Center for International Maritime Security

Iran War Topic Week By Commander Ronald E. Swart, United States Navy (Retired) and Scott C. Truver, PhD President Donald J. Trump on March 9, 2026 declared that the United States “will not allow Iran’s terrorist regime to stop global oil supply. The Strait of Hormuz is going to remain safe. We have a lot of Navy ships there. We have the best equipment in the world inspecting for mines,” hinting that Iran had already deployed in the main channel about 80 of its estimated 6,000 mines.

Iran War Topic Week By Alexander Lott, Kristjan Tabri, and Angela Sooba Introduction Reportedly, approximately 20,000 seafarers on board some 2,000 ships, including tankers, bulk carriers, cargo ships, and cruise ships, were stranded in the Persian Gulf due to Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran War Topic Week By Ludovico Domini Introduction The 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis exposes the inadequacy of some classical geopolitical frameworks. Alfred Thayer Mahan’s sea power, centered on blue-water naval supremacy, and Halford Mackinder’s land power, which focuses on Eurasian continental hegemony, are framed in a dualistic tension with one another. This framing proves insufficient in an era of advanced globalization and asymmetric warfare.

Iran War Topic Week By Paul Viscovich, CDR, USN (Ret.) After four months into the conflict, Iran is defiantly refusing to capitulate. This “four week war” now threatens to become another drawn-out conflict. Despite American tactical successes, Tehran has seized control of the Strait of Hormuz and holds the strategic upper hand. Closing the Strait has severely restricted the flow of critically needed oil and agricultural fertilizer, threatening an economic crisis and worldwide famine.

Iran War Topic Week By Rear Adm. Roberto Domini, Italian Navy, (Ret.) Introduction The Strait of Hormuz is arguably the most consequential chokepoint in the global economy.

Iran War Topic Week By Ehud Eiran The joint military campaign launched by the United States and Israel against Iran on February 28, 2026, was initially conceived and executed primarily as an air campaign. The opening phase of the war centered on aerial strikes against Iran’s political and military leadership and other command-and-control networks, missile infrastructure, air defenses, and military-industrial targets.

Iran War Topic Week By Rustam Taghizade The Strategic Paradox When the Trump administration granted India a 30-day waiver on March 5 to purchase Russian oil, the formal justification was straightforward: stabilize global energy markets after Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz. Yet beneath the surface, a deeper story unfolded.

Iran War Topic Week By Bruce Randolph Tizes Most analysis of the U.S.-Iran maritime war will focus on carrier strike group positioning, IRGC small-boat tactics, Marine Corps Stand-in Forces, and the operational lessons of contested chokepoints. Those analyses are necessary. They also miss a dimension Iran has built as deliberately as its mine and drone programs, one that will outlast any ceasefire: the commercial and insurance layer through which maritime trade is priced and governed.

Iran War Topic Week By Admiral Massimo Vianello (Ret.) and Master Chief Petty Officer Giovanni Giorguli (Ret.) The conflict between Iran and the Israel-United States alliance confirms that conventional armed forces must currently confront asymmetric threats that subvert the logic of traditional power projection.

Iran War Topic Week By James Jackson Operation Epic Fury began on February 28, 2026, with objectives unrelated to commercial shipping: destroy Iran’s ballistic missiles and their manufacturing plants, destroy its navy, sever its proxies, and foreclose a nuclear weapon. The strait was open when the bombs fell. On March 4, Iran closed the strait in response to the strikes.