You've been hearing about it in the news, but what exactly is the Strait of Hormuz? And as for those blockades...how do they work?
Transcript
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:00] Nick. Something has been bothering me.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:04] Just one someting.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:05] I have been reading and hearing everywhere that Iran blockaded [00:00:10] the Strait of Hormuz, and that the United States blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, and that the Strait of Hormuz is shut down. And now the Strait of Hormuz is open again, and gas [00:00:20] goes down and gas goes up and on and on. And I'm like, hang on, wait a minute. What is the Strait of Hormuz?
Nick Capodice: [00:00:28] You know what the Strait of Hormuz is. [00:00:30]
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:31] Do I? I know what it looks like because it's all over the news. I know where it is kind of. I know when you mess with it, the gas prices go [00:00:40] up way, way up. And that it has to do with the oil tankers that usually go through it. But do I really know what the Strait of Hormuz is? And [00:00:50] while we're here, what's a blockade?
Nick Capodice: [00:00:52] Okay. You also know what a blockade is.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:55] What is a blockade?
Nick Capodice: [00:00:56] It's when you block something.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:59] You [00:01:00] see what I mean? All right, here we go. I'm Hannah McCarthy.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:03] I'm Nick Capodice.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:07] This is Civics 101. And today we are [00:01:10] 101-ing, winning the Strait of Hormuz and all the stuff that's going on there right now.
Archival: [00:01:16] Now, earlier this morning, eastern time, the United States and Israel launched [00:01:20] a major military attack on Iran, striking dozens of targets across the country, including in the capital of Tehran. You can see the strikes.
Archival: [00:01:27] What is the objective? What is the end game here? The president [00:01:30] of the United States in that video saying there will be American casualties.
Archival: [00:01:35] Iranian officials say airstrikes hit an elementary school Saturday, killing more than [00:01:40] 160 people, mostly children.
Archival: [00:01:43] What's going on there? Militarily defeated. And now we're going to open up the Gulf with them, [00:01:50] with or without them. But that will be open. We're going to be or the strait, as they call it. And I think it's going to go pretty quickly. And if it doesn't, we'll be able to finish [00:02:00] it off one way or the other. It's going well.
Archival: [00:02:03] Since the U.S. war with Iran began one week ago, filling up has become a lot more expensive. [00:02:10] $0.43 a gallon more.
Archival: [00:02:12] I was driving here today thinking, all right, what can I give up in order to get gas?
Archival: [00:02:18] Because, you know, we are just [00:02:20] sailors. We are just seafarers. We are not trained for for war or war like situations. Uh, we just keep the world trade moving [00:02:30] and, but we, we really feel that we have become, you know, collateral damage here.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:49] All [00:02:40] right, Nick, tell [00:02:50] me what you know about the Strait of Hormuz.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:53] Okay, so it's a strait like a waterway between two other bodies of water. And it is how a bunch of [00:03:00] gas and oil gets from, I'm assuming, oil refineries and gas plants out to the ocean on boats.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:07] Sure. Great. It is how the oil and the gas [00:03:10] gets out. So it's like this. There's a lot of oil and natural gas in the countries around what we call the Persian Gulf. Those countries are Oman, the United Arab [00:03:20] Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and Iran. The only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to [00:03:30] the ocean is through the Strait of Hormuz.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:33] Which for the people in the back is what exactly?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:37] It's about 104 miles long and only 21 miles [00:03:40] wide, at its narrowest point between Oman and Iran. It is the funnel that pours about 20% of the world's oil and gas, specifically liquefied natural [00:03:50] gas, as well as helium and fertilizer and other goods out of the Persian Gulf and into the Gulf of Oman on ships. It is also how a lot of goods get [00:04:00] in to the Persian Gulf.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:01] And who exactly controls the Strait of Hormuz.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:05] Okay, so the Strait of Hormuz is like a two lane shipping highway. Boats go into [00:04:10] the Persian Gulf on the lane closer to Iran, and they leave on the lane closer to Oman. I mean, this is how it was happening. But neither country owns or [00:04:20] controls the strait in any legal way. If you ask most of the world, it's basically communal property. The United Nations Convention on the Laws [00:04:30] of the Sea.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:30] Maritime Law.
[00:04:32] No, this is not maritime law. This is a different thing.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:34] You're a crook, Captain Hook.
