Iran threatens maritime movement to deter enemies

Iran uses threats to intimidate its political rivals, and they are many, from time to time. The country’s mullahs keep threatening that they will close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, in case Iran is attacked.

Iran knows the importance of maritime passageways well and it wants to use these passageways in enforcing its policy of regional expansion at the cost of its influential regional rivals.

Since the eruption of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, the Islamic Republic has sought to assert its presence in main maritime corridors in the region. This presence in part protects Iran’s foreign trade. It also can use it as an intimidation tool against its enemies. Iranian control of these passageways also helps it smuggle arms and supplies to allied militias in the region, especially in Yemen where it backs the Shiite Houthi militia.

Strait of Hormuz

Maritime passageways are tantamount to a lifeline for the Islamic Republic. This was one reason why Iran did everything to control the Arab Gulf. It did this for a number of reasons, including the fact that the Arab Gulf overlooks Iran’s western border. All Arab Gulf states also export their oil to international markets through the same Gulf.

This means that Iranian control of the Gulf makes it capable of putting pressure on international powers dependent on Gulf oil, whenever it wants. This can explain why Iran keeps threatening that it will block traffic at the Strait of Hormuz, in case it is attacked by any of the states of the Gulf or any Western power.

Iran stages military drills in the strait whenever there is tension between it and these Western powers. It does this to prove that it is ready to prevent Gulf countries from exporting their oil to international markets, in case war is waged on it.

The Iranian navy, for example, staged military drills in the Arab Gulf in August this year, in response to plans by the United States to impose sanctions on it.

Iran also tries to use the ongoing trade war between the United States and China to break the siege imposed on it. It upgraded the Port of Chabahar which overlooks the Gulf of Oman, investing $3 billion in the process. Iran wants the port to be part of Chinese attempts to revive the ancient Silk Road within the Road and the Belt Initiative.

Houthi militia

Iran has hopes that the Port of Chabahar will outrival the ports of Gwadar in Pakistan, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and Sohar in Oman. India contributed $235 million for the upgrade of the Iranian port in its desire that the port will win the race against Gwadar which is located in the southwestern part of Pakistan. China backs the Pakistani port. But in this, Iran tries to open the door for new international interactions that help it overcome the American sanctions.

Iran’s protégé in Yemen, namely the Shiite Houthi militia, has proved failure in controlling the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Nonetheless, Iran continues to make efforts to control the strait in its bid to give the impression that it can seal off the whole Arab Gulf and the southern entrance of the Red Sea. If it controls both straits, Iran can easily target ships and oil tankers transiting through them.

So far, the Houthis have proved that they can be a severe headache for the countries of the region by targeting oil tankers navigating near the southern and western borders of Yemen. It attacked two Saudi oil tankers in July this year, something that forced Saudi authorities to take a decision to suspend the export of oil through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Riyadh resumed exports through the strait in August.

Iran also has gained direct presence in the Horn of Africa region too. It established strong contacts with Eritrea, using international sanctions imposed on the African state. In 2009, Tehran and Asmara signed a military cooperation deal, in the light of which Iran sent arms shipments to Eritrea. Eritrea used to be an important point for the smuggling of Iranian arms to the Houthi militia.

Two military ships in the Gulf of Aden

Iran succeeded in turning the Port of Assab in Eritrea into a naval base, according to reports by the US intelligence. The port gives Iran the chance to increase presence in the Red Sea, in general, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, in particular.

Iran used to send its military ships to the Gulf of Aden within the framework of the fight against piracy in the area. On June 21, it sent two ships to the gulf, ostensibly to protect its oil tankers.

The presence of Iranian navy ships in the gulf carries huge significance. This presence coincides with the war the Saudi-led coalition has been staging for the liberation of the western Yemeni port city of al-Hudaydah since June 13. This means that Iran has been trying to intensify attempts to smuggle arms to the Houthis for them to hold their own ground against the coalition.