Iran’s parliament has approved a measure to close the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic global oil choke point, following the US’s strikes on the Islamic Republic’s three nuclear sites, state-run Press TV reported on Sunday. However, the Supreme National Security Council, Iran’s top security authority, is required to finalise the decision.
If Iran goes ahead and shuts down the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of daily global oil consumption passes, it would disrupt trade flows, send oil prices shooting up and potentially destabilising the global economy.
Such a move could further create instability in the Middle East, which has been witnessing escalating tensions in the past 20 months, following Israel’s wars with Hamas and Hezbollah in Gaza and Lebanon and the conflict with Iran, and the fall of the long-time autocratic President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
WHAT IS STRAIT OF HORMUZ AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE?
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow but vitally important waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. It lies between Iran on the north coast and the Musandam Peninsula – which belongs to Oman and the United Arab Emirates – on the south.
The strait is approximately 167 km long, narrowing to just about 33 km at its narrowest point, with designated three-kilometre-wide shipping lanes for incoming and outgoing maritime traffic.
The strait serves as the sole maritime passage for oil tankers transporting crude oil from the Persian Gulf, making it one of the world’s most critical choke points for global energy security. Roughly 17 million barrels of oil per day – or about 20 to 30 percent of the world’s total oil consumption – pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
In fact, about 88 percent of all oil exports from the Persian Gulf must transit this narrow waterway, as alternative pipelines and routes are limited. Beyond oil, about a third of the world’s liquefied natural gas also moves through the corridor.
If Iran were to close or block the Strait of Hormuz, it would disrupt the flow of a significant portion of global oil exports, causing major supply shortages and triggering sharp increases in oil prices.
As the strait is so narrow and militarily sensitive, attempts to block it could further inflame regional tensions and potentially provoke international naval responses due to the economic and geopolitical stakes involved.