Archival: [00:04:38] Judge, won't you throw the [00:04:40] book at you?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:42] Yeah. Very good. Okay. If you ask the United Nations, according to the Laws of the Sea Treaty, this is an international strait. [00:04:50] And ships have a right of passage through that strait, aka transit passage. Now, Iran did not ratify that treaty. So if you ask them, they'll say, yeah, it's an international [00:05:00] strait, but only for innocent passage.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:03] Innocent meaning what?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:05:05] Yeah. Well, very basically it means a ship is just passing on through. It means no [00:05:10] harm, poses no security threat. But who do you think decides what is a security threat in a case like this?
Nick Capodice: [00:05:17] Iran.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:05:17] Yeah. Now, the U.S. disagrees [00:05:20] with that level of Iranian control over the strait, even though we did not ratify the U.N. Sea Treaty either.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:27] You ever notice how, despite the fact that the U.S. was [00:05:30] instrumental in founding the U.N., we tend not to agree to their rules.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:05:35] That is a whole other episode in and of itself. Anyway, we do want other countries [00:05:40] to agree to the UN's rules. So Iran may not legally control the strait, but geographically they have the catbird seat [00:05:50] on one of the world's most important choke points.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:54] Choke points. If that isn't already a band name. Hannah. I will eat my hat.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:05:58] When it comes to the [00:06:00] sea. A choke point is a place where a lot of trade ships are passing through, because they don't really have a good alternative. The Strait of Hormuz is the most efficient way to get [00:06:10] things in or out of the countries on the Persian Gulf. A maritime choke point is also a very vulnerable place.
Nick Capodice: [00:06:20] Right, because [00:06:20] you've got a super high concentration of trade goods going through one small space.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:06:25] And if those trade goods, for example, 20% of the world's natural gas and oil [00:06:30] cannot get through, shut that highway down and you got global impact. So like if you started a war with one of the nations that borders the Strait of Hormuz, [00:06:40] that could be disruptive.
Nick Capodice: [00:06:42] It very well could be.
Archival: [00:06:43] Tonight, oil fields on fire from Iraq to Tehran, fueling growing concerns over the rising price of oil. [00:06:50]
Archival: [00:06:50] Oil prices surged again today after President Trump did not provide a clear timeline on the end of the war in Iran or a potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz during his address last night. [00:07:00] International...
Archival: [00:07:00] And we are worried, and we're hearing from these worried analysts who say, you know, in a worst case scenario here, if this continues a pace. There's concern [00:07:10] of an unprecedented price of $200 a barrel. That is very extreme. And that would again, be unprecedented. But that is what...
Hannah McCarthy: [00:07:20] And [00:07:20] we're going to get to that after a quick break.
Nick Capodice: [00:07:42] We're [00:07:40] back. We're talking about the Strait of Hormuz and what's going on over there. Actually, real quick, Hannah, did you figure out why it's called the [00:07:50] Strait of Hormuz?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:07:51] Do you know much about Zoroastrianism?
Nick Capodice: [00:07:54] I know it's got a lot of fire, but I asked you first.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:07:57] The strait is most likely named for a Zoroastrian [00:08:00] god of creation and cosmic order. The Kingdom of Hormuz was founded on what is now the Iranian coast in the 11th century, and it became this vast emporium [00:08:10] kingdom. And why, Nick, do you think that was such a good place to succeed in business?
Nick Capodice: [00:08:16] I am going to guess that strait has something to do with it. [00:08:20]
Hannah McCarthy: [00:08:20] You control that strait, you basically control a gate between much of the Middle East and East Asia. And guess what? That's still the case [00:08:30] today, and we probably would not be doing an episode on it if it weren't for how the US government got very, very involved in that control situation. [00:08:40] So here is a brief and broad how we got here, because this episode is about the Strait of Hormuz and not about the current war in Iran. The U.S. and Israel coordinated strikes [00:08:50] across Iran in late February. President Trump claimed this was to topple the Iranian theocracy. Now theocracy is what Nick?
Nick Capodice: [00:08:58] Well, theocracies are kind of [00:09:00] old school, they're deity based. So the top religious leader has ultimate authority. Like when the faith of the seven takes over Kings Landing in Game of [00:09:10] Thrones, for example.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:09:11] Right. Or when the Shia cleric Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is the supreme leader of Iran, even though Iran has a democratically elected president, Khamenei [00:09:20] was killed in the February strikes.
Archival: [00:09:22] We are getting information from Israeli sources that the Ayatollah is dead. This is breaking news. [00:09:30]
Nick Capodice: [00:09:30] And as we all know, that's all it takes to overthrow a government system.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:09:34] Yeah. No, Khamenei's son, was named the new supreme leader in early March.
