THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ

摘要

As always when tensions rise in the Gulf, the big fear is that the Strait of Hormuz could be blocked to oil and gas carrying vessels. The Strait is a narrow point between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, where the Omani enclave on the point of the Arabian Peninsula sticks out into the sea opposite the Iranian city of Bandar Abbas. The navigable part of the Strait is further reduced by the presence of islands, some of them fairly large, on both sides, leaving just 21 nautical miles of open water between Oman and Iran at the narrowest point.