{"id":1753,"date":"2026-07-16T13:07:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T13:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=1753"},"modified":"2026-07-16T13:07:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T13:07:07","slug":"3-islands-help-control-access-to-the-strait-of-hormuz-theyre-in-the-crosshairs-of-the-iran-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=1753","title":{"rendered":"3 islands help control access to the Strait of Hormuz. They\u2019re in the crosshairs of the Iran war"},"content":{"rendered":"
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) \u2014 The expanding U.S. military campaign against Iran<\/span> has put three small islands that sit at the confluence of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz<\/span> in the crosshairs once again.<\/p>\n

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The islands of Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunb \u2014 which were seized in 1971 by Iran from what would become the United Arab Emirates<\/span> \u2014 have become a garrison for Iran, helping it exert significant control over the strait, through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas passes in peacetime.<\/p>\n

U.S. strikes on two of the islands<\/span> in recent days have renewed speculation about the fate of these small, rocky isles, whose ownership remains disputed.<\/p>\n

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Three islands sit along the route to the Strait of Hormuz<\/h2>\n

The land mass of all three islands totals just about 10 square miles (25 square kilometers). But they carry oversized strategic importance given they sit along the deep-water route taken by ships passing between the strait and the Gulf. <\/p>\n

The largest, Abu Musa, has a village on it but primarily serves as a base for Iran\u2019s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard<\/span>, which has stationed fast boats and missiles \u2014 both of which have been used to harass ships in the strait \u2014 on the island. It also hosts air defense systems. The same goes for Greater Tunb Island, while the much-smaller Lesser Tunb only has a military presence.<\/p>\n

Because of their strategic importance, regional powers have long fought for control of the islands.<\/p>\n

Iran, then under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, took the islands by force on Nov. 30, 1971, two days before the formation of the United Arab Emirates. The shah, as America\u2019s top security ally in the region, received little pushback at the time. <\/p>\n

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After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran used the islands as a base to target shipping during the \u201cTanker war\u201d of the 1980s<\/span>, when the U.S. Navy escorted oil tankers through the region under Iranian fire. Iran used the islands to both monitor the strait and launch vessels to lay mines or openly attack vessels in that conflict.<\/p>\n

U.S. estimates suggest Iran attacked over 160 ships in that confrontation. So far in the current war, there have been over 50 attacks targeting vessels and oil rigs, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center, a coalition overseen by the U.S. Navy. That includes some incidents of the U.S. firing on ships it accuses of trying to break its blockade on Iran.<\/p>\n

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The islands have become US military targets<\/h2>\n

In recent days as part of the escalation in fighting, the U.S. military launched strikes on both Abu Musa and Greater Tunb islands. Some analysts have speculated that American forces might invade. <\/p>\n

\u201cTogether they act as a layered denial system to the most critical energy chokepoint in the world,\u201d Isabel Oakeshott, a columnist for The Telegraph who now lives in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, wrote in the newspaper. She equated Abu Musa to \u201ca fixed aircraft carrier\u201d for Iran.<\/p>\n

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