MANILA, July 20 — The long shadow of the 1980s Tanker War falls across today’s standoff in the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that has seen decades of attacks on oil tankers and the warships sent to protect them. For mariners, for the crews who move the world’s crude, the history is a warning that a single strike can set off a chain reaction through global markets. During the Iran–Iraq War, from 1980 to 1988, both sides struck oil tankers and shipping in the Persian Gulf.
What began as a conflict between two nations widened in 1984 when attacks expanded to include neutral shipping. The United States responded by reflagging Kuwaiti tankers under Operation Earnest Will, running from 1987 to 1988, and escorting them through the Strait.
Then, on 18 April 1988, the U.S. Navy launched Operation Praying Mantis, striking Iranian oil platforms and naval vessels in a direct show of force. These operations had consequences far beyond the immediate damage. In 1987, oil prices climbed from $13 to $20 per barrel, a sharp rise that rippled through economies worldwide.
The Tanker War proved that even a partial blockade can disrupt the flow of energy that powers daily life — not a story about abstract barrels, but about the cost of fuel, the cost of goods, the cost of keeping lights on.
The 2019–2020 Spike
More recent clashes echo those earlier patterns. On 12 June 2019, Iran struck two oil tankers off the coast of Fujairah, a port in the United Arab Emirates. Eight days later, on 20 June, the United States shot down an Iranian drone.
The tit-for-tat reached a new level on 3 January 2020, when the U.S. killed Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani. These episodes are not distant history — they are the immediate backdrop to current tensions.
Iran has periodically threatened to block the Strait as leverage in nuclear negotiations. Officials often cite the country’s ability to lay mines, deploy anti-ship missiles such as the Noor and the Khalij Fars, and use fast attack craft. These are not theoretical capabilities; they have been demonstrated and tested over years.
Iran’s Tools of Denial
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, known as UNCLOS, guarantees transit passage through straits used for international navigation. But enforcement of that right depends on naval power. The U.S. Navy, along with allied forces, must maintain a constant presence to ensure the Strait remains open.
Iran’s asymmetric arsenal — fast boats, mines, shore-based missiles — is designed to complicate that mission and impose costs on any nation trying to keep the waterway free. For the crews aboard oil tankers, this means navigating a corridor where the next attack could come from an unseen mine or a missile fired from the coast.
The human side of this standoff is not a headline; it is the daily reality for men and women who sign on for a voyage knowing the risks. Every escort mission, every patrol, is a reminder that the Strait of Hormuz is a flashpoint, not a passage.
What It Means Today
The historical episodes of the Tanker War and the 2019–2020 cycle underscore the stakes in Manila, where diplomats and analysts are watching the situation closely. The same geography that made the Persian Gulf a strategic chokepoint decades ago remains unchanged. The weapons have evolved, but the logic is the same: control the Strait, control the oil.
As the U.S. administration under President Donald Trump weighs its options, the lessons of Operation Earnest Will and Operation Praying Mantis are being studied anew. The question is not whether Iran can disrupt shipping — history shows it can — but at what point the world will again feel the economic shock of a few dollars per barrel ticking upward, and how far the response will go.