Archival: [00:09:38] Iran naming its new supreme [00:09:40] leader Mojtaba Khamenei. He's the son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. I want to bring in CNN's Jeremy...
Hannah McCarthy: [00:09:47] Okay. Iran retaliates, and their retaliation [00:09:50] includes striking ships. Two in the Persian Gulf. One in the straight.
Nick Capodice: [00:09:55] U.S. ships.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:09:56] No.
Archival: [00:09:57] New images near the Strait of Hormuz off Iran, where [00:10:00] new attacks are now sending oil prices on another wild ride today. This is a Thai flagged ship, one of at least three vessels [00:10:10] that have been struck.
Nick Capodice: [00:10:11] Wait, why?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:10:11] War? What is it good for? So very broadly? Iran has threatened to attack ships that pass through the strait without permission. The ships in the Gulf [00:10:20] were near the strait, and I don't have the intel on Iran's military decisions. But the perhaps bigger thing going on here is that even the suggestion of danger in and [00:10:30] near the Strait of Hormuz means a massive disruption to the global economy.
Nick Capodice: [00:10:35] So is this the blockade? Can we get to the blockade?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:10:38] We can. Iran has not [00:10:40] formally declared a blockade. And this is important because blockades are detailed in international law. Blockades are acts [00:10:50] of war, and they are regulated.
Nick Capodice: [00:10:53] You ever think about the fact that we have all these international laws governing how to destroy other countries?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:10:59] I think about [00:11:00] that a lot. Okay. So for a blockade to be binding as in legal, as in within the parameters of war law, you first have to have enough resources to [00:11:10] do it, like boats or planes, to stop people or things from coming and going.
Nick Capodice: [00:11:15] Like proof of income when you're applying for a loan.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:11:19] Sure. Why not? [00:11:20] Okay. Then you have to openly declare the blockade to the country you're blockading.
Nick Capodice: [00:11:26] Which Iran did not do.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:11:27] They did not, but we did.
Nick Capodice: [00:11:29] We [00:11:30] as in the US?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:11:32] Yes. So what happened was this: Iran and the US negotiated a cease fire. And the US said, okay, if we're going to [00:11:40] do this cease fire, you have to let the ships get through the strait.
Nick Capodice: [00:11:43] And did Iran do that?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:11:44] Few things here. Iran was like, okay, just to be clear, if you want to go through, you still got to get [00:11:50] our permission. They also planted sea mines in the strait. So basically the idea here is that the strait has been made pretty dangerous.
Nick Capodice: [00:11:58] So generally boats [00:12:00] aren't getting through.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:12:01] Right. So the US said, okay, fine. You're basically blockading. So we are going to officially blockade you Iran.
Archival: [00:12:09] Trump wrote [00:12:10] in part, quote. Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the finest in the world, will begin the blockade. The process of blockading any and all ships trying to enter or leave the Strait of Hormuz. I've also [00:12:20] instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in international waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one...
Archival: [00:12:28] Our first images tonight of [00:12:30] what the U.S. naval blockade of Iran looks like up close.
Archival: [00:12:34] You do not comply with this blockade. We will use force.
Archival: [00:12:36] As American warships today broadcast warnings [00:12:40] to vessels near the Strait of Hormuz not to dock...
Nick Capodice: [00:12:43] All right. I was trying to understand this. Trump said we would blockade the Strait of Hormuz.
Archival: [00:12:49] Iran [00:12:50] was already saying that they were blocking it from traffic. Then now Trump is saying he's going to block it too. We don't really know.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:12:57] Which we did not do. That would have been a violation [00:13:00] of international law. Remember, a binding real legal blockade has rules. These include specifying the geographic area of the blockade, which the U.S. said [00:13:10] is the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, and that it applies, to quote, all ships, regardless of nationality, heading into or from Iranian ports.
Nick Capodice: [00:13:19] All right. This is [00:13:20] something I've always wanted to know. What are we actually doing out there? Like, what does a blockade actually look like? Are there flotillas of U.S. boats just floating out there [00:13:30] in front of Iranian ports?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:13:31] Definitely not. That would not be safe. This blockade consists of reports say, 16 ships patrolling the waters [00:13:40] off the coast of Iran and communicating to other boats that they will be boarded for search and seizure if they try to go to Iran or from Iran. The U.S. has only boarded one ship so far and apparently it's really difficult. The [00:13:50] US chairman of the Joint [00:14:00] Chiefs of Staff said, quote, it is like driving a sports car through a supermarket parking lot on a pay day weekend, with [00:14:10] thousands of kids in that parking lot. As you attempt to maneuver through there to get to that ship that would attempt to run that blockade.
