Geography as a Weapon: The Hormuz Crisis

Abstract

Abstract: The recent confrontation involving Iran, Israel, and the United States of America in the Middle East highlights a fundamental reality: geography continues to shape strategic outcomes despite rapid advances in military technology. Iran’s geography provides significant defensive advantages. Covering a territory nearly as large as Alaska and home to nearly 90 million people, the country presents formidable challenges to any external power contemplating large-scale military operations. Equally important is Iran’s extensive coastline along the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Stretching over 1,800 km, it offers numerous locations from which Tehran can deploy missiles, drones, naval mines, submarines, and fast attack craft. Iran’s weaponisation of the Strait of Hormuz to disrupt supply chains has ensured that the ongoing conflict involving Iran, Israel, and the United States is no longer viewed just as a conventional regional crisis.