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(Reuters) – Iran’s worst unrest in years has prompted sharp U.S. warnings to Tehran against killing protesters or restarting its nuclear program.
Analysts warn that further escalation could push Tehran to target tankers in the Strait of Hormuz or even attempt to shut the waterway, which is vital for oil exports.
Below are details about the strait:
WHAT IS THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ?
The strait lies between Oman and Iran and links the Gulf north of it with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea beyond.
It is 21 miles (33 km) wide at its narrowest point, with the shipping lane just 2 miles (3 km) wide in either direction.
WHY DOES IT MATTER?
About a fifth of the world’s total oil consumption passes through the strait.
More than 20 million barrels of crude, condensate and fuels passed through the strait daily last year on average, data from analytics firm Vortexa showed.
OPEC members Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq export most of their crude via the strait, mainly to Asia.
Qatar, among the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas exporters, sends almost all of its LNG through the strait.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia have sought to find other routes to bypass the strait. About 2.6 million barrels per day (bpd) of unused capacity from existing UAE and Saudi pipelines could be available to bypass Hormuz, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in June last year.
The U.S. Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, is tasked with protecting commercial shipping in the area.
HISTORY OF TENSIONS
In 1973, Arab producers, led by Saudi Arabia, slapped an oil embargo on Western supporters of Israel in its war with Egypt.
While Western countries were the main buyers of Middle East crude at the time, nowadays Asia is the main buyer of OPEC’s crude, with the U.S. now a major producer and exporter.
During the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, the two sides sought to disrupt each other’s exports in what was called the Tanker War.
In January 2012, Iran threatened to block the strait in retaliation for U.S. and European sanctions. In May 2019, four vessels – including two Saudi oil tankers – were attacked off the UAE coast, outside the Strait of Hormuz.
Three vessels, two in 2023 and one in 2024, were seized by Iran near or in the strait. Some of the seizures followed U.S. seizures of tankers related to Iran.
Last year, Iran considered shutting down the strait after U.S. attacks on its nuclear facilities.
Reporting by Sarah El Safty, Ahmad Ghaddar and Dmitry Zhdannikov; Additional reporting by Marwa Rashad and Yousef Saba; Editing by Dmitry Zhdannikov and Ros Russell
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