Chapter 1: What is the historical significance of the Strait of Hormuz?
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The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow stretch of water between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Amman. It's one of the busiest waterways in the world, often referred to as a choke point. Many of the ships that pass through the strait transport essential resources like oil and liquefied natural gas. But how did this waterway become a place of global importance?
and with headlines about the closure of the Strait, another question comes to mind. Has anything like this ever happened before? We'll find out tonight. So just relax and let your mind drift as we explore the sleepy history of the Strait of Hormuz. Our story begins about 35 million years ago, with the collision of two continents.
Over time, under the Earth, two continental plates met, the Arabian Plate and the Eurasian Plate. they gradually became fused together, closing up an ancient sea known as Tethys and creating the Zagros Mountains in what is now Iran. Tectonic movement also created a depression in the Earth, forming the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. The water here was once shallow,
so shallow that at certain points you could have crossed the Gulf on foot. But then the world's ice caps began to melt, leading to rising sea levels and the flooding of the Gulf. For millions of years, change here was slow and geological. But at some point, humans arrived and began to settle in the area around the Strait of Hormuz.
the once empty waters gradually became busy with ships, traders, and merchants. But before we continue, let's take a look at the geography of the strait to understand how and why it became so important. The Strait of Hormuz is located between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Amman. The north coast now belongs to Iran.
And on the south coast, there's a mountainous region known as the Musandam Peninsula. These days, control of this southern region is divided between Oman and the United Arab Emirates. The Strait of Hormuz is at a geographical crossroads. It's the only natural sea outlet for the Persian Gulf, providing a passage between the Middle East and India and the rest of the world.
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Chapter 2: How did tectonic movements shape the formation of the Strait?
One of the illustrations appears to show a Portuguese family having dinner at their home in Hormuz. They sit at the table as servants bring food and drink. But on closer inspection, there's something unusual about the room. It's flooded. The feet of the diners are submerged beneath the water.
It's been speculated that people in Hormuz may have intentionally flooded rooms in their homes as a way to cope with the heat. We've already seen how other Europeans, including Marco Polo and the Portuguese troops, struggled with the climate. Francis Xavier, a Portuguese cleric known for his missionary work across Asia, also visited Hormuz.
He was disturbed not only by the heat, but by what he perceived as the immorality of the place. A biography of Xavier includes impressions of Hormuz, Its moral state was enormously and infamously bad. It was the home of the foulest sensuality and of all the most corrupted forms of every religion in the East. The Christians were as bad as the rest in the extreme license of their lives.
The author then goes on to say, the riches of the place attracted every possible luxury to enhance the general license. Avarice was made a science. It was studied and practiced not for gain, but for its own sake and for the pleasure of cheating. In the eyes of some, Hormuz's prosperity was linked to its immorality.
In Europe, the very name Hormuz, or Ormus, as it was also known, became a symbol of decadence and opulence. When the English poet John Milton wrote Paradise Lost a century later, he used Hormuz as a point of comparison. In Milton's words, the throne of Satan far outshone the wealth of Hormuz. Throughout the 16th century, other powers had their eye on the Strait of Hormuz.
The Ottomans attempted, unsuccessfully, to seize control from the Portuguese. Abbas the Great, the Safavid Shah of Iran, also wanted to expel the Portuguese from the region. In 1602, Safavid forces captured the island of Bahrain, forcing the Portuguese to retreat. Twenty years later, the Safavids, with help from the English, launched an attack on Hormuz.
Now, it probably seems clear why the Safavids wanted control. Economic and military benefits aside, there was also the fact that the Strait of Hormuz was right on the edge of their empire. But what about the English? Why did they get involved? There were a couple of reasons. Firstly, the English saw the Portuguese as rivals.
Here was an opportunity to weaken Portugal's commercial dominance of the Persian Gulf. Secondly, there were benefits from an Anglo-Persian alliance. The Safavids promised the English not only to share the spoils at Hormuz, but to give them access to the lucrative Persian silk trade.
At this time in history, European powers such as England, the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal were becoming increasingly ambitious and opportunistic. England had recently established the East India Company with the aims of trading around the Indian Ocean. As for Hormuz, Portugal had clearly prospered in this region. The English were likely keen to see what they could get.
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Chapter 3: What role did the Strait of Hormuz play in ancient trade?
Ships carrying Iranian oil were effectively blocked from passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The Abadan Crisis, as it came to be known, was one of the events that led to the 1953 coup d'etat. The Prime Minister of Iran was overthrown during a coup that was orchestrated by British and US intelligence, MI6 and the CIA. This, in turn, would change the course of Iranian history.
So, as we look at the chain of cause and effect, the picture becomes clearer. We gain a better understanding of the past and the present. Oil is one of the main reasons why foreign powers have been so involved with Iran over the past century. And inevitably, any conflict that impacts the transportation of oil involves the Strait of Hormuz.
Anglo-Iranian relations were later repaired, to a degree at least. And while the oil feud was a crisis, it didn't involve direct war. In the 1980s, however, the Persian Gulf became a battlefield. Iran and Iraq were at war. And as part of that war, they both began targeting ships in the Gulf and in the Strait of Hormuz.
This conflict came to be known as the Tanker War, as many of the attacks were on oil tankers. the US military also became involved. In 1988, during Operation Praying Mantis, US forces attacked Iranian targets in the Persian Gulf. It was an act of retaliation after a US ship was damaged by an Iranian mine.
That same year, a US warship in the Strait of Hormuz mistakenly identified a passenger plane as a military aircraft. Iran Air Flight 655 was shot down over the strait. Tragically, there were no survivors. The event strained an already tense relationship between Iran and the United States.
In the years since, much of the tension between Iran and other nations has been centered around the Strait of Hormuz. Geographically, it remains one of the most important places for the global economy. And although it's generally governed by international maritime law, which means foreign vessels have the right of passage, that hasn't prevented Iran from threatening disruption.
In 2012, Iran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz. This was a reaction to the European Union banning oil exports from Iran. For context, since 2006, the UN Security Council has imposed numerous sanctions against Iran, targeting their nuclear weapons program. These sanctions have had a major impact on the Iranian economy.
So, in the midst of the dispute about oil exports, Iran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, but didn't follow through. In 2018, Iran once again threatened to close the strait in response to US sanctions. Again, the strait remained open, but tension escalated. The U.S. accused Iran of harassing, attacking, or seizing international vessels, including oil tankers.
Then, in 2025, conflict between Iran and Israel and the United States led to yet another threat to close the strait. But while the Iranian parliament voted to close it, once again, the strait remained open. What's interesting about these incidents is that they didn't have much of an impact on oil prices.
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