The Strait of Hormuz plays a strategic and psychological role in the world energy market. Iran has a variety of means at its disposal, especially through its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval forces, including thousands of sea mines, shore batteries, heavily armed speedboats, and midget submarines, and the Iranians make no secret of their desire to be recognized as the dominant military power in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. However, the events of the past three years showed Iran can still ensure a major disruption of the flow of energy without a formal blockade and without an increased risk of military confrontation with the West. The issue of freedom of navigation in the strait has long been a source of tension, but until recently any attempt by Iran to physically close it looked highly implausible, unless it resulted from either a major embargo or total blockade of Iranian ports by the West, or a large-scale military confrontation. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints, vital to the global supply of both oil and liquefied natural gas.
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