The Strait of Hormuz

by Biodun Iginla, BBC News, Ventimiglia, Italy

The Strait of Hormuz (/hɔːrˈmuːz/ Persian: تنگه هرمز‎ Tangeh-ye Hormoz listen (help·info) Arabic: مَضيق هُرمُز‎‎ Maḍīq Hurmuz ) is a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean and is one of the world's most strategically important choke points.^[1] On the north coast lies Iran, and on the south coast the United Arab Emirates and Musandam, an exclave of Oman. The strait is about 90 nautical miles (167 km) long, with a width varying from about 52 nautical miles (96 km) to 21 nautical miles (39 km).^[2][3]

A third of the world’s liquefied natural gas and almost 20% of total global oil consumption passes through the strait, making it a highly important strategic location for international trade.^[3][4

The opening to the Persian Gulf was described, but not given a name, in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a 1st-century mariner's guide:

At the upper end of these Calaei islands is a range of mountains called Calon, and there follows not far beyond, the mouth of the Persian Gulf, where there is much diving for the pearl-mussel. To the left of the straits are great mountains called Asabon and to the right there rises in full view another round and high mountain called Semiramis; between them the passage across the strait is about six hundred stadia; beyond which that very great and broad sea, the Persian Gulf, reaches far into the interior. At the upper end of this gulf there is a market-town designated by law called Apologus, situated near Charaex Spasini and the River Euphrates.

— Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, Chapter 35

In the 10th–17th centuries AD, the Kingdom of Ormus, which seems to have given the strait its name, was located here. Scholars, historians and linguists derive the name "Ormuz" from the local Persian word هورمغ Hur-mogh meaning date palm.^{[5][dubious – discuss]} In the local dialects of Hurmoz and Minab this strait is still called Hurmogh and has the aforementioned meaning.^{[citation needed]} The resemblance of this word with the name of the Zoroastrian god هرمز Hormoz (a variant of Ahura Mazda) has resulted in the popular belief^{[citation needed][neutrality is disputed]} that these words are related.

On the morning of June 13, 2019, the oil tankers Front Altair and Kokuka Courageous were both rocked by explosions shortly before dawn, the crew of the latter reported seeing a flying object strike the ship; the crew were rescued by the destroyer USS Bainbridge while the crew of the Front Altair were rescued by Iranian ships. That afternoon, secretary of state Mike Pompeo issued a statement accusing Iran of the attacks. Iran subsequently denied the accusations, calling the incident a false-flag attack.^[40]

In July 2019, a Stena Bulk Tanker, Stena Impero, sailing under a British flag, was boarded and captured by Iranian forces. It was revealed that it was in retaliation of the seizure of an Iranian Tanker, Grace 1, bound for Syria in Gibraltar a few days prior.