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When Iran faced a war against the United States and Israel, Tehran responded not only with missiles and drones; closed the Strait of Hormuz, a important water system of global energy.
As Iran and the US advance ending the warIran saw control of the Strait of Hormuz as an advantage it did not want to give up.
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But Washington wanted the waterway to return to its pre-war status as a free international waterway.
That great disagreement on the issue is at the heart of the problem new conflicts between the two countries, experts say.
The ongoing hostilities began on Monday after at least three Iranians attacked commercial vessels sailing outside the channel controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The US responded with a wave of missile strikes on Iran’s southern coast. Then, Iran retaliated with missiles and drones against US bases across the region.
President of the US Donald Trump announced On Wednesday, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that established the cooperation and negotiations between the two countries “has expired”. Another fight followed on Thursday.
“The MoU committed both sides to open the Strait through a well-managed arrangement, rather than a passive one,” said Negar Mortazavi, director of the Center for International Policy.
“From Tehran’s point of view, it means that any method or means of maritime security must be coordinated with Iran.”
Some ships have been hugging the Omani coast and passing through the route without liaising with Iran, a move that Mortazavi said would establish “coordinated transport and security measures” in the Tehran-free route.
“Iran sees this as a direct violation of the agreement, which is why Hormuz has become the first major test of how the agreement will be interpreted and enforced,” he told Al Jazeera.
What does the MoU say?
Words of the contract it is not certain when it comes to Hormuz. While it is working in Iran to remove mines and ensure safe passage through the route, it says ships should have free passage for the first 60 days of the MoU.
Time does not mean that Iran may implement a payment system as part of a final deal.
At the same time, the memorandum says that Iran will discuss with Oman and the Gulf countries to “define the management of the movement that will take place in the waters” in the waterway “in accordance with international law and the sovereignty of the countries along the Strait of Hormuz”.
The conflicting interpretation of the two sides makes the MoU parts contradictory.
“The text of the memorandum itself does not say much about what the situation will be when the agreement is implemented,” said Ryan Costello, director of policy at the National Iranian American Council (NIAC).
“Iran interprets as if Iran controls who goes, while the US wants to disrupt this and establish a second route through the Strait.”
The US military CENTCOM in the Middle East shared a statement on Thursday, which was presented as the truth, denying that the passage of Hormuz is allowed through the routes chosen by Iran.
“TRUTH: Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. Since the beginning of May, the US military has facilitated the smooth flow of 800 commercial ships and 380 million barrels of crude oil through this important international trade channel,” CENTCOM said.
For Iran, control over Hormuz is important, experts say, not because of the potential revenue in billions of dollars a year, but as a way to prevent future attacks by the US and Israel.
In his first speech as head of state after succeeding his slain father in March, Mojtaba Khamenei He stressed the need to control the waterway.
“The barrier to close the Strait of Hormuz must continue to be used,” he wrote.
Iran wants to control Hormuz
Costello said there is a sense in Iran that power over Hormuz is a priority.
“There is a sense that the US wants to disrupt a new opportunity for Iran and that may be more important, in the short and medium term, to the power of Iran than it has been,” he told Al Jazeera.
“So, if the U.S. is able to prevent Iran’s control over the crisis, then it can reduce Iran’s power and prevent the resumption of hostilities.”
The closure of the waterway after the initial strike by the US and Israel on February 28 caused global oil prices to rise. U.S. gasoline prices soared to more than $4.5 a gallon (3.78 liters), down from less than $3 before the war, leading to inflation and public dissatisfaction it’s an argument.
Trump has publicly said that if it wasn’t for the pressure of the US people, he would have continued the war with Iran and taken the country’s oil. The US president said in April that it was “sad” that the American people had “no patience” for a major conflict with Tehran.
When the war seemed to be over with the 14-point memorandum in mid-June, the markets took a sigh of relief.
The US lifted its military blockade on Iran, Hormuz was reopened, stocks went up and oil prices began to fall.
However, tensions began to grow from the early days of the agreement.
The point at the time was Israel’s refusal to stop the terrorist attacks and end its occupation of southern Lebanon despite the MoU calling for an international ceasefire and the protection of the country’s “threat and sovereignty”.
Violent violence
Although this week’s clashes have been particularly violent, this is not the first time that the violence has come under fire.
The first outbreak of violence after the MoU in Hormuz.
A Singaporean flag ship was attacked on the coast of Oman on June 25. The US then launched an attack on the south of Iran, and the Iranian army responded with missile attacks on the ground causing American troops in the Gulf countries.
That episode remained small and ended quickly. But today’s trends are more complex and seem to be on the rise.
Earlier this week, the US did too to be terminated removal of penalty on Iranian oil provided as part of an armistice agreement.
Despite the outbreak of violence, both sides have domestic realities that would prevent them from returning to full-scale war, Costello said.
In Iran, inflation is not improving, and the economy is reeling under decades-old sanctions as the government continues to face anti-government protests like the one that rocked the country in January.
On the American side, oil reserves which kept gasoline prices low during the war. And the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress are due in November, less than four months away.
“There are good reasons to expect that this war will not last much longer than before,” Costello told Al Jazeera.
He added that Trump had opened Pandora’s box by starting the conflict, which has proven to be more difficult to end than to start and set up another “eternal war”. To kill.
For his part, Mortazavi said the MoU should stop the war, but it did not resolve the existing tensions between Washington and Tehran.
“This was a conflict management process, not a peace agreement. Both sides are now testing its limits and trying to establish their own interpretation of what was signed,” he told Al Jazeera.
“What we’re seeing is a fight for the establishment as a return to conflict.”
