Iran trading sanctions for security of maritime corridors

Islam Mohamed

Monitoring Iranian conduct in the region has acquired greater importance, especially after the latest détente between the Islamic Republic and Saudi Arabia.

Rapprochement between the two states aims to calm down regional tensions. This is especially important, given the current stalemate in negotiations over the Iranian nuclear file between Iran, on one hand, and the US, on the other.

This stalemate leaves room for tension.

Thus, Iran’s behaviour in the recent period has been characterized by escalation at the international level and pacification at the regional level.

The search for resolving many controversial files related to the countries of the region has also begun.

Tensions related to global energy security and the threat to international navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, located in the Arabian Gulf region, continued at a time when this issue is becoming very sensitive for Western powers.

This is especially true in the light of the increasing severity of the international energy crisis due to the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Lane security trade-offs

The frequency of violations against the international navigation movement in the Strait of Hormuz reflects the importance of the Iranian equation for the security of international waterways.

This is simply a trade-off for the security of those corridors with the effectiveness of US sanctions.

Whenever Iran is subjected to pressure and prosecution, it goes to threaten global energy security, in an attempt to resist the pressure of US sanctions by repeating attacks to convey a message that it is ready to charge Washington the cost of its efforts to limit its oil exports.

Iranian harassment

Iranian affairs specialist, Mohamed Alaa Eddin, said Iran does not have the same ability of the US and its allies to put pressure.

“Therefore, it may carry out some harassment of international navigation as a kind of escalation in exchange for US sanctions,” he told The Reference.

He added that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard undertakes such harassment of international navigation under various pretexts.

Sometimes, he said, the Guard makes this harassment under the pretext of entering the territorial waters of Iran.

“Other times, it makes it after accusing ships of polluting the environment,” he said.