It is strange for all of us to see the importance of a just a Strait. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most important chokepoints in the world. After the illegitimate operation Epic Fury launched by the US-Israel on 28 February, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. In response, Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway that had been a threat for decades until this time. Before going into depth, let’s look into what the Strait of Hormuz is. The Strait of Hormuz sits between Iran to the North and Oman and the UAE to the South. It connects Oman and the Gulf with the open ocean.
But here, where its power lies, the actual shipping lanes are only about 3km wide each. So narrow that every ship has no choice but to pass through Iranian and Omani territorial waters. Two corridors, one in, one out, separated by a thin buffer. This is one of the busiest corridors on earth. Every day before the war, around 20 million barrels of oil passed through it. That roughly a fifth of the global energy supply. And it’s not just oil that passes through it, it’s gas, fertilizer, aluminum, and critical goods. Entire economies depend on this South, including China, India, Japan, and much of Asia. For many of them, it is the lifeline, and when the lifeline is disrupted, the shockwaves go global, as there is no real alternative. Even the pipelines designed to bypass the straight towards the Red Sea can only carry around 6-9 million barrels of oil. Less than half of what Homruz handles.
As per the above detailed importance of the Strait, it is a perfect bottleneck for Iran; it is a perfect weapon. In the 1980s, during the Iran-Iraq War, it became a battlefield. This waterway has always been more than geography. It is leverage. Iran has repeatedly warned it could close the strait if pushed far enough for years. That remained a threat until now, when the US and Israel jointly launched an attack on Tehran that killed their Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. Iran responded not only with missiles, not with a full blockade of the Strait, but with something more powerful. Drones, sea mines, and naval threats are enough risk to stop ships from passing. Traffic dropped by more than 90%. But Ira didn’t just choke the strait, it redefined it. Instead of a total shutdown, it created a system, a toll booth that manages the traffic. Some of the ships pass through diplomacy, while others reportedly some paid millions of dollars per transit to Tehran. This wasn’t chaos but control, selective, strategic, and incredibly managed. In response to this, the USA has blocked the blockade by Iran.
Here, the question arises, isn’t there any International Law that could stop Iran-USA for managing such an important strait? Yes, there is under Article 38 of UNCLOS, coastal states bordering the strait cannot hamper, block, suspend, or close the strait to traffic. They also cannot charge fees simply for passage. Then, how come Iran is doing so? Actually, there is a legal gray zone; Iran and the USA signed the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) but never ratified it. But if they have ratified it, there would be nothing that stops both countries either, as there is no law enforcement agency within the United Nations. During 2025-2026, the foundational principles of international law were flagrantly violated by major powers with impunity.
Conclusively, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is costing Asia heavily, especially South Asian states. South Asia is paying a devastating price for the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, facing what the IMF has described as a severe and multifaceted shock. The region, heavily dependent on Gulf energy imports, has seen oil prices surge past $100 per barrel. It is triggering fuel rationing, rolling blackouts, and crippling inflation across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.
Beyond energy, the blockade has choked off one-third of global fertilizer trade, with Gulf States supplying nearly half of the internationally traded urea. Prices jumped 50 percent in three weeks, threatening crop yields and food security for millions. The human toll is equally severe, with over 220,000 Indian workers already repatriated from the Gulf, endangering billions in remittances. Pakistan has faced 43 % petrol price hikes in a single week, forcing four-day work weeks and school closures. Bangladesh has halted fertilizer production entirely. The crisis has laid bare South Asia’s structural vulnerability to a single maritime chokepoint, exposing how a 21-mile passage can destabilize the world’s most populous region.
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