Iran Battles to Keep Its Grip on the Strait of Hormuz

Iran is fighting to preserve its influence over the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which a large share of the world's seaborne oil passes, as the United States and its Gulf partners work to carve out an alternative shipping route that would erode Tehran's leverage.

Analysts say Iran has moved against commercial vessels in the strait in an effort to counter a new southern corridor being developed with the involvement of the United States and Oman. The route is designed to give shippers a way to bypass the chokepoint that Iran has long been able to threaten in moments of tension.

The Strait of Hormuz has for decades been one of the most strategically sensitive stretches of water on the planet. Its narrowness means a single actor positioned along its shores can menace the tankers that carry crude from the Gulf to markets across Asia, Europe and beyond — a source of enormous geopolitical power for Tehran.

Any sustained disruption to traffic through Hormuz has immediate consequences for global energy markets, and even the perception of rising risk can push oil prices higher and rattle shippers and insurers. The emergence of a viable alternative corridor would blunt that lever, which helps explain why the waterway has become a flashpoint.

The standoff underscores how contested the world's energy arteries remain, and how efforts to route around a chokepoint can themselves become a trigger for confrontation.