The Curse of the Strait Between Friend and Foe – An Article by H.E. Dr. Abdulla Belhaif Al Nuaimi
For many outside the Arab world, the Strait of Hormuz is often reduced to a narrow waterway through which oil flows to global markets. Yet this strait is far more than a logistical chokepoint. It is a historical arena where empires clashed, maritime powers rose and fell, and the geography of the Gulf shaped political destinies for centuries. To understand today’s tensions—missile exchanges, threats to shipping, and geopolitical brinkmanship—one must first understand that the Strait of Hormuz has always been a place where commerce and conflict coexist, where opportunity and vulnerability are inseparable, and where the interests of global powers have repeatedly collided.
The Strait of Hormuz returns to the spotlight whenever the region trembles, as if this narrow passage never truly rests. It is the artery that supplies the world with energy, yet it simultaneously generates anxiety and exposes the fragility of regional and international security. The current tensions and reciprocal strikes are not an anomaly; they are the latest chapter in a long history that has made the strait both an economic blessing and a strategic curse—for friend and foe alike.
Long before it became a corridor for oil tankers, the strait served as the gateway to the Gulf and a battleground for competing empires. From the earliest centuries of maritime trade, Hormuz functioned as a point of control over the commercial routes linking India, East Africa, Persia, Iraq, and the Arabian Peninsula. Whoever dominated the strait controlled the economic lifeline of the region. And because the modern concept of maritime sovereignty did not yet exist, power was measured not by the length of one’s coastline but by the strength of one’s fleet. This reality left the Arabs—despite owning the eastern and western shores of the Gulf—unable to impose full control over the strait for much of history.
This absence of Arab maritime dominance was not due to weakness, but to the nature of the old international order, in which seas were ruled by cannons rather than geography. The northern shore of the strait remained under Persian influence from the Achaemenid and Sassanian eras onward, while the Portuguese seized Hormuz in 1507, followed later by British naval supremacy under the banner of protecting the route to India. Thus, the strait remained outside direct Arab control even as Arab shores watched ships pass without the power to regulate them.
Yet the Gulf did witness rare moments when local Arab powers asserted themselves in the maritime balance. During the Ya‘rubi era, Oman emerged as a rising naval force, expelling the Portuguese from Muscat and then from East Africa, and building a fleet capable of securing the entrance to the Gulf. Under the Al Busaid dynasty, Omani influence reached its zenith, extending from Bandar Abbas to Zanzibar. The logic of power that defined that era still resonates today. During recent escalations, President Trump openly threatened military strikes in response to Iranian actions near the strait, underscoring once more that Hormuz has never been a purely regional matter.
Just as the strait drew the attention of European empires in earlier centuries, it continues to attract global powers who see its security as directly tied to their own strategic and economic interests. The episode illustrates a recurring truth: the Strait of Hormuz has always been a stage where local dynamics and international calculations intersect. Oman became the only Arab power capable of shaping maritime traffic near the strait, even if full control remained elusive due to Persian influence and European presence.
In parallel, the Qawasim played a significant role in strengthening Arab maritime power, particularly in resisting Portuguese and later British encroachment. Their cooperation with the Ya‘ruba did not amount to direct control over the strait, but it did help secure trade routes, weaken European influence, and create a rare moment of Arab maritime balance in a region where seas were governed by fleets rather than maps.
The twentieth century brought a dramatic transformation. Modern Gulf states emerged, military capabilities developed, and international law began linking coastal sovereignty with maritime jurisdiction. With the discovery of oil, the strait shifted from a traditional trade route to a global energy artery through which nearly a third of the world’s seaborne oil passes. Control of the strait became not merely a regional concern but an international security issue involving the interests of major powers from the United States to Europe and China.
Amid these shifts, Iran has recently revived the idea of imposing fees on ships passing through the strait—an attempt to create political and economic leverage outside legal frameworks. Yet this behavior is not new. The Portuguese attempted the same in the sixteenth century, turning Hormuz into a maritime toll station through the “cartaz” system.
At that time, regional and international powers—from Oman to Britain—united against this practice, ultimately expelling the Portuguese from the Gulf. This historical precedent underscores a fundamental truth: no matter how much certain states attempt to politicize or monetize the strait, it remains an international waterway under the Law of the Sea. No single state owns it, and none has the right to impose unilateral fees or restrictions.
Today, the strait once again reveals its enduring paradox: the passage that nations depend on is the same passage they fear. Regional tensions, reciprocal strikes, and threats to close or disrupt the strait all echo historical patterns in a modern form. Hormuz has never been merely a body of water; it is a geopolitical hinge where interests intersect, powers collide, and the stability of the region is tested. While alliances shift on land, the strait remains constant in its role as a perpetual arena for managing conflict and safeguarding global interests.
Thus,the Strait of Hormuz remains a curse for both friend and foe: a curse for adversaries who cannot bypass it, and a curse for allies who cannot live without it. Between these two realities, the strait continues to play its ancient and modern role—gateway to the Gulf, theater of conflict, and mirror of regional balances that change on the water faster than they change on land.
