TEHRAN – Tehran appears to maintain major influence over strategic Strait of Hormuz — a crucial maritime chokepoint through which a large portion of the world’s oil and gas supplies transit — not through traditional naval dominance, but via a combination of asymmetric military capabilities and strategic positioning.
The analysts say Iran’s control is rooted in its use of asymmetric defence forces and tactics rather than relying solely on a conventional navy.
The country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has developed a range of tools that complicate free navigation and give Tehran leverage over commercial shipping. These include mobile coastal missile batteries, fast attack craft, sea mines, and unmanned aerial and maritime drones that can monitor and threaten vessels in and around the strait. Such assets allow Iran to pose a credible threat to ships without deploying large surface warships.
In February 2026, the IRGC conducted a high-profile military exercise in the Strait, dubbed “Smart Control of the Strait of Hormuz,” aimed at testing and demonstrating its ability to respond to security threats and assert influence over maritime traffic. The drills involved naval units practicing rapid and coordinated responses to hypothetical incursions or hostile actions in the waterway.
The observers note that Iran’s strategy leverages geographic advantage and asymmetric warfare, enabling it to disrupt or influence shipping even when its conventional naval forces are comparatively limited. By positioning weapon systems along key islands and coastal areas, and by signalling the ability to strike or impede vessels, Tehran creates a deterrent effect that affects commercial decision-making and insurance risk assessments for ships attempting to transit the strait.
This form of control has been reflected in recent developments: while the waterway has not been formally closed, shipping traffic has been severely reduced, and Iran has selectively allowed certain vessels to pass only after coordination with its authorities.
The result is a complex and contested form of control — one based on the credible threat of force, geographic positioning, and operational readiness rather than conventional maritime dominance.
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