What is Strait of Hormuz?
[[Image:Hormuz map.png|thumb|250px|The Strait of Hormuz (red arrow) connects the [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabian]] Sea and Persian Gulf.]] [[Image:Strait of Hormuz.jpg|thumb|250px|Blue arrows illustrate the strait's Traffic Separation Scheme.]] [[Image:Straße von Hormuz.jpg|thumb|250px|Satellite image]] [[Image:Strait of hormuz full.jpg|thumb|250px|Map of Strait of Hormuz with maritime political boundaries (2004)]] [[Image:Strait of hormuz.jpg|thumb|250px|Historical map of the area (1892)]] The '''Strait of Hormuz''' is a narrow, strategically important [[strait]] between the [[Gulf of Oman]] in the southeast and the [[Persian Gulf]]. On the north coast is [[Iran]] and on the south coast is the [[United Arab Emirates]] and [[Musandam]], an [[exclave]] of [[Oman]]. The [[strait]] at its narrowest is {{convert|21|nmi|km}} wide.<ref name=USEIA01/> Around 20% of the world's oil passes through the strait.<ref name=USEIA01>{{cite web |url=http://www.eia.gov/countries/regions-topics.cfm?fips=WOTC#hormuz |title=Strait of Hormuz |date=30 December 2011 |work=World Oil Transit Chokepoints |publisher=U.S. Energy Information Administration |accessdate=14 January 2012}}</ref> ==Events== ===Operation Praying Mantis=== Operation Praying Mantis was an attack on 18 April 1988 by the United States Armed Forces on Iranian boats in retaliation for the Iranian naval mining of [[international waters]] in the Persian Gulf during the [[Iran–Iraq War]] and the subsequent damage to an American warship. ===The downing of Iran Air 655=== On 3 July 1988, 290 people were killed when an [[Iran Air]] [[Airbus A300]] passenger jet was shot down over the strait by the [[United States Navy]] [[guided missile]] [[cruiser]] [[USS Vincennes (CG-49)|USS ''Vincennes'']]. ===Collision between USS ''Newport News'' and tanker ''Mogamigawa''=== On 8 January 2007, the nuclear submarine [[USS Newport News (SSN-750)|USS ''Newport News'']], traveling submerged, hit M/V ''Mogamigawa'', a 300,000-ton Japanese-flagged very large crude [[tanker]], south of the