West Asia LIVE: Trump says Iran not ready to make the 'right deal'
The US administration reiterated that it has "total control" over the Strait of Hormuz and adjoining land areas, amid an extended military standoff with Iran in West Asia
The claim followed a sustained US naval presence in the strait, described by the administration as a blockade restricting Iranian activity in the waterway
Iran disputed the claim of US control, stating the strait would remain effectively closed to normal transit until its demands were addressed
Commercial shipping traffic through the strait has remained well below pre-conflict daily volumes, reflecting continued risk perception among shippers and insurers
The Strait of Hormuz — Geography and Strategic Significance
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow sea passage connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, bordered by Iran to the north and Oman's Musandam Peninsula exclave to the south. It is the world's single most important oil chokepoint and a recurring UPSC geography/IR theme whenever Gulf tensions escalate.
Key Details
- Narrowest point is about 21 nautical miles wide; the shipping lanes used by tankers are only about 2 nautical miles wide in each direction, separated by a 2-nautical-mile buffer zone
- Around 25% of the world's seaborne oil trade and roughly 20% of global LNG trade transit the strait; Qatar (~93%) and the UAE (~96%) route almost all their LNG exports through it
- Ranks alongside the Strait of Malacca, Bab-el-Mandeb, the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal as one of the world's critical maritime "chokepoints"
- India's exposure is significant: nearly 45-50% of India's crude oil imports pass through the strait, even as Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Russia (not just Gulf-transit crude) have become larger individual suppliers
A prolonged closure or contested "control" of Hormuz directly threatens the volume of oil and gas that reaches global — and Indian — markets, making the strait's geography and chokepoint status a standing Prelims-relevant fact set.
UNCLOS and the Regime of Transit Passage
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), 1982, governs navigation rights through straits used for international navigation, such as Hormuz. Unlike the "innocent passage" regime that applies to ordinary territorial waters (which a coastal state can suspend for security reasons), the "transit passage" regime applicable to international straits cannot be suspended by the bordering states.
Key Details
- UNCLOS was opened for signature in 1982, entered into force on 16 November 1994 upon the 60th ratification, and today has around 170 parties
- India signed UNCLOS in 1982 and ratified it on 29 June 1995
- Under UNCLOS, states bordering an international strait "shall not hamper transit passage" — a stronger protection than the innocent-passage right in an ordinary territorial sea
- The United States has signed but never ratified UNCLOS, even though it treats most of its navigational provisions as customary international law
Both Iran and Oman are coastal states bordering Hormuz, but under UNCLOS neither can unilaterally block transit passage; a third country's claim of "control" over the strait similarly sits outside the treaty's coastal-state framework, since transit rights belong to all shipping, not to a controlling third party.
India's Energy Security and Route Diversification
West Asian instability that threatens Hormuz transit directly affects India's crude oil security calculus, since India imports the vast majority of its crude oil requirement and has historically sourced a large share from Gulf producers reachable only via Hormuz.
Key Details
- India meets roughly 85-87% of its crude oil consumption through imports
- India's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (managed by ISPRL) has underground storage facilities at Visakhapatnam, Mangaluru and Padur, with a combined capacity of about 5.33 million tonnes, meant to cushion short-term supply shocks
- Chabahar Port in Iran, developed with Indian investment, forms part of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and offers India a Pakistan-bypass route to Afghanistan and Central Asia
- Diversification toward non-Gulf suppliers (notably discounted Russian crude, which has at times exceeded a third of India's import basket in 2026) has reduced but not eliminated India's Hormuz exposure
Continued uncertainty over Hormuz transit reinforces the strategic logic behind India's Strategic Petroleum Reserve build-out and its diversification of crude sources beyond the Gulf.
- Strait of Hormuz: ~21 nautical miles wide at the narrowest point; shipping lanes ~2 nautical miles wide each way
- ~25% of world seaborne oil trade and ~20% of global LNG trade transit the strait
- UNCLOS: opened 1982, entered into force 16 November 1994; India ratified 29 June 1995
- India's Strategic Petroleum Reserve sites: Visakhapatnam, Mangaluru, Padur (combined ~5.33 million tonnes)
- Nearly 45-50% of India's crude oil imports pass through the Strait of Hormuz