Iran wants to charge for Hormuz, Houthis for the Red Sea: How straits around the world are governed
The article explores the historical and modern geopolitical tensions surrounding the control of international maritime straits, specifically focusing on Iran's claims over the Strait of Hormuz and Houthi activities in the Red Sea. It contrasts these regional assertions with the international principle of free navigation.
Why it matters
Control over maritime chokepoints is a critical factor in global trade security and international relations, as it directly impacts energy prices and supply chain stability.
Countries, the United Nations says, have argued over waters for as long as ships have sailed – perhaps from the time Egyptians first plied the Mediterranean in papyrus rafts.In 1493, the year after Christopher Columbus reached America, Pope Alexander VI attempted to settle one such quarrel between Spain and Portugal, the great maritime powers of the day, by drawing a line down the Atlantic. In a public decree called the papal bull inter caetera, he gave Spain everything west of that line and Portugal everything east of it. On that reckoning, the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico became Spain's, and the South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean, Portugal's.
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