Straits of Hormuz link the oil-rich Arabian Gulf with the rest of the world. Through these straits pass most of the world’s crude oil and the tankers head for most major oil-importing countries.

Important cargoes that pass through the Straits of Hormuz: Crude oil and oil products; grain (because, the area is desert and cannot produce much food, millions of tons of grain need to be imported); containers (with all the wealth created by oil production, much money is available to buy all kinds of consumer goods, electronic goods, and household appliances, all of which will be moved in containers); minerals and steel.

Times when the Straits of Hormuz were in the News: During several conflicts in the region, the importance of the straits has been underlined. You will note from the map that Iran lies to the north of the straits and often has tried to control shipping movements through it. Some examples of this follow :

• During the war between Iran and Iraq when each side tried to cripple the other’s economy by disrupting the other’s oil exports (the so-called Tanker War of the early 1980s), Iran used its position on the straits to attack tankers that were thought to be moving to or from Iraq.
• When Iraq invaded Kuwait, causing the First Gulf War of 1990-1991, United Nations’ forces moved into the Gulf to drive the invading forces from Kuwait. Apart from troops, equipment and stores that were brought in by aircraft, many warships were sent to the Gulf in support of the UN force. The Straits of Hormuz saw dozens of ships passing through, emphasising the importance of the waterway to international maritime forces.
• Similarly, the Second Gulf War (2003) also involved a coalition force invading Iraq in response to an alleged threat (later discredited) that the country had weapons of mass destruction, and that the Iraqi government had committed atrocities against its own people. Again, dozens of warships and support vessels moved through the straits during this war and in the follow-up military operations in Iraq.
• In 2016, Iran and Saudi Arabia were involved in proxy wars in the Middle East, and verbal exchanges between the two countries heightened political tension in the Gulf, aggravated by their different forms of Islam. With their naval commanders calling for United States warships to leave the Gulf, Iranian patrol vessels began to harass American warships transiting the Straits of Hormuz. That action has also contributed to increased tensions.