▲The Strait of Hormuz, also called Strait of Ormuz, is a strait, or narrow channel, linking the Persian Gulf (west) with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea (southeast).

▲On June 20, Iran's Revolutionary Guard shot down a US surveillance drone. This infra-red image of the apparent strike was released by United States Central Command.

▲One month later the US again blamed Iran for the attacks on two oil tankers, the Norwegian Front Altair and the Japanese Kokuka Courageous (pictured), near the Strait of Hormuz. Limpet mines were allegedly used to damage the hulls resulting in fire damaged.

▲Qeshm is also famous for its historic boat-building industry. The island is the last place where the traditional wooden cargo boat known as the Lenj is still constructed.

▲The oil terminal is the world's largest open oil terminal, with 95% of Iran's crude oil exports coming through it.

▲The Iranian Port of Kharg Island Oil Terminal, 25 km (15 mi) from the Iranian coast and 483 km (300 mi) northwest of the Strait of Hormuz, extends Iranian territorial sea claims into the Persian Gulf oil fields.

▲In April 2019, the United States ended sanctions exemptions, effectively banning all Iranian oil exports. Iran hit back, threatening that if its oil exports are stopped, then no oil can pass the Strait of Hormuz. Pictured: Iranian military patrol the region.

▲Attacks on shipping in the region is nothing new. In July 2010, Japanese oil tanker the MV M. Star was damaged by an explosion believed to have been caused by a terrorist attack in the Strait of Hormuz. Radar had pinpointed a suspicious craft near the vessel just before it was attacked, and traces of explosives were subsequently found on the hull. In the 1980s the Persian Gulf was the scene of the so-called "Tanker War."

▲The largest island in Iran, Qeshm is a popular destination for both domestic and foreign tourists. Historic mosques and shrines, and a weird unworldly landscape, are just some of the visitor attractions.

▲It wasn't only oil tankers that were caught up in the crisis. The Strait of Hormuz is the gateway to the Persian Gulf, a popular destination for cruise ships from around the world. Pictured: a liner at the port of Khasab, in Oman.

▲Khasab, local capital of the Musandam Governorate, is distinguished by its castle, built by the Portuguese in the 17th century.

▲The Iranian islands of Qeshm and Hormuz are noted tourist attractions. An early visitor to Hormoz Island was Marco Polo, around 1290, who described the destination in his travelogue.

▲The South Pars onshore facilities, seen here illuminated at night, are located near Assaluyeh, on Iran's Persian Gulf.

▲United Arab Emirates officials reported that the ships—which included two Saudi oil tankers—had been subject to a "sabotage attack." Amid increasing tensions between the United States and Iran, US officials accused Iran of being behind the attack.

▲Tensions in the Strait of Hormuz then increased with the shooting down of an Iranian aerial drone on July 18 by the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (pictured). The standoff between Iran and the United States increased threats to Gulf shipping as both sides accused the other of "provocative and hostile" behavior.

▲The strait is of great strategic and economic importance. It provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, and a third of the world’s liquefied natural gas and almost 20% of the total global oil consumption passes through this narrow waterway.

▲Located within this "median" are three islands—Tunb as Sughra, Tunb al Kubra, and Abu Musa. While each is occupied by Iran, the United Arab Emirates also lays claim to the islands.

▲Governed by Oman as Musandam Governorate, the Musandam Peninsula forms the northeastern point of the Arabian Peninsula.

▲The strait is about 167 km (90 nautical miles) long, with a width varying from about 96 km (52 nautical miles) to 39 km (21 nautical miles). On the north coast lies Iran (pictured), and on the south coast the United Arab Emirates and Musandam, an exclave of Oman.

▲Ships moving through the strait follow what's known as a maritime traffic-management route-system: inbound ships use one lane, outbound ships another, each lane being two miles wide. The lanes are separated by a two-mile-wide "median," or clear sea zone.

▲A boat of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard sails next to Stena Impero, a British-flagged vessel that was subsequently seized in the Strait of Hormuz on July 20, 2019, and docked at the Port of Bandar Abbas, Iran, for two months. It was believed to be an act of retaliation for Britain's assistance in seizing an Iranian tanker off the coast of Gibraltar two weeks earlier.

▲

Laffan Industrial City is Qatar's main site for the production of liquefied natural gas and gas-to-liquid.

▲

Located in the Persian Gulf, the South Pars/North Dome field is the world's largest natural gas field. Ownership of the field is shared between Iran and Qatar.

▲

On May 12, 2019, four commercial ships were damaged off Fujairah's coast in the Gulf of Oman.

▲

Iran claims the drone violated its airspace; US officials insist the drone was in international airspace.

▲

In January 2019, the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis transited the Strait of Hormuz, while deployed in the US 5th Fleet area of operations.

▲

In July of the same year, the Royal Navy warship HMS Montrose was forced to intervene when Iranian gunboats tried to disrupt the passage of the commercial ship British Heritage. The ship was in disputed waters claimed by Iran when it was challenged by the Iranian vessels and ordered to move north. The British warship trained its guns on the approaching vessels to fend them off.

▲

The peninsula is lapped by crystal blue waters and characterized by the Musandam fjords, Oman's version of Norway's spectacular lakes. Dhow trips are a favorite excursion option.

▲

Tensions have been escalating in the Strait of Hormuz since 2019 when multiple international incidents occurred in the vital maritime corridor. A third of the world’s liquefied natural gas and almost 20% of total global oil consumption passes through this narrow waterway, which links the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman. The region is also a popular tourist destination, with numerous cruise ships also following the strait's busy shipping lanes.

Click through the gallery and find out why this is one of the most important waterways in the world.

▲

The island's top cultural draw is the Fort of Our Lady of the Conception, also known as the Portuguese Castle. Dating back to 1515, it is one of the last surviving monuments of Portuguese colonial rule in the Persian Gulf.

▲

The spectacular Valley of Stars, also known as Stars Valley, is located on Qeshm.