Strait of Hormuz: How a threat became a playbook — Al Jazeera Explainer

[0:00] for weeks missiles lit up the skies across the gulf but even as the strikes unfolded [0:10] the real pressure point wasn't in the air it was at sea a 38-day offensive launched by the [0:17] united states and israel against iran fought across borders across capitals across competing [0:24] interests pulling an entire region into the fight cities were hit as targets or in retaliation [0:31] but the most powerful weapon wasn't a missile or a drone it was a stretch of water [0:42] the strait of hormos the straight of hormos the straight of hormos and when it closed the world [0:48] didn't just feel it it held its breath oil prices surged shipping froze entire supply chain stopped [0:57] this isn't just a waterway it's the key artery of the global economy [1:02] and in this conflict it became a weapon [1:22] so what exactly is the straight of hormos and why does it matter so much to understand its power you have [1:32] to understand its shape the strait of hormos sits between iran to the north and oman and the uae to [1:40] the south it connects the gulf to the open ocean but here's where its power lies the actual shipping [1:48] lanes only about three kilometers wide each so narrow every ship has no choice but to pass through iranian [1:56] and omani territorial waters two corridors one in one out separated by a thin buffer that's it this is one [2:07] of the busiest energy corridors on earth every day before the war around 20 million barrels of oil pass [2:15] through it that's roughly a fifth of global energy supply and it's not just oil it's gas fertilizer aluminum [2:26] critical goods entire economies depend on this route china india japan much of asia for many of them [2:35] this isn't just a route it's a lifeline and when that lifeline is disrupted the shock waves go global [2:43] and there is a problem there are almost no real alternatives even the pipelines designed to bypass the [2:50] straight towards the red sea and the gulf of oman can only carry around six to nine million barrels [2:56] a day less than half of what homo's handles that's not enough not even close so when homo slows down [3:06] the world speeds up into crisis but this choke point isn't man-made it was created millions of years ago [3:16] two tectonic plates collided the arabian plate pushed into eurasia forming mountains in what is today [3:24] iran a depression filled with water became the gulf and at its edge a narrow exit hormos a geological [3:36] accident named in ancient persia became a geopolitical destiny because those same geological forces also [3:44] created something else one of the largest concentrations of oil and gas in earth so now we have one of the [3:51] world's biggest energy reserves forced through one of its narrowest passages a perfect bottleneck for iran [4:00] the perfect weapon and for centuries whoever controlled this passage controlled the flow of wealth [4:07] and history shows it in the 1500s the portuguese seized it turning it into a toll route for global trade [4:15] in the 20th century britain tried to blockade it to control iranian oil the persian oil crisis had [4:26] reached this stage would it have to close the refinery at abadan which works day and night to produce 25 [4:32] million tons of oil a year in the 1980s during the iran iraq war it became a battlefield this waterway has [4:40] always been more than geography it is leverage iran has repeatedly warned it could close the street if pushed [4:49] far enough for years that remained a threat until now after a joint u.s israeli strike on february 28th [4:58] that killed iran's supreme leader ali khamenei tehran responded not just with missiles not with a full [5:06] blockade of the strait but something more effective uncertainty and fear drones sea mines naval threats [5:16] just enough risk to stop ships from passing traffic dropped by more than 90 percent but iran didn't [5:22] just choke the straight it redefined it instead of a total shutdown it created something else a filter [5:31] a system a toll booth ships were rerouted closer to iranian waters some passed some didn't some [5:40] reportedly paid millions of dollars for transit to tehran others got through because of diplomacy [5:48] china linked ships indian tankers and other countries that engaged tehran directly this wasn't chaos it was [5:58] control selective strategic and incredibly powerful because now the straits wasn't just blocked it was [6:06] managed on iran's terms but here's where it gets even more complicated because what iran did sits in [6:14] a legal gray zone under international law waterways like the strait of hormuz are supposed to guarantee [6:21] free transit for all ships no restrictions no tolls the secretary general stresses that all parties to this [6:29] conflict must respect freedom of navigation including in the strait of hormuz in line with international law [6:37] but here's the problem the u.n convention on the law of the sea sets those rules iran signed it but [6:44] never ratified it the united states it hasn't ratified it either so in this crisis both sides are invoking [6:52] international law while in practice interpreting it in completely different ways and what we've seen [6:59] in recent weeks doesn't fit nearly into any existing category it's not a full blockade it's not open [7:07] in navigation it's something else selective passage where access doesn't depend on law but on politics [7:17] on alignment on leverage and if that becomes the new normal then one of the world's most critical [7:24] waterways is no longer governed by rules but by power but why not just reopen it by force because [7:33] homuz favors iran geographically and militarily iran doesn't need a large navy it uses asymmetric warfare [7:45] fast attack boats coastal missiles drones all hidden across islands and the coastline in narrow waters [7:55] that's enough even the most powerful navy in the world struggles here because to choke an enemy [8:03] financially you don't need dominance you need disruption that's why even the united states held [8:10] back because control of homos is not about who is stronger it's about who can make it unsafe and when [8:19] it became unsafe the impact was immediate oil prices surge past a hundred dollars a barrel millions of [8:27] barrels per day disappeared from the market this wasn't just a regional crisis it was global [8:35] in asia governments shortened the working week to reduce energy consumption in europe fuel rationing [8:41] began in parts of africa electricity use was restricted because homos stabilizes the global system [8:50] and when it breaks everything else starts to wobble now there's a pause a two-week ceasefire brokered [8:58] by pakistan came into effect on april 8th ships are slowly moving again under tight control but nothing [9:06] fundamental has changed the core disputes remain the war isn't officially resolved and crucially iran [9:14] has demonstrated something new not just that it can threaten the world through homos but that it can [9:20] control it because this isn't just about oil it is about power and influence hormos is becoming part [9:30] of a wider contest over who controls not just energy but the system behind it for decades the [9:37] strait of homos was a warning a scenario now it is a reality a place where geography meets power where [9:48] global trade meets regional conflict and where a narrow strip of water can hold the world economy hostage [9:58] now iran is signaling it wants to formalize that control as part of the recent negotiations held in [10:04] islamabad tehran proposed a new framework for the streets a protocol one where passage is no longer [10:12] automatic but conditional iran says this is about security critics say it's about control across the [10:21] gulf leaders are pushing back demanding a say in any potential deal because for the entire region [10:29] hormos isn't a strategy it is survival and as the ceasefire ticks down initial talks between the u.s and [10:37] iran have already failed president donald trump ordered the u.s navy to begin locating hormos vowing to [10:45] stop any ships that comply with iran's toll system we have a blockade going into effect that'll be 10 o'clock [10:53] tomorrow other nations are working so that iran will not be able to sell oil has the login started [10:59] sir yeah started 10 o'clock the diplomatic path is uncertain breaking news iran's foreign minister abbas [11:06] irachi has just announced that passage for all commercial vessels through the strait of hormuz [11:11] is declared completely open will you extend the ceasefire i don't know maybe not maybe i won't extend it [11:17] okay but the blockade is going to remain in the last hour iran has announced that it's closing the [11:22] strait of hormuz again so the question is no longer what just happened but what comes next because [11:30] whatever follows something has already changed the straight of hormuz has always been a point of [11:37] leverage but this is different for the first time it was used not just as a weapon but as a system [11:46] and it's not clear anyone especially in washington fully anticipated this so what's at stake [11:53] is no longer just how this ends it's whether this model of control becomes the new normal and if it [12:01] does then what began as a military campaign to weaken iran may have revealed something far more [12:07] consequential the difference between military strength and strategic leverage because power alone didn't [12:16] decide the outcome strategy did and in doing so it turned the straight of hormuz from a threat into a plane