BACKGROUND: Iran’s current threats and actions around the Strait of Hormuz may seem like a direct response to the ongoing war—but history tells a very different story.
For decades, Iran has pursued a consistent strategy aimed at controlling, influencing, and, when necessary, threatening one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints. Long before today’s conflict, Tehran understood that whoever holds leverage over the Strait of Hormuz holds leverage over the global economy.
Geography gave Iran its opportunity. Positioned along the northern shore of the narrow passage, and controlling key islands near vital shipping lanes, Iran has always been able to monitor—and potentially disrupt—traffic moving through the strait. Even before the Islamic Revolution, Iran moved to expand its territorial claims and assert authority over passing vessels.
After 1979, this approach became doctrine. The regime openly signaled that it could use the strait as a pressure point against its enemies. During the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, Tehran demonstrated this capability in practice, attacking oil tankers and disrupting shipping in what became known as the “Tanker War.”
