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The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, responsible for 20-40% of the world’s oil supply. It has a rich history dating back to ancient times and is now a politically unstable area, with tensions between the US and Iranian navies. Iran has threatened to cut off the Strait if attacked, which would have a significant impact on global oil supply.
The Strait of Hormuz is a strategically important strait between the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. An estimated 20-40% of the world’s oil supply, mainly from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran and Kuwait, travels through the Strait of Hormuz, which is only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point ( 34km). The Strait of Hormuz lies between Musandam, an Omani enclave to the south, and Iran to the north. The Strait of Hormuz is part of the national waters of Oman and Iran, but ships are allowed to pass under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which has been ratified by most, but not all signatory countries.
The Strait of Hormuz has been known since ancient times, when the first mariners of modern civilization left the Babylonian Empire for the Arabian Sea to conduct trade with the tribes of the east and west. Sinbad the Sailor, a fictional figure of ancient Middle Eastern origin, lived in the city of Babylon in present-day Iraq and would have taken to the seas traveling through the Strait of Hormuz. Many historians believe that the tales of Sinbad the Mariner are at least in part based on real experiences of early sailors sailing out of the Persian Gulf and exploring the Indian Ocean. For example, giant birds called rocs appear in the stories of Sinbad and these animals were probably inspired by the actual existence of the recently extinct elephant bird in Madagascar, which was 10 m tall.
Today, the Strait of Hormuz commands attention as one of the most unstable and politically prickly stretches of water in the world. Ships from the United States and Iranian navies frequent these waters, with Iranians trying to hold their territorial waters and Americans flexing their muscles in the Persian Gulf, as well as delivering supplies for the war in Iraq. US and Iranian navies have clashed a couple of times in the Strait of Hormuz. Once in 1988, when Operation Praying Mantis, a one day war, broke out when American destroyers sank two Iranian ships in retaliation for the USS Samuel B. Roberts mining. Another collision occurred just three months later, when a US guided-missile cruiser accidentally shot down Iran Air Flight 655, and another in 2008 when Iranian speedboats came dangerously close to US destroyers. Iran has repeatedly threatened to cut off the Strait of Hormuz if Iran is attacked by Israel or the United States, an action that would radically cut off the world’s oil supply.
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