Israel launched strikes on Iran aimed at nuclear military sites, which caused climbing fears, since Iran had threatened with the hormuz narrow in response to such actions.
Israel launched strikes against Iran on June 13, saying that it went to nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders during the beginning of a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon.
Iran, who has denied such intentions, in the past has threatened to close the hormuk Strait for traffic in Western pressure. Experts have said that any closure of the Strait could restrict trade and impact world oil prices.
Below are details about the Strait: the Strait is between Oman and Iran and links the Gulf to the north of him with the Gulf of Oman towards the south and the Arabic sea beyond. It has 21 miles (33 km) wide at its narrowest point, with the shipping lane of only 2 miles (3 km) wide in any direction.
Why does it matter?
Around a fifth of the world’s total oil consumption passes through the Strait. Between the beginning of 2022 and last month, approximately 17.8 million to 20.8 million barrels of crude oil, condensate and fuels flowed through the narrow daily, according to Vortexa data.
The organization of the members of the oil exporting countries (OPEC) of Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq export most of their crude oil through the Strait, mainly to Asia. The EAU and Saudi Arabia have tried to find other routes to avoid the Strait.
Around 2.6 million BPD of unused capacity of existing EAUs and Saudi pipes could be available to avoid Hormuz, said the United States Energy Information Administration in June last year.
Qatar, among the largest liquefied natural gas exporters in the world, sends almost all its LNG through the Strait.
Iran has threatened over the years to block the strait, but has never followed.
The fifth fleet of the United States, based in Bahrain, has the task of protecting commercial shipment in the area.
Tensions history
In 1973, Arab producers led by Saudi Arabia slapped an oil embargo on the western supporters of Israel in their war with Egypt.
While Western countries were the main buyers of crude oil produced by Arab countries at that time, today Asia is the main buyer of the OPEC oil.
The United States doubled more than its production of oil fluids in the last two decades and has become the largest oil importer in the world to one of the main exporters. During the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-1988, the two parties sought to interrupt the exports of others in what was called the Oil War.
In July 1988, an American war ship knocked an Iranian plane, killing at 290 on board, in what Washington said it was an accident and Tehran said it was a deliberate attack.
In January 2012, Iran threatened to block the Strait in retaliation for US and European sanctions. In May 2019, four vessels, including two Saudi oil tankers, were attacked on the EAU coast, outside the hormuz narrow.
In July 2021, an oil company administered by Israelí was attacked outside the coast of Oman, killing two crew members, with Israel blaming Iran for the incident, which Iran denied.
Three ships, two in 2023 and one in 2024, were seized by Iran near or in the hormuz narrow.
On June 17, 2025, two oil tankers collided and caught fire, near the hormuz narrow, where electronic interference has increased during the conflict between Iran and Israel, but there were no injuries in the crew or the informed spill.
