W-NOV Tensions in 2011–2012- straight of hormuz

The Strait of Hormuz /hɔrˈmuːz/ (Arabic: مَضيق هُرمُز‎ Maḍīq Hurmuz, Persian: تَنگِه هُرمُز‎ Tangeh-ye Hormoz) 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 21 nautical miles (39 km) wide.
• ^] It is the only sea passage to the open ocean for large areas of the petroleum-exporting Persian Gulf and is one of the world's most strategically important choke points.
•  Around 20% of the world's oil, which is about 35% of seaborne traded oil, passes through the strait.
• Strait of Malacca handles 40 % world trade

Tensions in 2011–2012

• On 27 December 2011, Iranian Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi threatened to cut off oil supply from the Strait of Hormuz should economic sanctions limit, or cut off, Iranian oil exports.^] A
•  U.S. Fifth Fleet spokeswoman said in response that the Fleet was "always ready to counter malevolent actions", whilst Admiral Habibollah Sayari of the Iranian navy claimed that cutting off oil shipments would be "easy".

On 3 January 2012,

•  Iran threatened to take action if the U.S. Navy moves an aircraft carrier back into the Persian Gulf

On 7 January 2012,

• the United Kingdom announced that it would be sending the Type 45 destroyer HMS Daring to the Persian Gulf. Daring, which is the lead ship of her class is claimed to be one of the "most advanced warships" in the world, and will undertake its first mission in the Persian Gulf.

 23 January,2012

•  a flotilla had been established by countries opposing Iran's threats to close the Hormuz Strait.
•  These ships operated in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea off the coast of Iran.
• The flotilla included two American aircraft carriers (the USS Carl Vinson and USS Abraham Lincoln) and three destroyers (USS Momsen, USS Sterett, USS Halsey), seven British warships, including the destroyer HMS Daring and a number of Type 23 frigates (HMS Westminster, HMS Argyll, HMS Somerset and HMS St Albans), and a French warship.^[28]

On 24 January

• tensions rose further after the European Union imposed sanctions on Iranian oil.