US-Israel strikes on Iran put focus on the Strait of Hormuz

Who relies most on the Strait of Hormuz?

Saudi Arabia exports the most oil through the waterway. However, it can divert shipments by using a 746-mile pipeline that runs across the kingdom to a terminal on the Red Sea, where the oil can be loaded onto vessels for onward transport. The East-West Pipeline is able to carry 5 million barrels of crude a day.

The UAE can likewise bypass the Strait of Hormuz to a certain degree, by leaning on a pipeline that runs from its oil fields to a port along the Gulf of Oman. The Habshan-Fujairah pipeline has the capacity to move 1.5 million barrels of crude a day.

Iraq has a pipeline that runs through Turkey to the Mediterranean coast and was reopened last year. But this can only carry oil pumped from fields in the north of the country, so nearly all of its crude exports are shipped by sea from the port of Basra and pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain have no option but to ship their oil through the waterway.

Iran also depends on the strait to export its oil. More of the country’s crude was shipped through the waterway in 2025 than at any time since 2018, according to vessel tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

How have the US and allies responded to threats to Hormuz shipping in the past? 

During the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, strikes on oil facilities escalated to both sides attacking merchant vessels in the Persian Gulf, in what came to be known as the Tanker War. The US Navy resorted to escorting Kuwaiti ships carrying Iraqi oil through the Gulf.

In 2019, countries including the UK, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain joined a US-led coalition known as the International Maritime Security Construct to secure sea lines in the Middle East vital to oil shipping. This followed a series of attacks on vessels and onshore facilities that some coalition members blamed on Iran.

Since late 2023, much of the focus on protecting shipping has switched away from the Strait of Hormuz and to the southern Red Sea. This has been in response to attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen, who have targeted ships in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

During the most recent US-Iran tensions, vessels have increased their speed through the Strait of Hormuz to minimise the time they’re at risk, while the US has advised American-flagged ships to stay as far away as possible from Iranian waters when navigating the waterway. 

Separately, a US F-35C warplane shot down an Iranian drone in early February as the unmanned aircraft “aggressively approached” the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier with “unclear intent,” according to US Central Command.