Gulf of Oman

Overview

The Gulf of Oman is a body of water in the Middle East, bordered by Oman to the south and Iran to the north. It links the Arabian Sea with the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow entrance to the Persian Gulf. Ships carrying oil and other goods from Gulf ports cross the strait and continue through the Gulf of Oman toward international markets. Security in these waters therefore affects both regional exporters and global trade. The gulf is also a route through which Iran has moved weapons toward the Houthis in Yemen.

Geography

The gulf’s western end meets the Strait of Hormuz between the Iranian and Omani coasts; its eastern waters open toward the Arabian Sea. Iran’s port of Jask lies on its northern shore, southeast of the strait. Oman’s coast faces the shipping approaches to Hormuz, giving the country a direct interest in preventing incidents at sea from escalating. Near the gulf’s western end, the Fujairah lightering zone serves as a loading point where crude oil is transferred between tankers. These ship-to-ship operations allow traders to limit the number of vessels making the costly, high-risk passage through the strait, although oil loaded in the Gulf of Oman still depends on supply reaching the transfer area.

The United Arab Emirates has been a leading participant in tanker shuttle operations that help keep regional exports moving during disruption around Hormuz. In one such movement, the Hong Kong-flagged Cospearl Lake carried two million barrels of crude collected through a transfer at Fujairah on a voyage to Dalian, China. The shuttle trade gives exporters flexibility, but tankers operating outside the strait remain exposed to attack.

Modern history

Oman’s approach to the gulf has long combined maritime security with diplomacy. Under Sultan Qaboos bin Said, it maintained an independent foreign policy and closer relations with Iran than many neighboring Gulf states. Oman became the first Gulf state to approve an Israeli diplomatic mission in Muscat. In September 2013, Iran and Oman signed a defense cooperation accord. Oman has continued to seek ways to prevent incidents near its coast and the Strait of Hormuz from widening into regional conflict.

Regional concern about revolutionary Iran also shaped cooperation among the Arab Gulf states. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates established the Gulf Cooperation Council in 1981 amid fears of revolutionary Iran and spillover from the Iran–Iraq War. Oman nevertheless retained its distinct diplomatic course while navigating the rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Security

Iran developed Jask as a forward naval base for monitoring traffic near the Strait of Hormuz. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also operates nearby launch areas for mobile anti-ship cruise and ballistic missiles. Iran tested a Hormuz-2 anti-ship ballistic missile near Jask and reported destroying a target at a range of 250 kilometers. A launch from that coastal area can reach the strait and the Gulf of Oman. In another test, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired anti-ship ballistic missiles at a target barge in the gulf; one reportedly hit. In July 2020, the corps’ navy chief announced underground onshore and offshore missile facilities along Iran’s Gulf of Oman and Persian Gulf coasts.

On June 13, 2019, two tankers were attacked in international waters of the Gulf of Oman during the Japanese prime minister’s visit to Tehran. The Marshall Islands-flagged Front Altair, carrying refined crude oil from the United Arab Emirates to Taiwan, was struck between Oman and Iran. The Panama-flagged Kokuka Courageous, carrying methanol from Saudi Arabia to Singapore, was also attacked. Damage forced both crews to evacuate, and one Kokuka Courageous crew member was lightly injured. The United States blamed Iran. U.S. Navy video subsequently showed an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps force removing an unexploded limpet mine from one targeted vessel. Iran rejected responsibility.

Iran’s largest warship caught fire and partially sank in the Gulf of Oman in 2021. The cause of the fire was not established. The episode occurred in waters where Iran’s naval forces, coastal missiles and drones form part of a wider threat to shipping. Mines, special operations forces and unmanned surface vessels can also disrupt maritime commerce. Iran supplies the Houthis, Hezbollah and other proxy organizations with weapons, training and guidance, extending the maritime threat beyond its own coastline.

On December 1, 2022, the U.S. Navy intercepted a fishing boat in the Gulf of Oman carrying more than one million bullets and components for manufacturing rockets from Iran toward the Houthis in Yemen. The seizure followed the capture of another vessel carrying arms on the same route in mid-November. Growing numbers of transfers between vessels in the gulf can conceal Iranian shipments among commercial movements and complicate efforts to identify sanctioned cargo. During the U.S. military buildup amid Israel’s war against the terrorist organization Hamas, the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln was in the Gulf of Oman.

Present day

The Gulf of Oman remains central to the Iran–Israel war and the security of the Strait of Hormuz. After the Iranian regime blocked the strait, more than 2,000 ships remained trapped in the Persian Gulf, including oil tankers and cargo vessels. The United States announced Project Freedom as an effort to reopen the waterway and established a blockade line in the Gulf of Oman to intercept ships entering or leaving Iranian ports. Gulf of Oman transfer operations consequently became more important to exporters seeking to keep oil moving, even as Iranian attacks threatened the tanker shuttle trade itself.

Oman continues to work against escalation near the strait. Its position on the shipping route gives it a direct stake in both safe passage and regional diplomacy. The gulf’s importance extends beyond oil logistics: Iranian coastal weapons, naval operations and arms shipments to the Houthis make security of its shipping lanes a matter of international trade and regional stability.