Iran's key nuclear and military sites.
The extent and impact of Tuesday's closure were not immediately known. Iranian media said it would be for several hours for “safety and maritime concerns.”
The U.S. military’s Central Command did not immediately comment on the closure or Iran's live fire drills. But during Iranian military exercises in the strait and nearby waters several weeks ago, it warned Tehran that any “unsafe and unprofessional behavior near U.S. forces, regional partners or commercial vessels increases risks of collision, escalation and destabilization.”
Here’s what to know about the strait, the drill, what caused the tensions and what might happen next.
The Strait of Hormuz is a bending waterway, about 33 kilometers (21 miles) wide at its narrowest point. It connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman. From there, ships can then travel to the rest of the world. While Iran and Oman have their territorial waters in the strait, it's viewed as an international waterway all ships can ply. The United Arab Emirates, home to the skyscraper-studded city of Dubai, also sits near the waterway.
The Strait of Hormuz through history has been important for trade, with ceramics, ivory, silk and textiles moving from China through the region. In the modern era, it is the route for supertankers carrying oil and gas from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE and Iran. The vast majority of it goes to markets in Asia, including Iran's only remaining oil customer, China.
While there are pipelines in Saudi Arabia and the UAE that can avoid the passage, the U.S. Energy Information Administration says “most volumes that transit the strait have no alternative means of exiting the region.”
Source: Korea Times News
