The Isolation of Bandar Abbas: Washington Expands the War for Control of Hormuz

By Elijah J. Magnier –

The Memorandum of Understanding signed between the United States and Iran now appears effectively frozen, leaving wide scope for further military escalation. The confrontation has evolved into something less than a declared war but far beyond a limited exchange of fire. Washington appears to be combining sustained military pressure with coercive diplomacy, seeking to compel Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and return to negotiations. Tehran, however, has consistently maintained that reopening the Strait is contingent upon a broader settlement, including an end to military operations, the release of frozen Iranian assets, compensation for war damage and implementation of the wider provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding. Those positions remain fundamentally incompatible, leaving little diplomatic room for compromise. Rather than returning immediately to negotiations, President Donald Trump has chosen to increase military pressure through successive waves of strikes against Iran’s southern coastline, islands, ports and military infrastructure.

The latest American attacks on southern Iran suggest a more consequential phase of the campaign. What began as strikes against missiles, drones and naval assets is increasingly targeting the infrastructure sustaining Iran’s military presence around the Strait of Hormuz. The emerging objective appears to be the operational isolation of Bandar Abbas, Iran’s principal commercial port, its most important southern naval command centre, and the logistical hub supporting both the regular Iranian Navy and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy across the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.