Nick Capodice: [00:14:20] Wow. [00:14:20] First of all, that feels like an oddly specific comparison. And second of all, why is it so crowded in there?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:14:28] Because barely anyone [00:14:30] was getting through the Strait of Hormuz. They have, for the most part, either been trapped in the Persian Gulf or waiting around in the Arabian Sea.
Nick Capodice: [00:14:38] What is the goal [00:14:40] here, Hannah? Nothing and nothing out. Just what? Starve Iran until it cracks.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:14:46] I am glad you brought that up. That would also be a violation of international law. It would be [00:14:50] a war crime. Actually, the U.S. cannot stop food or medicine from reaching Iranian ports. What they can do is try to starve the Iranian economy. If Iran [00:15:00] can't export oil, they're in trouble. And that's the gamble. Put pressure on Iran and see where diplomatic talks go when they're under the [00:15:10] thumb.
Nick Capodice: [00:15:13] So I'm going to guess Iran is not thrilled.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:15:16] That is correct. In fact, they said that the U.S. is essentially violating [00:15:20] the terms of the cease fire by doing this blockade. Amidst all of this, by the way, Iran has changed the shipping route through the strait. Remember how that inbound shipping [00:15:30] lane, the one that goes into the Persian Gulf, is the one closest to Iran?
Nick Capodice: [00:15:35] Yeah. This is like the giant two lane sea highway.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:15:38] So Iran is now saying that ships [00:15:40] must come and go via this narrower, more circuitous route that passes through Iran's territorial waters and past some of its islands, the [00:15:50] rest of the straight, they say, is currently too treacherous.
Nick Capodice: [00:15:54] Does that give Iran more control of those ships somehow?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:15:58] Well, there were reports of Iran [00:16:00] requiring ships to submit full documentation, obtain clearance codes, accept Iranian escort through this passage, and though Iran has partially denied this [00:16:10] and partially indicated that this was exactly the plan charge a toll for safe passage, there have been reports that at least a couple of ships have paid a toll as high as [00:16:20] 2 million in cryptocurrency.
Nick Capodice: [00:16:23] Wow. So it's a toll booth checkpoint, right? Of massive proportions.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:16:29] A toll, to be [00:16:30] clear, would be illegal. It would be a violation of international law. The number of times I have said that something is a violation of international law would almost be funny if I weren't talking [00:16:40] about violations of international law. But the thing is, Nick, war, albeit not a war that the U.S. actually declared, has [00:16:50] a way of revealing exactly how imaginary law actually is.
Nick Capodice: [00:16:58] Because we just made it up. [00:17:00]
Hannah McCarthy: [00:17:01] We just made it up for really good reasons. And when people agree to it, it exists. Or when you [00:17:10] get into a high stakes international conflict and have multiple nations interpreting things, multiple nations disagreeing on things, the law gets thin. [00:17:20] As of today, April 20th, when I am speaking these words, Iran, a country which does not legally own [00:17:30] or control the Strait of Hormuz, has quote unquote opened and quote unquote closed it based on what other countries have done. Yesterday, the United [00:17:40] States seized an Iranian cargo ship. Our country would say this is within the bounds of our legal blockade. Iran says it's an act of piracy.
Nick Capodice: [00:17:49] Piracy, [00:17:50] eh? It is amazing how quickly the code becomes more like guidelines than actual rules.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:17:57] You just had to sneak that in there.
Nick Capodice: [00:18:00] Oh, [00:18:00] come on, Hannah, you handed it to me.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:18:02] Fair enough. Anyway, for now, we wait. We being the whole world. [00:18:10] The people who need the law. And we see whether or not a small group of people can agree on what is real and [00:18:20] what isn't. This [00:18:40] episode was produced by me, Hannah McCarthy and by our executive producer, Rebecca Lavoie. And with Nick Capodice, my co-host. Marina Henke is our producer. Dana [00:18:50] Cataldo is our brand new digital producer. We are so lucky to have her. Make sure to follow us on Instagram and TikTok at civics101podcast.org to check [00:19:00] out everything Dana has been and will be making in the coming months. She's brilliant. As always, you can get everything Civics 101 has ever made at our website. Civics101podcast.org. [00:19:10] Civics 101 is a production of NPR New Hampshire Public Radio.